Breaking All the Rules (8 page)

There was really
no point thinking about it anymore.

BOBBY HAD JUST
COME BACK from a run and was pulling a bottle of water from the fridge when Mac
strode into the kitchen.

He came to an
abrupt stop, blinking at Bobby in surprise. “I never expected to see you here
this morning. Shouldn’t you still be with Nina?”

“I should,”
Bobby grunted. He ripped the cap off the bottle with a furious twist and tossed
it aside, raising the bottle to his mouth. He didn’t know whether to be angry
with himself or Nina that he wasn’t inside her at that very moment—himself for
bringing up the dating idea in the first place, or her for her stupid rules.

He’d been so
worked up after he’d left her place there was no chance of him getting any
sleep, so he’d figured he might as well trying to work out some of his
frustration—and the excess energy he was supposed to be using with Nina at that
very moment. It hadn’t helped. No matter how many miles he tore up, his
thoughts kept getting dragged back to her.

He’d never
imagined she would say no. He’d made some stupid assumption about how all women
wanted to be in relationships, forgetting that if she’d wanted that she
probably would have brought it up a long time ago. The next time he thought he
knew anything about women, he’d remember this moment.

“Whoa, bud,” Mac
said. “What’s the problem?”

The bottle
empty, Bobby lowered it, forcing his fingers to ease before he crushed the
plastic in his hand. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

Mac shrugged.
“You don’t have to tell me. The only thing that can get a guy in that bad of a
mood is a woman.”

“We ended it.”
Liar.
She
ended it
.

“Hey, it had to
happen sometime. You had a good run. What’d she do, try to get you to make a
commitment?” He snorted. “Women.”

Bobby grimaced.
“No. I’m the one who asked if she wanted to go out sometime on a real date. She
said she’s not interested.”

There was a long
beat of silence, no doubt as Mac tried to wrap his head around that one. “You
did
what
? Are you crazy?”

“No, I’m not
crazy,” Bobby gritted out.

“You have to be.
You have this great deal going and you want to shoot it all to hell. Man, you
are out of your mind. Thank God she’s got some sense.”

“Come on. She’s
the one who’s crazy. Said she doesn’t date guys in the military, because she’s
not interested in being with somebody who’s life is not his own.”

“Sounds like
she’s got a point to me. Not every woman’s cut out for it. Takes a special
woman to put up with her guy being called away at any moment and being away for
long periods of time.”

“She
is
special.”

“Not special
enough.” He must have seen something in Bobby’s face, because he held his hands
up in apology. “Hey, she’s the one who’s saying it. Don’t take it out on me.”

“I just think we
have something good that’s not worth losing.”

Mac snorted. “Yeah.
Sex.”

“No, it’s more
than that. I really like this woman. I’ve never met anybody like her. I can’t
stop thinking about her.”

Mac’s eyes held
only pity. “You’re getting hypnotized by the sex into thinking it’s more than
it is. It happens to plenty of guys. They hook up with a woman, the sex is
great, and they stop thinking with their heads and start thinking with their
dicks. You can’t start thinking she’s the love of your life just because you’re
great in the sack together.”

“I’m telling
you, this is different.
She’s
different. I’m not saying it’s love. I
just want the chance to figure out what it is.”

“Too bad it
doesn’t sound like you’re going to get it.”

Bobby clenched
his jaw. “We’ll see about that.” He started for the door, ready to hit the
shower.

Mac shot him a
look, then shook his head. “You’re not going to give up on this, are you?”

“Nope.” He
hadn’t stopped thinking about his next move since the second he walked out of
her bedroom. Hours later, he had the beginnings of a plan. He wasn’t going to
let her just throw away a good thing, not when it could become something even
better.

The sound of
Mac’s chuckle broke into his thoughts.

“Man, knowing
you, I almost feel bad for her.”

