Page 7 of Broken Rules

“Ouch.”Travis winced and made a show of grabbing his crotch, laughing as our fresh drinks arrived.He eyed the server like she was dessert, staring at her tits, eyes glued when she turned away.“Goddamn, that is a glorious ass.”

“You said she’s some artsy, hippie type?”Clay questioned, and I rolled my eyes, starting in on my second drink.“You never know.She could be one of those yoga chicks.Super flexible.”

“That must be how she manages to wedge her head up her ass,” I muttered, making them laugh again.They didn’t get it.They hadn’t met her.

“She’s still a woman,” Spencer insisted.“I’ve seen you melt the panties off a woman at fifty yards.All you have to do is smile.”

“It’s not like that,” I insisted.“She walked in with a chip on her shoulder.The second she set eyes on me, she made up her mind.”

“The way you did?”Spencer cocked an eyebrow.

That was all it took for the fire in my chest to explode into an inferno.“Do me a favor,” I snapped.“Don’t treat me like your kid.Just because you’re getting laid on the regular doesn’t mean you’re an expert all of a sudden.”

“Fuck off.”He laughed.“I’m sorry if the truth hurts, buddy.”

“I’ve got shit to do.”I tossed cash on the table, downing the rest of my drink and slamming the glass back into place.“Good to see you.”

“Come on,” Clay urged.“Don’t be like that.”

It was too late.I was too frustrated and bitter, and the fact that nobody seemed to understand only made it worse.They weren’t there.They hadn’t locked eyes with that woman and realized she was unreachable.

It only hit me once I was behind the wheel of my Maserati that I didn’t feel like going home.It was too early to go home alone, for one thing, but then I didn’t feel like going anywhere to find someone to help me pass a few hours.I wasn’t in the mood.I wouldn’t be good company, either.Granted, there were women who didn’t give a shit about the company so long as the man they were with had enough room on his credit card, but I wasn’t interested in that.Maybe in my younger days, fresh out of school, when I walked around with a perpetual hard-on.

Now, I was the presumed heir to a movie studio.I had an image to uphold.

It seemed like my body had a mind of its own because before I knew it, I was rolling through the gates to Landry International.The studio was quiet, the windows to the offices darkened.A security guard rolled past in a golf cart and lifted a hand, a gesture I returned, pulling into my reserved spot.It wasn’t only Summer I couldn’t get out of my head but the movie itself.The work that had to be done.I had left my laptop in my office and decided now to take it home.If I wasn’t going to spend the night screwing around, I might as well be productive.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one with that idea.The small room next to my office was in use, light pouring out from under the closed door.The noise coming from behind the door set the hair at the back of my neck on end.An intruder?What the hell would they be doing in an unused office?They should be in mine or Dad’s.

I marched toward the door, only realizing as I was turning the knob that there could be someone with a weapon on the other side.Too late.I threw the door open, prepared to lay into whoever thought they could sneak around here after hours.

Summer’s sharp gasp pierced the air.She stood bolt upright beside a largemetal desk that now sat in the center of the room.She was flushed, breathless, and her face fell when she noted my presence.“Oh.It’s you.You told me I could have this as my office.”

“How did you think you were going to move this yourself?”I asked, walking over to the opposite end of the desk while she brushed strands of sweat-dampened hair away from her face.“Where do you want it?”

“There.”She pointed to a space in front of the room’s only window, which overlooked the parking lot.

“Right.On my count.”I took firm hold of the desk, and she scrambled to do the same.“One, two, three.”The fucker was heavy.How long had she been trying to inch it across the floor by herself?

“Thank you,” she groaned out once it was in place, wheeling an old office chair behind it and dropping like a rock.“Honestly, I thought I’d never get the thing moved.”

“Do you always have to do everything by yourself?”

“Lately?Yes,” she replied, sighing.“My assistant was going to come over and help me, but she had a family thing to take care of.Her parents live in the Valley,” she explained, running her tanned arm over her forehead to catch the perspiration on her skin.

“Oh.Well, glad I showed up at the right moment.”How awkward was this?

“Why did you come back?”she asked, her brows pinching in confusion.

I had to laugh as I crossed the room, ready to get the hell out of there while we were still getting along.What was it about her that made me so uneasy, unsettled?I only knew I didn’t like it.“A studio boss’ work is never done.”

“But you’re not the boss, are you?”she pointed out.The girl might as well have fired an arrow into my back or a bullet with the power to tear through the goodwill I was trying to foster.

“What is it with you?”I demanded, spinning on my heel in time to watch her mouth fall open.Did she think she could get away with being a smartass indefinitely?That I’d never call her on it?“What’s with the antagonistic attitude?”

“I was joking.”

If anything, the innocent act deepened my rage, heating my blood.“The minute you knew you’d be working with me and not my father, your whole attitude shifted,” I snapped.“I watched it happen, so don’t pretend I don’t know what I’m talking about.What did I do to deserve that?I wanted to start off on the right foot.”

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