Page 21 of Broken Rules

I lost my breath when a cherry red sports car passed on Rodeo and immediately grabbed my attention.I expected to see a handsome, sharp-jawed man behind the wheel with eyes like black coffee and a smile with the power to turn my knees to jelly.

“It’s not him,” Claudia whispered, and she was right, but how the hell did she know what I was thinking?My head snapped around so I could gape at her.“Oh, can we drop the crap?”she asked with a sigh.“The sparks have been flying between you two for weeks and weeks.I’ve lost track of the number of times I almost told you guys to get a room.”

It was a good thing I still had an arm linked with hers since I tripped over my feet in shock.“Shut up!No way!”

She gave me an epic eye roll, groaning.“Yes!God, I’m glad I can finally say something.I wanted to all this time, but I didn’t want to mess up anything with the movie.”

“Wait.”I pulled her to a stop in front of Louis Vuitton and let people walk past us in both directions.“I’m being serious.Is it obvious?”

“To me?”she asked with a giggle that didn’t make me feel better.“Babe, we’ve known each other almost our whole lives.I know what it looks like when you’re into somebody.”

Shit.I was trying so hard to hide it.I barely spoke to him at the studio for fear of somebody seeing or hearing something they shouldn’t.It was bad enough thatI blushed whenever I noticed him and got tongue-tied whenever our eyes met.No matter how I fought it, there was no forgetting the way he lit me up with his kiss.How natural it seemed in the moment, all swept up in him, to give in to the deep, incessant craving he stirred.

Even now, shaken to my core, there was a flutter in my chest at the memory and much lower too.“This isn’t just somebody,” I whispered.

“You don’t need to tell me that.”She was still laughing it off like it was all a big joke, like I had the luxury to take any risks.

“Do you think anybody else has noticed anything?I’m serious.”

“How could they?Wait a second.”Her narrow eyes and pursed lips told me I was in trouble.“What aren’t you telling me?Have you been keeping secrets?We don’t keep secrets.”

She was right.I went too far with the questions.Now, it was obvious I was hiding something.“Okay.We might have had a moment…”

“What?”Her shriek was loud and shrill enough to grab the attention of people walking past.

My face went hot while I shook my head.“I don’t feel like getting into it in the middle of Rodeo Drive.”

“Oh my God.”She covered her mouth with one hand.

“Claudia, I’m serious.We can talk about it when we get home.”

“For fuck’s sake, let’s go home now!”She was already halfway to the curb, ready to flag down a cab, when I grabbed her arm.

“I’m dying for caffeine, and there’s a Starbucks around the corner.”I might have been stalling.The longer we stayed out, the longer it would be before I had to spill my guts.I was going to end up looking like the world’s biggest hypocrite forkissing, only stopping when Lex put an end to it, even if it was a one-time thing.Needless to say, I wasn’t looking forward to it.

On the other hand, I was tired of keeping secrets.It wasn’t so easy to do with Claudia sharing the apartment and the two of us working so closely together every day.It was a minor miracle I hadn’t spilled the beans yet.

“Then let’s get moving,” she urged.How the hell she walked so fast in espadrilles, I had no idea.I only knew we were practically jogging by the time we reached the coffee shop.There were a handful of benches nearby, and I sat on one of them to check my email.She muttered something that sounded like ‘workaholic’ but went inside to order.

It seemed like I wasn’t the only one trying to make the most of a day off since there was hardly anything waiting for me when I opened my inbox.Nothing from Lex.No texts, either.That was a good thing.I knew it was for the best.Nothing mattered more than the movie and then, after that, my career.Getting caught screwing the executive producer wouldn’t turn out well for me.

A shadow fell over me, and at first, I thought it was Claudia.That was why I didn’t hesitate to look up, shielding my eyes from the relentless midday sun.“You got in and out that fast?”I asked.The question was out before I realized who I was looking at, backlit by the sun but plainly visible.The golden-blond hair and the icy blue eyes that used to intrigue me now looked empty.

My brain didn’t want to accept it at first.I had to be imagining this.He’d never, under any circumstances, casually approach me this way.Bile rushed into my throat, and a steady pounding in my head drowned out everything else around me.

“Hey there, stranger,” Eric Danvers had the nerve to murmur, wearing an easy grin.“Long time no see.”

I had imagined this moment so many times—seeing him again.What I would say, how I would act.I couldn’t have predicted how just being in his presence wiped everything out of my mind.There was only one word I could get out.“Eric.”

“Were you planning on ignoring me indefinitely?It’s a small town, after all.”

How did I never see the person he really was?Was it possible I was willfully blind to the real Eric?The man had to be a straight-up sociopath to stand in front of me, smile, and sound friendly after stabbing me in the back.

“Actually, Iwasplanning on ignoring you,” I told him, then stood and walked away.Claudia had to find me.It wasn’t like she couldn’t call my cell.She’d understand when I told her.There was no way I would be able to breathe the same air as that man for another minute without clawing his face to pieces.

Of course, he didn’t have the decency to let me walk away.“I hear things are going well over at Landry International,” he called out, his voice loud enough that he couldn’t be more than a few steps behind me.“Come on.We’re both making our way out here.Can’t we bury the past and move forward as potential colleagues?”

I stopped and turned so suddenly he almost ended up slamming into me.“Colleagues?That’s a new one.As for the past, I’d much rather bury you.”

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