Page 9 of Breaking the Rules of Love

I sigh and reach for another piece of gauze.

Well, at least I’ll have a crazy story to tell Sadie later.

6

Jake

As it turns out,I need three stitches at the Emergency Room. So I was right; I have been through much worse.

The boys came by to “keep me company” while I was there, which basically turned into them just giving me grief for not taking Violet up on her offer to join her in her hotel room.

“Imagine having Violet Keith on your resume,” Ryan goaded me as the nurse stitched me up. “And this soft-ass doofus turned her down!”

“Would you shut up?” I asked, knowing it was futile.

“And youheardher offer herself to him?” Logan asked, having met up with us after surviving the crowd of insane fans back at the venue.

“Oh, I heard most of it,” Ryan laughed. “Heard him turn her down too.”

“Jesus, Jake, you married or something?” Logan bellowed. Even the nurse was trying to hold back her smile.

I didn’t know how to break it to either of them that I’d met somebodytoday. Neither of them would understand. Hell, I barely understand it myself.

There’s just something about Sadie that has me twisted up and tripping all over myself. I just simply can’t get her off my mind. It was all I could do to stay focused during the job tonight, and as I pull into the driveway, I find myself glancing over at her house to see if the lights are on.

They aren’t.

I don’t know why it would matter anyway. It’s not like she’s going to come running over here with a blueberry tart or something as a second housewarming gift. It’s late. Nearly midnight, and she’s an accountant. She’s had a long day at work doing whatever it is that accountants do, and she’s probably had a nice bath and gone to bed. She hasn’t been out getting up to crazy shit like me, getting injured and ending up in the hospital.

I don’t know what it is about her that has me so hooked. I’m thinking about her as I walk upstairs to the shower, toss my clothes off, and wash off all the sweat and blood from tonight’s job.

But just as I shut off the water and grab my towel and start to dry off, I hear the sound of an engine next door.

Quickly, I go to the window and see Sadie pulling up in her driveway. I guess I didn’t even really think about it when I got home. I just assumed her car was in the garage. Where would she be coming back from at a time like this?

A date with another man?

My fists instantly clench the damp fabric around my waist as I picture her sitting at a table with someone who’s not me. Or sitting side by side in a movie theater with a bucket of popcorn with someone who’s not me.

Calm down, Jake. You don’t know anything yet.

She steps out of her car, and my entire body comes alive. It’s dark and I can’t even see her that well, but there’s enough moonlight for me to make out those dangerous curves as she walks to her door. And I can feel myself starting to grow hard beneath my towel.

And then I see it under her arm—a waitress’s apron. She has it all bunched up like she’s trying to keep it hidden.

Wait a minute. Sadie isn’t an accountant; she’s a waitress? Why would she lie to me about that?

I turn the light off in my bedroom, hiding myself from her, and go to the window and look out. At the same time, I see the light in her living room turn on and her figure as she enters and tosses her apron onto the couch. She sighs and runs her fingers through her hair. Must have been a hard day at work.

“Same here, baby,” I whisper. “Same here.”

She vanishes from sight for a moment, then the kitchen light turns on, and I watch as she pours herself a tall glass of water and finishes it in one gulp. I don’t know why, but something about that turns me on. She washes out the glass and disappears again, only to reappear upstairs in her bedroom.

I shouldn’t be watching her like this. I know that. It’s completely stalkerish, but I just can’t help myself.

7

Jake

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