Page 23 of Broken Rules

“I don’t think so,” he said, ducking into the booth and leaving me outside the door to the room Dad waited to judge what Summer had done so far.Rather than go in, I pulled out my phone to text her.

Me:Where are you?Screening in a few minutes.

She wouldn’t skip out over us kissing once, would she?It was one thing for us to avoid each other whenever possible over the past three weeks since it seemed safest that way.Less temptation.Was she freaked over the idea of seeing me now along with Dad?

Either way, I anticipated a quick response.What I got was the opening of a door farther down the hall and the appearance of a wide-eyed, pale-faced Summer before she crept out of the restroom.

This was not the girl I expected to see today, the girl who had a way of making my heart jump and my dick twitch every time I set eyes on her.Nerves were one thing, but she looked like she might be coming down with something.“Are you sick?”I asked as she slowly approached.

“Don’t worry.It’s not catching.”She offered a shaky laugh that sounded almost painful and paired well with the strain etched at the corners of her eyes.“Just nerves.Tell anyone, and I’ll sneak laxatives into your coffee for a week.”

Still with the attitude.Now I saw it for what it was.She put on a good act—confident, ready to give her detractors the middle finger.Inside, it was a different story—something we had in common.

“They’re going to love it,” I assured her, taking a risk by cupping her shoulders.A brief touch, one I doubted would be misunderstood if anybody saw us.

It was much less than what I wished we could do.I had somehow managed to keep my hands off her since that night at her apartment, and every day, it was a little more challenging to ignore the memories and resist the impulse to go back for more.For instance, the usual parade of women coming on to me at business dinners meant nothing.Not so much as a twitch below the belt.Yet the slightest caress of Summer’s shoulders had me surging, yearning to do more.More would never be enough.

Right now, I wasn’t thinking about the sensuous, passionate woman.Somebody whose skin, scent, and taste had me yearning for her until I couldn’t think straight.Now, I was looking at a nervous, overwhelmed woman who saw her entire future hanging in the balance of what happened today.

Dropping my hands to my sides, I took a deep breath that lifted my shoulders and expanded my chest.“You do it,” I ordered, waiting for her to take one deep breath, then a second.Before long, normal color returned to her cheeks.“This is going to be great.Try to have a little faith.”

“Faith?”She scoffed gently.“Now I know you’re just as worried as I am if you’re talking about having faith.”

I wouldn’t dignify that with a response since it would start an argument.“Come on,” I urged.“Let’s get in there and show them what you’ve done so far.”The way she squared her shoulders before nodding stirred fresh respect and made me long to kiss her for luck.Instead, I opened the door for her, and with a ramrod back, she walked inside.

“Here we are,” I called out.“I hope everybody’s ready to be impressed.”

“We were starting to worry about you two,” Dad announced with a dry laugh that was completely insincere, at least to my ears.He stood in the middle of the five rows of seats and came down to shake Summer’s hand, clapping me on the back after that.

“You know how it is, Dad.Wait an extra few minutes.Keep people hanging.You stir up interest.”The handful of stuffed suits in the room laughed indulgently.Even Summer managed to sound sincere when she chuckled.“Now, let’s get started.I know you’ve been eager to see what’s been filmed so far.”

Rather than sit in the row with Dad and the others, I sat in the back, beneath the window of the projection booth.Summer sat with me, leaving an empty chair between us.Incredible how much I wished she wouldn’t, that we could sit together, hold one of the hands she now clasped together in her lap while her breath went short and sharp.As a friend.She needed a friend.

I had to settle for offering a reassuring smile before the lights went down and the screen in front of us brightened.Here goes nothing.

The most amazing thing happened.I had already watched some of the footage.Hell, I was there when some of it was shot, but seeing it on the screen in a darkened room allowed me to be caught up in the story.The sweeping exterior shots, the framing, the lighting—every detail had been thought out so carefully, and it allowed the actors to shine.

Actors like Danica, who possessed talent I didn’t know existed until now.She was vulnerable, gutsy, and unafraid to look rough and beaten up after a race that went wrong.I was mesmerized by a scene where she dealt with the aftermath of reckless driving that left her best friend in intensive care.Summer had pulled that performance from her.

The screen went bright white once we reached the end of the footage.A moment of silence made my heart lurch sickeningly.The back of Dad’s head didn’t move.

Summer cleared her throat, and I looked at her, then back at the row of men in front of us.“There you have it,” I said, standing slowly.“Now you know what this team has worked their asses off to pull together.”

“I’m impressed.”Dad stood, which seemed to cue the others into movinglike they were first waiting for his reaction.“Really.Fine work, Summer.Kudos to the cast and crew.I look forward to seeing more.”

Son of a bitch.

She didn’t know what that meant, but I did.Her bright, relieved smile was a bolt of white-hot pain that sliced through my chest.“Thank you,” she breathed out, laughing nervously.There was nothing I could do but plaster on a fake smile as she and the executives filed out, murmuring pleasantly.A glance Dad’s way was enough to hold me in place, bracing myself.

He was barely able to wait until the door closed before folding his arms and pacing in front of the screen.“Explain something to me,” he said, lifting his head and hitting me with a stony stare.“How is it that a woman with a body like Danica Cole is running around this movie in a pair of coveralls?”

More than thirty years of knowing the man, and I still waited for the punchline.I should have known better.He never did have a sense of humor.

“I’m waiting for an explanation,” he barked out.We were alone now, meaning he could drop the kindly act.“I thought we understood each other on this.I thought you knew the stakes.”

“I do.”Rolling my shoulders back, I added, “And what you see up there is the result of that.”

“It can’t be,” he countered, jabbing a finger toward the blank screen.“That is not what we need.Don’t tell me you can’t comprehend what I’m saying.”

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