by Jayci Lee
Once he tossed his shirt onto the back of a kitchen chair, she stepped up to him because she had to get her hands on him. She smoothed her palms around his broad chest, then moved on to explore his abs. Seth groaned. She wanted to drizzle maple syrup into the ridges of his six-pack and lick it all off.
“You don’t understand, Seth.” Her hands didn’t cease moving over his naked torso. “I can’t stop touching you … but I need to stop so you can cook. Please put your shirt back on. I’m starving.”
“I…” He cleared his throat and reached for his shirt with her greedy hands still roaming his body. “I see your point.”
Even when his T-shirt fell over her hands, Tara was reluctant to take them off of him. Listen, hands. You need to disengage. That’s an order. Trailing her fingers down his stomach, she slowly let her hands drop to her sides, then took a step back for good measure.
“Okay.” She flapped her hands to send him off. He was still too close. “Go make us breakfast so we’ll have energy for our after-breakfast activities.”
With a smug smile curling his lips, Seth walked to the fridge and pulled out some butter, eggs, and milk.
“Ooh, I didn’t know you were making fancy scrambled eggs.” Tara went to stand by the island so she could watch him cook. It was so sexy.
“Fancy scrambled eggs? Don’t all scrambled eggs have these ingredients?”
“Milk maybe, but butter is a definite level up.”
Seth chuckled. “These are the only eggs I know how to cook. Aria taught me before I went to college, saying that I won’t starve as long as I know how to cook some eggs.”
“It’s Aria’s recipe? Well, then. They’re fancy eggs for sure.” She rubbed her hands together. “Can I help?”
“Do you want to slice some bread for toast?” he said, pointing at half a loaf of country bread.
“Sure. We get crusty bread with the eggs? This is totally gourmet.” She sliced three pieces of bread and cut them in half so they would fit in the toaster. “Do you want olive oil on the bread?”
“No, thanks. I think of bread as a conduit for the butter.” He smiled at her and returned his attention to whisking the eggs quicksilver fast.
He placed a generous pat of butter onto the heated pan, then added beaten eggs when it was just melted. He stirred the pan until fluffy morsels formed and took it off the heat. The toaster dinged as soon as Seth plated their decadent scrambled eggs, so she joined him at the kitchen table with a plate of toast. He went back into the kitchen, but returned quickly with French-pressed coffee.
“Ah, a man of his word,” she said appreciatively.
“Always. Now let’s eat,” he said, as he poured her a small glass of orange juice from the carafe on the table.
Tara needed no more encouragement. The first bite of the creamy, fluffy eggs had her lashes fluttering. “Oh, my googly eyes. This is incredible.”
“Thank you. I’ve had years of practice.” He laughed, shaking his head. “Googly eyes?”
“Shush. Things pop out of my mouth before my brain registers it. But really, this is so great.”
As Tara shoveled the eggs into her mouth, something niggled at the back of her mind. He’d learned how to make this before he went to college, and had a lot of practice since then. Did he make scrambled eggs for every woman he slept with? Whoa. Where did that come from? I can’t be jealous. Especially over his past.
She stopped tasting the eggs, remembering how he’d changed the subject when she asked him why he switched majors in junior year. Did it have something to do with a college girlfriend? It was none of her business, but she wanted to know what had happened. She was probably just projecting her experience with Jason on Seth.
“Hey, where are you?” Seth asked softly.
Tara looked down at the plate to find it cleaned off. “I like to give delicious food my complete and undivided attention.”
“Hmm…” He didn’t buy it, but he didn’t push it either. “More coffee?”
“No, thanks. I’m good,” she said, shaking off the last vestiges of her mulling. “I’ll do the dishes.”
“The dishes can wait,” he said, gazing at her with sudden intensity. “Take your shirt off.”
“Oh.”
“Should I come do it for you?”
“Sure.” She seemed incapable of uttering more than single-word responses.
