Page 90 of Breaking Emily's Rules
“You’re a genius, babe. A damn genius.”
* * *
Emily
I didn’t wantany of this to end. This whole setup, my idea entirely, wasn’t working for me. I might as well have forgotten I had rules, for all the attention I’d paid to them lately. There wasn’t supposed to even be a second time. But it also wasn’t supposed to be this good. I wasn’t supposed to be having all these feelings, but there they were. I had a real problem, and its name was Stone Mcallister.
I still didn’t understand what made a man like him tick and why he cared so much when he still had plans to walk away from it all.
“Seems like you’re forgetting this is what you wanted,” he finally said.
Okay, busted. I’d tried like hell to turn myself into some kind of wild woman overnight, but clearly I’d failed. I felt something for this man. A lot of somethings. This had all worked out completely different than what I’d planned.
“I suck at letting go and finding my inner bad girl.”
“I was talking about your pilot’s license.”
“Oh, sure.” I tried to recover. “That’s what I meant, too.”
“Yeah.” He tugged on a lock of my hair. “For the record, the reason you can’t find your inner bad girl is because she isn’t in there.”
Dang, I hated it when he was right. “Does that make you happy?”
He studied me. “My happiness isn’t the issue.”
“Why not?”
And just like that, he shut down. His eyes hooded and whatever I thought I’d seen in them before—love, tenderness, affection—was gone now. He was back to steel and sharp edges. I couldn’t get past the thought that Stone had a guilt riding him that wouldn’t let go. I only wished he’d think to share a small piece of it with me.
He pulled back, ignoring the question “I should probably go. I’ve already outstayed my welcome.”
Right. I’d put that rule in place for a reason. Even if it had boomeranged on me.
He got out of bed and pulled on his jeans.
“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”
“I’m enjoying what?”
He buttoned his shirt and rolled the sleeves to his elbows.
Why were men so much sexier when they did that? I climbed out of bed, too, and searched for my bra and panties, pulling them on.
“You like that I made the no-strings rules and you get to benefit from them.”
“Hey, don’t blame me. I’m the one who thought it wasn’t a good idea.”
I pulled my dress back on. “Guess what? You get to be right. The whole thing was crazy. I can’t do this. I tried, I really tried to be someone else, but I can’t help it if I’m reasonable, reliable me.”
“And you and I—we’re not reasonable? We don’t make sense?” He shoved his boots back on, looking slightly irritated.
“You said it. I didn’t.”
“I was always honest with you.” He straightened to his full height. “I’m not a good long-term bet. The air force is my life, just like the ranch and your family is yours. I’ve tried, but I’m not half the man my father was.”
“Why do you think you’re not as good as your father was?”
“Let’s not do this.”