RATHER THAN GO
HOME and face her empty apartment, Nina stayed late at the shop that night.
Just the thought of Bobby’s scent made her heart clench painfully. Not to
mention, opening her kitchen cupboards and seeing the unused food she’d bought
for her and Bobby to play with wasn't something she was ready to face.
Fortunately for her, there was plenty to keep her occupied late into the
evening. When she finally found herself struggling to keep her eyes open, she
decided to throw in the towel and head home. She was so exhausted she wouldn’t
be able to do anything once she got there but crawl into bed and pass out.

Ashley and
Jackie had left hours earlier, so Nina quickly went about closing up the shop
before heading out.

Finally shutting
off the lights, Nina stepped outside and locked the door behind herself. They
shared a parking lot with the copy shop next door, and the plot was located on
the side of the building. As she made her way around the corner, she reached
into her coat pocket with her free hand and palmed the can of mace hidden
inside. This was a reasonably safe neighborhood, but she never took any
chances.

Even with her
cautious attitude, she still experienced a jolt when she saw a man standing in
the parking lot, leaning against one of the few cars there. Her fingers
tightened on the can. She’d never actually expected someone to be there.
Suddenly wary, she slowed her steps and considered how to proceed. The light
was behind him, offering only the faintest glimpse of his face, but there was
something familiar...

“Late night?”

The sound of
that voice answered every question she had. The tension slumped out of her
shoulders. Her hand loosened its hold on the can of mace, letting it fall
harmlessly back into her pocket.

Bobby.

She stopped a
few steps from him. From here, the lights dotting the lot shone down over his
features, revealing those shimmering green eyes and the smile curving his wide
lips. It was the smile that did it. A rush of liquid heat surged low in her
belly, the sensation almost making her squirm.

He was wearing a
gray T-shirt that strained against his chest and arms, the firm lines of his
muscles clearly defined beneath the fabric. His jeans were loose-fitting, but
he still seemed to fill them, the denim molding to the contours of his hips and
thighs. His arms were folded over his chest and his legs were crossed at the
ankles as he leaned back against his car. It was an easy pose that communicated
coiled masculinity.

She’d never been
able to keep her hands off of him. It wasn’t easy to keep from launching
herself at him now.

She didn’t allow
any trace of that struggle to show on her face and kept her voice hard. “What
are you doing here?”

“I saw the light
on when I was passing by and thought you might want to get something to eat
when you decided to call it a day.”

“You just
happened to be passing by?”

That delectable
grin deepened. “Okay, you caught me. I went by your place and saw you weren’t
home, so I came by here.”

It took a
physical effort not to let her response to that smile show, and she almost
whimpered. “And you decided to lurk in the parking lot until I came out.”

“I wasn’t
lurking. I was waiting. I figured whatever you were working on had to be
important to keep you here so late and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“That was very
considerate, but you could have saved yourself the trouble and found something
better to do with your time. I just want to go home.”

“Come on. You
have to eat. I know this Mexican place that’ll knock your socks off.”

Nina shot him a
pointed look. “That sounds an awful lot like a date.”

“Or just two
friends sitting down and eating together,” he said reasonably.

“Is that what we
are? Friends?”

“If not, then we
could be.”

“And then what?”

“I don’t know.
And then we take it from there.”

Nina sighed and
shook her head. “We already talked about this.”

“We talked, but
no agreement was reached.”

“It didn’t have
to be. There’s no point in starting something that has no chance of a future.”

“You don’t
really want to have to cook for yourself or heat up some crappy microwave
dinner.” His voice was warm and smooth, flowing over her like honey. She had to
force herself not to close her eyes and let that ingratiating tone seep into
her skin and weaken her defenses.

The way he was
looking at her, heat smoldering in his slumberous eyes, was like a blast of
pure sexual energy aimed straight at her. She felt it all the way down to her
toes. He looked so sure of himself, his expression and body language radiating
male confidence, as though there was no way she could deny him what he wanted.

Inspiration
struck, and a delicious idea she couldn’t resist came to mind. She could play
the game just as well as he could.

