Page 23 of Dirty Like Dylan
Ashley turned away, heading over to the farthest point of the V-shaped deck, where it overlooked the rocky promontory below. He leaned on the railing and drank his beer while Dylan and Connor gave each other a dude hug.
“Let Jude know when you need me, brother,” Connor said.
“Yup.”
Then, with a little salute to me, Connor took off.
“‘Pat her down’?” I said, when Dylan turned back to me. “Do I look that dangerous?” I swirled my long, flowery dress around my legs for effect.
“You’d be surprised,” he said, looking me over with a smirk. “I’ve been mobbed and molested by girls much more innocent-looking than you.” Then he winked at me and my toes fucking curled. The guy was charming as hell, and effortlessly so.
And if I wasn’t mistaken… he was flirting with me?
“Sounds rough,” I said, doing my best to flirt back. It was kinda funny, actually, that such a big dude needed security. Dylan Cope was well over six feet, with muscles for miles. But then again, a mob was a mob…
“Tough job, but someone’s gotta do it?” he said.
“Yo, Dylan.” Ashley called over, and Dylan gave me another lingering look before heading over to join him at the railing.
In the distance, Connor’s Harley rumbled to life. I heard it ease out of the driveway before roaring away, and unfortunately, it was so loud I couldn’t overhear what Dylan and Ashley were talking about.
“So what’s your story?”
I jumped a little; Susanna had popped up beside me. I didn’t even hear her high heels coming.
“No story.” I turned to look out over the water, keeping the guys in the corner of my eye. I wondered if Ashley was telling Dylan what a bitch I was. “I’m just a photographer.”
“Mm-hmm. And I’m just his realtor.”
I didn’t even want to know what that meant. But she had my attention; I was curious what she might know about Dylan Cope. “You sold him this place? His dream home?”
“Oh, it’s not Dylan’s dream home,” she said, as she touched up her lipstick in a mirrored compact she’d whipped out of somewhere.
I looked over at the guys. The motorcycle had faded away, but Ashley was speaking too low for me to hear. Dylan was grinning. Somehow, he didn’t seem to find Ashley quite the asshole that I did. And even though I didn’t know them, it was easy enough to interpret that look. They were close. Best bros, maybe.
“It’s Ashley’s dream home?” I ventured.
“Dylan bought it because he could afford the land on the point,” Susanna said simply, snapping her compact shut.
Which implied… that Ashley couldn’t?
“So.” Susanna rolled her lips together, blending her lipstick as she looked me over—kind of the way I’d first looked at her. Like she couldn’t quite fathom my fashion or grooming choices. But she seemed to conclude that I was no threat to her; I could practically hear her claws retracting as she sized me up. “You’re probably wondering where you fit into all of this. The short answer is, you don’t.” She laid her hand on my arm. “That’s free advice, hon,” she added, like she’d done me a favor. “Though Con seems to like you. Maybe you have a chance there. You know, he’s a little more…” She gave me and my camera another once-over. “… Working class.”
Then she turned and strode over to Dylan and Ashley in her high heels—as both anger and embarrassment curdled in my stomach.
Because she was wrong about me… but also, kind of right.
I just watched as she laughed at whatever Ashley was saying, shaking her blonde hair down her back, and fused herself to Dylan’s elbow again.
Chapter Six
Ash
I knew she was trouble from the first fucking instant I laid eyes on her. Even when I thought she was just some fangirl, outside the studio gate, I knew.
You’d better believe I knew trouble in the form of a cute, stuck-up hippie chick when I saw it.
But this one was tenacious.