“You were drawing me,” I say simply, my hands dropping to my sides. I don’t know how I feel, other than confused.
He actually seems flustered.
“Yeah. I…it’s a hobby.”
“You’re really good,” I tell him. “So good that you were able to draw a birthmark you’ve never seen before.”
Long pause.
Finally, Dare sighs. “What do you mean by that?”
I sigh back. “The birthmark on my side. You’ve never seen it, so how did you draw it? Have you been watching me? If so, why?”
Another long pause.
“Uh, I’m not stalking around spying on you, if that’s what you’re implying,” Dare finally answers. “I sit outside sometimes, and you go outside a lot. When you came back from sailing the other day, you weren’t wearing a cover up. I noticed it then.”
Oh. Obviously.
“I’m an idiot,” I breathe. “I’m sorry.”
He shakes his head. “No worries. I can see where you might jump to that conclusion.”
Yeah, because I’m wacko.
He glances at me again. “I should be apologizing to you. For drawing you in such an… intimate way. I’m sorry. I hope I haven’t made you feel uncomfortable.”
If by uncomfortable, he means incredibly flattered, then yes. He has.
“It’s okay,” I tell him quickly. “You made me look beautiful. Who could be mad about that?”
“You are beautiful,” he says evenly, his eyes flickering with a million different things. The air is charged, thick with something exciting, and I long to reach up on my tiptoes and kiss him.
“You never said what you’re doing out so late,” Dare reminds me, interrupting my tempting thoughts.
I look around, hunting for a feasible answer, but the quiet forest doesn’t give me a thing. “I just couldn’t sleep. I saw your light….”
“I couldn’t sleep either,” Dare confides. “I draw when that happens.”
“You draw me,” I say slowly. “Why me?”
Of all people in the world, why me?
He grins, a slow, sultry grin that seriously curls my toes.
“I don’t only draw you, Calla-Lily. I draw everything that I find interesting.”
He finds me interesting. My heart hammers, and I forget that a few minutes ago, I thought he might be a stalker.
“You do?”
He nods. “I do.”
I’m shivering now from the night breeze and Dare notices.
“You should run up to bed, Calla,” he suggests. “It’s cold out here.”
I nod wordlessly. “Ok. Good night, Dare.”