The Rule Book (Rule Breakers #1)(32)

His eyes searched mine with a softness that stole the air from my lungs. This new side of Brogan, with the joking and laughing…I wanted it to continue. But starting at seven on Monday, things would go back to normal—professional colleagues. Ones that nodded in the hallways and said a polite hello as they passed. The way it was supposed to be.

“I—” He breathed the word, like an exhale. He lifted his hand, inches from my cheek when the elevator dinged and the doors slid open. His hand dropped to his side, and he pressed his lips together.

What?? I wanted to scream. He couldn’t just leave me hanging like that. Surely he had something insightful to say. Such as I want to throw you over my shoulder and take you back to my condo and do unspeakable, delicious things to your body, or I think your excessive babbling and breaking into my apartment is sort of cute and am glad I hired you.

“I’ll see you Monday.” He gave a nod and then proceeded to pat me on the shoulder.

What the hell just happened? Did I…just get rejected?

I did a quick mental inventory of the various types.

Levels of rejection:

Full-on rejection: dude swiping left on your Tinder pic. Burn.

Semi-rejection: guy suddenly going dark on social media after a date. Rude.

Quasi-rejection: trespassing into your boss’s apartment, forcing him to watch your favorite movie, and ending the night with a friendly pat on the shoulder in the same manner as someone consoling a kid who lost a t-ball game. Off-putting but understandable. Right?

I stepped into the elevator, ignoring this odd sting of quasi-rejection. “Bright and early.”

The elevator doors shut, and I leaned against the rail and stared at my flushed face in the mirrored panel. I was in so much trouble.





Chapter Eleven


Lainey Taylor Rule of Life #32

If you don’t want to board a train to Crazy Town, stop trying to read into things. Seriously, stop.

Zoey was in the middle of the living room on a yoga mat, posing in a sun salutation when I woke up. Jitters was belly-up on the couch, waiting for me to scratch his tummy as I passed him to grab my laptop.

“How’s your upward froggy pose?”

“This is cobra. And it wouldn’t hurt you to try this, you know.” She curved her spine and splayed her arms straight out on the mat, going into what I thought was a child’s pose. In college, I’d joined her in a yoga class and ended up falling asleep in that very position. Best sleep I ever had. Which was quickly interrupted by the instructor telling me to Namaste the hell out of her class. “Did you know that people in desk jobs are eighty percent more likely to get blood clots?”

I moved toward the kitchen, grabbed my cuddle mug and poured a full cup of coffee. “And did you know that I’m 100 percent closer to dying each day I live?”

She let out a deep belly breath and shook her head. “I really adore your stubbornness sometimes.”

“It’s one of my many endearing qualities.” I smiled sweetly at her.

“Yeah, yeah.” She continued with her yoga poses as Jitters eyed her? his tail playfully swatting the couch cushion.

“I’m going home this weekend to see my mom. You able to hold down the fort?”

“Yeah, I need to catch up on my paperwork. I’ll also be at the center,” she said.

In Zoey’s spare time, she enjoyed working with kids at the youth center. All were from at-risk homes, and I didn’t doubt she would be the Michelle Pfeiffer those kids needed to stay out of trouble.

“Where were you last night? I didn’t hear you come in.”

I smothered a smile, trying my best to contain my excitement “Brogan’s.”

Her eyes widened. “Like, with Brogan?”

“Not with him with him, just spent the evening on his couch.”

“I need all the details, woman. Did he remove the stick out of his ass before he entered his home, or is that a twenty-four seven accessory?”

“I kind of walked in on him as he got out of the shower.”

Her brows disappeared under her bangs. “The plot thickens.”

“That’s what she said,” I interjected. I could never pass up a good that’s what she said joke.

She gave me a look. “The pun was totally intended. Okay, hold on—was he naked?”

“In a towel, but I saw things.”

“Things,” she repeated and gave a quizzical look.

I raised my brow. “Things.”

“And how did these things measure up?” She put her hands out, using them as a makeshift ruler. I shook my head, and she spread them wider. I shook my head again, and she gaped. “Dear God, woman. That just sounds unhealthy.”

A delicious heat pulsed between my legs just thinking about his lean chest. The water droplets that clung to his skin. The edges where tanned skin met intricate tattoos. “I didn’t actually see it, so it might have been a mirage.”

“And you just watched movies…on his couch? Or are we talking, like, Netflix and chill?”

“Just a movie.” I frowned. Did it still count as friendly if I’d wished more had happened? I didn’t quite know how to feel about that yet. It had been a long time since I’d saddled back up for dating, and in terms of horses, Brogan was an Arabian. Wild, untouchable, not meant to be ridden by employees in any capacity. Why couldn’t I set my sights on a nice Paint. Or a show pony? Something safe.