Page 9 of Breaking Rules

My stomach twists. What the hell is wrong with me?

He’s not wrong. I can’t help but gawk.He’s standing incredibly close to me, and he’s half-naked. He smells like sex, and he looks like it too.

“So, about that coffee?” Xander breaks the silence again, mischief dancing in his eyes.

“Make it yourself,” I grumble, moving away from him. His charm is playing on my nerves, crawling under my skin with an ease that scares me.

“You’re feisty, just like I thought you would be.” He takes a step closer.

His hot breath ghosts across my skin, spreading tingles through my body. Chin lifted, I glare at him, trying my hardest not to get lost in his eyes. They look like the sky just before a storm breaks, deep and captivating.

“Like you thought I would be?” I put up a front to keep him from seeing just how much he affects me.

This encounter is so bizarre. Jake is asleep in the next room, and I’m ogling a half-naked guy I don’t even know, one whose very existence sends arousal flooding through me. I want to know more about him. Pressing my palm to my chest, I absentmindedly trail my fingers over my collarbone, the fluttery sensation in my stomach growing more intense. It’s absolutely uncontrollable, like an itch I can’t ignore.

I need to get rid of it.

CHAPTER4

THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY

BELLA

July

“What does that mean?”I force the words out as I blink. Pulling myself out of the daze he put me in, I take my hand off my chest.

Xander is staring at me, lips tipped up like he’s amused. “Miller used to talk about you, and you’re exactly how I expected you to be.”

He talked about me? I want to ask him to explain. Instead, I say, “How close were you two in college?”

“We werebestfriends.” He props his hip against the kitchen counter again. The move draws my focus to his tattooed chest.

With a thick swallow, I drag my attention to my feet. I don’t want him to think I give a damn about the ink rolling across his skin.

“You’re doing it again, Isabella.”

He says my name like he’s tasting me. He has to stop, or my panties will be soaked. Again.

“Doing what?” Only now do I realize that, although my gaze is zeroed in on my feet, to him, it probably looks like I’m staring at his groin.

“Looking at me like you wish you were the one in that guest room with me.”

Arrogant asshole.

I bring my gaze back to his face, giving him my best withering look. “You wish.”

Dammit. Why did I look at him again? Instantly, his eyes captivate me. I slug down the last of my coffee then turn to the coffee maker. I need a distraction, even if it means doing something totally contradictory.

“Do you still want that coffee?”

“Oh,nowyou’re offering?” He shifts beside me, the noise subtle. “Yeah, I’d love that.”

“Cool. Go sit at the table.” Anything to put some distance between us so I can stop embarrassing myself.

Brushing past me, he rounds the kitchen counter, all swagger. Then he plops himself down on the high stool. His gaze bores into me, but I refuse to let it bother me. It doesn’t. It shouldn’t…damn him.

“Why are you here?” I ask, remaining focused on the coffee maker.

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