Dean jogged in place for a few seconds, and Emma’s traitorous gaze watched the enticing flexing of his biceps as he pumped his arms. Damn it, she knew why those women had done a double take just now. As a teenager, Dean had been tall and lanky, but he’d filled out over the years. Pure masculine muscle, and the dark stubble shadowing his jaw gave him a bad-boy edge that shouldn’t have made her heart flutter—but did.
God. She had to stop this. It was bad enough she’d kissed him at the party. But at least that night she hadn’t known it was Dean she was kissing. Now she knew exactly who he was, and her annoying body was still responding. Her fingers still itched to stroke the roped muscles of his arms. Her lips still ached to taste him.
“Trust me, I can keep up,” she said tightly.
He grinned again. “Then let’s quit dilly-dallying and do some running.”
Clearly he wasn’t going away, so Emma did the only thing she could think of—she took off in a near sprint. It was a hell of a lot better than standing around in the rain talking to the man. At least this way, conversation would be kept to a minimum because they’d both be breathing too hard to talk.
Except she underestimated Dean’s ability to multitask. Despite the rapid pace she’d set, his breathing stayed steady and words continued to flow out of his mouth.
“So how’s the design business going?”
“Fine,” she said through clenched teeth.
“I did some research last night,” he informed her as they tore down the path. “Man, Em, you totally hit the jackpot with your job. The Fire and Ice design label was all over the fashion news pages I checked out. Been burning up the scene for the past five years, your boss. What’s his name? Laurie?”
Emma hoped he didn’t notice the way her shoulders tensed. “Lorenzo Fuoco.”
“Italian. Ha, his last name means fire, I just caught that. Awesome branding.” Dean gave her a sidelong look. “Good for you for getting on with someone who’s rocking it so hard.”
This was the last thing Emma felt like discussing, and there was a bitter taste in her mouth at being praised for bullshit. She slowed slightly, her response coming out sharper than she’d intended. “I really don’t want to talk about that, Dean. I run to clear my mind and not think about work.”
“Fair enough.” He had to adjust his long strides to match her pace. “Do you want to know about my business then?”
“Not really.” She kept looking straight ahead, her legs moving briskly as a light drizzle of rain fell overhead.
Dean wasn’t fazed by her response. “You’re not even the least bit curious to know how I wound up owning a dating service?”
Argh. He had her there. She was curious, partly because it was a fabulous distraction from the hellhole she’d fallen into with Fire and Ice. She kind of wished she’d paid more attention when Suz had told her about DreamMakers, but Emma hadn’t been interested at the time. Hell, she shouldn’t care one bit now. So what if Dean had gone into the last possible line of work she would have expected?
“It was partly because of you,” he added, and damn it, but now her curiosity skyrocketed.
“How so?” she asked suspiciously.
“Remember when you were in junior year and I was planning that date for our two-year anniversary?”
A wave of nostalgia washed over her. She hated herself for feeling it, but it was impossible not to. It had been a good date. A really good date. “Yeah, I remember,” she said grudgingly.
He chuckled. “Then that means you remember the list you gave me, huh?”
“Yep.”
She found herself laughing as she thought about the very detailed list she’d provided Dean with when he’d informed her he was taking her out for their anniversary. She’d listed everything from her favorite food to her favorite flower, along with tips about what to wear and a review of every restaurant she liked in town.
“At the time I thought you were being high-maintenance and anal about it,” he confessed, his eyes gleaming playfully as he turned to smile at her. “But honestly? That list was a fucking godsend. I was totally clueless about where to take you.”
“Duh. That’s why I helped you out.”
He chuckled again. “Well, that’s kind of how DreamMakers came to be. Parker, Jack, and I had just finished our second tour of duty, and we were out at the bar with a couple of our army buddies. One of them was bitching about how he had no clue what to do for his girl for their anniversary, and that’s when I remembered your list.” He shrugged, which caused his smooth gait to falter for a beat. “I started grilling him about his girl’s personality, favorite food, music, all that stuff, and it was unbelievable how little he knew about her.”
Emma slowed down, annoyed with herself because she was enjoying this conversation way too much. “So you gave him some tips?”