Page 45 of The Rules

Dylan’s jaw fell open. “You have such a wicked mouth, Danica.”

“Oh, please. You love my mouth.” She licked her bottom lip then pursed her lips and he remembered how much he did love it. He loved it when it was spitting fire at him, he loved it when it worked hard to hold back a giggle, and he really loved it when it was pressed against a certain part of his body.

He leaned in to taste those pretty red lips, but she turned her cheek.

“Careful,” she whispered. “I can see your thoughts turning dirty, and you’re supposed to be pretending to be a gentleman.”

He took a deep breath and pressed a chaste kiss to her cheek. “Fine. Later?”

She narrowed her eyes—two little slits of ocean blue. “That isn’t really part of our arrangement,” she said.

“Neither was Minnie’s birthday party.” He was trying to be smooth, but he really hoped she’d say yes. The night had just started and already he didn’t want it to end. The way Dani carried herself, like she was the guest of honor and just waiting for everyone else to figure it out—it was hot as hell. He wanted to walk around this decrepit old building with her, pretend she was his for a while. He wanted to watch all these people stare at her because she was the most beautiful thing in the room, then he wanted to take her home and touch all the parts they couldn’t see.

He really just wanted to keep hanging out with her as long as she’d let him. The hair on his neck stood up at that realization, but he ignored it and focused on the dip in the front of her dress while he waited for her answer.

Dani nodded, then pulled away. She fixed her smile to innocent, but her cheeks were flushed. “Later,” she said. “Now get me a drink, and take me to the terrace.”

The view from the terrace was spectacular. Attached to the back of the building, it jutted out over a garden trimmed with lanterns that illuminated hundreds of pink and red blooms. The stagers for this event had obviously wanted to highlight this secret oasis, and Dani could see why. The mid-August humidity was thick and heady, scented with rose and earth. Soft music drifted out through glass-paned double doors. Mrs. Jansen was right. This place had something to it that was hard to describe, but you couldfeelit in every square inch of the place.

Even Dylan looked impressed as he leaned against the railing, sipping champagne. Though she could see his thoughts running. She knew this was the job that had him stressed the other night and she could see it in his posture tonight. He was contemplating something in the moonlight. Something that made his shoulders tense.

She reached for his hand, half remembering her part, and half wanting to give him some encouragement. The rest of it might be pretend, but they were friends, and she cared about this for him.

“You okay?” she asked.

Dylan smiled, his eyes unexpectedly soft. “Of course.”

He picked her hand up, brushing his lips over the inside of her wrist. It was sweet and intimate and it took her by surprise. Maybe he hadn’t been brooding about the job.

“This is the romance I was talking about,” Mrs. Jansen said. She’d found them again, approaching their little corner with a knowing look. Dani blushed. “Did you know this building was used for political soirees in the twenties? After that, when it became a museum, people could still book the grand hall for weddings and other parties.” She waved an arm across the gorgeous view. “Of course, like anything it’s had some growing pains, phases it would like to forget, but you can almost feel the excitement of its heyday and the glamour of what it could be mixing together tonight. That’s what we hope to keep alive when we restore it.” She held a hand up and spoke in a whisper. “And what we hope to convince the city commissioners and historical society of tonight.”

Dani could see it, the old dancing with the new. She got a little excited herself at the idea.

“It does have an ambiance,” she said. “Will you continue to make it available to the public for those types of events?”

“Oh, yes. It’s my goal to use the revenue from events to fund an expansion of the gardens. We’ll offer indoor and outdoor space right here in the city. Whoever gets the job,” she said, looking pointedly at Dylan, “will be tasked with keeping the vintage feel while expanding and upgrading the space into a premier event location.”

“Sounds lovely.”

“Doesn’t it? Places like this are so important to people. I like to think that all of the happiness that occurs between four walls can be suspended and passed on if we preserve the place. That’s why I love what we do.”

Dani looked to Dylan, waiting for him to pick up on that opening. Give Josh a few beers and he could give a dissertation on the way people place value and significance to the places in our lives. She’d listened with interest to a few of his speeches, finding some common ground there with what she did—unearthing what’s really important to people and presenting them the best version of it. For her, it was a brand or an image that reflected a person’s dreams. For Josh, it was designing a space where they could grow it. That was what Dylan sold.

Unfortunately, Dylan didn’t seem to have even heard. He was staring at her like she’d just shown up.

“She sounds like Josh, doesn’t she?” Dani asked, nudging him back to life.

Mrs. Jansen’s eyes lit up. “Oh?”

“Dylan’s partner has a bit of an obsession with restorations like this. In fact, he and his wife just got married in a small chapel on the grounds of an old convent their firm worked on. Rideout and Pierce turned it into senior living, but they kept all of its historic charm.”

“Ah. The Abbott Building. Our corporation bid for that job, but we lost. I did keep up with the press releases. Just beautiful work.”

Dylan finally caught up. “It was one of our favorites,” he said.

Mrs. Jansen gave him a playful, yet shrewd look. “This is a much smaller project. Why are you fighting so hard for it?”

“We’ve expanded recently,” Dylan said. “We’ve hired on another full-time architect, and soon another salesperson, so that the principals, Josh and myself, can handpick the projects that we feel fit with the vision of our company. Like this one.”

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