Broken (Breaking the Rules) (12 page)

Considering I was so hungry and I was eating my favorite food, I moaned in pleasure at the delicious taste of the roll. His eyes flew to mine but dropped to my mouth as I licked my lips. When they made their way back up to mine they were full of need. These were the eyes I was used to seeing.

He cleared his throat and turned his attention back to his food, trying to avoid looking at me again. At least I knew he was having trouble keeping up his asshole premise.

I quickly devoured all of my rolls and stood to go back to my desk. “Come here,” he whispered, sounding like he choked on his words a little.

My eyes met his, and I couldn’t help wanting to have a repeat performance from this morning. Asshole or not, he was fantastic in bed. Gesturing for me to come closer, I nervously walked around to where he was sitting.

“Come here,” he quietly ordered again. He took my hand, pulling me a little closer. I closed my eyes as I leaned forward, wanting to kiss him so badly. He chuckled and stuck something in my hand. I blinked open my eyes, looking at what he had given me. A fucking fortune cookie. He let go of my hand and swiveled in his chair away from me. Grabbing the phone, he started dialing and waved me away. Fucking waved me away.

Completely pissed, I stalked out of his office and tried to refrain from slamming the door. Once I got back at my desk, tears stung my eyes again, but this time they were angry. I opened my cookie and read my fortune.

“Everything will be okay. Don’t obsess. Time will prove you right. You must stay where you are.”

Damn you, wise fortune cookie. Damn you.

A DARK TWO WEEKS…

My eyes flutter open and I take in my surroundings. I’m in a hospital room. I can feel a tube down my throat and an IV attached to my arm. My head is in such a fog. What happened? I can see people seated in my room, but I’m having trouble focusing on them. Tears begin falling down my cheeks as I start crying, further blurring my vision.

I can hear shuffling of feet and whispers before a small hand grasps one of mine. “Shhh, Andi. Everything’s okay. They were able to pump your stomach but a lot of the medicine and alcohol is still in your system. The IV is trying to flush it out for you. You scared us when you stopped breathing, so they are keeping you safe with the breathing tube. Don’t try to talk. Just know that we’re all here with you,” Pepper gently comforts me.

I hear her barely whisper, “You need to leave, motherfucker.”

And in an angry whisper that matches her, I hear Bray growl, “Fuck no.” His hand envelops my other one. My tears are really falling now and I am sobbing uncontrollably.

“I’ll get the nurse,” I hear my mother say coldly. My mother? If she is here, this is really bad.

Seconds later, a nurse shuffles in. Bray and Pepper are still stroking my hands and whispering soft, gentle things to me.

“When will the psychiatrist be here?” my mother questions the nurse. The nurse informs her that he is making his rounds and that it will be soon. She also tells her that in the meantime she will give me something to relax. I can feel a cold sensation seeping into my vein and trickling up my arm. Trying to fight the pull it is having on me, I squeeze Pepper’s and Bray’s hands once before the medication wins and fully drags me under.

The afternoon went by quickly because the phone rang off the hook. I handled the clients with ease and was able to force the confusing thoughts about Jackson from my mind. He stayed in his office the entire time. Jordan had come back a while ago and stormed into his office. His meeting must not have gone well because he had been visibly upset about it.

When the work day was almost over, Jordan emerged from his office, looking very tired and stressed. He walked over to my desk and sat on the edge. “How was your first day, Andi?” he asked. He was smiling at me but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“Um, it was great. I think I handled things well. The question is, how was your day?” I wondered genuinely.

Reaching his hand up, he rubbed the stubble along his jawline. “I’ve had better. How did Jackson treat you? Did he act like an ass?” he questioned, looking into my eyes.

His genuine interest coupled with the horrible way things had evolved today had tears forming in my eyes. I tried to blink them away so my boss wouldn’t see how I was letting Jackson affect me.

Anger swept across his face as he gently wiped a tear that had managed to escape down my cheek. Jackson’s door opened beside me but I ignored it since he was going to do the same to me anyway. Hopping off the desk, Jordan softly ordered, “Come here.” He grabbed my hands and pulled me in for a hug. It appeared that we both needed a hug after our shitty day.

Something slamming on my desk caused me to jerk away from Jordan’s embrace. Jackson was glaring at the both of us, eyes darting back and forth. His jaw worked furiously, clenching and unclenching. Jordan tensed up beside me and they had a fucking standoff before Jackson finally spoke. “Real fucking professional, Jordan.” Without waiting for a response, he stormed out of the office.

