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 said 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.”