She took a step
forward, narrowing the space between them. She immediately sensed the increase
in his body tension. Just as she thought. He looked cool as could be, but he
was just as attuned to her presence as she was to his.

“What I want to
do is go home and crawl into bed.” She tipped her head and arched a brow.
“You’re more than welcome to join me there.”

To his credit,
he managed to keep that laconic grin in place. “I don’t know. I’m pretty
hungry.”

She took another
step, until there was less than three feet between them. “Oh, I have plenty for
you to snack on. And plenty of places for you to snack
from
.”

“Is that so?”
She might have imagined it, but the hard bulge of his adam’s apple jerked as he
swallowed sharply.

“Yes. Doesn’t
that sound better than going to some restaurant?”

“You haven’t
tasted their tamales.”

One more step.
“And you haven’t tasted maraschino cherries eaten out of my belly button. Or
licked strawberry sauce off of my nipples. Do you really think your restaurant
has anything that’ll taste that good?”

“The only way to
know for sure is to go there and ask,” he said with an admirable amount of
calm.

Fortunately, she
had one step left, and she took it. Then there was only the barest of space
between them, their legs and thighs so close they might as well be touching.
Nina put her hands on his hips and slid even closer, bracketing her legs on
either side of his. He shifted his pelvis, and she could tell he wanted to move
his legs apart to ease the pressure gathering at his crotch. She didn’t let
him, squeezing with her knees to imprison him tighter.

“Oh, I think I
top anything on their menu.”

She reached her
hand down between them to cup it over the crotch of his jeans. Just as she’d
expected, he was hard as a rock. The zipper strained to contain him. His sudden
intake of air, little more than a hiss shooting from between his teeth, filled
the air between them. She tightened her hold on him in response, feeling the
reaction of his body to her touch. His cock thickened, widened, growing bigger
in her hand. She ground the heel of her palm against him, where the sensitive
head must be. He rewarded her with the lowest of moans, his breathing growing
too ragged for him to hide.

A thrill raced
up her spine. Talk about having him in the palm of her hand.

“Besides,” she
said softly, lifting her face closer to his. “I don’t think food is what you’re
hungry for anyway.”

“Are we talking
about me or you now?”

That thick lower
lip of his, so wide and sexy and tasty to nibble on, was mere inches away. All
she had to do was push up on her toes and take it in her mouth.

“I’m definitely
interested in something other than food.”

“Oh, yeah?” he
said, his voice husky. He unfolded his arms and bent closer, and she was sure
he was going to kiss her. It was all that kept her from leaning forward and
doing it first.

“Care to guess
what that is?”

“No need to. I
know exactly what you want.”

“I know you do,”
she breathed.

“But you’re not
getting it.”

The words were a
splash of cold water right in the face. Her lowered eyelids snapped open. He
caught her so off guard it took her a few seconds to realize his hand had clamped
down on her wrist, pulling it away from his crotch. Her fingers continued to
work desperately, molding to something that she no longer held.

His breathing
was still slightly ragged, but the clenching of his jaw told her he was back in
control. Maybe not by much, but enough to thwart her.

“Not until I get
what I want,” he said.

“I haven’t heard
any complaints in the past.”

“I want a date. A
real date. You and me. In public. Like regular people.”

“Sounds boring,”
she purred, struggling to free her hand from his grip and reach him again.

He didn’t
release her. “I promise it won’t be.”

She stared up
into his eyes, until the hard gleam there convinced her he wasn’t backing down.
Swallowing a curse, she stepped back, releasing his legs from between her own.
He let go of her wrist a heartbeat later.

“It’s not a good
idea.”

“Why don’t you
give it a chance before making up your mind?”

“I don’t need
to. It could never work, and we’re only asking for trouble if we open that
door. The only way this is going to work is if we keep things the way they
are.”

“That’s not
enough for me anymore.”

She tried her
most seductive smile. “I bet I can convince you otherwise.”