Breaking All the Rules (17 page)

When they
reached the second level, he reached past her and unlocked the door. Pushing it
open, he flipped the light on inside. “Welcome to my home.”

Every instinct
wanted to suggest they go somewhere—anywhere—else, as the dread surged inside
her, verging on all-out panic. But there was no way she could do it without
looking like a crazy person.

Managing a thin
smile, Nina forced her feet into motion and stepped over the threshold.

The entryway
opened onto a living room. There was a couch, a couple of comfortable-looking
chairs. A coffee table. TV. Nothing out of the ordinary. It looked like a
perfectly normal apartment, probably no different than thousands of others in
the city.

Except it was
different. It was his. This was his home. That made all the difference.

She stopped at
the edge of the room, not sure what to do. She didn’t spot anything in the way
of personal items around—no photographs on the walls or mementos on the
shelves. Probably not surprising for an apartment inhabited by two single guys
who didn’t spend a lot of time here. She hated that she’d even noticed. It
might not be overly cluttered, but it felt lived-in. Comfortable. Masculine.

Like him.

Behind her, she
heard him close the door. The sound was quiet, but she heard it as loudly as
the door of a prison cell slamming shut.

“I thought you
wanted a date in public,” she murmured.

“I did, but then
I thought about it and I realized the whole point was for us to get to know
each other better, and seeing my place might be a good way to do that.”

“Is Mac out?”

“I asked him to
clear out for the night. Seemed only fair considering how many times he had it
to himself when I was at your place.”

She tried to
look on the bright side. The fact that they were alone would make it a lot
easier for her to try to make something between them.

Except, exactly
as he’d intended, this felt all too intimate—in all the wrong ways.

Moving past her,
he raised the basket. “So are you hungry?”

“Not really. Not
for food anyway.”

Shaking his
head, Bobby gave her a knowing smirk. “Wait until you get a whiff of what I got
for us. I have a feeling you’ll change your mind pretty fast.”

The living room
opened into the kitchen on the other side. He crossed to it, leaving her to
follow.

Nina did her
best not to look around the room any further, fighting back her instinctive
curiosity. She stopped in the doorway of the kitchen and watched as he placed
the basket on the counter and began to unload its contents.

“Everything’s
hot,” he noted as he placed foil containers on the counter. “I timed the order
based on what time I was picking you up, and it looks like they just finished
making everything. All I have to do is open these and get some plates and we’ll
be good to go.”

“I’m surprised
you didn’t want to eat at the restaurant. Seems like it would have been
easier.”

He hesitated in
mid-motion and looked up in surprise. “Do you want to? We still can.”

Yes, she almost
said, before acknowledging how ridiculous it would be. She waved him off. “No.
This is fine. I just thought you wanted to go to a public place. Like normal
people?”

He cracked an
easy smile. “That was the original plan, but considering how much it took to
get you here, I figured I wanted as much time with you as I could get without
any distractions. Besides, I think I’ve proven over the last few days that I
can control myself around you.”

“You don’t have
to tell me,” she grumbled lightly. “To tell you the truth, I’m still not sure
how I feel about that.”

“Trust me, it
was harder than it looked.”

“I’m glad to
hear it.” She watched him disappear into the refrigerator. “Can I do anything
to help?”

He emerged with
a bottle he extended to her. “You can open this.”

She inspected
the label with an arched brow. “Champagne? What’s the occasion?”

“Our first date
after three years. I think that’s worth celebrating.”

She swallowed
the instinctive retort that it would also be their last. It would be—it had
to—but to say so at that moment, when he was being so sweet, would be beyond
rude. He looked so charming, his eyes warm and his lips curved in that crooked
grin, that she felt a nervous flutter in her belly and had to look away.

“All right,” she
said weakly.

“I’ll bring the
glasses out in a second. Why don’t you have a seat outside?”

“Outside?”

He stepped out
of the kitchen and led her across the living room to a pair of sliding glass
doors. She hadn’t even noticed them. Pulling the doors open, he leaned forward
and flipped a switch beside them.

