Page 100 of By His Rule

“California.”

“Parents?”

“Single mom,” she explains reluctantly.

“I bet she’s something.”

A bitter laugh erupts from Lorelei, making me frown. “Yeah, you could say that.”

“You don’t get along?” I guess, reading between the lines.

“You could say that. What about you?” she asks, turning the tables on me.

“Yeah, things are about as good as they can be when families get separated. Dad…Dad likes replacing the woman in his life almost as often as he changes his underwear.”

“Your stepmom at the wedding?”

“Gone. Think he’s had two others since then.”

“Wow, okay.” She says, her eyes widening with surprise. I get it. Dad is nothing but a serial womanizer. It’s his coping mechanism from how things ended with Mom.

“Mom’s happily married. Has been since leaving Dad. She’s happy. Our half-sisters are…hard work,” I confess. “That’s siblings, right?”

“Yeah,” she muses. “Mine are awesome, though,” she says with a soft smile playing on her lips as two huge platters of wings appear before us, putting an end to our serious conversation.

The plate has barely touched down when I dive for my first wing.

The heat and spices hit my tongue, and I groan in appreciation.

Lorelei, though, doesn’t move an inch. Instead, she just stares at me with her lips parted and her eyes getting darker by the second.

“Eat, Lorelei,” I demand, aware that it’ll annoy her.

Her eyes narrow, but unable to deny herself, she finally reaches out for a wing. The second she begins eating it, I discover what the issue is.

I’ve only ever eaten wings with the guys before. I’ve never taken a girl out for them, and I’m starting to wonder why, because the way Lorelei is working that wing right now…fuck.

24

LORELEI

Ican’t lie, watching Kian Callahan devour more buffalo chicken wings than should be humanly possible is addictive.

In this moment, he’s no longer the wealthy CFO of Callahan Enterprises. He isn’t the pretentious jerk who thinks the world owes him something because of his surname. He also isn’t my demanding, overpowering boss. He’s just…a young man enjoying some hot wings after watching a football game.

All the pretense has fallen away. Suddenly, we’re just…us.

Two people on a…date? Enjoying good food and each other’s company. Okay, so that might be pushing it a little bit. More like tolerating each other.

Who the hell am I kidding? This afternoon has been great. Kian has been…pretty great too.

Shit.

Am I actually starting to like my boss?

He drops some bones to the plate in front of him, and I take a moment to study him in this bizarre environment.

This isn’t the kind of restaurant I ever pictured him eating in. It isn’t fancy. I can’t imagine it’s won any prestigious awards—they totally should, though, because these wings are insane. Hell, it’s even got a napkin dispenser on the table. And yet, Kian looks more at home here than I’ve ever seen him.

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