Page 25 of Stone Rules

Ignoring his question, I pull my order pad from my apron and ask one of my own. “What can I get you gentlemen?”

Ethan has brought two men with him today. One of them shares a resemblance and is equally as gorgeous. The other is smirking as Ethan seethes in his chair, his stare burning into me.

I try not to think about what Piper said the other night as I put my pen to the order pad and ping-pong my eyes between the men, awaiting their orders.

Ethan refuses to even speak. I can see a vein throbbing at his temple as he continues to look at my bruised cheek. The wheels spinning in his head are more than evident. He’s practically bursting out of his skin wanting to know what happened. The private investigator in him needs information. Information he’s not going to get from me.

“What my very rude and socially inept brother is trying to say is that I’m Kyle Stone, Ethan’s youngest brother.”

Youngest. There are more?These are personal details I’d normally not care to know about a man.

But there’s something about him.

Kyle holds his hand out to me and I try hard to suppress my smile as I shake it. Kyle has the same strong, angular facial features as his older brother, but that’s where the resemblance ends. While Ethan has dirty-blonde hair and chocolate eyes, Kyle has what I’d describe as a darker honey-brown hair and eyes that can’t seem to settle on a color.

“And this is Ethan’s friend and co-worker, Levi Brandt.” Kyle nods to the man sitting across the table who is offering me his hand.

I shake Levi’s hand as he laughs, saying, “Co-worker my ass.” Not releasing my hand, he tilts his chin to Ethan. “Boss here works me like a dog so he can stalk pretty girls.” He winces. “Ouch, dude. Not cool.”

I gather he just got a swift kick under the table from the mercurial man whose eyes are now focused on my hand in Levi’s. I smile and Levi smirks, both of us aware of what our touch is doing to the eldest Stone.

I turn to Kyle. “So, what do you do, Kyle? Do you work for your brother as well?”

“This tool? Hell no. You won’t catch me working for that tight ass with all his rules. I’m a med student at NYU.”

“Is that so?” I glance over at Mr. High-and-Mighty. If he’s not going to speak, why not see if I can rile him up a bit? “That sounds really interesting. So if I hooked up with a random guy and am now experiencing some kind of itchy rash, you’d be able to help me out with that?”

Vein. Throbbing. Harder.

Kyle laughs, his eyes quickly bouncing off Ethan’s. “I’d have to see it first. But yeah, I could most definitely help you out.”

I like him already. He’s a smart ass like me. Nothing like his older brother. While Ethan dons his usual dress shirt, tie and linen pants, Kyle wears jeans and a t-shirt; one that’s just snug enough to show off his muscles without seeming too self-absorbed.

Levi fits somewhere in between with a collared polo shirt and slacks. Also a handsome guy by anyone’s standards, but unfortunately for him, he fades into the background next to the Stone brothers.

“We’ll have waters, Charlie,” Ethan says, pulling my attention from his tablemates.

“I’m on it.” I raise my eyebrows at Kyle and Levi. “Lemon for you two, or is that a sacrilege?”

They don’t even try to hide their amusement. “However you bring them is fine with us,” Levi offers and Kyle agrees.

I turn around and head towards the drink station when strong arms pull me into the adjacent hallway. Ethan cages me in with his hands on either side of my head. My heart races being so close to him. I wipe a sweaty palm on my apron as I look up into his dark-as-night eyes.

He takes in a deep breath as if he’s inhaling my scent. As if he’s inhalingme. My skin breaks out in goosebumps.

“What . . . Happened . . . Charlie?” Each word comes out as a sentence punctuated by a blink of his eyes between the very deliberate syllables.

Despite blood rushing through my ears, throbbing so loudly it drowns out the sounds of the restaurant, I shrug, answering him calmly. “Some jackass tried to mug me the other day. Don’t worry, he got more than he gave.”

I concentrate on the pulsating vein at his temple, aware of how either our proximity or his anger has sped up the frequency of his heartbeat.

In my periphery, I see his hands come off the wall. I can feel the heat of them close to my arms, but I sense his hesitation. He wants to touch me. Protect me. Maybe he even wants to claim me.

But he doesn’t.

And for the first time in my life, I want all those things. The realization pins me to the wall and I’m suddenly scared shitless.

Almost as if we can read each other’s thoughts, he takes a step back and studies me. The air between us is thick with want and desire. Maybe even need.

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