Rule's Property (The House of Rule 2)

He faced the window, staring out, and the muscles in his broad shoulders visibly tensed as if anticipating another confrontation with his brother. As he slowly began to turn away from the window, he braced his legs apart as if ready for attack. "You're not changing my mind." His jaw was clenched and his voice dripped with intimidating determination, "There is no goddamn way she's--"

His words cut off abruptly when he saw her standing against the door. Their glances connected and she felt the same warmth cascade through her bloodstream that she felt every time she saw him. As he became aware of her presence, it was as if a metamorphosis occurred within him; his aggressive stance relaxed as the anger slowly receded from his body and his features softened.

They stood across the room and studied each other in silence. Courtney was the first to speak and she did so tentatively, "You don't want me to go away to school?"

He let out a long sigh and said very gently, "I didn't say that. I was talking about Florida."

"I don't understand," she said.

"How much did you hear?" he asked with a frown.

"A lot. I probably shouldn't have listened, but I did." His eyes grew stormy at her answer and she asked, "You don't want me to be happy?"

His lips twisted and his shoulders sagged. "The only thing I want is for you to be happy."

Watching him imploringly, she said, "I want to go to Florida, Nick. Please let me go."

His body jerked as if he'd taken a hit. "Sweetheart, you're so young." He shook his head slowly as if actually debating it but knowing it wasn't a good idea. "You've been too sheltered."

She shook her head, disagreeing with him about being too young, but unable to speak.

"You don't think you've been sheltered?" he asked.

Oh yes, she knew she'd been sheltered. If she hadn't been, she wouldn't be standing here now, imagining herself in love with him, while he only saw her as a burden, albeit one that he worried about. But she couldn't tell him those things. "I'll be okay. I'm smart, you know I am," she argued her case softly, somehow knowing that she had to make her tone of voice exactly right with him. "I'll make good choices and stay out of trouble. You won't have to worry about me."

As he listened to her, he remained silent, but his expression looked as if her words were paining him.

"Please, Nick. I'll study, I'll make good grades, and I'll . . . I'll pay you back."

His eyes narrowed. "This isn't about the money. It has nothing to do with the money."

She felt a shiver of response from the look in his eyes as his gaze held hers and all she could manage was a whispered, "Please."

He stared at her intently, as if he were being torn in two. He turned, paced a few steps away, and then abruptly faced her again. "Do you promise, do you swear to God, that you'll be careful?"

Holding her breath in anticipation, she nodded her head.

"Do you promise that you'll call me if you need anything? Do you promise you'll call me even if you do mess up and get into trouble?"

"Yes," she whispered.

His features turned to stone. "Do you promise that you won't mess up and get into trouble?"

She smiled and nodded her head and his look became more serious than she'd ever seen it. He took a deep breath and asked, "Do you promise you'll come home after you graduate?"

The oxygen hitched in her lungs as she swallowed. "I promise."

He stared straight at her but Courtney felt as if he were talking to himself. "I ought to be shot¸" he'd mumbled.

Courtney began to resurface from the memory of four years ago. She remembered the excitement that had built within her at his words. "I can go?" she'd asked him.

She'd never forget his sigh of defeat and the answer he'd seemed forced to make. "You can go."

The memory dissolved as she hung up another blouse. She shivered as she realized that she would be seeing him again soon, probably within a few hours. She tried to control the involuntary tremor in her legs at the knowledge.

But it was impossible.

Nick Rule had always made her tremble and he always would.

Chapter Two

Nick drummed his fingers on his desk with impatience.

Courtney was up there alone. At the top of the building. In his penthouse.

He knew she was because his mother had sailed into his office not long after Damian had left and hugged him, thanking him for letting them stay with him. She'd told him she was going to be gone all afternoon picking out flooring samples, and did he want her to pick up something for supper on the way back?

He'd smiled distractedly and answered, 'why not?'

After she'd left his office, Nick stared blankly at his screen before he closed the windows on his computer and told his secretary that he'd be out. He waited as long as he could before he rode the elevator to the top of the building. During the ride up, he seethed with frustration. The hardest thing he'd ever done in his life had been to allow Courtney to go to school in Florida. It had been ten times harder than staying away from her while she'd lived in his mother's house . . . fifty times harder . . . a hundred times harder.