Dozens of
sparkling lights came to life before her eyes. It took Nina a second to realize
what she was seeing. The doors opened onto a deck with a table and chairs
perched alongside the far railing. Above them, strings of lights hung in arches
from the outer wall to the edges of the deck and all along the railing.

He motioned for
her to step forward with a sweep of his arm, and she moved through the doorway.
Charmed almost in spite of herself, she felt her breath hitch in her throat. It
was like being surrounded by a thousand points of light that swung in the night
breeze, dancing around her in the inky blackness. She couldn’t hear any sounds
of traffic or the neighbors, just the faint whisper of the night wind brushing
through some nearby trees.

“Tell me this
isn’t better than any restaurant.”

She hid a smile.
“I don’t know. We might miss the other diners talking too loud and the waiters
pestering us if we want dessert.”

His chuckle
rumbled behind her. “Well, there’s always a tradeoff, but I still say this
can’t be beat.”

“It’s
incredible.” She turned to face him so there could be no doubting her
sincerity. “Really.”

His satisfaction
at her words showed on his face. “Have a seat. I’ll get on the steaks.”

She watched him
disappear inside before moving to the table. Setting her purse and the bottle
of champagne on the tabletop, she leaned against the railing and stared out
into the night. It was so peaceful here. Beyond the deck the actual stars
glimmered in the night sky around a gleaming white moon. The October evening
was balmy enough to be quite comfortable. Despite the light breeze drifting in
the air, she didn’t feel so much a chill. In spite of everything that should
have kept her on edge, Nina felt the tension gripping her insides begin to
ease.

She wasn’t sure
how much time passed before she heard the glass doors sliding open again,
signaling his return. He came up beside her, a pair of glasses dangling between
the fingers of one hand. “These might be wine glasses. I don’t know if there’s
a difference. I guess that’s one thing a restaurant has over me.”

“It’s fine.” She
glanced at the unopened bottle of champagne. “Sorry. I got distracted—"

“No rush,” he
said easily. He set the glasses on the table next to the bottle. “We have all
the time in the world, and I’m all about taking things slowly.”

“Yes, I
remember,” she said sardonically. The things she liked doing slow with him were
far different than what he had in mind. But she could bide her time until the
moment came for those things, both fast and slow. In the meantime, the lights
and the moonlight had her feeling strangely mellow and in no particular rush.

Realizing he’d
be back soon, she pushed off from the railing and moved to the table. Along its
edge sat a trio of squat cups each bearing a candle. She spotted a book of
matches and quickly went about lighting the wicks. Their flickering glow only
enhanced the mood. When she was done, she reached for the bottle of champagne
and quickly popped the cork. She had both of their glasses filled and was about
to take him one when he came back to the table carrying two plates.

As soon as she
saw what was on the plate he set in front of her, her eyes narrowed with
suspicion. “What is that?”

Bobby smiled at
her guilelessly. “Lemon chicken with linguine. I thought it would be something
you’d like.”

Nina glared at
him. “It is.” She loved it. There was no way in hell he just happened to choose
it. “All right, now I know somebody’s helping you. It’s Ashley, right?”

He held up his
hands. “Hey, a guy has to have some secrets.”

“I thought you
wanted me to get to know you,” she pointed out.

“I do. And what
you need to know is that I just want to make you happy.” Before she could think
of anything to say in response, he smiled briefly. “I’ll be right back. Don’t
start without me.”

It actually took
several minutes and two trips inside, but Nina had no trouble waiting. By the
time he was done, Bobby had produced bread and butter, two bowls bearing salad,
silverware, and bottled water, presumably in case they didn’t feel like washing
down dinner with champagne. Despite Nina’s protestations that she could help,
he insisted she sit there. So she did, and watched the bounty appear in front
of her.

When he finally
lowered himself into the seat across from her, Nina could only shake her head
in amazement. “This really is incredible.”

