Page 23 of Breaking All The Rules

“So, where does the birthday boy want to go for lunch?” I asked when he was finished, hoping to lighten his mood.

“Do you like sushi?” he asked, following behind me as we walked out of the office. I waited while he pulled the door closed behind him and locked it. I debated whether to say no, that I couldn’t stand the thought of eating raw fish, but I didn’t want to ruin his lunch since it was his birthday. He laughed and playfully nudged my arm with his elbow as we waited for the door to the private elevator to open.

“I’m just teasing,” he said as we stepped inside. “I would never take you for sushi when you are barely holding food down. But I do know a place a couple of blocks away that has the best egg drop soup. If that doesn’t sound good, there’s a cozy little diner across the street from it that should have chicken noodle soup.”

“Both sound good to me,” I said cheerfully. “You’re the birthday boy, so whatever you want to eat is fine with me.”

The words felt heavy on my tongue as I realized just how bad they sounded. While I hadn’t meant anything by it, I knew he picked up on it the second I looked at him. His eyes darkened as he worked his jaw back and forth in frustration.

“We shouldn’t be doing this,” he growled before he turned and wrapped his hand around my waist, pushing me back against the wall.

His mouth was on mine, his tongue swiping across my lips as it begged for access. My chest heaved as my fingers scratched at his chest, eager to touch him.

And just as suddenly as the kiss started, it ended when the bell chimed, and the doors opened to the lobby downstairs.

We pulled apart and stepped out of the elevator before anyone could see us.

My lips tingled as my fingers brushed over them lightly, desperate to feel his mouth on them again. The problem was that we weren’t supposed to be doing this. We both knew that nothing could happen as long as we worked together, yet it was nearly impossible for us to stay away from each other. We knew the rules, yet we couldn’t stop breaking them.

Thirteen

Ethan

“How’s your soup?” I asked before lifting my club sandwich to my mouth and taking a bite. The diner was busy with a line out the door. Thankfully, we snuck in right as another table had cleared out and were given the last empty booth before the rush popped in. I wasn’t sure whether Eva was in the mood for Chinese food or, rather, egg drop soup, but it didn’t matter either way since the restaurant was closed due to a pipe that had burst this morning.

“It’s delicious,” she replied, spooning another bite into her mouth. I glanced at her lips, remembering our kiss in the elevator. The kiss that shouldn’t have happened, yet it did. I was feeling incredibly frustrated with myself for it and knew that I needed to do something about my attraction to her before it was too late. There was too much at risk right now, and I couldn’t jeopardize my career because my dick refused to stay down when she was around.

We ate in silence. I tried to convince myself that it was because we were starving, that it had nothing to do with what had happened. It was the constant elephant in the room that we couldn’t seem to get around. I was debating whether or not to take the time while we were out of the office to talk about it when I felt my phone vibrate against my thigh in my pocket.

I pulled it out and found a text message from Brent confirming they had gotten the paternity test results back a few minutes ago, and the child was his. I ran a hand down the scruffon my face and closed my eyes. I needed to reach out to him once I was back at the office and see how he was doing with all of this.

“Is everything okay?” Eva asked, pushing her empty soup bowl to the side and taking a drink of water. I set my phone down and leaned back against the booth.

“Yeah, Brent got the paternity test results back. Chloe is his biological daughter.” I had caught Eva up on everything briefly when we first got to the diner, hoping to fill some of the awkward tension between us with conversation.

“Wow. How’s he taking the news?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll call him when we get back to the office and check in.”

“How will this affect his decision on Watson Investments?” she asked, leaning back and laying her head against the padded seat of the booth. I was happy to see that she seemed to be feeling better, but she still looked exhausted.

“I can’t imagine that it will have that much of an impact other than Brent dealing with the details of his estate and updating beneficiaries. He still wants Watson Investments so he can gain the twenty-three percent stake in Starke Industries which will give him fifty-one percent ownership and controlling interest. That’s what he’s been after all along.” I bit into a french fry and watched as her eyes narrowed at me.

“I thought he was holding off on deciding until he knew whether or not she was his biological daughter?”

“He was.” I wasn’t sure where she was going with this or why she suddenly seemed so angry.

“Then why isn’t he concerned about doing what’s right for her mother? Does he just plan to take her away from her and raise her on his own? Forget the mom because his money can buy him whatever he wants?!” She slammed her fist down on the table, glancing up to look at the few heads that had turned to see what the commotion was about.

“I don’t think Brent cares about doing what’s right for Karly after she cheated on him with his best friend and kept the fact that they had a child together hidden for four years,” I responded sternly as I watched her.

“So, she made a mistake. That doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t do what’s in the best interest of both of them. If he really cared about his daughter, he would make sure that her mother was taken care of instead of putting his own selfish needs first.”

I put my hands up in front of me to stop her before she went off again.

“Where is this coming from?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at her.

She shook her head and looked off to the side, avoiding eye contact with me. There was something personal about this. I could feel it. It didn’t make sense otherwise, given that we worked in corporate law, and our main objective was to help Brent with the business deal of purchasing Watson Investments.

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