Free Dare by Celia Juliano Page B

toward her heart. He snapped on a light near the front door. A long hall opened to a living room, a smallish kitchen to one side, and another hall that probably led to bedrooms.
    Joey flipped on another light in the living room. “Want some coffee or tea?”
    “Do you have chamomile tea?” It had been the comfort drink of choice throughout her life.
    “Think so.” He strode into the kitchen.
    “Want help?” She walked in. The kitchen wasn’t so small after all. A banquette filled one corner, a fridge across from it. Ample counters surrounded the double sink and a stove gleamed from another shorter row of counters. The wood cabinets blended with the mellow tones of the granite counter tops.
    “Are you this neat or do you not cook?”
    “Both.” He shrugged. “I miss some kitchen clutter. It shows someone lives here. You’ve seen my parents’ house.”
    She made an affirmative noise. His parents…Sophia had been almost unfriendly earlier, and during dinner had scrutinized her with a very critical look. Ariella had recalled Sophia’s distance after her family died, but she hadn’t expected it to still be present, a haze like the fog that sometimes wrapped the peaks of the nearby hills and buildings.
    He filled a tea kettle and set it on a burner. “Want honey in it?” He took down a couple of mugs and a box of tea.
    “If you have it.”
    He glanced in the cabinet and placed a jar of honey on the counter.
    “Guess you don’t need any help.”
    “Need you here.” He stepped to her and caressed her cheek.
    She leaned into his touch. Tilting her face up, he kissed her, his lips tender, a question in the gentle exploration. Placing her hands on his chest, she fingered his shirt, searched for his heartbeat. His breathing expanded his sculpted chest under her touch.
    The tornado of desire, comfort, fear, excitement, giddiness, and shame kicked up dust in her heart and mind. She pushed gently at him, pulling away from their kiss.
    The tea kettle whistled. His brow furrowed. He stepped to the stove. While he made the tea, she steadied her breathing, trying to pick up the debris of thoughts and reorder them into something coherent, and to find again the threads of heat she’d felt.
    He handed her a mug. She blew on the surface as they walked into the living room. Joey set his mug on the coffee table and she did the same. They settled into the sofa, its blue fabric cushions cradling her. He turned to her, angling his body close.
    “Was it something I did?” he asked.
    She recognized his tone, one that wondered, not just about the present, but about the mistakes of the past. “No.” She shook her head to emphasize her words. “Not before, not now. You’re a good man. I … You’ve always been my friend.” She fingered his hand. “It was my fault. You were just there to comfort me, and I…I didn’t do it on purpose, but I feel like I seduced you.” Brent and Luis had both repeatedly accused her of enticing them into sex, until she hadn’t known what was true. Even Mamá and Papa had warned her she was too sexy, and to be more demure. Now, she knew she hadn’t done anything like that on purpose, but she also knew sometimes her actions were seductive, when she was in the freedom of the moment with a man—especially with Joe. With him, she wanted to own her sexuality, the pleasure of it, the closeness it provided. She didn’t want him to feel responsible for their past mistakes when she had wanted him too.
    Joey raised his eyebrows, his expression somewhere between surprise and scoffing. “I see you’re not kidding. But that’s… Ariella, I wanted you from the moment you walked into school that first day, wanted you every moment more and more as I got to know you—your kindness, your smarts, your quiet strength.”
    “I never knew.” He’d treated her like he treated all his friends, with concern, friendliness, and tolerance, minus the guy banter and ribbing.
    “By the time I realized how much I