The Rule Book

by Sarah Adams

This time, his leg hooks over mine to pin it down under the desk.

“I should never have assumed that I wouldn’t immediately fall in love with Nora all over the second I saw her again. I should have been open with Nicole and the agency in anticipation of needing to spend the rest of my life with this woman.”

“When we were both honest with each other about our feelings, one thing led to another, and we decided we couldn’t go another hour without making it official. It’s not a fluke, or an accident, or something that’s going away. We are married now and not ashamed of it.”

Derek’s hand covers mine,

the public loves nothing more than seeing a man devastatingly in love. Just ask my client Nathan. I had him and his now-wife Bree do something similar a few years ago and it brought loads of attention to him.

Buckle up, Nora, you’re going on a honeymoon with your ex.

The plan is for me and Nora to love each other all over this resort and Spark will photograph it.

I put my hand to the small of her back, ignoring the way it fits like a lock and key. How I never want to remove it.

Nora notices them too and steps in front of me—her small hand splayed out behind her in the air like she’s projecting an invisible shield. “What the hell are you doing?” I ask the back of her head. She cuts a look at me like I’ve lost my mind and pulls herself up to as tall as her five-foot-seven stature will allow. “Um—protecting you. What does it look like?” She’s…oh my god. This woman. “Why are you protecting me?” “Because I’m your agent. That’s what we do.” “That is not what you do. Bill never once acted as my bodyguard.” She shrugs a single shoulder. “Not my fault Bill wasn’t as great an agent as me.

I snag her hand, intertwining our fingers and tucking her against my side. The lock-and-key sensation flares all over again.

I grin down at her. “Who says I didn’t?” Nora halts and doesn’t laugh like I expect. She studies me as her mouth curves into an intrigued smile before those eyes drop to my lips and stay there for one long moment. “Nora. You’re staring at my mouth.” It comes out unplanned and maybe a tad too hopeful. She doesn’t look away. “Because you finally smiled. I don’t want to miss it if it happens again.”

My mind is stuck back there where Nora stared at my mouth like it was something wonderful that belonged to her.

her shirt riding up just like this. I smiled and then lightly sank my teeth right there in the soft side of her stomach—just enough to make her gasp and then laugh from her own reaction.

Nora has lived a whole life I know nothing about, and I hate it.

Sometimes I wonder, if I stay quiet, will she continue to talk the whole night? I’d happily let her.

I turn and face him, backing him into the corner but not laying a hand on him. “Speak to her like that again and find out what happens.”

I am officially done with people today. Except for her.

I want to take Nora’s hips in my hands and pin her back against this hotel door, and kiss her until our mouths are bruised. But of course I won’t unless she asks me to.

Thank you. It’s…kind of nice to have someone looking out for me.” “Always,” I say, because I mean it. Even when I was at my angriest with her, I still would have stepped in front of a bus for her.

If you’re not careful she’ll try to become your best friend.” “There’s no trying, only succeeding!”

There’s only one bed.

Wow SHOCK

“Is it…annoying that I do that?” His eyes find mine and he tilts his head, searching for something in my face. “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen you insecure before.” My cheeks flush. “I am a human.” “Debatable. Who told you it was annoying?” Okay, well, he wasn’t supposed to ask that. Or perceive that even. “Just a person.” “Clearly a shitty person to try to tear down something unique about you.” He looks upset.

“You…got me ice cream and cereal?” Two scoops of vanilla ice cream and something similar to Cinnamon Toast Crunch to top it off.

I screamed so loud when they called your name in the first round of the draft.” My smile fades when Derek’s eyes sharpen on me. I realize my mistake instantly. “You watched for me in the draft?”

“I noticed you still wear your days-of-the-week panties.”

You all know I accidentally married my agent who is also my ex-girlfriend who I am still frustratingly in love with.”

I know that I want to get back together with her. Not only is she hilarious and smart and gorgeous and so good at organizing, but she’s good for me. She’s not afraid to call me on my bullshit and I feel lighter when I’m with her. I…I can’t let her go again.”

“We spent a long time just talking last night. And then we shared a bed, and when I woke up this morning, she was sleeping pretty much on top of me.”

“You know, I still have my old cheat sheet that helped me win over Bree. I can text it to you.”

“How many guys did you date after me?”

JEALOUS BOYYYY

“What’s gotten into you? Why do you need to know these things all of a sudden?” Because he feels what you feel. A shift. An awakening.

