Rule's Addiction (The House of Rule 3)

Dawning panic and self-preservation forced her brain into functioning again, so she put her hands to his chest and began pushing with all her might, and to her relief, he let her go and seemed to shake himself.

He took three steps backwards as they stared at each other, both wildly trying to control the oxygen coming in and out of their lungs. His gaze held hers with an emotion that he kept simmering below the surface, until his eyes dropped to her breasts and his features were transformed by a look of pure satisfaction. The expression on his face sending a shiver down her spine, Maria glanced down and saw the purple bruise he’d left on her skin.

Sucking in a frantic breath at the sight of it, she whirled around, fumbling for the door handle, wanting nothing more than to get the hell out of there. His words stopped her and she froze in place.

“I saw the expression in that motherfucker’s eyes when he looked at you. I didn’t like it, got that? Stay out of his fucking path, Maria, you understand me? Fucker looks like he eats little girls like you for breakfast and you’re not going to be his next goddamn meal, got it?”

She stood facing the door, her back to him, while she tried to breath. It took several seconds, but finally, she was able to regulate her oxygen intake. Not turning around, not deigning to answer him, she walked from his office and shut the door with nothing more than a soft click.

****

Maria didn’t stop until she was upstairs in her private suite. Walking into the bathroom, she pressed the switch until the small room was flooded with bright light. Swallowing hard, she opened the button she’d hurriedly put back into place on her way up. Now, she stood staring at the mark Garret had left on her breast. The mark he’d purposely left on her breast.

Studying the bruise and not understanding the way it was making her insides quiver with butterflies, she began to question her sanity where he was concerned. She ran her trembling fingers over the splash of out-of-place color on her otherwise unblemished skin.

Why was she doing the things she was doing? Why was she taking these chances with him? Granted, there hadn’t been a thing she could do about the visitor he’d had or the way the man had reacted to her, but what had induced her to dress up just to rile Garrett? And even more disturbing than that . . . why did she know in her heart that she was going to do dress up again tomorrow?

****

Garrett sank into the chair behind his desk and ran his hand down his face. Holy hell. He should have known after he’d broken form and kissed her in the elevator that something like this would happen eventually.

He just hadn’t known it would be this soon.

Who the fuck would have ever suspected that something as simple as another man paying marked attention to her would have sent him off the deep-end? But it damn sure had. That son-of-a-bitch’s eyes on her, the open way the man had been discerning her as if she were fair fucking game—it had sent Garrett over the edge. And combined with that had been her over-the-top sexiness that morning. She’d had no idea he’d been expecting the man, so Garrett knew for a fact that her choice of weapon that morning had been aimed at him, and not his visitor.

What the hell was it about that girl? She kept him unsteady . . . fuck, almost unstable.

There was something about Maria Alvarez . . . and he didn’t understand exactly what it was, except for the obvious sexual attraction he felt for her. But there was something else that she had that he admired. And that was making it even more difficult to stay away from her.

He admitted, he didn’t have much to do with any one, single woman on a regular basis. The incident a few years back had soured him on women; he now saw them as expedient for one thing, and one thing only. He just couldn’t trust them. He hadn’t met a single one who had honest intentions.

But Maria? She was about as damn honest as one could get. Granted, it was honest hate and anger that she felt for him, but she damn sure didn’t try to hide her feelings or pretend otherwise. If she was trying to hide stuff, then she was doing a piss poor job.

But now, after this morning, he knew she was up to something. The changes in her today had been subtle, but they’d been meant to land a blow, and damned if she hadn’t hit her mark.

He needed to come to a decision and quickly. The girl was more than competent; she’d been running the hotel more than capably ever since he’d arrived and who the hell knew how long before then. He had to make a decision about the Keys and finish up his business there. But after that, he didn’t need to be in Florida much longer, if at all. If he stuck around, he needed to admit to himself the reason he was staying.