Page 78 of Sweet Chaos
“Hey, hey, hey.” He grabbed my arm. “Where you going? Me and my buddy are heading down to the beach with some brews.” I looked over at the guy he was with. They both looked like gym rats, beefed up and brawny with corded muscles and shaved heads. “Come party with us.”
I shook my head. “No, thanks. I’m good.”
“Bring a friend,” the other guy said as if I hadn’t just shot them down.
“She’s with me.” Dylan slung an arm around my shoulders, tucking me close to his side.
The guy held up his hands. “My bad. Just inviting her to a beach party.”
“She’s not interested,” Dylan said tersely.
Dylan ushered me into the brightly lit wine and liquor store, his arm still around my shoulders. I looked up at his face. His jaw was clenched. “Was he hassling you?” he asked.
I shook my head. He studied my face for a moment and I gave him a smile. “No. It was fine. I accidentally bumped into him.”
“That guy’s an asshole.”
“Do you know him?”
“We used to go to the same gym.”
“If you ask me, he pumps too much iron. He’s too bulked up.”
“Not your type, huh?”
“Nope.” I squeezed his bicep and gave him a flirty wink. “I like my men lean and mean.”
His brows raised. “Your men? What’s all this talk about men?” He nuzzled my neck. “You’ve only got one man.”
“And he’s more than enough.”
He grinned and gave me a little smack on the butt, his good mood restored. The past month had been like a dream. Everything had been so good that I was starting to question if this was really my life.
“What are we looking for?” he asked.
We stopped in front of the white wine selection and I slid my phone out of my pocket, checking the text from Nic. I showed him the screen and he read the text then we moved down the aisle to the imported wines, scanning the bottles on the racks, looking for the one Nic had recommended. She was turning into a wine snob.
Two weeks ago, Cruz had whisked her off to Napa or a weekend getaway. The poor guy didn’t even like wine but he’d do anything to make Nic happy, so it was a weekend of wine tasting for him. He told me he’d spit most of it in the bucket which made me laugh.
Dylan plucked out a bottle of Riesling from the rack and studied the label then held it up to me for closer inspection. “Is this the one?”
“I think so.” I double-checked Nic’s text and confirmed he’d gotten it right. “Yeah, that’s the one.”
Then I checked the price and my eyes widened. “Put it back. That’s way too expensive for a bottle of wine.”
Instead of putting it back, Dylan grabbed two more and carried all three bottles to the counter and set them down.
“Dylan. Seriously. She’s ridiculous. Put it back.” I tried to grab the bottles, but he swatted my hand away.
“Stop being a pain in the ass.”
“But, I can’t afford that.”
He scowled. “You need to stop worrying about money. I’m buying it so get over yourself.”
“Dylan. That’s ninety bucks for three bottles of wine. That’s ridiculous.”
“Which part of stop did you not understand?” He looked at the man behind the counter. “Ring them up before she puts them back. I need to grab some beer.”
