Page 86 of The Rules of Dating a Younger Man

“Everything I do, I do because I love you.” He smiled. “You know that, right?”

I sighed. “I do know that.”

He put his hand on my shoulder. “Try to have some fun tonight, okay?”

I shrugged. “I’ll see if I can find it in me.”

He wriggled his brows. “There was a major thing in you I apparently didn’t know about.”

Laughing, I smacked him.

“Was it as good as I imagine?” he asked.

“Far, far better.”

“Damn.” He exhaled, putting his arm around me as we walked. “One can dream…”

After we returned to the table, I forced myself to engage in conversation with Everett and try to think about something besides Brayden.

Before we left the restaurant, Everett and I exchanged numbers. It turned out he was quite nice. He owned a furniture store and was divorced with two children. Everett also indicated he was done having kids. That was another plus in his column. I didn’t want to get involved with anyone who wanted children. Like Brayden.

My heart clenched. There I was thinking about him again.

CHAPTER 20

Brayden

I really didn’t feel like being here tonight, not even when a superhot blonde sidled up to me at the bar.

“Hi. I’m sorry to bother you,” she said. “I need to ask a big favor.”

“Okay…”

“You see that table of ladies behind me?” She motioned with her eyes for me to look over her left shoulder. “The ones who are probably staring at us right now and smiling like loons?”

I glanced over. Sure enough, three sets of eyes were glued to us. “Yep. I see ’em.”

“Okay, so…a year ago today my fiancé ended our engagement. Those are my three best friends, and they are never going to leave me alone until I talk to someone tonight.” She sighed. “They mean well. I know that. But I’m not ready to jump back into the dating pool. Do you think we could just talk for ten minutes? They’ll sleep better tonight not worrying that I’m going to die an old maid.”

I smiled and lifted my chin toward the stage. “You see that drummer up there? The one watching us with a dumb-ass smile right about now?”

The woman looked over and back. “Yes?”

“That’s the male version of your three ladies. I didn’t make it to engagement, though I’m pretty sure the woman who dumped me recently was the one. And it’s only been three months, not a year. But I agreed to come out tonight just so my buddy would stop making up reasons to pop in and check on me.”

“Perfect.” She smiled and extended her hand. “I’m Lacey.”

“Brayden.” We shook. “Nice to meet you. Can I buy you a drink?”

“How about a shot of tequila?” she said. “And I’m buying.”

“Even better.”

I glanced over at her friends again. They looked equal parts excited and nervous. “I’m going to look left and hold my hand up to call the bartender over. Why don’t you give your friends the thumbs up on the sly while I do that? Might help them relax a little.”

“Oooh… Good idea.”

A few minutes later, Lacey and I clinked tequila-filled shot glasses. I held mine up in a toast. “To moping around and getting teary-eyed when we see other couples looking happy.”

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