“Derek Pender. You’re not…you wouldn’t be riding the jealous train into Possessive City, would you?” “Maybe…please just tell me how many, Nora. Put me out of my misery.” He looks so obstinate. So resolute. Possessive and defeated at the same time. “I don’t think you want to play this game, sir. Especially when I tell you it was only two men compared to your millions of women.” He grimaces but not for the reason I think. “Damn, Nora. Only two? Two is much worse.”

“God—I’m having the desire to murder someone I’ve never met.”

Derek steps behind me, and his large body presses into my back as he wraps his arms around my midriff, holding me firmly to him. I glance down and nearly choke on my own attraction at the sight of his pronounced veins and tendons wrapping his strong forearms. Manly forearms. Athlete forearms.

“Derek. You’re not the only one who’s jealous.”

“You’re not the only one!” I yell. “I’ve been jealous since I saw you kiss a woman outside your apartment the week after we broke up!”

I refuse to acknowledge the way he doesn’t immediately pull his hand away but passes his fingers over my hair first, gently pushing it back from my face and tucking it behind my ear.

I…missed you too much and wanted to see you. I felt like I’d made a big mistake and wanted to fix it.” I pause when the rush of pain hits me all over again. “Even though I had no right to feel hurt since I was the one who broke up with you—it stung so bad to realize how easily you moved on from me. How easily replaceable I was.”

“You left a second too soon, Nora.” “Why?” My heart is thumping against my ribs. “Because if you’d stayed—you would have seen the truth of just how not over you I really was. How not over you I…” He stops himself. “You what, Derek?” Say it. Whatever it is, say it!

Say it.

“That night, you didn’t stay long enough to see me pull away from her and tell her I couldn’t invite her in because I wasn’t ready to move on from my breakup yet.”

“I couldn’t do it,” he continues. “I couldn’t move on from you that quickly…I didn’t sleep with her, Nora. Or anyone else for a very, very long time. Two years, to be exact. Even though I tried to make it look like I was thriving in the media so my friends and family wouldn’t worry about me, I wasn’t thriving. Because without you, I was lost.” A sad smile breaks in the corner of his mouth. “You weren’t even close to easily replaceable to me.”

OMG OMG OMG

He turns onto his side facing me, and his hand glides around me, settling low on my back. I arch into him, feeling a swirl of heat settle in my core, spreading outward. My eyes close when I feel his breath against the side of my neck, smell the scent of his bodywash fresh on his skin, and before I can tell myself to stop, my leg is hooking around his thigh. His hips press into me and I suppress a groan. His mouth lowers to my neck with the most patient, soft kiss, but his hand slides down further to gently squeeze my ass. I don’t know what’s happening and I don’t care because Derek’s hand is—

“was a mistake!”

Wtf

He stares at me a minute and then grins, accepting my silent challenge. Game on.

“But only on one condition. You see, I have cellulite on the backs of my legs and stretch marks on my inner thighs—” “Oh, don’t worry! We’ll edit all that out.” “No. That’s not what I mean. I have cellulite and I don’t want it edited out. If you’re going to put my body in a magazine, I want it to be mine. I want women to see it and see themselves in the photo too.” Another thing my mom taught me: Love your body—it works hard for you every day of your life.

Derek is staring at me. Like staring staring. His eyes unashamedly run over every inch of my pink-bikini-clad body. Which listen, I like my body. She’s a good body and it’s taken me years to come to terms with the fact that I can love her even if the media tells me she’s not up to the standards they expect. I simply don’t care anymore because I’m happy in my skin and I refuse to spend my days hating it because some person back in the day decided I should have a tiny waist, a big booty, and huge breasts. My body is soft and squishy in places and flat in others, and it’s perfect for me. But the way Derek is looking at me right now makes me feel as if my body is the standard all other bodies should be judged against. Like mine is his ticket to eternal happiness. Like I am a freaking goddess—and I realize no one has ever appreciated my body quite like Derek.

It’s a single letter. N.

Derek’s arms suddenly snag around my waist and he tugs me up flush with him, so tightly that my back bends when I look up at his face. All of me is pressing against all of him and I can’t breathe. His eyes are dark as the depths of the ocean. “Stop thinking so much and have some fun with me, Nora.”

“I’m glad you told them they’re not allowed to airbrush your images.” He lingers there and nips at the stringy strap of my bikini like he can’t resist. “Because smoothing away any part of your gorgeous body would be a travesty.”

“Is that a letter N tattoo on your arm?”