Seth came around to her side and lifted her up from her chair. He leaned down to kiss her neck and spread his hands under her shirt, caressing her back. When he tugged at her shirt, Tara lifted her arms to help him with the disrobing.
“I would love to have you in the kitchen, but I don’t think we should desecrate Landon and Aubrey’s sacred place.”
“The bed. Now.” Tara began pulling Seth by his hand, but he lifted her in his arms.
“Quicker this way.”
“Good idea.” She hummed happily and nibbled on his ear.
With a curse, he adjusted his hold on her and ran to his room. He plopped her down on the middle of the bed and immediately jumped on top of her. She giggled and squirmed under him. He easily caught her hands and held them over her head.
“Hello, Tara,” he said in a low, rumbling voice.
“Hi,” she replied in a breathless whisper, and gave a miniwave with one of her captive hands.
“I like having sex with you.” Growly. Sexy. Gah.
“I like it, too.” So much so that she was growing impatient with all the talking. “Kiss me already.”
“I really like you.” His eyes roamed her face with such tenderness, she nearly melted into goo. It frightened her how happy she felt about it.
“Thank you,” she said, but couldn’t admit to him that she really liked him, too.
It was too much … sharing. They weren’t supposed to get attached to each other. Making the best of the rest of their time together was one thing, but letting her emotions get sucked in too far was something else entirely. Yes, she was really into him, but that was for her to know and protect. Seth wasn’t Jason, but there was no reason to hand him a weapon he could wield against her some day.
“You’re welcome.” Seth smiled a bit wistfully and said, “Now I’m going to kiss you.”
Before she could tell him it was about time, he swooped down and captured her lips, and all she managed was a soft moan of approval.
* * *
Seth held his breath, wanting the moment to last forever. Waking up with Tara in his arms felt so right, he could hardly believe it.
He glanced at the clock. It was almost eleven. He must’ve worn her out. That made him grin like the smug bastard he was. He would hate to wake her from her catnap, but she might have plans before she went into work. Seth placed a gentle kiss on her shoulder and ran his hand down the silky skin of her arm.
“Do you have the early shift today?” he asked when her lashes fluttered as though she was considering waking up.
“No.” She stretched luxuriously with her arms above her head, then went limp with a happy sigh. Finally opening her eyes, she turned onto her side to face him. “How about you? Do you have to go into the restaurant?”
“Not for another couple hours, but I’ve been neglecting the website lately. I should get that finished.”
“Perfect. Since I’m here and all, I will lend you my expertise.”
“Thank you kindly,” Seth said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
“Before we do that, I have something to confess.” Her cheeks were flushed, but she had a look of fierce determination on her face. “It doesn’t feel right keeping this from you.”
“You sound so serious. Are you a spy or something?” Seth laughed nervously. What could she possibly have to confess to him?
“Aubrey never asked me to help you with the website,” she nearly yelled in a rush of breath.
“What? Why would you lie about Aubrey asking you to help me?” He was thoroughly confused. Why would she … Then it hit him. And Tara’s expression—the one that sai
d she wanted to hide behind the dresser—confirmed his suspicions. She’d come up with the lie to spend more time with him. He smiled so widely that his cheeks cramped. “Why you sly little fox.”
“Look. I’m sorry I lied to you, but no harm done, right?” She pulled the covers over her head. “Can we just never talk about this again?”
“I went to Comfort Zone that day hoping to find you there,” he said softly, tugging away the sheet from her face. “In fact, I was going to stake out there for hours, waiting for you.”
“You were?” Tara’s eyes were wide and shining. “You wanted to spend more time with me, too?”
“Yes, and you provided the perfect excuse.” Seth tapped the tip of her nose. “We make quite a pair, don’t we?”
“Yeah. A pair of cowards. Why didn’t one of us just say, ‘Hey, let’s hang out more’?”
“It was the beginning of the dating dare, and we had game rules to follow. And I think neither of us wanted to scare the other off.”
She cupped his cheek and asked, “Have I scared you off now?”
