Seeking Escape

20: Truth or Dare

*** Joyce's POV ***

While brunch had kept my mind preoccupied, sitting in the car with nothing but the low hum of Quinn's high-end engine as a distraction, Dan loomed large. Quinn had yet to give me his card and I didn't know if I wanted it. He was a reminder of who I was before my life changed forever. Who I could have been. That innocent girl didn't die, but she might as well have.

Quinn must have sensed my spinning brain as he pulled the car over at the next overlook. "Are you afraid of heights?"

"Of my many fears, heights are not one." I said dryly.

He grinned. "Perfect."

He got something out of his trunk and scurried around the car to take my hand and guide me where he wanted to go. "What do you have up your sleeve, Mr. Matthews?"

"Remind me to call my mom and thank her later." He said with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"So mysterious." I teased. He led me past the barriers of the lookout and down a narrow path that went down to the beach. The waves pounded the rocks that jutted out bravely from the shore.

He opened his arms wide. "Pick a spot for us to settle into for a while."

I looked at him and walked towards a spot that was partially shaded. He unfurled what looked like a beach blanket and settled it over the sand. He sat and laid on his side, patting the spot next to him.

I slipped off my sandals and mirrored him. The sun combined with the cool breeze made for the perfect ambient temperature. Quinn looked like a male model the way his body glimmered, toned and posed for a viewer's delight. He looked at me playfully over the top of his sunglasses. "Truth or dare?"

"What? Seriously?" I laughed in his face.

"Come on, Joyce. It's a great way to get to know each other." He prodded.

"If you're 15 maybe. I'll always pick truth." I warned.

"Cool. Is that your choice?" He asked eagerly. I swallowed hard, unsure of what he wanted to know and if I'd be willing to tell him. We'd made so much progress already. My delay registered with him and he reached out and gripped my chin delicately to get my attention. "If you don't want to answer, you don't have to. I just, I want to keep peeling back the layers. You captivate me, Joy."

I blushed, gave a little nod, and gazed into his eyes with trust. He started out with easy questions. How did I decide to go into my line of work? Did I ever consider giving it a go with Neil? If I could only eat one food for the rest of my life what would it be?

He kept choosing dare. I made him climb a palm tree, show me his best catwalk, and recite the dirtiest limericks he could find in the style of a Shakespearean actor. The whole thing was just so easygoing. I had a feeling he wanted to ask about Dan, but he didn't. But on the next truth he asked a question that made me hesitate even more than if he had asked about Dan.

"Tell me your favorite family tradition." I clammed up instantly, sitting upright and drawing my arms around my legs. Quinn noticed and followed suit. "You don't..."

"Going shopping with my grandmothers. They were so radically different from each other, but I loved each one for different reasons. My mom's mom was all about the experience. We dressed nicely to go to mall. My dad's mom, polar opposite. We would run into the corner drugstore, dirty, sweaty, barefoot even sometimes. Both were liberating experiences for different reasons." I shared, staring out where the sun made the water seem like an illusion.