Page 43 of Playing By His Rules

Madison waited for Andrea to say she was just joking, but it was the clear, deliberate look in her eyes and on her face that made her pause.

“Are you serious?” Madison asked, considering moving hadn’t been anything they’d ever talked about. “We’ve lived our entire lives in Vegas. It’s all we’ve known and all your friends are here.”

Andrea shrugged and placed her spoon in her empty cereal bowl. “I think I’m ready for an adventure. And I think that adventure should take us to San Diego, where it’s warm but not blazing hot, and there are beaches and so many more opportunities for me and my graphic designs. And where you already have a job offer waiting for you, along with a smoking hot boyfriend.”

Madison was speechless, but the thought of starting out somewhere fresh and new and leaving all the bad memories behind, held so much appeal. They’d always been tied to Las Vegas in some way because of their dad, or the debt he’d put them in, but Stephanie’s offer had given Madison and Andrea the freedom to leave their past behind. And go to Rick.

And what she wanted more than anything, was forever with the man she’d fallen in love with.

Rick was watchingthe end of a golf game on TV when a knock sounded at his door. It was Sunday later in the afternoon, and he wasn’t expecting any company, but the knocking persisted so he dragged his ass off the couch and went to see who was trying to sell him something. He didn’t even care that he was wearing just a pair of sweatpants and his hair was a tousled mess.

Except when he opened the door, he found his stepbrother, Declan, and his wife, Summer, standing on the other side.

“What are you doing here?” he blurted out, frowning at the two of them.

“It’s nice to see you too, Rick,” Summer said with her blend of sweetness and sass, undeterred by his brusque greeting. “I brought you a chicken pasta casserole for dinner.” She lifted the dish, wrapped in tin foil, for him to see.

“Why?” he asked, unable to keep the suspicion out of his voice.

Declan sighed. “Stop being an asshole and let us in.”

“Whatever.” Rick held the door open for Summer, and as soon as she stepped into the foyer, he let the door go so that Declan had to push it back open to walk inside.

“Jesus, you really are in a pissy mood,” his stepbrother said, following him into the living room while Summer put the casserole in the kitchen. “It’s a good thing you took the rest of last week off and stayed away from the office.”

Since returning from Vegas, he’d worked from home, needing a mental and emotional break from . . . everything, and especially Madison’s silence. “Yeah, well, I’ll be back in the office tomorrow.”

“Oh, joy,” Declan drawled as he sat down on the couch. “I’ll tell the rest of the guys to steer clear. Mac wasn’t kidding when he said you had a rough time of it in Vegas.”

“He told you?” Rick snapped incredulously.

Declan shrugged his big, broad shoulders. “There might have been something about you defending a woman’s honor and nearly costing the company the Reign contract . . . and that woman ending things when you would have preferred continuing seeing her.”

Rick made a sound of disgust. “I’d appreciate it if my personal life wasn’t fodder for office gossip.”

Declan laughed. “How long are you going to mope?”

“As long as it takes,” Rick groused.

Summer came back into the living room and sat next to her husband, her pregnant belly starting show beneath the t-shirt she wore. “What if she never calls?” she asked, her tone more concerned than Declan’s.

Rick kicked his bare feet up onto the coffee table. “I’m giving her until next weekend, and then I’m going back to Vegas to make it very clear she’s mine.”

Declan released a hearty laugh and shook his head in amusement. “God, I’ve never seen you so whipped over a woman, or act like such a caveman.”

“Me, either,” Summer chimed in, as she curled up next to Declan, who draped an arm around her shoulders, both of them looking blissfully happy together. “But from what Jillian and Stephanie said, she’s a perfect match for you.”

Rick groaned in annoyance. “So, is everyone talking behind my back?”

“It wouldn’t be talking behind your back if you’d stop hibernating at home and spend some time at the office,” Declan said. “But this is some really good gossip. I mean, when have you ever beat the shit out of a guy for a woman and risked your job?”

“That’s a really good point,” Summer chimed in with a grin. “Considering you let Declan beat the shit out ofyouover me.”

Remembering that fist fight, Rick smirked. “You belonged to Declan, so why mess up his pretty face by breaking his nose?”

“Well, I appreciate that,” Summer said, gazing up at Declan’s handsome mug before she glanced back at Rick.

“Would you like some of your casserole?” Rick offered, since they’d been gracious enough to bring it over.

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