Page 4 of The Man She Loves to Hate

“Why do you wear them?”

She laughed. “Because Converse sneakers would be inappropriate with this dress?”

He nodded, but appeared thoughtful. She didn’t know much about Patrick beyond the rumors that had preceded his visit to town. Now that they were here, as he’d said in this “shadowed” corner, the settingdidfeel intimate. Her polite upbringing required cordiality, and so she dipped her toe into well-worn territory: small talk.

“Why weddings?”

“Why...weddings?” he repeated.

“Yes. Why do you crash weddings and film them?” She sipped from her water glass.

“It’s not always weddings. I’ve crashed a few private concerts, birthday parties in Beverly Hills. At least one awards show.”

“I saw that one. You were escorted out by security and ended up running from the cops. Classy.”

“That was a long time ago.” He averted his eyes like he wasn’t proud of his past.

“Yes, but you’re herenow. Planning hijinks for the Noble-Ramos wedding. Clearly, you’re not reformed.”

“Hijinks? That’s quite the Scooby-Doo description of my career.”

“A career made of showing up where no one wants you?”

He didn’t crumble beneath the veiled insult, but smiled and leaned back in his chair instead. He tapped the end of his salad fork on the table lightly as he spoke. “When I was younger, my college friends and I pulled a lot of dumb shit on unsuspecting people. Nothing malicious.”

“I’ve seen a few of those older videos. In one of them, you replaced the speaker at a fast-food restaurant with your own and whenever someone pulled up, you sang a popular song and goaded them into joining you.” Watching the unsuspecting person in the car laugh as they eventually sang alongwasentertaining, and had the surprising biproduct of making her feel light and happy.

“You’ve done your research.”

“You didn’t give me much of a choice. It’s good to know one’s adversary.”

“Is that what we are? I thought we just became partners.”

The waiter delivered their burgers and asked if they needed anything else. Trick waited for Rylee to answer, and when she saidno, thank you, he followed suit. Charming and polite. How totally unexpected.

They each lifted their burgers, their gazes locking for one charged second before she took her first bite. Juicy, flavorful, tender meat and a butter-brushed Brioche bun was offset by the crunch of lettuce, onions, bacon and pickles in between. The burger was heaven, and drew a low groan of approval from her throat.

He set down his burger and swiped his mouth with the black cloth napkin, nodding as he chewed.

“Damn,” he said as soon as his mouth wasn’t full.“Damn.”

“Good, right?” Holding her burger in one hand, Rylee dabbed her lips with her own napkin before taking another bite.

One “damn” had been for how good the burger tasted, the other reserved for Rylee. Her fair blond hair was pulled back, revealing the creamy expanse of her neck. One thin strap of her dress had slipped ever so slightly off her shoulder, and then she’d buried her face into her burger and had taken a hearty bite.

She was exquisite.

He couldn’t remember being as enamored by anyone as much as he was by her right now—and he was a guy who noticed the little things. Who noticed nearly everything.

He’d seen her around since he’d arrived in town. The second he’d laid eyes on the take-charge, in-charge, unflappable wedding planner, he’d been smitten. He liked her sass and her professional attitude as much as he liked the way she looked. He liked how tall she was, the way her curves tested the seams of the classy dresses she wore. The way her blue eyes sought him out in earnest, like she was trying to figure him out...

Especially that last part.

When she’d caught him with his pants literally down tonight, he’d been instantly glad to see her.

The friends he used to film videos with had graduated and gone on to lucrative careers. Trick had built an empire without meaning to, and in three short years. He’d landed sponsorships when his social channel’s numbers began hitting six digits, and now he was well into the sevens. It wasn’t a traditional career path, that was for damn sure. He’d attended film school and had been certain he’d be an intern on a movie set by now, begging for ten seconds with the director so he could pitch his own movie ideas.

“Partners, huh?” she asked out of the blue. Funny, he’d assumed she’d been anxious to change the subject.

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