The Dare Me Date (A Small Town Romance Short Story Series) (2 page)

“But we’ve been talking for over a year. I think we know each other very well.” His eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Don’t you?”

“I’ll be fine.” I played Maddie off. “You go back and I’ll call you.”

“O-kay.” Maddie grabbed her purse off the bar and flung it over her shoulder, giving me one quick thumbs-up before she walked out the door.

“What can I get you two lovebirds?” Abraham’s eyes danced with amusement. I was squirming inside and he knew it.

“We will take two baskets.” I took the liberty of ordering since I knew it was the best fish in all of the United States.

“Two baskets coming up.”

“Can you bring them to that table?” Benjamin pointed over my shoulder to where he was sitting before this big lie began.

“No problem.” Abraham nodded.

“When you agreed to the fish fry, I was shocked.” He picked up my mug and moved it to the table. “Especially since you said you didn’t care too much for fish.”

“Two fried fish dinners.” Abraham brought the baskets filled with fish and chips to the table and sat them down. “Anything else for you two lovebirds?”

“No.” Benjamin wasn’t amused.

“I guess they get that a lot this time of the year.” I smiled, and then took a big bite of cod. I like fish whether Jasmine likes it or not. And I wasn’t going to let Brew Ha Ha’s Friday night fish fry go to waste, especially with a one-hundred-dollar bill at stake.

Trying not to look at him, I could feel his stare. He was assessing me, wondering what he had gotten himself into. I was definitely not the New York type nor did I have fancy clothes like his. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder what Jasmine might look like.

“I thought we could go to the ski lodge and see what they were doing there after we eat.” He scooted his chair closer to me and draped his arm on the back of mine. “Are you sure you want to go through with this date?”

His wild sapphire eyes mellowed as he tried to read my face. The warmth of his smile made my heart turn over in delight.

He’s not yours. He thinks you are Jasmine. New York Jasmine.
I reminded myself that this was not a real date and this man was not really interested in me…Jozy…hostess extraordinaire.

“I am a little tired from traveling, so maybe after dinner we should go our separate ways until morning.” I had to think of something fast. At least I’d have the night to think about what I had agreed to and get some decent clothes on. “We can hit the slopes early.”

I assume he and Jasmine had planned on skiing. It was peek season and that was the huge attraction to Floral.

“Sure.” He smiled and scooted his chair back. “I’m really glad you agreed to come and meet me.”

“Me too,” there was a tremor in my voice as our eyes met and a shock ran through me.
Jasmine was a lucky girl.

Chapter Two

“I love romance so much. I’m a sucker for it. I love it so much. It’s pathetic.”

~Drew Barrymore

“What have you gotten me into?” I asked Maddie. I called her as soon as I walked into my apartment.

“You’re home?” There was disappointment in her voice. “It’s only been an hour---a no-go on the Benjamin.”

“You better get over here and fast.” I rushed through the small loft to my makeshift closet that was a metal rod spanning across the back of the room. Resort towns were expensive to live in and this was the only place I could afford. “I have to pull together a New York look and fast for this all day date. Bring clothes!”

I slammed the phone down. I needed all the help I could get to pull this off.

Within no time, Maddie was at the door with an armload of clothes and shoes.

“He’s hot.” She told me something that I already knew. She dangled a pair of hot pink five-inch heels in my face. “These shoes will make him come crawling.”

“I don’t want him to come crawling.” I pushed her hand away. “I feel bad. He’s a nice guy and what we are doing is lying.”

“Did Jasmine show up?”

“No.”

“Then we aren’t lying.” Maddie shrugged. “We are helping him. You can even break it off if you want after tomorrow night.”

“I think I’ll go on the date, and quietly slip out of his life.” His eyes kept popping into my head, along with the warmth of his lips on my cheek when he dropped me off at the ski lodge. I had fibbed and told him I was staying there, and then walked the mile home after he dropped me off.

Too bad too, ‘cause he was a great guy. And she was right, he was hot. But, if he knew who I really was and how my life was so different than New York Jasmine’s, he’d be bored.

“I bet Jasmine is exciting. A big fashion queen.” I slid my hangers one-by-one as I looked through the same old clothes I’ve had for years.

