Seth knew Tara. She wouldn’t just pick up any guy off the street. Whoever these passersby were, she would choose them carefully. Maybe she’d accepted his dare because he happened to meet her criteria. A vicious claw tore at his heart. Anger, jealousy, and pain. He wanted to be more than a temporary fix. He could be so much more for her.

His pain fueled his anger, and soon he allowed fury to overtake him because it was more bearable than anguish. He didn’t know how long he sat at the counter fuming, seeing nothing. All logic lost to him.

“Hey, look at what I have.” Tara appeared beside him and held up a bagged box. “Justine hooked us up. Her new desserts are so delicious.”

“Are you ready to leave?” he asked without emotion.

She blinked in surprise then shrugged. “We have what we came for.”

“Let’s go.” Seth stood abruptly from his seat and headed straight for the door.

“Hold on. You’re like a runaway train. I can’t keep up.” Tara gave him a sideways glance. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” he said curtly.

Apprehension dawned in her eyes, and she stayed silent and stiff beside him as they walked back to his car. Once they were seated and speeding through the streets, Tara finally spoke.

“What happened with Roger?”

“What could possibly have happened between Roger and me? It was a pleasure meeting one of your hookup buddies.” He stared straight ahead as the vicious words cut the air between them.

“Seth…”

“So you only date out-of-towners, do you?”

“Who I’ve dated before you and who I’ll date after you is none of your business.”

Seth stayed silent because she was right. He was being an utter asshole. But he wanted to roar with pain.

“Stop the car,” Tara said in a cutting tone.

“What?” He turned to her in shock. This wasn’t what he’d wanted.

“I said stop the fucking car. Right now.”

He slowed the car down to a stop near the park where they’d had their first date. She unbuckled her seat belt and his heart stopped beating, thinking she was getting out before they had a chance to talk this through. Instead, she spun in her seat to face him.

“What the hell are you getting at?” she hissed.

“Well, your movie-star-handsome boy toy guessed right away that I was from out of town. When I asked him how he knew, he mentioned that you only dated out-of-towners who passed through town.” He needed to stop himself before he took it too far, but the words continued to pour out of him like lava overflowing from a volcano. “Adonis supposedly wanted something more permanent with you, and you freaked out and threatened to break off your convenient arrangement with him.”

“Roger should’ve kept his big mouth shut. None of this is any of your business.”

“So did you say yes to my dare because you knew I’ll be out of your hair in a month?”