Page 90 of Guys Can't Write Romance
She shook her head. “Okay. But if I get blisters because of your plan, I’m reporting that to Chloe, too.”
He looked down at her heels. “You can wear my sneakers.”
“So I can report to Chloe how you gave me athlete’s foot? I’ll take my chances in heels.”
He chuckled as they turned onto the boardwalk and headed down it to the bars. “You’re really out to get me in trouble, aren’t you?”
“Yup.”
They walked for fifteen minutes before turning off the boardwalk onto a pedestrian street, each side lined with noisy dive bars, cafes, restaurants, and a lively crowd.
“Oh, no, you didn’t,” Daisy said, staring up at the familiar mermaid sign above The Salty Siren. The smell of fried food and beer wafted out the door as a group of loud twenty-somethings stumbled out, laughing and yelling over each other about their next stop.
“Oh yes, I did,” he grinned.
Daisy stared down and her little black evening dress and heels and shot Chad a frown. “I’m gonna stick out like a sore thumb.”
“I guarantee that in twenty minutes, you won’t even care. You ready for the Olympics of pub crawls?”
“No,” she said, but her smirk said ‘yes.’
“Good. Let’s get started,” he said, opening the door for her.
Inside the bar was just how Daisy remembered it, loud, sticky, and wildly unglamorous. They squeezed through the crowd and wedged themselves onto two open stools at the bar, settling into the worn leather cushions. Chad signaled Carly, the bartender, while Daisy tugged the hem of her black dress discreetly down her thighs. It stopped several inches above her knees. Chad happened to catch this.
“Damn,” he said teasingly. “I didn’t know you had legs, Fields.”
She looked at him, her cheeks flushing. “What?”
He nodded at the dress. “You’re always in jeans or teacher skirts. This is an unexpected plot twist.”
“A good plot twist?”
He smiled. “A really good one.”
A playful, unexpected smile formed on her lips. In three years of dating Ethan, he had never once looked at her with the admiration she saw in Chad’s eyes. “Does that mean the girl in your book is gonna have legs?”
Chad’s smile reached his eyes as his own cheeks turned a shade of pink to match hers. “She is now.”
Something warm bubbled up in Daisy’s chest, and to her surprise, a laugh escaped. It was light and genuine and felt safe, like snuggling beneath her Hallmark blanket on a cold night.
“You’re blushing, McKenzie,” she teased.
“No, I’m not.” He rubbed his cheeks, which only made her smile more.
“Are too. I’m giving you a gold star for making me laugh.”
“Definitely blushing,” Carly said as she set two pints of beer on the bar in front of him. She gave Daisy a wink, then headed back to the taps to fill more orders.
“Told you,” Daisy said as Chad slid her beer over to her.
“Fine. Maybe there’s a little pink there,” Chad said as he raised his beer. “What are we toasting to tonight?”
She looked at her beer for a moment as she considered this, then raised it. Her smile warmed. “How about to friends? The good ones who make you laugh.”
He smiled as they clinked their glasses together. “To friends. And lots more laughs.”
The beers started slow, but by the time random appetizers arrived, Daisy was actually having fun. She picked up one of the fried calamari rings and examined it. “How can something so greasy taste so good?”
