“So what will it be?” he prodded. Her prolonged silence was fraying his nerves. “I understand it’ll be challenging not to fall in love with me.”

“Honey, please.” Tara snorted. “You’re pretty to look at, and I might be a smidgeon attracted to you, but love is definitely not on the horizon.”

A smidgeon attracted to me? I’ll take that. He liked having room to grow.

“That’s perfect. I’ll be moving out of the country in a month. What’s the harm in going out on a few dates with me?” It would be short and oh so sweet. A perfect pastime to keep his stay in Weldon interesting. “At the very least, I’ll make certain we have fun.”

“What’s up with the absurd condition anyway? The chances of me falling in love with you is a big fat zero.” She stared at him as though he was an alien species. Then her expression turned wily. “Maybe you’re afraid of someone falling in love with you. Have you sworn off love and happily ever after? Is that why you hate weddings?”

Seth blinked rapidly as her words triggered unwanted memories. He’d been burned. Very badly. And love wasn’t something he intended to give another try. But in this instance, he’d placed the condition mainly to coax Tara into accepting. With her competitive edge, she would no doubt love the chance to prove him wrong. But maybe he’d inadvertently revealed too much of himself as well.

“Not believing in love and being afraid of it are completely different things,” he said lightly. “I just wanted to ensure that no one’s feelings got hurt in our little month of fun.”

“So does the condition apply to you as well? Can you go on four whole dates with yours truly and not fall for me?” Tara fluttered her eyelashes at him. “I don’t know. I think your chances are pretty slim.”

“I’m willing to take the risk.” His stomach did a funny little dance. Was he underestimating the risk? No. He’d vowed to never fall in love again after Jessica, and his heart hadn’t been in the remotest danger since. And it wouldn’t be now. “Okay. Let’s stop playing around and get to the point. Do you accept the dare or not? There’s no shame in chickening out, Tara. All you have to do is say uncle and drink that lovely glass of beer in front of you.”

She worried her bottom lip, drawing his attention there. Damn. She had the most kissable lips he’d ever seen, and he’d seen many beautiful women in his line of work. There was just something about them. He wet his lips, imagining how they would feel against his own. They were the perfect shade of deep pink, and the bottom lip was just a little fuller than her top one with a light split down the middle, plumping up the two halves. Heat spread through his body, and the need to kiss her became almost unbearable.

“I accept your dare,” she said, slapping her hand on the counter as though she was calling his bet at a poker table.