Page 23 of Rulebreaker

Either I ate too much at Aspen’s shower or I’ve caught a stomach bug, and neither one of those choices make me happy.

Luckily, I feel better when I’m done, so I wash my hands and throw my hair up in a ponytail. I stare in the mirror for a second and wrinkle my nose. I don’t like my current dark hair. I really am a natural blond and over the years I’ve dyed it almost every color under the sun, from strawberry blond to fiery red to emerald green.

Black was a rash and, in my opinion, unpopular choice.

But it’s too soon to change it again without risking damage to my hair.

It’s not too soon for a hot pink streak, though. Or blue?

I quickly type out a message to my hair stylist, who flies out any time I need her to do touchups or make changes, and then step back into the hotel room.

And freeze.

A lot more than my luggage arrived ahead of me.

There are roses.

A lot of fucking roses.

A dozen dozens.

Atlas.

I smile in spite of my resolve to stop thinking about him.

He’s ridiculous.

In a sexy, bossy, alpha way that makes my nether regions tingle.

And damn Jade for giving him my itinerary.

My feet propel me toward the flowers, though, and I finger the pink bunch first. Then the red. The white. The yellow. And platinum roses. Did she also tell him those are my favorite? Because that’s the bunch that has the card.

I pluck it from the little holder and open the envelope.

Lily–

Did you know there’s such a thing as airplanes? Some of us even have private jets with bedrooms. It makes cross-country travel so much easier when people want to make time for each other.

Atlas

P.S. There are also these cool things called phones, used for long-distance communication. 213-555-1967.

I can’t help but laugh.

He’s something.

Which is why I absolutely, positively cannot, under any circumstances, text him back.

I do take a picture of the flowers, though, and text it to my friend Sandy, who responds immediately.

SANDY: New fan, big award, or a special man?

LILY: A man that doesn’t seem to want to take no for an answer. But not in a creepy way. He’s lovely. It’s just, you know me and relationships.

SANDY: I know you need to get out of the mess you’ve created with Stan and find a man to love you.

LILY: Men don’t love me–they worship me, and that’s not real.