“I think I’m going to head out.” I grabbed my purse, ready to hop off the stool I’d been occupying at our high-top table for the past two hours.

After the boutique, we’d headed to an awesome little Mexican restaurant that made the best guacamole. And bonus, they had a huge bar area, and served margaritas by the pitcher. But I was exhausted. The buzz I’d had earlier was wearing off, leaving me sleepy with a touch of a headache.

Lola looked from her phone to the door like she was expecting someone to walk through at any moment. “But it’s only nine,” she argued. “And it’s Saturday.”

Honestly, the last thing I was looking forward to was going home to my empty, quiet house just so my mind could wander to Dominic, but I’d been feeling particularly mopey since leaving the bridal salon and wasn’t the best company. I opened my mouth, prepared to say as much, when Lola’s entire demeanor brightened.

“Oh look! The guys just walked in. Now you have to stay, Soph!”

We all turned as one to see Grayson had walked in with none other than Dominic, Caleb, and his brother Deacon. Daphne let out a pained groan and sucked back more of her margarita just as Caleb shot her a salacious wink. I was sure that putting those two together in the same room wasn’t smart, but I was too focused on the way my heart began to race and my palms got clammy at the sight of Dominic heading our way to care about much else.

“I need to run to the bathroom,” I stated on a quiet mumble. I started from the table on wobbly knees. This was ridiculous. I felt like a teenage girl swooning over the fact that the most popular boy in school just looked at me.

It wasn’t until I got into the ladies’ room that I realized I really did have to pee, thanks to the three margaritas I’d downed. I did my business, washed my hands, then scrutinized my appearance in the mirror to make sure my makeup and hair were still in their proper place. My eyes were on my cute peep-toe booties as I walked out, so I was taken by surprise when I ran smack-dab into a wall of warm, solid muscle.

“Shit,” I yelped as I stumbled back. Thankfully two large arms banded around my waist to prevent me from falling. “Sorry, I….” My words died on the tip of my tongue when I looked up into Dominic’s smiling eyes.

“Hey there, beautiful.”

“H-hi. Um, thanks for, you know… catching me.” Why was I suddenly so tongue-tied around this guy?

His arms tightened, making me feel secure and claimed all at the same time. “I didn’t mind at all. I kind of like catching you.”

Crap. I kind of liked it too. Almost too much.

I cleared my throat and took a step back. “When did you get back?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

He crossed his arms over his broad chest. The move stretched the fabric of his T-shirt and made his muscles look positively yummy. Bad Sophia! Bad! I mentally scolded. “Just a couple hours ago,” he replied, leaning one shoulder against the wall in front of me. “I’d have texted you to tell you I was back in town, but you haven’t been returning my messages.” His eyebrow kicked up as he gave me a playful glare that made my skin burn. I had no doubt I was blushing like crazy under his scrutiny.

“I’m sorry,” I offered on a lame whisper. “I just needed….”

His voice went gentle as he pushed off the wall and stepped into my space, using his fingers under my chin to tilt my head up. “Hey, we said we’d try to be friends, right?”

“We did.”

“Friends are allowed to text each other, baby. It’s okay for you to reply.”

At the tiny smirk on his face, a teasing glower took over my own. “So, what? Are you making it a habit to stalk me outside of bathrooms now?”

He chuckled and hooked an arm across my shoulders, using the casual hold to lead me out of the secluded hallway and back into the main dining area. “What can I say? I saw an opportunity and I took it.” I felt his gaze on me and turned my head to look up at him. “I missed you, Soph,” he murmured as we walked.

My chest swelled as warmth blanketed my entire body from the inside out. “I missed you too,” I said back on a smile.

His wink was totally cocky as he said, “I know. Now let’s get back to the table. I ordered you a large guac before tracking you down. You still love that stuff, right?”

“Careful now. You might just push your sister out of the best friend spot if you keep it up,” I said, when what I was really thinking was you’re making it really hard not to want to lick you up and down!

We made it back to the table and I noticed that the guys had pulled another four-seater up to ours to make enough room for everyone. We joined our group just in time to see Lola plant herself in her fiancé’s lap and fuse her lips to his, giving a whole new meaning to the phrase “public display of affection.” “Jesus,” Dom grunted under his breath. “It’s sickening. Why doesn’t he just swallow her and get it over with?”

