She slipped into the single-stall bathroom, taking a deep breath and letting the bright lights dry her eyes. She pulled her phone out of her purse to check her messages.
Dylan: I need a favor.
Dylan: A date for a work thing.
Dylan: Fake date, of course. Free food, open bar, fancy. I’ll owe you.
Huh. She hadn’t expected that, though she supposed it was a fair trade. And a break from the stressful string of first dates sounded good right about then.
Dani: What will you owe me?
Dylan: Dealer’s choice.
Dani: I’m in. Text me the details. And thanks for the Cat info.
Dylan: You’re welcome. Now delete this message and destroy your phone. Secret mission protocol.
A laugh burst from her lips, echoing off of the porcelain. She didn’t feel like crying anymore at all.
Sixteen
“I appreciate you doing this, Dani-pie.” Dylan handed his keys to the valet, then offered Dani his arm, leading her into the old stone-front building that he hoped was his next big win. “I know I’m taking one of your soulmate date nights.”
“There’ll be more,” she said. “Besides, dinner and drinks on Rideout and Pierce Architecture? Who would turn that down?”
He laughed. “So shrewd. I like that about you.”
The building he’d been vying for for weeks had been built as a bank in the twenties. It still bore the original black and white checkered floor and grooved pillars. Gaudy chandeliers dropped from the ceiling like swooping birds, and a ten-foot-tall, round vault took up a large chunk of the back of the room, though someone had turned it into a walk-in service bar.
Over the last hundred years or so, it had housed a museum, a law firm, and a strip club, among other things. Now it sat empty with its next life in the hands of a couple with more money than God, and a vision Dylan was still trying to get a handle on so he could convince them to trust him with it.
“Just remember I warned you,” he said, steering her over to a bar cart serving champagne. “This guy and his wife are total bores.”
“And I am a master charmer. Remember me when I seal this deal for you. I like diamonds and shoes.”
“So, a simple girl.”
Dani smiled, all white teeth and red lipstick. She looked like a damn dream in a green dress that shimmered like some magical mermaid tail, her blonde hair pinned up in a complicated twist of curls. When he’d picked her up at her door, he’d nearly swallowed his tongue. It was one thing to see her all done up at the wedding, but to know she’d put that dress on for a date with him had his skin buzzing.
A fake date with him, of course.
“So, what do you think?” he asked.
Her heels put her almost at his eye level, and her black eyelashes and bright blue eyes sparkled as she took in the space. “It’s gorgeous.”
“Yeah?” He looked around again. He saw a cavernous room with out-of-date textiles and cracked veneers, dark corners that probably housed years of cobwebs. Easels were set up around the room with concept drawings of the revitalization the Jansens had planned, but he was still struggling to visualize it. It looked like the set of a haunted house movie, if you asked him.
Mrs. Jansen was across the room, speaking to a group of well-dressed older women. She was in her late seventies, plump from age and a good life. Her bright white hair was pinned back away from her remarkably unwrinkled face. When he’d first met her, he couldn’t help but think of his mother, a decade younger and twice as aged.
She spotted him, waving a hand over her head.
“That’s her?” Dani asked.
He nodded as she made her way over. “Dylan, darling. I’m so glad you came. I know you’re here to sell my husband on your firm, but I wanted the opportunity to show you why this project is so important to us.”
Her eyes slid to Dani and she beamed. Bingo.
“And who is this beautiful woman you brought with you?”
“This is Danica Petrillo.” He wrapped an arm around Dani’s waist. “Danica, this is Mrs. Juliette Jansen.”
Dani shot him a look but didn’t miss a beat. She reached a hand out to Mrs. Jansen. “You can call me Dani. It’s a lovely building. I can see why you fell in love with it.”
“Yes, it has so much history. And a little romance.” The older woman winked at Dani, and she cooed appropriately.
Pride warmed Dylan’s chest. Cat was right, Dani was superb at this. Having a beautiful woman on your arm never hurt when you were trying to win someone over, but Dani was more than arm candy. He could already feel the way she was studying Mrs. Jansen, trying to get a feel for this place. It was more than just her professional skills peeking out. She was helping him, and it was working.
He peeled his eyes off of her face just in time to see Mrs. Jansen attempt to pull her away. The woman clearly wanted a BFF for the night, but he wasn’t ready to give Dani up.
“I was just about to get Danica a glass of champagne,” he said, taking Dani’s hand. “Can I get you one?”
“Oh, no. Sparkling water for me.” She held up a glass. “Will you bring her out to the terrace when you’re done? I’d love to show her the gardens.”
“Of course.”
Mrs. Jansen waltzed away and Dani stepped into his side. “Bring me out to the terrace, will you, dahling?”
Dylan laughed. “I told you she was old-fashioned. Imagine if I had shown up to all this romantic nostalgia alone.”
“A playboy bachelor?” She covered her mouth in feigned horror. “No. She’s sweet. I don’t mind playing your adoring girlfriend for the night.”
He tugged her closer, breathing in her perfume. “Because you secretly adore me?”
“No. And Danica? Really? How did you even know that?”
Both Jansens were across the room watching them and he whispered in her ear. “Cat’s dad. At the wedding brunch, when you were pretending not to adore me.”
She whispered back. “I wasn’t pretending. You’re just not nearly as adorable with your clothes on.”
Dylan’s jaw fell open. “You have such a wicked mouth, Danica.”
“Oh, please. You love my mouth.” She licked her bottom lip then pursed her lips and he remembered how much he did love it. He loved it when it was spitting fire at him, he loved it when it worked hard to hold back a giggle, and he really loved it when it was pressed against a certain part of his body.
He leaned in to taste those pretty red lips, but she turned her cheek.