“No, you can’t scare me off. I’m going to spend every day I have with you like it’s the last day of the world.”
She leaned over and gave him a kiss as sweet as honey. But he really needed to get out of bed before he was tempted to make love to her again. He gave her a quick kiss in return, and reluctantly rolled out of bed.
“Nice ass,” Tara said appreciatively as he picked up his clothes off the floor. “You sure you need to cover that up?”
“Are we having that conversation again?” he said, pulling on his boxer briefs. “We won’t get anything done without clothes on.”
“Boo,” she said with an adorable pout. “We would totally get things done. Dirty, fun things.”
He pulled on his shirt to another resounding boo and reached to get her clothes off the floor. She was all covered up in the bedsheets, but he knew she was naked under there. If she didn’t get dressed now, he was going to fail adulting today. But he couldn’t let Landon down.
“Please put some clothes on before I jump you. I really need to work on that website before I go to the restaurant.”
“Oh, fine,” she said, picking up her panties from the top of the pile. “Well, don’t just stand there. Go away so I can get dressed.”
“What? You let me undress you but you’re not going to let me watch you get dressed?”
“That was different. Now we’re trying to unsex things.” She nibbled her lower lip. “Go. I’m feeling shy, okay?”
“Boo,” he said as he closed the bedroom door behind him.
The coffee had gone cold so he made another carafe and poured it into two mugs. Tara drank her coffee black, but he added a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of half and half into his. The Parisians would probably laugh at him, but he didn’t plan on changing his ways. He had a sweet tooth and he was a sucker for all things creamy.
He took the steaming mugs, set them out on the living room coffee table, and brought out some oatmeal cookies from Comfort Zone to earn brownie points with Tara. His laptop had fallen asleep on the sofa, so he plopped down next to it and woke it up. A picture of Tara filled his screen. He’d been going through the pictures he took of her in the hills to select a few to show her. But the one on the screen … His heart was bare on that one. She looked like an angel in a dream, radiant but untouchable. The yearning that exuded from the photo was not something he was ready to share with Tara.
“Seth?” Her voice came from right behind him. “Is that me?”
Shit. Would she be spooked by how much he longed for her? He hoped she saw it as just another picture of herself, where she studied her smile and the angle of her face with overly critical eyes like everyone did. He coughed into his fist. “Um … yeah.”
“Is that … is that how you see me?” She spoke in a soft whisper as though she might break the spell.
The awe in her voice made something flare in his heart. A small spark of happiness that she saw it as more than just a picture. Like the soaring joy he used to feel when someone appreciated a piece of his art.
“Yes.” There was no use lying. The picture was taken through the lens of his soul. Something he hadn’t done since college.
“I don’t know what to say.” She came around the sofa to sit beside him. “The picture is breathtaking. It feels funny saying that about a picture of me, but it’s more than that. Something about it just grips me, and its beauty touches me viscerally. It’s as though I’m seeing a glimpse of your dream. The intimacy of it … I feel like I should look away, but I can’t.”
Seth cleared his throat for the tenth time. She saw him, but she wasn’t spooked. She was enthralled. Blood pounded loudly in his ears. “Do you want to see some more?”
Tara looked at the pictures he showed her with gasps of delight and whispers of praise. When they were done, she had tears in her eyes. “Thank you for sharing that with me. I’m honored.”
“It was my pleasure,” he said, realizing he’d really enjoyed showing her the pictures. He shifted on the sofa to see her face clearly. She didn’t look upset. She probably didn’t catch that those pictures of her were infused with his feelings for her.
“Why did you stop pursuing art?” She trailed the back of her hand down his cheek. “Your fashion photos are spectacular and artistic, but what you just showed me felt like your art. Something you love. I don’t understand.”
He put aside his laptop and cradled his coffee in his hands. “It’s something I put aside a long time ago, and don’t intend to resume.”
“But why?” She wasn’t going to let it slide this time. She’d shared an important part of her past with him. He should offer her the same consideration and explain what happened.
