Page 88 of My Rules

“No.” He smiles over at me. “You are trusting. Trusting and gullible are two different things.”

I sit back, dejected. “I don’t know if I’ll ever get the hang of this dating thing.”

“Well ...” He sips his drink. “You won’t be dating long.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because the first man who gets a chance with you is going to snap you up and keep you forever.”

I smile as I go over his words. “What about you?”

He snorts and chokes on his coffee. “What?” He coughs. “I mean ...”

“Oh ... crap.” I cringe in embarrassment. “I didn’t mean you snap me up. As if you would ever snap me up,” I stammer. “I mean ... a girlfriend for you. I mean Ruby.”

He rolls his eyes as if knowing what I’m going to say next.

“What are you actually looking for in a woman?”

He rolls his lips, as if contemplating his answer before saying it out loud. “I don’t actually know.” He gives a subtle shrug. “Someone kind and honest. A fun best friend to do life with.”

“You’ve never met a woman like that before?”

“Well, I know I haven’t spent a night with her yet.” His sandy-brown hair hangs in curls over his forehead.

“What does that mean, exactly?”

“Well ... I think I like them, and then I spend the night with them, and I want to chew my arm off to get out of there and run for the hills.”

I smile over at him. “How many women have you slept with?”

“Too many to answer that question.”

We stare at each other as the air changes between us. I can’t put my finger on what the change is. All I know is that it’s there.

“You look beautiful tonight,” he says softly.

I feel my face blush as his eyes linger on me. “Thanks.”

“And now that you’re a famous foot model ...” He gives me a slow, sexy smile.

“Ha ha,” I laugh. “What about that? Can you believe it?”

“Absolutely.”

“I cannot believe I made fifty-two hundred dollars in one week.” I get the giggles. “I just can’t ... my mind is blown.”

He chuckles and leans his face onto his hand; his pointer finger steeples up to his temple. His eyes are dark, and his lips are big, and it suddenly dawns on me that Blake Grayson is probably the most handsome man I have ever met.

“How can I ever pay you back for this Foot Finder thing?” I say to curb my wayward thoughts.

“Well . . . there is something.”

“Name it.”

He scrunches up his nose as if knowing this is a huge ask. “Can you come to my cousin’s wedding with me? I cannot handle another wedding with my aunts all trying to set me up with every woman in attendance.”

I smile. I can so imagine that. “Sure.”

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