Free Truce or Dare (Sweet Fortuity Book 1) by Rica Grayson Page B

haven’t eaten yet.” He didn’t phrase it like a question.
    I continued looking out the window, watching mindlessly as the shops rolled by, under the dark, gloomy weather.
    “I’m fine. Oh! This is where they sold the peanut-butter cookies. And the– hey, this isn’t the way home,” I protested when he turned at the wrong corner.
    A corner of his lip tugged up. “I’m aware.”
    Jesus. He was a hardheaded ass.
    I didn’t want to eat something out, I wanted to go home and maybe finish those leftover fish and chips and snuggle under the covers. But no, he decided to drive me to–
    “Anton’s?” I blurted out. This went from simple quieting of my stomach’s rumbling to date territory. “How about we order take-out instead,” I chickened out.
    He smirked, went out, and opened my door for me. He made a grand gesture out in exaggeration. I rolled my eyes.

    * * *
    “ R elax .” He seemed to enjoy my discomfort. “This isn’t a date.”
    Why did he say that? I just managed to get the idea out of my head. We were led to a table at the far end. He sat across from me. A candle was lit in every table, and it created an atmosphere that was intimate.
    His thumb traced underneath my eye, and his expression turned dark. “It’s eating at you, isn’t it?”
    I turned my face away, suddenly unable to look at him. It was the last thing I expected him to say. He'd noticed. Nobody else did.
    “She never stopped talking about you.”
    I stopped swirling my water around my glass and finally looked up. Gem. He was talking about her.
    “Really?”
    I wanted to hear more about her. In a way, it gave me comfort. He understood that, and I appreciated it. Most people didn’t know how to approach me and decided talking about her was some kind of taboo subject.
    He began talking about her, how she talked about me, how she'd arrange to send something for my birthday, even contemplated coming over.
    "How come she never did?" I found myself asking.
    "She was dissuaded by people, saying she shouldn't be traveling alone."
    I held my fist closed so tightly, my nails dug in. "I should've visited."
    He frowned, and poured more wine in his glass. "Don't do that."
    "Don't do what?"
    He stared at me, and then shook his head. "Never mind."
    “Why are you looking at me like that?”
    He looked like he mulled over something in his head, then shrugged. “You’re stunning.”
    I shook my head, pushing my slice of beef with a fork around the plate.
    "You don't take compliments well," he stated.
    "People don't mean them. They're flattering, but they're never true."
    "Never?" he frowned, taking a sip of wine.
    I leaned closer, as if imparting a deep secret. "Never."
    I took a sip of my own, meeting his gaze evenly.
    "You can't possibly know that."
    "I do."
    "I see,” he said, his eyes on me, seeing too much. I was afraid that he'd done exactly that– that he saw right through me.
    As we ate, I couldn't help but glance his way. I was drawn to him in a way I couldn't explain. I just was. Maybe it was his eyes, heart-meltingly warm when they looked at me with an intensity that told me I was the only thing he saw. Maybe it was the way he talked to me, when he told me I was beautiful, like he'd meant it. Or maybe it was the way he touched me, igniting something in me, a desire I thought I'd long buried.
    And that, to me, scared me more than anything.
    I wasn’t supposed to feel this way. I was supposed to be unaffected by his presence.
    I couldn't even make sense of what we were.
    We weren't lovers, but we weren't friends. It was like we were stuck in some limbo, one where we were both uncertain and hesitant to make a move.
    It was strange. We'd been through enough to be comfortable and familiar in each other's presence, but it lacked a foundation of trust for it to be solid or real.
    We needed to get past it, and I didn't know how. I didn't know if I wanted to or if I was even prepared for it. But at the same time, I wasn’t going to question