Page 35 of The Love Dare
Maybe they aren’t meant to be.
But what if they are?
“Winnie, I—” He stops a moment to catch his breath and takes her by the hand, weaving their fingers together. He’s not sure what to say, how to begin. His heart races a thousand miles ahead of his brain. In situations like this, it’s especially difficult for him to find the words. The wires disconnect. Everything fires on overload. He knows exactly how he feels, how he’s always felt, but saying it out loud is another thing entirely.
“One date, Ty,” Winnie murmurs, a hint of desperation in her tone as the light in her eyes dims. “One chance, and I dare you not to fall in love with me, too.”
She doesn’t need to ask.
She doesn’t need to dare.
She’s misreading everything, because for Winnie, the words have always been the easiest part. They come fast and free, rambling and disorderly at times, but always there. They never fail her. They never fall silent. He knows her well enough to understand that words have always been her beacon in the dark, but to him, they’re the monster under the bed, a foe he can’t wrangle to the ground no matter how hard he tries, an enemy he doesn’t know how to tame.
He curses himself and his fucked-up head.
“No, Winnie, you don’t?—”
A small cough interrupts. A beautiful blonde woman brushes the curtain to the side and invades their space. He recognizes her. He should remember her name. In any other instance, she’s the sort to stop traffic. Tyler couldn’t care less.
He turns back to Winnie.
She’s staring at the intruder.
“Do you mind if I steal him?”
Winnie jumps to her feet as if it’s the escape she’s been looking for and hastily mutters, “Yeah. Of course.”
He grabs her hand. “Winnie, wait.”
“It’s okay, Ty.” She glances at the woman again, then back down at him. “Think about what I said. If you want me to stay, give me a puzzle piece. And if you don’t, then that’s fine too. Really. Just do whatyouwant. That’s all I’m asking.”
She slips away.
The blonde woman glides smoothly into her place, takes the seat beside him, and turns a thousand-watt grin in his direction. “Hi. I’m Mary Ellen. I’m twenty-three. I live in Nashville. And I’m in pharmaceutical sales, but my real dream is to be a singer. Do you want to hear something? Dolly Parton is my idol.”
Before he has a chance to get a word in, she tilts her head back and starts belting out some song he doesn’t recognize.
Tyler blinks once.
Twice.
Yeah. I can’t do this right now.
He jumps to his feet. It’s boorish and rude, but he can’t help it. He needs to find Winnie. He needs to explain, with actual words this time. He needs to?—
A petite woman in leather pants loops her arm through his and yanks him to the side. He’s met her before, Nina something or other. She’s one of the producers.
“What are—” he starts to argue.
She interrupts him to call over her shoulder, “We’re taking five.”
“No, we’re not. I’m finding Winnie,” he says, trying to break out of her grip. But she’s surprisingly sturdy for her size, and he doesn’t want to hurt her.
“Give me five minutes, and if you still want to go find her, you can.”
“I don’t want to wait five minutes. I want to talk to her now.”
“From the looks of it, the two of you have been waiting a hell of a lot longer than five minutes to have this conversation. So what’s a little more time?”