“I brought my computer so we could look up People magazine and go through the celebrities to see what’s in style there.” Maddie pulled her laptop out of her bag.

She had all the latest equipment. Her laptop could tether to her phone so she would have wifi. I, on the other hand, didn’t own a computer. It was one of those luxuries that was going to have to wait until I became manager of Maggie’s. That could be years. Until then, I was content with using the guest computers at the bed and breakfast or the library.

See,” she shoved her computer in my face, “you could go as Bethany in a grey cable sweater, white t-shirt and jeans or Sarah in skinny jeans rolled at the ankles with those high heels on.”

I took the laptop and sat on my futon, clicking through the Star Tracks pictures. I could use some items from my closet to put together just for one day, or I could call it off.

“I don’t think I’m going to go.” I shut the computer and sat it next to me.

“What?” Maddie’s mouth dropped. “Oh, no. We have come too far now. I dared you!”

“Maddie, this is his heart we are playing with.” I paced back and forth. “Jasmine could be the love of his life.”

“She didn’t show up.”

“What if she was in some car wreck and in an emergency room right now dying?” I hope that wasn’t the case, but it could very well have been. “Or what if she missed her flight and will be here tomorrow?”

“What if’s it’s everything you want? You are going to follow through for two-hundred dollars.” Maddie upped the ante.

“Two-hundred?”

Maddie smiled. “I saw the way he looked at you. This could be the real deal.”

“I don’t think so.” I shook my head. My shaggy hair flopped from side to side reminding me that I had to do something with the mess. “Based on lies? Or this mop?”

“I already thought about that head of hair.” Maddie took her fingers and fluffed up my curls. “I made an appointment for you at Babb’s to get it straightened. Be there by 9 am.”

“If I didn’t know better, I’d think this was more of a setup than a dare.” I watched as she put all sorts of crazy clothes together.

“Just leave it to me.” She held up a fringed jacket up to my shoulders. “You are going to be way better than the real Jasmine.”

Chapter Three

“Soul meets soul on lover’s lips.” ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

Nervously, I waited by the fireplace at the lodge where I told Benjamin I would be, wearing the skinny jeans and white wool sweater that was a little tighter than I normally would wear, but Maddie insisted on it and the fringed jacket. I opted out of the sky-high heels for a cute pair of ankle boots until tonight. I figured if the date was going well, it would continue into dinner and I’d slip on the heels for a more formal look.

But who was I kidding? I wasn’t Jasmine from New York.  I was just playing Jasmine.

“Hey.” Benjamin put his hand on my shoulder and turned me around to face him. “I called out your name several times, but you didn’t hear me.” He tilted his brow, looking at me with uncertainty.

“It’s so loud in here with all the people; I guess I didn’t hear you.” I played with the dangling leather fringe to keep me from looking into his captivating eyes. I knew if I stared much longer, he’d have that hold on me that wouldn’t be easy to break.

Only for today.
I reminded myself to play it cool and keep my head on straight. Only it wasn’t my head that I was worried about. It was my heart.

“You look great. I love what you did with your hair.” He ran his finger down a strand of hair that took Babb two hours to accomplish. She told me not to get it wet or it would go right back to the shag top, so I made sure that I had my ski mask and hood with me that covers anything and everything on this part of my body.

“Thanks.” I shrugged, looking down at my feet. “I like to wear my hair all sorts of ways.”

“It really is great that we could meet like this.” Hhe said the words with the certainty of a man who could never be satisfied with only a dream. And this was the beginning of a dream to me.

He leaned in and before I knew what was going on, his lips touched mine like a whisper. His hands slipped up my arms, bringing me closer.

“So?” His sweet southern drawl filled the hollow space in my heart.

My eyes flew open, and I jumped back, realizing my lips were still positioned in a big pucker.

“I…uh…” I pressed my lips together uncertain of what he wanted me to say. I gave him a little punch on the arm. “Good job?” I asked more than complimented.

“Good job? That is all you have to say after all the planning we have done for that first kiss?” His questioning eyes gazed into mine as he pulled my chin up to face him. “Are you sure you want to go through with this?”

