Page 23 of The Rules

Cat’s nose wrinkled. “Of course.”

Stupid question—things were always okay in Josh Land. But what else would have her stressed out?

“Anything new going on at work you want to talk about?” Cat was a victim’s advocate attorney. She worked long hours and saw depressing shit every single day, but Cat never missed an opportunity to prove how tough she was. Still, doing that kind of work could wear on anyone.

Cat wiped her forehead with the back of her hand. “No. No. I’m just… tired. It’s been a long month.”

“Sure,” Dani said, letting it drop.

She was about to bite the bullet and ask where Dylan was, when she felt a familiar tug on her ponytail. She steeled herself to turn around and see her plan shot to hell by a busty brunette or a blonde swimsuit model beside him, but when he rounded her shoulder and took a seat on Cat’s lounge chair, he was alone.

He was also shirtless in bright red swim trunks and he had a pair of Oakleys pushed into his hair. Pool water, or maybe sweat, beaded on his bare chest and glistened in the deep ab lines across his stomach. Dirty memories made her mouth water.

“Dani-pie,” he said, his eyes glowing in the sunlight. “Glad you could make it.”

“Me too. Thanks for the invite.”

“Open invitation,” he said. “You know that.” Something secret sparked between them as they pretended her attendance here hadn’t been pre-negotiated. It fizzled just as quickly when he reached over and poked Cat’s arm, needling her over her drink choice. This was fine. It was justDylan. Sure, the last time she’d seen him she’d been at the bottom of a hill, but today she was a warrior with a plan. She just needed to invite him along.

“So, how was Hawaii, guys?” Minnie asked Josh and Cat. She climbed onto the picnic bench beside Shawn and clinked her glass on his.

Cat sighed and snuggled under Josh’s arm on the lounge chair they’d decided to share despite it being a hundred degrees. “It was amazing. It was so hard to come back.”

“I bet,” Dylan said. “Did Josh get you on the board?”

Josh laughed into his beer.

Dani already knew the answer to that. Cat was no daredevil, nor was she particularly outdoorsy. One time in college, she and Sonya had tried to talk Cat into taking a rock climbing class with them. Sonya was into it for the full-body workout, and Dani had checked out the website and found a page full of hot instructors who she decided she didn’t mind being harnessed to. They’d forced Cat to come, and she’d made it about ten feet off the ground before she curled into a ball and made the instructor carry her dead weight back to the ground.

“Do I look like I have a wetsuit tan line?” Cat asked.

Dani snorted. “You look like you spent the whole week in the position you’re in right now.”

Dylan tossed her a mischievous wink. “I bet there were a couple of other positions involved.”

“Good point. I’m sure she spent some time on her back.”

“Probably some on her hands and knees.”

“Alright,” Josh said, but even he was smiling at Cat’s mortified expression. She was so easy.

“You two are rude,” Cat said. “How was your date, Dani? With the guy your co-worker set you up with.”

Ugh. She’d almost banished Nick from her mind. Leave it to Cat to remember. “We… didn’t have a lot in common,” she said, ignoring the way Dylan’s eyes stayed on her. “I called Sonya to rescue me.”

“You didn’t even use him for a night on the town? Must have been bad.”

Understatement.But it didn’t matter. She was done with guys like Nick.

Her new dating adventure rushed to Dani’s tongue, but something reached up and pulled the words back. If she did tell Cat, she’d have to leave out the whole chastity clause and how she planned to get around it. Especially since he was sitting right there. She flicked her eyes to Dylan, and he turned back to inspecting the pool water.

“I actually have another one lined up for next weekend,” she said, leaving it at that.

Cat tapped her iced tea to Dani’s drink. “Nice.”

“What are you on some post-honeymoon diet?” Dani pointed at Cat’s barely-touched plate from lunch. “You barely touched your food.”

She shook her head. “It’s too hot to eat.”

---