Page 40 of The Rules

She shook her head and finished her bite. “Sonya came up with it, actually.”

A splash of beer went down the wrong tube and he sputtered, coughing into his elbow. “Wait, so Sonya knows about this? Does Cat?” He blinked at her, his eyes streaming from his near-choking experience.

“No. Only Sonya and Benji know. And neither of them know it’s you.”

“Who’s Benji?” He wasn’t sure why he was getting defensive. What did he care who knew he was sleeping with Dani? She was a badge any guy would be proud to wear.

But maybe that was it. He didn’t like some guy named Benji thinking that he was treating Dani in some way he wasn’t—like a piece of ass or a trophy bang. He never would have suggested some hook-up arrangement with Dani Petrillo. She was a goddess—gorgeous, smart, out of his league if he were honest. Sure, he’d made a few half-hearted passes at her over the years. That was his default setting, but he’d never expected to get anywhere. The night of the wedding had taken him completely by surprise. The same with this deal. This was her idea.

“Calm down, Dylan. Benji is my co-worker. He’s the one who showed me the site.”

“DoesBenjiknow all of the details here?”

“Yes he knows the details. What’s the big deal?”

“I just feel like I’m not coming off too good in this story unless it’s told right.”

Her smile did that half-pity thing it had the morning after the wedding. “I promise I’m telling it right,” she said, patting his hand. “But you’re right, I shouldn’t have told it at all. It’s your business too. You don’t have to worry about me telling Sonya or Cat or any of them. Trust me. The last thing we want is for everyone to know about this.”

His jaw tightened another click.Right.He wasn’t even the trophy bang in this situation. He was the dirty little secret.

Something age-old pricked at him. A feeling of unworthiness that he’d buried a long time ago.

Dani closed the cardboard container she’d been eating from. “I’m stuffed,” she said. She stood and walked to the kitchen, tossing her leftovers in the fridge and rinsing out her beer bottle.

That was his cue, he supposed. “Yeah. I’d better get going.” He lifted himself from the warm spot he’d made on her couch and pulled on his t-shirt. Then he collected his tie and belt, wrapping them both around his hand. “I guess I’ll see you next weekend.”

“Yeah.” Dani toyed with the ends of her hair, her other hand on her hip. He knew that move. She wanted to make sure both hands were occupied when it was time for the goodbye.

Too bad. He was taking one more touch before he left. That was what he was getting from this deal, right? He snaked his hand around her waist and pulled her hard against his chest.

She landed with anoomph.

“Say goodbye to me right,” he whispered against her ear. He felt her pulse thumping in her neck, and he dragged his lips across that soft patch of skin. All her muscles went loose in his embrace.

She caught herself, though. Her hands slid up his sides, coming to rest on either side of his neck, tugging him to look at her. Now instead of pounding angrily in his ear, his pulse rocketed. Damn, they were well-matched.

“Good night, Dylan,” she breathed.

“Good night, Dani.” He kissed her again, letting his teeth drag along her bottom lip. He felt her shiver and he didn’t even try to hide his smirk.

Good luck, Mike.

Fifteen

“Joshua!” Dylan let himself intoJosh’s house, pushing open the door with his shoulder, his hands full of pizza and beer. It was Saturday night and he and Josh were going to spend it switching back and forth between the Red Sox game and the Orioles game on Josh’s extended sports cable package.

Dylan was also going to spend the night trying to ignore the fact that while he was hanging out at Josh and Cat’s house, Dani was at a romantic waterfront concert in the city. He wasn’t sure why he’d felt the need to push Dani for those details. Having a picture in his head of who she’d be with, who’d be touching her after him, hadn’t gone down as easy as he thought it would. It was nothing a few beers and trash-talking Josh’s team wouldn’t delete from his brain, though.

“Kit Cat?” He set the pizza on the kitchen island. The pre-game blared from the living room, but neither of them appeared.

Finally, after Dylan had helped himself to a beer and pulled out some plates, Josh appeared from the hall to his bedroom.

“Did I interrupt something, bro?” He gave Josh a conspiratorial elbow to the ribs, but he didn’t react.

“Nope. Cat will be out in a minute.” Josh got a beer for himself, then he opened a can of ginger-ale, pouring it into a glass, and carried it all into the living room.

Dylan followed with three plates of pizza. He took the armchair, leaving the couch for the newlyweds. “So, we have to talk a little shop,” he said.

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