The Rule Book (Rule Breakers #1)(59)

 

“Your way with words never ceases to amaze me, Taylor.” He had the audacity to smirk. “I’m glad you like my meatballs.”

 

I cleared my throat and tried to steer the conversation back on track. “Is it another recipe from your grandma?”

 

This time a genuine smile crossed his face, one that made the corners of his eyes crinkle. “Yes. I made a few alterations to the recipe, though.”

 

I took another bite and rolled it around on my tongue, trying to place the flavor. “Nutmeg?”

 

He nodded, impressed. “Yes.”

 

We went back to eating, and as I stared at him from across the expanse of the table, I wondered how this could possibly work out. Flirting and kissing were one thing, but what did this mean? I couldn’t possibly go to work and pretend nothing was going on between us and then come over in the evenings while he cooked me amazing Italian food, could I?

 

Umm, yes, I totally could if it involved these meatballs.

 

My normal go with the flow mentality had been thrown severely off-kilter by last night’s events, and the lull in conversation posed perfect timing for the question that had gnawed at me the entire day.

 

“Brogan?” I finally said, not able to contemplate these thoughts one more minute like a damn lunatic.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I don’t want this”—I pointed between us—“to affect my job.” I couldn’t move forward with this if it put my job in jeopardy, no matter how much I liked his sweet mouth on mine. “I have my mom to think about.”

 

His expression turned serious, and he dragged the tines of his fork over the edge of his plate. “Nothing that happens outside the office will influence my opinion of you at work.”

 

“Good.” Right, one element of my neuroses out of the way. Now I could focus on the big question. “Then what is it that you want out of this? I want things to be clear.” Because we all knew where ambiguities went. A straight course to crazyville, and I sure as hell wasn’t boarding that train.

 

He sighed and pushed around the spaghetti on his plate. “You’re smart and beautiful and I like spending time with you—I don’t know if I can put a label on that. I haven’t done this in a really long time, so I’m out of practice with the whole dating thing.”

 

“I like spending time with you, too. And I don’t need a label—I’m not in high school.” Praise Jesus, hallelujah. “But I think we need to have some rules.”

 

His brow lifted a fraction, but a smile still played at his lips. “The rule breaker is opting for rules? I think I’m having a stroke over here.”

 

“Quick, where’s your Life Alert button?”

 

His lips twitched. “Maybe I should invest in one. Wouldn’t want to be left stranded if I broke a hip.”

 

“You could wear it around like Flavor Flav’s clock necklace.”

 

“I…” He paused shaking his head. “I have no clue who that is.”

 

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “I have so much to teach you, Mr. Starr.”

 

His nostrils flared at the use of his name, and he sucked in a deep, jagged breath. “Is that so?” He liked when I called him that, it was clear. Maybe I took a little too much satisfaction in knowing this.

 

He swiped his thumb across the expanse of his lower lip and gave me an appraising look. “You’re right. Rules are probably a good thing.”

 

I motioned to him. “You’re the rule master. What do you propose?”

 

He paused for a minute, taking a sip of his wine and dabbing his mouth with his napkin. “I’ve never done anything like this—I really don’t know the proper protocol. But let’s keep it simple. One: no one in the office can know. Two: we can’t be together at work again. It’s too risky. And three: no attachments.”

 

“No attachments?”

 

“I can’t commit to anything serious. Not with the company still early in its creation.” He looked up from his plate, and his eyes took on this sad quality that I’d never quite seen before. “If you can’t handle that, we can pretend last night never happened. I don’t want to pressure you.”

 

“I appreciate you being upfront.” This was a lot to take in. For a split second, my thoughts flickered to my dad. Was this how it started with his mistress? Just an office fling that turned into a brand new family? I shook away that idea. This was a completely different situation—there was no other woman. But was this arrangement something I wanted? For once, I would give anything to be as meticulous as Zoey, equipped with lists and spreadsheets of pros and cons for every minute detail of life.