Breaking All The Rules (Book 1 - Second Chances Series) by Rhonda McKnight Read Free Book Online Page A

throat and pulled me from the thoughts I was having about those hands. “I wanted to make you smile, but you’d been home for over a month and every time I saw you all I saw was your pain,” he paused as if reflecting.  “Smiling after the death of a parent is a tall order, but it broke my heart to see you so heartbroken.” He took my hand in his and leaned closer. “I never had a chance to tell you this, but I really appreciated the fact that you attended my games at Southern.”
    My breath caught in my throat. I had no idea what he was wearing, but his cologne had been made for him, because the aroma coming from his pores was sensually perfect. He was making me nervous. I slid my hand from under his warm touch. “Everyone in Garrison was at your games.” I recalled how sick I’d been on the way home, so I hadn’t been back with the crowd that gathered once a month to travel by bus across the state of Georgia to Southern University for Ethan’s soccer game.  “I only made it to one.”
    His lips curved into a lazy smile. “True, but I remember you being at both my games at Monmouth University during my senior year. I mean I know you were in New York, but central Jersey was a good haul for you. That was special.” He nodded like the memory made him proud. “I told my teammates you were my future wife.”
    “What?” Attempting to hide the fact that I was blushing, I raised my glass to my lips and held it there. “Why would you’ve said that?”
    “Because you looked good in those stands.” He laughed. “My teammates would ask me, ‘What’s up with that hot older chick coming to see you?’ I admit I stretched the truth a bit.”
    I slapped his arm. “No you didn’t. What did you say?”
    He smiled wide and attractive lines fanned out around his eyes. “Nothing too bad. Just that I’d had a crush on you in high school and now you were interested in me.”
    “You know you should be ashamed to admit this, don’t you?” I felt heat rise to my face. Embarrassed, I covered it. “You men talk worse than women.”
    Ethan pulled my hand away from my face. His expression became serious. “That was a little more than talk. It was wishful thinking.” 
    The waitress interrupted and placed a glass of iced tea in front of him. She also refilled my glass, smiled at him again and moved to a neighboring table.
    “Anyway, you were in New York. I graduated and was off to Europe.” The look on his face revealed that had been a happy time for him. “I was hoping you’d come to my going away party, so I could tell you how much it meant for you to be in Jersey, but you were a no show.” He tapped his long fingers on the table a few times. They caught my eye. He had nice hands. I remembered how he’d stroked the piano last night. I raised my eyes to his and sensed my not attending his party had been a disappointment to him.
    I cleared my throat of the guilt I was suddenly feeling. “I had a big wedding that weekend. I wanted to celebrate with everyone. Garrison was so proud of you. I was proud, but that wedding put my business on the map. It had been planned way too far in advance for me to hand it off.”
    He frowned. “No sweat. I was mature enough to understand that,” he said. “Plus, I knew Terrance was still sprung on you.” He chuckled.  “Then when your dad got sick, my cousin worked his way back into your life.” He raised his glass and took a long sip. “And for what?” He shook his head. “So, he could tell you he was too country to ever leave Coweta County?”
    In an effort to keep the pain of that to myself, I lowered my eyes to my iPad again. “That was between us.”
    “I suppose it was, but I lost respect for him then. Here he had a chance to be with an amazing woman and he was going to throw it all away to stay up under his mama’s skirt.”
    I returned my eyes to his. “He had a good job.”
    “It was weak. He could have given you guys a chance. The plant wasn’t going