Page 43 of The Rules

“I don’t know why you’re all of a sudden so concerned with finding your soulmate,” Cat said, smothering her plate with syrup. “None of this seems like you.”

Dani shrugged. “I’m turning over a new leaf.” More buzzing from her purse.For God’s sake, Dylan. Not now.She reached in and turned it to silent.

“Yeah, but why? It’s like you made this timeline up in your head,” Cat continued. She pushed around her soggy french toast with her fork. “Nothing has really changed. You just decided to put all of this pressure on yourself for no reason.”

Were they fighting? Did she miss a memo? “That’s easy for you to say, Cat. You’ve already found your person.”

“You didn’t even want a person before this.”

“Do I need to remind you who you were when you met Josh?” Everyone just accepted Cat’s transformation from bitter man-hater to lovey-dovey newlywed. But apparently they all thought Dani was irredeemable based on the reactions she kept getting.

“Yeah, but I found someone who changed my mind,” Cat said. “You changed your mind and now you’re trying to find someone. It’s backwards.”

“So?”

“So what if it doesn’t go like that? What if you make a plan and it doesn’t come to fruition through no fault of your own? You’ll be upset.”

“I guess I might consider that point of view if I had any idea why you would bring this up when I’m two dates into this thing.”

Cat’s eyes narrowed. “To be fair, I’m just now hearing about it.”

The table went silent. Dani swallowed her retort. It wasn’t the same. Cat was making a conscious decision to keep something really, really important from her. She wouldn’t feel the same guilt. She wouldn’t feel any guilt at all. Maybe Cat was right. Maybe there would be consequences, but Cat’s feelings about the whole thing didn’t get to be one of those consequences. Not now.

“You’re right, Cat,” she said. “I should have told you. We’ve always told each other everything and I don’t want that to change.”

Cat looked chastened, but tears still burned behind Dani’s eyes. The tension pushed on her chest, making it hard to breathe.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” she said, pushing her chair away from the table. “I’ll be right back.”

She slipped into the single-stall bathroom, taking a deep breath and letting the bright lights dry her eyes. She pulled her phone out of her purse to check her messages.

Dylan: I need a favor.

Dylan: A date for a work thing.

Dylan: Fake date, of course. Free food, open bar, fancy. I’ll owe you.

Huh. She hadn’t expected that, though she supposed it was a fair trade. And a break from the stressful string of first dates sounded good right about then.

Dani: What will you owe me?

Dylan: Dealer’s choice.

Dani: I’m in. Text me the details. And thanks for the Cat info.

Dylan: You’re welcome. Now delete this message and destroy your phone. Secret mission protocol.

A laugh burst from her lips, echoing off of the porcelain. She didn’t feel like crying anymore at all.

Sixteen

“Iappreciate you doing this, Dani-pie.”Dylan handed his keys to the valet, then offered Dani his arm, leading her into the old stone-front building that he hoped was his next big win. “I know I’m taking one of your soulmate date nights.”

“There’ll be more,” she said. “Besides, dinner and drinks on Rideout and Pierce Architecture? Who would turn that down?”

He laughed. “So shrewd. I like that about you.”

The building he’d been vying for for weeks had been built as a bank in the twenties. It still bore the original black and white checkered floor and grooved pillars. Gaudy chandeliers dropped from the ceiling like swooping birds, and a ten-foot-tall, round vault took up a large chunk of the back of the room, though someone had turned it into a walk-in service bar.

---