“Of course I do.” The words shocked me as they came pouring out of my mouth. I was never so sure about anything in my life more than finishing this date out. The money was the furthest thing from my mind.

I’d tell him in a heartbeat who I really am if I knew that he was into Jozy and not Jasmine.

“You seem so different in person than you did in your emails.” There was a twinge of disappointment in his voice.

Trying to swallow the lump that lingered in my throat I said, “I’m just nervous. That’s all. I have never used a dating service before and didn’t know what to expect. My nerves get the best of me sometimes.”

“Are you sure you’re up for skiing?”

“Absolutely!” That was one thing I was up for. Little did he know that I’d been skiing all my life and was kind of a pro at it.

“I think we go this way.” He pointed in the direction of the bunny slope.

I nodded, trying not to say anything to give away that this was my element. Happily, I followed him, hoping that I was going to impress him and maybe figure out a way to tell him the truth.

Chapter Four

“’Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” ~ Alfred Tennyson

“What was that?” Benjamin flipped his ski mask off. Even in a mask, he was beautiful.

“What was what?” I smiled, knowing that I had beaten him down the bunny slope in exquisite form.

He plunged his poles deep into the snow.

“For the first time out, you sure knew what you were doing.” His eyes showed a dullness of disbelief. “It seems to me that you know exactly how to ski.”

“And that’s a bad thing?” I dug my poles deep into the back of my skis to help get them off. Picking them up, I nodded or him to follow me toward the lift. I was going to show him some real moves.

“I thought we agreed you wouldn’t take any lessons until I showed you. Wasn’t it going to be our thing?” He shoved his gloved hands in his jacket pockets, his shoulders hunched.

“That’s all I know. The bunny slope.” I pretended to be cold. But even that was a lie. I had grown to love being in the snow and my body never feels better than on the slopes. “Let’s go warm up and then you can take me to the big ones.”

Benjamin straightened his shoulders and cleared his throat. “That sounds good.” He took my skis and poles. “I’ve got them.”

I followed like a good little girl, trying to remember that I couldn’t act as if I was any good at skiing and pretend to be someone I clearly was not. Jasmine sounded a little needy and being needy was a hard thing for me to pretend.

The warmth of the lodge hit like a hot furnace. I wasn’t use to going in the lodge at all, and he wanted to spend time in there with all the lovers that had nestled on the overstuffed couches and love seats by the fire.

“Look!”

The blood siphoned from my face when I saw what he was pointing to.
A photo booth
. Not only a dumb photo booth, but one with a big line of handholding, lip-smacking lovers.

“You’re joking, right?” I searched his face for a sign of humor, but he was a serious as a heart attack.

“You know what,” he paused, “this is not working out the way that we planned.” He gestured between us. “Maybe we should call it quits while we are still ahead.”

“Why?” I asked. Was he completely serious about the photo booth thing? It was cute and all, but I didn’t picture him as that type of guy. Then again, I had never pictured him as any type of guy.

“You are acting completely strange.” He unzipped his coat and laid all his outerwear on a lodge table before taking a seat. “First you tell me to meet you in front of Brew Ha Ha’s and I found you inside with
a friend,
and then you told me that you can’t ski, when you are clearly better than the instructor. And here,” he pointed to the photo booth, “you said that you loved photo booths and we should go up to the Jersey shore when I come to visit you in New York to get some taffy and a picture. Now all of the sudden, you make fun of something you suggested.”

I took a seat next to him. I had to tell him the truth. This had gone on long enough.

“I’m sorry.” I hung my head down. I couldn’t stand looking at him when I told him the awful lies that I had been living for the past fifteen hours now.

“Don’t be sorry.” He reached across the table and placed his hand over mine. His fingers were cool and smooth as they touched mine. He ran his hand up my arm, past my shoulders, and touched my trembling lips. “We had to find out if we have the same chemistry in person that we had on date.com.”

“I don’t want to end the date.” There was something about him. No man had ever given me the excitement I was feeling in every single crevice of my body that a single look from him gave me. It was something that I wasn’t willing to throw away so easily. If I only had a few more hours with him and could feel the way he made me feel during that time, it would be worth never finding love. “I brought my friend because I’m a good girl at heart and you never know who you are talking to on line. It was really to protect me.”