Page 9 of Rules Are Meant To Be Broken

She pulled her hands free and traced her lips as her eyes wandered, her face reflective. “You were right about me. I’ve been playing a role for a long time. One I’m not very happy in.” After a long pause, she added, “Maybe it’s time I played a different one.”

Xavier sat up, a grin stretching his cheeks. “Are you sure?”

“Not at all. Maybe that means I’m onto something.” Her beautiful face turned to his. Uncertainty radiated from every pore. “Why not? Let’s do this. This is easily the most ludicrous thing I’ve done. If you asked me yesterday or a week ago, I would have thrown a drink in that pretty face of yours. Right now, this instant, you couldn’t have timed it better.” She shook her head. “I want this. Ineedthis.” She inhaled deeply, as if contemplating her words. After a pause she added, “There’s just one rule—no commitments, no complications.”

She nodded as if satisfied, then glanced at her watch. Her mouth dropped open into an O of surprise and in a blur of movement she stood up, slipped back into her dress, and threw her handbag strap over her shoulder. He put out a hand.

“Wait you’re leaving? I thought—”

With another glance at her watch, she told him, “I have to—sort of…check in. Look, it’s hard to explain. I’ll meet you back here first thing tomorrow, yeah? Out front. Don’t look at me like that. I’ll be here. Promise. Pinkie swear. Do you pinkie swear in Australia?”

For reasons known only to the gods, he believed her. He joined pinkies and said, “Pinkie swear.”

With that, she turned and was gone.

He knew it was madness. What had he just agreed to? He should have felt uneasy or nervous about what he’d just arranged, but oddly he wasn’t. The only thing that scared him was the thought he’d never see her again.

Just in case, Xavier dressed and rushed out of the warm confines of the hotel into the bitter night outside. He saw her scurrying down the opposite side of the street. Snow had begun to fall, flecking her red coat with specks of white.

Standing on tiptoes he yelled, “Hope!”

She kept going. He called her name again. This time she hesitated. Turning to look over her shoulder, she saw him and beamed. Xavier walked briskly to her.

She placed a hand on her hip. Cold night vapour danced around the grin on her lips as she said, “Look, I’m not sure how it works in Australia, but you’re starting this stalking thing way too early.”

He ignored the jibe. “I forgot, I had one more thing to show you.”

She tilted her head inquisitively. He leaned in, slid his hand along her warm cheek and kissed her with every ounce of desire he felt. Her hand crept up to press against his chest, and he covered it with his own to keep it warm, to connect them skin to skin. Their tongues swirled, lips explored, heartbeatssynchronised. The woman could kiss.Damn, she could kiss. They stood alone on the street for a moment and an eternity.

When they finally came up for air, they stared at each other in surprise.

Catching her breath, Hope said, “You make an excellent point.”

Xavier kissed her soft lips again, simply because he could. His nose nuzzled hers. “What if I wake up tomorrow and realise this was all a dream?”

A smirk rode across her beautiful features. “Then you give your imagination a high five.” She winked.

“If youdoshow up in the morning?”

Her hands tugged on his belt. “Then we act out all those fantasies.” She kissed him hard and with hunger. “Every single one.” She jerked her thumb to point down the street. “But I have to…”

Xavier nodded. “Sure, sure.” He grabbed her coat belt and kissed her again.

They exchanged goofy smiles. Xavier felt like an awkward teenager, an awkward, excited, horny teenager.

“Before I go,” she said with a wicked grin, “just how many of these crazy laws are we aiming to break?”

His grin matched hers. “All of them.”

Chapter Two: Boston, Massachusetts

Making noise in a public library is a crime against chastity, morality, decency, and good order.

Hope put her bare feet up on the dashboard and hummed along to an Elvis song. It pleased her inordinately that she and Xavier shared the same taste in music. It boded well. In fact, everything she’d seen of him so far boded well. She tried to wipe the stupid grin from her face and failed dismally.

Xavier had insisted on doing all the driving due to the rental insurance being in his name and, she suspected, no small amount of masculine pride. That meant they’d already had a number of hair-raising near accidents. His complaint about Americans driving on thewrongside of the road hadn’t persuaded a single New York motorist.

She took a deep breath. For the first time in a long while, she felt free. No boundaries, no rules. It was both exhilarating and terrifying. Sure, there were secrets she would have to keep from her muscle-bound driver for both their sakes, but for right then, it was a small price to pay.

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