Jordan patted me on the back. “Welcome to the gang,” he huffed, sighing as he walked back to his office. “Hope to see you tomorrow.”

With that, I snatched up my purse and left. Returning was still up for debate.

“I still can’t believe it,” Pepper murmurs, shaking her head as she sips her wine. We’d already had dinner at the café and had moved to Dempsey’s to have some after-dinner wine. It was a slow night at the bar so we were able to find a quiet booth near the back.

“Yeah, it’s pretty awful. I am just hoping it will get better. There aren’t many jobs out there, so I’d be a fool to quit, but that doesn’t make it any easier. If I didn’t have my stupid game, this never would have happened,” I whined as I downed the rest of my glass. My game was a joke anyway. It was time to stop what I’d started months ago and start trying to act like a normal human being. The server came over and refilled our glasses.

I heard Ian’s booming voice behind the bar, welcoming some guys as they walked in. Following his gaze, I was horrified to see Jordan and Jackson.

“Shit, Pepper. They’re here. Jordan and Jackson are here. We should go,” I urged, scooting out of the booth. When Jordan saw me, he waved and started walking over to me. Jackson jerked his head in my direction and glared at me.

“Andi! Surprise seeing you here. Let me buy you and your lovely friend here a drink,” he smiled when he reached our table. Whatever stress he had been dealing with earlier seemed to have dissipated.

“We were about to leave,” Pepper informs Jordan, knowing that I was beyond uncomfortable.

“Nonsense! You can have a drink with us. Jackson! Get your ass over here. Ian! Bring a round of drinks to us. Surprise us,” he ordered as he scooted into the booth next to Pepper, causing her to yelp. He looked over at her and grinned.

Normally she
could
be as frosty as they come, but right now her cheeks were blazing as she shakily scooted closer to the wall to get away from him.

Jackson finally made it to our table and reluctantly sat down beside me, as far away as he possibly could while still sitting on the same bench. I sighed and turned my attention back to Jordan. Keeping my hands busy, I rolled my napkin and folded it over and over again. Jordan was smiling at me. Clearly he was the more charismatic of the two.

“Excuse my socially inept brother. He doesn’t get out much. I blame it on Mom for babying him so much,” he chuckled. Jackson grumbled something under his breath and tried to ignore Jordan.

I looked over at Pepper and she had composed herself again. Frosty Bitch was back. “Andi here was just telling me about her wonderful day at work,” she said sarcastically, glancing over in Jackson’s direction. I cringed at her words. Jordan didn’t seem to notice that they were sarcastic, but Jackson flinched ever so slightly.

“Great! I’m so glad, Andi. I think you’ll really like it there. Everyone works hard to make it a successful company,” Jordan beamed as he bragged about his employees.

When I started to nervously shred my napkin, Jackson’s hand covered mine, taking it from me. I couldn’t ignore the heat that ignited between us. Quickly, my eyes found his, which were drinking me in. My heart started racing, but thankfully the intense moment was interrupted when Ian set down two rounds of shots. “It’s on me, guys,” he said, winking at us and returned back to the bar.

Jordan began telling a funny story about one of his newer clients. We were all laughing at him, but I was having a hard time giving him my entire attention. Jackson was beside me, practically knocking me over with the intense waves rolling off of his body. I’d like to assume they were of desire, but I realized it was probably anger at having to sit with me.

We all started to relax a little more as Ian brought another couple of rounds. When Jackson’s knee touched mine and stayed there, I froze. The electricity that pulsed through us was almost visible. Pepper and Jordan were talking about some art exhibit, but I could barely understand their conversation because I was too caught up in this moment with Jackson.

When his hand gingerly rested on my thigh, I shuddered at the intimate touch. I’d wanted all day for him to show some indication of the man from this morning and he had finally thrown me a bone. His hand started gently rubbing my thigh over my skirt. I gasped silently when his hand pushed my skirt up, giving him access to my panties.

Jordan and Pepper were now in a heated discussion about something, but I completely ignored them. Jackson slipped a finger underneath my panties and rubbed across my clit. I jerked but forced myself to stay calm. He began a delicious pattern over my sensitive clit. I choked down my panting and eagerly awaited the orgasm that was very close.

With his other hand, he slid my wine glass in front of me and nodded to it. Shakily, I snatched it up and brought it to my lips. My orgasm hit hard and was intensified when he shoved two fingers inside my wet core making me buck off of the seat a bit. Swallowing down my moans with my wine, I shook with my aftershocks. He pulled his fingers from me and slid my skirt back into place. Oh my God, he was something else.