Even as she said
it, Nina felt her heart sink to the pit of her stomach. This didn’t seem right.
He’d gone to so much trouble to produce this magical, romantic evening and she had
no intention of letting it go past this night. It wasn’t fair of her, she
thought, eyeing the table with growing remorse. He should be here with someone
who deserved this, who could be everything he wanted.

“Don’t say it.”

His boldly
uttered order startled her and broke her out of her thoughts. “Say what?”

“You were going
to tell me that you don’t feel right about this since you’re not really
interested in me in a serious way.”

Nina covered her
discomfort with a wry tone. “So you’re a mind reader now?”

“No. Just
somebody who’s spent enough time watching your face at some pretty intimate
times to be able to tell what you’re feeling.” He leaned closer, his eyes
holding hers, so there was no mistaking his seriousness. “The woman who belongs
here is the one sitting here with me right now.”

She couldn’t
help it. Staring into his steady, solemn gaze, listening to the sound of those
words rolling off his tongue, she went soft and warm inside. It was like he’d
taken her heart and melted it, leaving a heavy ache in her chest and a molten
heat flowing through her from head to toe.

She couldn’t
even begin to respond. He saved her the trouble by picking up the glass of
champagne she’d poured for him and holding it up toward her.

“To Jackie and
her baby,” he said, surprising her.

“Hear hear,” she
managed to murmur.

“And to us.”

She hurriedly
moved to mirror his action. “To us,” she echoed, quickly clinking her glass
against his and bringing it to her lips to mask the quiver in her voice. She
drained half of it before realizing it. It was all she could do not to finish
off the rest or ask for something harder. It looked like she was going to need
all the help she could get to bolster her wavering resolve.

Across the
table, Bobby set his glass down and picked up his silverware. “Come on. Let’s
eat before it gets cold.” He shot her another one of those heart-vaporizing
smiles. She scrambled for her own fork and knife just so she had an excuse to
look away.

She took one
bite and nearly groaned with pleasure. Perfect.

“How is it?” he
asked.

“Not bad,” she
said mildly, not about to give him the satisfaction.

“Glad to hear
it.”

He lifted his
fork to his mouth and she saw that he’d waited for her to take the first bite
before doing the same. He was having what looked like steak. He chewed slowly,
as though testing the flavor and determining whether he was satisfied with it.
She could almost imagine the meat rolling over his tongue, the juices filling
his mouth. Finally, he gave an almost imperceptible nod and swallowed, the hard
lump of his Adam’s apple sliding up and down as the food passed down his
throat. When it was gone, his lips parted slightly and a near-silent sigh of
satisfaction slid out of his mouth.

Nina shuddered
and turned her attention to her plate. If she needed any proof that her main
interest in this man was physical, that did it. Even the simple act of eating
had somehow become sexually charged. She’d been watching him like some men
observed exotic dancers, with avid, almost zombielike, fascination. That’s what
he was to her. An object of desire, of raw animal lust. Nothing more. She had
to remember that.

She focused on
her food. If only he’d left things well enough alone and hadn’t insisted on
this dating nonsense. Everything would be so much simpler.

The curiosity
that had been nudging at her since he’d initiated this sprang forward,
providing the distraction she needed from her tumultuous feelings. She lowered
her knife. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course,” he
said, sounding pleased.

“What brought
all this on? What made you decide you wanted to change our arrangement? I
thought you were happy with the way things were between us.”

“I was.”

“So what
changed?”

He took a drink
of water, seeming to consider her question seriously. “It didn’t happen
overnight. It’s something I’ve been thinking about for a while. I think what we
have is great. I realized I wanted more of it, more of you. I actually almost
said something last time, but then it was time for me to go and it didn’t seem
right saying something just before I left like that.”

“But you’re
probably going to be leaving again before long. Why say anything now?”

“Because we
still have time before I leave again. And if there’s one thing I know firsthand
it’s that we can’t afford to wait when it comes to the things that matter to
us. I know too many people who didn’t make it back, who died too young.  Life’s
too short and we never know what could happen.”