Page 3 of Obeying His Rules

“Oh, that doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t?” I groan, sipping my drink.

“Of course not.” She shakes her head. “Because you’re just gonna go back over there and try another one!”

I look up, aghast, and see her eyes flashing down at me. Taylor is grinning too, sipping his drink out of a pink straw tucked into the corner of his mouth.

“I don’t think so.”

“Oh you don’t, huh?” she asks, glancing over at Taylor, gives her the classic ‘Taylor Eye,’ a mixture of mischievousness and slyness mixed together in one. “This coming from Miss I’m-Gonna-Take-Over-the-Fashion-Industry? You’re just going to take your first no for an answer? See how far that approach gets you in the biz.”

“This isn’t the biz, Jaz,” I reply. “And I just…”

My voice trails off as her words sink in.

You know what? She’s right. Why am I just taking his rejection like that? Who is he to just tell me to go away? And why am I listening? Do I want to just walk out of here like that other girl? My whole night nearly ruined because of the words of one man?

Get off your ass, Rain!

“Screw it,” I say as I get to my feet.

“Yes! She’s doing it!” Taylor says enthusiastically. Jasmine also says something, but I don’t hear her as I’m already strutting my way across the bar.

The stunning man has that necklace in his hand again, spinning it back and forth as I slide up beside him. It’s truly beautiful–and quite expensive-looking–but when he sees me, he quickly stuffs it in his pocket.

“What are you doing here, Miss-Leaving? Didn’t I tell you I wanted–?”

“Wanted to be alone right now?” I interrupt, finishing his sentence for him. I nod. “Yes, you did. But I don’t believe you.”

The man looks at me like he can’t believe what I just said. His eyes flare with such intensity that a heat swells within me and I feel the urge to topple over backwards but steady myself by holding on to my stool.

“Is that right?” he asks. “And why would you say that?”

I can see–and possibly for the first time in a long time–that he’s intrigued. I reach out my hand for him to shake.

“Well, let’s not get ahead of ourselves. I need to know who I’m talking to first, so why don’t we do actual introductions? My name is Rain. Yes, Rain like the kind that falls from the sky. The kind that makes the flowers grow. I hated my parents for naming me that when I was young, but now I’m okay with it. And what about you?”

I search his lips for a smile, but none appears. His piercing eyes study me, and I leave my hand out for him to take, but he does not.

An awkward silence hangs in the air for what feels like forever until finally he replies, “Marlon. My name is Marlon.”

Putting on my best smile, I take his hand and force him to shake mine.

“Well, Marlon, I’m going to be honest with you.” I lean in so we can be closer and he can smell the perfume I wore especially for tonight’s outing with Jasmine and Taylor. “I had maybe the worst day at work I’ve had in a long time, and you know what I need after that?”

“What’s that?”

Leaning closer, I say, “Action.”

Marlon cocks his head to the side.

“Action?”

“Action.”

“They’ve got a whole section on Netflix devoted to it–”

“You know what I’m saying,” I cut him off. “I need action from you, Marlon. And I’m not taking no for an answer.”

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