“Art was my first love.” His voice broke on the word love. “I started out sketching as a kid, then my mom taught me how to paint. When I was in high school, I discovered mixed-media art, and it was as though a whole new world had opened up to me. Of course, I chose to major in it in college.”
Tara nodded and gently squeezed his forearm.
“I was a shy, quiet kid. I went to my high school prom with my friends because I was too scared to ask my yearlong crush to go with me.” He laughed softly through his nose. He found his words coming easier with Tara’s warmth beside him. “My sophomore year in college, I met Jessica. She was beautiful and outgoing, always surrounded by people clamoring for her attention. I fell hard for her. She was so far out of my league. I expected another bout of unreciprocated love. I was more terrified than flattered when she started pursuing me. The first few times she asked me out, I actually refused.”
“You were in love with the woman and you refused to go out with her?” Tara half-smiled, shaking her head.
“I know. I was that shy and naive. I’d never had a girlfriend or even been on a date back then. I thought I was going to make a fool of myself if I accepted. But she was relentless. She would wait for me in front of my classes and show up at my art studio. And finally I thought, what the hell?”
“Way to go, young Seth.” She mock punched him on his shoulder.
“It was wonderful the first few months. She was intelligent and genuinely interested in my art. I thought she was the one. Someone I could spend the rest of my life with.” Seth put his mug back on the coffee table and raked his hair with his fingers. “But things changed. I guess the novelty of having an introverted artist for a boyfriend wore off quickly, and she started complaining that it was boring when it was just the two of us. I tried to change for her. I even went to frat parties and dealt with the drunken crowd and noise. I spent more time trying to please her, and less time on my art. She made me feel as though I had to pick between the two of them.”
“No,” Tara whispered, and took ahold of his hand.
“But when it came time to prepare for my first open exhibit, I begged Jessica for her understanding. She grudgingly gave me some space. I was so grateful that I planned an elaborate romantic
dinner for us after the exhibit.” He stopped and took a deep breath through his nose. He wasn’t sure he could continue. He’d never told anyone about the next part.
“Oh, Seth. You don’t have to tell me any more if it’s hard for you. I understand.”
Tara’s soft reassurance fueled him on. “The night of the exhibit, she showed up with her entourage. I think they were all a little drunk. I smelled alcohol on them. They were rude to the other student artists with their rowdiness and absolute disrespect for their work. But they were outright cruel to me when they came to my wall. They laughed and insulted my work, saying they looked like a five-year-old’s finger painting, and Jessica laughed right along beside them. Then she launched a lance through my heart. She said I would never make it in the real world with my third-rate talent, and should look into drawing caricatures at amusement parks. She and her friends cackled like a pack of hyenas, and I couldn’t take it. She sullied something sacred to me. I ran out of the exhibit and never turned back.”
“That’s when you changed your major?”
“The very next day, I went and changed it to photography. I felt like I didn’t have to bare my soul when it came to photography, especially if I wanted to go commercial. And thanks to my mixed-media major, I had taken a great many photography classes already, so I was even able to graduate on time.” Seth tried to shrug nonchalantly. “In the end, it all worked out. I have a successful career and I got past my shy stage.”
“There’s no doubt that you’re a talented photographer. Your magazine spreads are so full of life and dazzling. But these pictures of me … they feel different. Your soul is in it. I think somewhere inside, your love of art is clamoring to get out.”
“You’re reading too much into those pictures. I photographed a woman I admire and desire on a perfect day in the sun. That’s just the way I see you—beyond beautiful—and my lens captured that.”
Tara gazed at him with sad eyes, but she just cozied up beside him on the couch and kissed him lightly on the lips. “Flatterer.”
“Hey, I’m only telling the truth.” He kissed her back, then pulled away quickly. Kissing her was addicting, and he really needed to get some work done. Besides, he could use something to pour his attention into. The past was threatening to encroach on the present with its dark claws. “Now stop kissing me, so I can get to work.”