A loud giggle bubbled from my throat, turning everyone’s attention our way.

“Well.” Lola grinned mischievously. “Don’t you two look cozy.”

I tried to mentally reach across the table and slap her as I reclaimed the stool I’d vacated earlier. Dominic took the vacant one next to me. I was still silently communicating to her to shut the hell up when the waitress stopped by. Dom ordered a beer, forgoing his usual bourbon, and leaned back, resting his palm on the back of my stool. The tips of his fingers brushed against my back in a barely there touch, but it was still enough to create a swarm of butterflies in my belly.

The sound of his quiet voice in my ear pulled me from my silent argument with Lola. “So, what have you been up to the past two days? Anything new?”

“Nothing,” I answered quickly. “Same stuff, different day.” Just the thought of talking with him about the five guys I’d been talking to—especially BigSpoon—didn’t sit right with me. I wasn’t sure why, but it felt almost like a betrayal of sorts to be talking to anyone while my feelings for Dominic were in such an upheaval. He kept staring at me like he didn’t believe me, as if he were expecting more. So naturally, I changed the subject. “You were on a business trip, right? Where’d you go?”

“Grayson’s looking into possibly buying out a communications firm in Arizona. He wanted me to go check it out, see if I thought it would be a good investment for Bandwidth.”

I found myself propping my elbow on the table and resting my chin in my palm, giving him my full attention. “I’ve always wanted to go to Arizona. I’ve heard Havasu Creek is beautiful. And there are some ghost towns I think would be really cool to visit.”

He chuckled and tapped the tip of my nose. “You always were a sucker for all that creepy shit.”

“It’s fun!” I insisted.

His smile was nearly blinding as he continued. “Yeah, to you, maybe. Not to the rest of us who don’t get our rocks off on being scared out of our minds.”

He wasn’t wrong. I loved anything that gave me a fright, always had. When we’d been together, I’d dragged him to as many haunted houses as I could find, and made him watch countless scary movies. Fall was my favorite time of year simply because it heralded in Halloween, my favorite holiday. I loved ghost stories and even took the haunted tour in New Orleans when we went for spring break during college. It was morbid, but so much fun.

“Remember when you dragged me to that haunted house in the Warehouse District?” he asked.

My mind immediately went back to the night in question and I burst out laughing. “Oh God! I forgot all about that!”

“Glad you think a two-hundred and fifty-dollar fine is still funny,” he said dryly, but I could see the smile he was fighting tugging at his lips.

“That poor kid,” I sighed, wiping the tears from my laughter off my cheeks. “Bet you scared him more than he scared you.”

“That ‘poor kid’ was dressed as a demented clown!” Dom cried. “He deserved to get punched in the face! The only thing scarier than a fucking clown is a demented one.”

“Aw.” I reached up and patted his cheek. “I forgot how delicate you are.”

He snorted derisively. “I’m not delicate. I’m a badass. I can burp the alphabet, crush a beer can on my head, and rebuild a car engine. I’m a man.”

Another fit of laughter overtook me. After the breakup, it had been so easy to focus on the bad that I’d let myself forget about the good, about how Dominic could make me laugh until I damn near peed myself.

“Oh yeah?” I chided. “Then prove it.”

He looked at me with suspicion, furrowing his brow as he asked, “And just how do you expect me to do that?”

I leaned in even closer, completely oblivious to the fact that we were only inches apart. I was too excited to notice. “I know of a haunted house that’s open all winter long. You make it all the way through and sit through a scary movie marathon, and I’ll get a trophy made special for you.”

His golden-brown eyes darkened just a touch as his voice grew raspy. “Will you be with me the whole time? I’ll need someone to hold my hand.”

“Deal.” I held my hand between us for him to shake. At the feel of his rough, callused skin against my soft palm, I shivered. Oh yeah. There was no denying Dominic was all man. But I wouldn’t say it out loud.

At least not until I had the chance to torture him a little bit.

When I looked up from our private conversation I noticed that most everyone was eyeing us curiously. Except Lola who looked like she was on cloud freaking nine. The only thing I could do was ignore their intrusive stares. At least that way I could keep pretending that there was nothing going on.