Free Dare I? by Kallysten

Dare I?
By Kallysten

    Smashwords Edition
    Copyright © 2007 Kallysten
    All rights reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
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photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written
consent of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form
of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and
without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent
purchaser.
    The right of Kallysten to be identified as
the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with
the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
    First Published 2007
    All characters in this publication are purely
fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is
purely coincidental.
    Edited by Mary S.

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    Dare I?

    Anna is just about to thread the gold hoop of
her earring through her earlobe when her doorbell chimes its three
tones. Her heartbeat picks up instantly, and at once her hands
start shaking too much for her to put the earrings on. She lays
them down on the dresser, gives the mirror a final glance to make
sure she looks good, and hurries to the door. She doesn’t even try
to calm her thoughts. It never works.
    The door swings open to reveal Chase. His
smile widens when he sees Anna, and the butterflies in her stomach
fly a little more erratically. His hair is windswept, and the light
in his eyes tells of the joy of hunting. It was this same light
that attracted her the first time she saw him. In the following
weeks she was sometimes scared of it, just a little, but she has
gotten used to it and to what it means. It has only been eight
months, but sometimes she feels like she’s always known him.
    “Ready, lovely?” he asks, offering her his
hand, palm up.
    With him, the question is far from innocuous.
Once, in the middle of winter, he took her to the beach, and built
such a roaring fire in the sand that she never felt the cold, even
when their clothes fell away. Another time, he taught her to ride a
horse after she had casually mentioned a few days before that she
had always wanted to try horseback riding but had never had the
chance. He told her he had a surprise in mind for her this night.
She has been wondering what it was for almost two days.
    She slides her hand into his. “Ready.”
    He uses his hold on her hand to gently pull
her over the threshold and into his arms. Immediately, his mouth
descends on hers for a quick but fiery kiss that makes Anna melt. A
little lightheaded, she rests her cheek on his shoulder for an
instant and closes her eyes. She can’t imagine what her life would
be like today if she had never dared to take that first step toward
him.

    * * * *

    A bit of lettuce and a crouton dangled
precariously from her forgotten fork as Anna stared in turn at the
two women in front of her, who continued to eat their lunch as
though one of them had not just said anything remarkable.
    “What do you mean, I don’t know how to have
fun?” she asked Jessie. “Of course I do! I’m having lunch with two
of my friends in the best restaurant in town!”
    Jessie’s mouth was full, and Carol took the
opportunity to answer in her stead. “And when at the best
restaurant in town, you order a Caesar salad and a glass of
water.”
    Anna looked down at her plate before glancing
at her friends’. One had ordered some fancy fish in a red sauce
that looked delicious, and the other was finishing a plate of
shrimp prepared in five different ways.