Page 283 of Hot Mess
That he cared about people that much.
It wasn’t a bad thing.
Of course, Summer had always been totally cool to me, and if that wasn’t the case I’d probably feel differently about her. But I knew Summer liked and respected me.
So, I tolerated her sexiness and the kisses she gave my man.
She saw me and headed toward me, intercepting my path on my way over to him. She gave me a hug and a kiss, too. “Danica,” she said. “Have you met Dylan yet?” She held my hands and looked in my eyes. The woman was incredibly socially perceptive, and she clearly knew what would be on my mind today.
“Not yet,” I said.
“Well,” she said, nodding over my shoulder, “he’s over there with your boyfriend.” She smiled at me gently. “Go stake your claim, hon.”
I looked over. Several feet from us, Ashley was talking to a very tall man with thick, wavy auburn hair. He wore a short-sleeve white dress shirt that showed off his long, muscular arms, and gray dress pants that clung to his fantastic butt. But I couldn’t see his face.
I took a breath.
“It’s okay,” I told her. I knew Summer meant well, and it was lovely of her to show me support. But I really didn’t feel the need to stake a claim on anyone.
Ashley was mine, as long as he wanted to be.
“Excuse me,” I said, and headed over to him.
Ash saw me coming and pulled me into his arms. “Hey, gorgeous.”
“Hey.” I kissed his neck.
So maybe I felt the need to stake just alittleclaim.
I glanced at his friend, and it was definitely Dylan Cope. Dirty’s drummer… and sexy underwear model.
I recognized him from the underwear ads. Which meant I’d seen him incredibly almost-naked, and retained the visual, vividly. He was model-tall and striking gorgeous, but understated about it. He didn’t wear jewelry or have tattoos like a lot of the other rock stars I’d met so far did.
A natural beauty.
I almost blushed when Ashley said, “Babe, this is Dylan.”
“Hi,” I said, stepping forward and extending my hand. “I’m Danica.”
Dylan smiled a crooked, sexy smile at me and shook my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“Likewise.”
He looked me over, briefly, and said, “So. You’re the girl who gave Ash that giant ring.”
“Oh… Uh, yeah. That’s me.” I smiled, definitely blushed, and turned to my man.
To find him… gone.
I glanced around.
My boyfriend hadvanished. I actually had to blink a few times to believe my eyes. That was some magic trick.
“Um.” I looked at Dylan. “What just happened?”
“I think Ash took off,” he said, totally cool with the fact, apparently.
“Uh… why?”
