Page 10 of Rogue's Path

It’s edging towards cold.

Dahlia sets another plate out for Maverick and eyes the paper next to me. Like the co-conspirator I am, I slide it off the counter and into my pocket. A man who kisses like that won’t find the last couple of items on this list funny.

“Who is your friend?” Maverick takes a seat across from me making the massive bar look small.

“This is Dylan DuPress. I thought I mentioned that she would be visiting this weekend.”

“Dylan? As in Dylan DuPress the author?”

“Dylan DuPress is my pen name. Dylan Oliva is my given.”

“You’re Dylan?”

“Yes, ‘she’ is.” Dahlia winks at me and picks up her fork.

“Did you ask her if I was right yet?” Maverick glances between the two of us in shock.

“No spoilers.” Yet. “Would you like to know?”

“No!” they say in unison.

Cute. Very cute. “Well then, I guess we’ll have to talk about our plans for tomorrow night.”

“Plans?” Maverick reaches for his fork.

Dahlia freezes like a deer stuck in a truck’s headlights for a long second. “So, Dylan and some of my other friends are going to join me for a pre-bachelorette party.”

Pre-bachelorette. I like it.

“I thought we agreed to do a group party together in Vegas.”

She nods. “We did. That’s why this is a pre-party. It’s nothing big. Just some girls and a night out.”

Yeah, that doesn’t look like it’s flying based on the glare he’s giving her.

“That’s fine. I’ll call the guys.”

Dahlia shakes her head. “Pre-parties are girls only.”

That’s a new rule, but since I’m pretty sure they didn’t exist before now, she’s free to make up any rules she likes.

“And what are you doing at this pre-party that I can’t attend?”

Uh oh! That voice is terrifying.

Dahlia doesn’t seem at all phased. “We’re going bar hopping.”

Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh at the big man whose head is about to explode. I didn’t know veins could get that large.

Can a man die from shock or frustration? That’s a good question. One we're about to see answered. Maybe I could use it in a book.

“You think you’re going bar hopping alone?”

She nods her head with a grin.

Don’t you know, never to wave a red flag in front of a bull. And that’s a red flag if I ever saw one.

“There will be a big group of us.”