Page 19 of Broken Rules
She threw her hands up. “Of course your name is freaking Damien.”
“What do you mean by that?” he asked.
She wanted to tell him that Damien was just a couple letters away from Demon, but she thought that might be rude. Still, if her name theory was right, no name could be more foreboding than the one belonging to the masked, admitted criminal sitting across from her.
Just one more flashing sign, telling her to run like hell!
She met his gaze, ignoring the symbolic neon light. “I think you were about to tell me about some problem before I interrupted you.”
His shoulders tensed. “The problem is that I can resist anything.”
Her heart pounded harder. He spoke in riddles and allusions—another bad boy trademark. “What does that even mean?”
“It means, I lead a simple life.”
She cocked her brow at him. “That I seriously doubt.”
He leaned closer. “My associations are few, as are my possessions. I am detached from everyone and everything.” A note of bewilderment entered his voice. “And yet, here I am, once again in your office. I can’t remember the last time I was in the same room twice.”
He reached out and grasped the sides of her chair. She started to roll toward him. The closer she rolled, the faster her heart pounded. White knuckling her knees, she sat frozen, unable to draw breath as he spread his legs and pulled her chair right up to his. His eyes bore into hers. She shifted in her seat beneath the weight of his scrutiny.
“Do you want me to go?” he blurted as if the questioned pained him.
She swallowed hard. She didn’t know what to say. She didn’t know what she wanted.
“You should tell me to go. You don’t want to have anything to do with me. Tell me to go,” he commanded.
Get away from him, her brain screamed, but her body and her heart didn’t want to be anywhere else in the world.
He leaned forward and seized her waist between his hands. “If you tell me to go, right now, I will. You’ll never see me again.”
Do the right thing, Savannah! The guy is telling you he’s bad news!
But bad guys didn’t warn girls off.
How could he be all bad, if he was giving her an out?
“I can’t,” she whispered.
He stood abruptly, pulling her out of her chair and crushed her against his hard chest. The fabric of his mask puffed from his quick breaths. “This is your last chance to send me away.”
Her breath caught. “I’ve been waiting of you,” she said, her voice tremulous.
He spun her around and pressed her back flush against his hard, lean body. She could feel the power in his arms as he held her close. Slowly, his hand trailed down her waist and over her hip. His leather-gloved fingers caressed her bare thigh below the hem of her black skirt. Then he turned her around so that they, once again, faced each other.
She gasped. The danger. The feel of his hands on her body. The mystery. It all pulsed through her, intoxicating and forbidden. Her fingers trembled when she slowly reached up to touch his cheek through his black hooded mask. “Can I see your face?” she asked softly.
He shook his head. “Not with the cameras running.”
She stiffened. Brows drawn, her eyes darted around the office. “What are you talking about? What cameras?”
“Your boss has cameras all over this place.” Then he motioned to the vent in the ceiling. “Watch.”
She stared up at the vent. After a moment, she saw a red light flash on the inside.
“That bastard,” she snapped. “Brandi and I change in here all the time.”
His hand wrapped around her waist. “Not all bad guys wear masks.”
