Page 19 of The Rules

Dani’s lips parted and she stuttered at the quick subject change. “No.”

“Why the hell not?” She’d been there last year, just like he’d been to Emma’s Christmas Cocktails get together, and he’d run in that charity 5K Sonya’s hospital sponsored. Josh and Cat’s relationship meant they all spent holidays and stuff together. It had been that way for two years now.

Dani leaned back in her stool. “Dylan…”

“Bring your date if you want.” His hand curled into a fist at his side at the thought, but whatever got her there. This new dynamic was unsustainable and they both knew it. Dani had said she wanted things to go back to the way they were, and her coming to his party was the way they were, goddamnit.

She chewed her lip. “Are you inviting Mia?”

“Nah, she’s more of a ‘when I’m in town’ type of friend.”

Dani rolled her eyes and took a sip of her wine, letting him dangle. It was working. Moisture formed on the back of his neck as he waited. He could hear his heart beat like a loud clock ticking in a silent room. For whatever reason, he really wanted her to come.

“It’s a little late to find a date,” she finally said.

“Or come alone.” He shrugged. “You know you’ll have a good time.”

Her pretty lips pursed and all of his blood rushed downward.

“Fine. I’ll come.”

His breath whooshed out, and he mentally pumped a fist in the air.He’d count that as a win.

Six

Dani opted to walk toBruno’s, though she’d spent the entire seven blocks looking over her shoulder for dark SUVs. Sonya was right—only her. After Dylan had left with Mia, and Nick had returned, giving her some story about it being his mother on the phone, she’d pulled out one of her ready-made excuses and left him with a full beer and the basket of bread to himself.

How the hell had she let herself get set up with a drug kingpin? That was probably romanticizing it. For all she knew, Nick was just selling weed to high school kids.

Oh my God.This was her life! She’d just tried to quantify her date’s status in the hierarchy of drug dealers!

And of fucking course Dylan would be there to witness it all. Him andMia. When she’d spotted them it was like every bad decision she’d ever made had manifested into physical form and found a date to attend a live showing of her humiliation.

When she reached the door to her favorite bar, she took her hair down and ditched her jacket, reaching down to massage her calves. Her “sky-high” heelswere feeling less power statement and more unnecessary torture devices now that she was clicking across a beer-soaked wooden floor. By the time Sonya showed up, still in her scrubs from work, Dani was perched on a stool at the bar, obliterating a strong mixed drink.

“Dressed a little fancy for this place,” Sonya said, hugging her then hopping onto the stool beside her. “Where did this drug dealer take you?”

“Some expensive steakhouse a few blocks from here.”

Sonya held up a hand to the bartender and he waved. “Guess he can afford it, given his line of work.”

“Shut up.”

Sonya giggled and took a menu from the bartender. She ordered a margarita and nachos, and Dani signaled a refill on her cocktail.

“I’m starving,” Sonya said. “I could go for a steak dinner right about now.”

“Well, order up. I’m getting the brownie sundae.”

“Wow, dessert for dinner, huh? You’ve had bad dates before. What was it about this one?”

“Besides the felony?” Dani sighed. She might as well admit what was really bothering her. Somewhere on the walk there, she’d realized that any other night she would have been live-tweeting the hilarious tale of her date-gone-wrong. A date with a kingpin (he was definitely a kingpin) might have gone viral. She would have laughed about it for days, then leveraged the attention to plug some business for her company.

But instead of turning her lemons into lemonade, she felt like someone was squeezing those lemons into an open wound.

And she knew exactly what was rubbing her raw.

“I was supposed to be having drinks with Cat tonight,” she blurted, “but instead I’m on another dead-end date, and she’s on her honeymoon. It’s just starting to feel like the beginning of a new era.”

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