Dare narrows his eyes, but there’s laughter in them. “Is this you, trying to get a bike ride in addition to a portrait?”
I narrow my own. “Is this you, offering to give me one?”
Dare hesitates, and something in his eyes is troubling, something unsure, but finally he shrugs. “I don’t see why not. It doesn’t look like rain.”
He heads toward his bedroom.
“I’ll grab a shirt.”
If you must.
He calls out at me.
“If you look in that chest by the door, you’ll find an extra helmet.”
I do as he says, and sure enough, there’s one there.
“Why do you have an extra?” I ask, pulling it out and closing the lid.
“Because you mentioned that you might want a ride,” he answers, re-emerging from his room, a shirt in his hand. “Safety first, and all that.”
He pulls the shirt over his head, and I’m not sure what I’m more enthralled with. His rippling abs, or the fact that he bought me a helmet.
Specifically for me.
&nbs
p; It’s enough to make my stomach flip.
“Thanks,” I murmur.
He throws a look in my direction that can only be classified as sizzling. His near-black eyes spark with heat, and it’s enough to set my nerve-endings on fire.
I gulp.
“Are you ready right now?” Dare asks me. “You can leave your picture here.”
I shrug, trying to be casual. “It’s as good a time as any.”
He grins. “That it is, Calla-Lily.”
22
VIGINTI DUORUM
When we’re standing in front of Dare’s bike, a shiny black Triumph, it looks aggressive and intimidating, and I’m suddenly nervous.
Dare glances at me. “Don’t have the balls?”
I toss my hair back and laugh.
“I think we just established that I don’t have balls. Right?”
I could swear he flushes as he shakes his head.
“That’s true. I just saw that for myself.”
And now I’m the one flushing as I see my reflection in his dark eyes, as I remember how I’d just laid in front of him, half naked.