Sarah shook her head. “Not yet. But I’m sure I could come up with something.”
Damn. The longer she sat here, the worse she was making this on herself.
Trent seemed to consider that for a moment, his big hand wrapped around his iced tea glass. “Great. Tomorrow night, you can tell me what you’ve come up with.”
Oh, jeez.
“Now, what do you say we talk about something other than work for a bit?” Trent grinned. “There’ll be plenty of time to hash it all out in the very near future.”
For whatever reason, that didn’t settle Sarah’s nerves any.
In fact, she was even more nervous now.
“TRENT HAS TO THINK I’M crazy,” Sarah muttered as they walked up to her front door.
From the moment they left the restaurant, she’d been mumbling to herself. Dylan couldn’t help but smile at her rambling. She was so damn cute, even when she was ogling Trent Ramsey. More so when she was trying to figure out how to redo the past two hours. It wasn’t possible, but it was cute to watch.
“I doubt he thinks that,” Dylan assured her.
Although it had been evident she was nervous, he thought she’d handled things fairly well with Trent. Especially since she’d come face-to-face with the world-famous actor moments before he’d delved into a conversation about business.
“Oh, he definitely does.” She unlocked her door and stepped inside.
Dylan followed.
Unable to help himself, Dylan grabbed her and pulled her into him. “Who cares what he thinks?”
“I do,” she retorted, a frown on her pretty mouth. “I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Well, how about I give you something else to think about?”
He kissed her, pressing his mouth to hers gently before sliding his tongue along the seam of her lips. Damn, he’d missed her.
“Mmm. You’re good at distractions, you know that?”
Sarah’s comment reminded him of how she’d once referred to their night together as a distraction. In turn, that reminded him of what Ashleigh said about how Sarah had wanted to help him. Dylan found himself pulling back, watching her closely.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“No,” he answered without thinking. He didn’t want to get into it with her now. “Are you game for going to Devotion tomorrow night?”
Sarah retreated, sliding her hand over her hair as Dylan watched her.
“I’m good with it.” Her eyes met his. “But can you do me a favor?”
“Anything.”
“Whatever you have planned… Can you let it be spontaneous? At least for me? I’m not sure I can get inside my head and willingly walk into that club knowing that things might…”
Yeah. He understood where she was going with that. Dylan reached for her hand, lifting it to his mouth. “I can be spontaneous. But you have to do something for me.”
Her eyebrows rose in question.
“You have to make it very clear what you’re willing and not willing to do. I can’t make any assumptions. No, let me clarify that. I won’t make any assumptions. Either you’re on board or you’re not.”
“I’ll be sure to make my preferences clear.”
“Good.” Dylan pressed a kiss to the inside of her palm. “Then I’ll pick you up at eight tomorrow night.”
Her smile was sweet, albeit a little surprised. “I’ll be ready.”
As much as he wanted to stay, to spend the night with Sarah in his arms, Dylan needed some time to think. He had a few issues he needed to work out before tomorrow night. No way would he put Sarah in a precarious situation if he wasn’t willing to move this relationship forward. What he wanted from her required trust on both sides.
After kissing her quickly, Dylan left. By the time he was in his truck, he was already dialing the phone. There was only one man he trusted when it came to sharing Sarah. And since it appeared she was on the menu for tomorrow night, he needed to get things worked out.
When it came to something like this, spontaneity wasn’t always the best option.
“Yo, bro. What’s up, man?” Chris answered, his deep voice rumbling through the phone.
“Not a hell of a lot,” Dylan told him.
“I was gonna call you. See if you wanted to hang out.”
“Yeah? More golf?” Dylan hadn’t seen Chris since their last golf outing, but they talked every few days.
Having been best friends since high school, it was hard to believe their friendship had lasted this long. Then again, everyone needed the laid-back friend who didn’t pass judgment and didn’t try to interfere in every damn thing going on. Chris was that friend.
Oh, sure, they’d had a few falling outs. Chris had been at Dylan’s side when Meghan died, and for the years that followed. He had made sure Dylan knew he didn’t agree with numbing his emotional pain with alcohol, but as with everyone and everything else in his life at that point, Dylan hadn’t given a shit.
“What do you think about them Cowboys?” Chris asked, a smile in his voice.
“It’s about damn time.”
“You’re damn right about that. So, what’s up?”
“I wanted to…” Dylan took a deep breath.
“Talk to me, man,” Chris urged, his voice lower. The guy clearly caught Dylan’s hesitancy.
“I need a favor.”
“Anything. You know that.”
Another deep breath and Dylan divulged everything that had happened in the past few months. He went into detail about seeing Sarah, about what had happened between them a few years ago, about taking her to Vegas, and yes, about his desire to share her.
“You sure, man?” Chris asked. “This is a serious step. I’m not saying no, but man, I want you to be absolutely sure.”
“Why wouldn’t I be sure?”
Chris cleared his throat. “If she was just any girl, I’d be all over it.”
“What does that mean?”
“Seriously, Dylan. You haven’t figured it out yet?”
“Figured out what?”
“Bro, this isn’t the first time I’m hearin’ about this chick. She’s the only girl to have caught your attention in…”
Dylan didn’t say anything. He knew where Chris was going with it.
“Look man, I can’t see the look on your face right now, but even I know.”
“Know what?” Dylan couldn’t hide his frustration.
“That you’re in love with her.”
It was Dylan’s turn to be quiet.
What. The. Fuck?
chapter TWENTY-FIVE
SARAH SPENT THE ENTIRE NEXT day in a panic.
Well, not entirely freaked out, but mostly.
Thankfully, she had Smokey and Blue to keep her preoccupied. They seemed to be in rare form, wanting more attention than usual. Plus, she spent nearly two hours on the phone with her mother to pass the time and keep her mind off tonight.
“Seriously, Blue,” she told her cat. “If he asks me my thoughts about the club, what am I supposed to say?”
No answer, of course.
“It’s not like I have any great ideas. Sure, I might have a few ideas, but it’s not like I’ve given it a lot of thought.”
Meow.
“Okay, fine, I’ve given it some thought.” She had. She’d thought a lot about this new club Trent was building. She wanted to have an intelligent conversation with the man, after all.
Not to mention, it kept her mind from wandering to other things.
Like Dylan. And what they’d be doing tonight at Devotion.