Page 12 of Breaking All The Rules

In the short time I worked for Ethan, I knew he was one of the most persistent people I had ever met. Little did he know, I was probably one of the most stubborn people he would ever meet. I rolled my eyes and shifted my position so my back wasfacing the door. Within minutes, my body relaxed, and I fell back asleep. I knew it must have been a fevered dream, but it was so peaceful that I didn’t mind—even if I was dancing around Times Square in my underwear to the soundtrack ofChicago.

I was sinking deeper into my dream, making my way through the city as I continued on my tour when I felt someone shaking my arm. I groaned and rolled over, surprised to see Ethan sitting beside me on the edge of the couch. His brow was pulled together in concern as he looked at me, his brown eyes glistening in the beam of sunlight that was forcing its way through the small gap between the curtains.

“I said go away,” I mumbled and pulled my arm away.

“I’m not going anywhere until I know that you’re okay,” he replied with a hint of frustration.

“You’re not the boss of me,” I retorted, my eyes still closed with my face buried in the pillow.

“Actually, I am.” He let out an amused chuckle as I felt the back of his hand press against my forehead before he muttered a couple of curse words and stood up. I could hear his voice off in the distance as he spoke, but I had no idea if he was talking to me or if he was really there. Everything was fuzzy as a chill spread through my body, making everything ache again.

Slowly, my dream started to fade as everything around me got darker. The room was quiet, and I could feel the weight of a blanket on top of me. I pulled my legs up under me and curled into the couch as I drifted in and out of sleep.

Seven

Ethan

“Get the paperwork drawn up and have it delivered to me this afternoon,” I ordered before I hung up the phone. I glanced at myself in the mirror of the tiny bathroom in Eva’s apartment, where I had been taking the majority of my business calls while she slept.

In the four hours I had been there, she had slept the majority of the time, tossing and turning as she struggled to get comfortable. When I decided to show up at her apartment, I was prepared to talk to her about what had happened the other day in the copy room. I hadn’t meant to lose my temper with her, and she definitely didn’t deserve the response she got from me. But then I found how sick she was, and I couldn’t leave her if I wanted to. There was this overwhelming instinct to stay close to her and make sure she was okay.

Thankfully, I was able to convince the woman at the front desk to allow me access to her apartment so that I could do a welfare check. When Eva attempted to answer us through the front door, her words were jumbled and she sounded delirious. That was when I realized just how sick she was.

Having a mother who was a retired nurse was helpful as she guided me on what to do to help bring Eva’s temperature down, as well as what to look for before taking her to the emergency room. Her fever was high, but my mother assured me that it was okay and to let her body do what it needed to fight the illness.That didn’t make it any easier watching her tremble beneath a pile of blankets or whimper in her sleep.

I was sitting in the chair across from her, working on the laptop that I had brought over earlier when she rolled over, and her eyes fluttered open. It took her a few minutes to focus before she realized that I was there. She slowly lifted herself to a sitting position and rubbed her throat before coughing.

“Why are you here?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper.

“To take care of you.” I folded my hands in my lap and tried to keep the emotion out of my voice so she didn’t hear how worried I had been over her. It was one thing to be concerned as her boss, but it was another to admit that my concern stretched far beyond that to a point that was inappropriate.

“Thank you, but you can go. I don’t need anyone to take care of me.”

She pulled her shoulders back defiantly as she tried to narrow her eyes at me. Suddenly, without warning, she sneezed. I watched as her body flinched in response, her hand grabbing her side as she tried to brace herself for the next one. She leaned forward and grabbed the box of tissues from the table before she leaned back against the couch.

“Eva, stop being so stubborn and let me take care of you,” I practically begged as I set my computer on the floor beside me. I got up to get her a glass of water from the kitchen so she could take some of the medicine that I had delivered earlier. I popped a few tablets out of the package and carried them with me, waiting for her to finish sneezing before I sat down on the edge of the couch beside her. I extended my hand with the pills to her and waited for her to take them.

“What are these?” she asked suspiciously.

“Cold and flu, something or another. Sorry, I don’t remember the name. I just told them to get whatever was best for the flusince that’s what you seem to have. I can get the package if you want to look at it.”

“You had someone deliver drugs to you?” She arched a brow as she reached out and took the pills and the glass of water from me.

“Well, that makes me sound like a drug dealer, so no—I didn’t have someone deliverdrugsto me. I had my assistant bring me medicine, as well as a few other things.”

“A man with a plan,” she teased quietly before taking the pills and swallowing the drink of water. “Thank you. I appreciate the medicine.”

“You’re welcome.”

I stood up and glanced at the mess around her. There was a trashcan next to her on the floor, but it was full of tissues overflowing from the top of it. I went to the kitchen and opened the cabinet under the sink, thankful when I found the trash bags right away. I pulled one out and shook it open as I made my way back to where she was sitting on the couch. I held it in front of her, waiting for her to collect the used tissues and toss them in. I grabbed the trashcan from the floor and emptied it into the bag as well. There were a few empty Gatorade containers on the coffee table that I added to the bag before setting it by the door to take out later when I left.

“What do you feel like for dinner?” I asked, taking my place in the chair across from her again.

She scrunched her nose and shook her head.

“I’m not hungry.”

“You still need to eat,” I said gently, not wanting to push boundaries with her.

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