Page 54 of Over the Limit

“Rules were meant to be broken.”

“Not in my world they weren’t.”

I bark out an exasperated laugh. “You know this is ridiculous, don’t you?”

“We’ll suffer if this is really what we want, but you’ll thank me for it later.”

“I can thank you for it right now.” I take a step toward him, but his hands stop mine from touching him.

“You are . . . incredible.” He whispers the last word and chills chase over my skin because of the complete reverence with which he says it. “Twenty-one days, Tink. I need you to be sure.”

“I am sure.”

His chuckle is pained at best as his eyes wander up and down the length of my body. “Now you’re just being mean and trying to tempt me.”

“Can you blame me?”

He groans. “It’s best if I go. The longer I stand here, the harder it’s getting to determine what’s right and wrong.”

His honesty is so . . . refreshing. Unnerving. Real.

“You are . . . incredible.”

The irony is that Lachlan Evans is standing in front of me talking about being together, having a relationship, and every part of me would tell anyone else they’re crazy. That I just broke up with someone and so I need time and space and whatever it is most people need to figure themselves out.

And yet, I’m not saying any of those things.

Instead, I want to argue against every single logical thing he’s saying because when I’m with him I feel more real, more whole than I have felt in years.

And it’s not just because it’s attention when I haven’t been paid much of it. It’s his attention. The way he listens. The way he hears me and tries to give me what I need. The way he makes an effort. The way he wants to be with me, wants to make me feel good, and has a way of reminding me how fucking good it feels to laugh again.

So is this insanity in all forms that it’s been days since I broke up with Rossi and I want Lachlan? Hell yes, it is.

And maybe that’s why I stop myself. Maybe that’s why I listen to him. Maybe that’s why I’m willing to go along with his stupid twenty-one days.

To prove his theory wrong.

And to prove my instinct right.

Love at first sight is bullshit. Instalove is even more so . . . but hell if Lachlan Evans doesn’t make me feel in spades—good, bad, incredible, alive.

It doesn’t make me weak to want that. It makes me more real than I think I’ve ever felt before. And if I’m honest with myself, it feels like my life is moving forward, like this is a grown-up relationship. And I can now see that it’s been in limbo—with Rossi—for quite a few years.

“Twenty-one days? That’s a llllooonnnggg time to want something, Lachlan.”

“Mm-hmm. It is. But the reward will be damn worth it.”

“It will be. I know it.”

“Me too.”

I nod with so much to say but not enough words to express them with, so I say what I can. “Thank you for taking me out to play.”

“It was the best night out I’ve had in a long time,” he says, holding out a peppermint to me. But he doesn’t say the words this time. To remember me by. He knows there’s no way I could forget him, forget tonight. “Fly safe, Tink. See you soon.”

I take the peppermint. “See you soon.”

CHAPTER FIFTEEN