Breaking the Rules by Hb Heinzer Read Free Book Online Page A

Carly had time to figure out what she wanted to say as they walked to a table near the window. Once seated, Carly stared out the window avoiding eye contact with the beautiful man sitting across the table from her. She had no clue what she wanted from him. What if he didn't want what she wanted? How could either of them know? She cursed life for being so complicated.
    "Hey," he said wrapping his hands around her delicate fingers. "What's going on with you? We were having a fantastic time, and now you're..." he waved a hand in her direction, "I told you you're going to give me a complex if you keep getting like this."
    While they waited for their meals, Carly continued to stare out the window trying to compose herself. Adam released one of her hands and grazed her cheek. "Carly, talk to me," he pleaded.
    She still couldn't look at him. "What do you want?" Carly asked. The words came out more clipped than she intended. She was frustrated and depressed because she didn’t want to admit to herself how attached she was. Adam made it easy to see a future with him, not filled with casual friendships and lonely nights. It was completely unhealthy to react like this over a man she'd been getting to know for less than a week. She didn't know how long she should be with someone before she could consider these feelings rational, but it was much longer than a week. The fact that she'd technically known him most of her life didn't matter; Adam as an adult was someone entirely new and intriguing.
    "Excuse me?" Adam's face twisted in confusion.
    Carly shook her head, dismissing the question. It was stupid to ask. If he said he wanted a relationship with her, that would be awkward given their long history together, not to mention the many states separating them much of the time. If he said this was nothing more than two friends hanging out, Carly would feel like a fool for thinking anything more could ever come. It might not be what she was looking for right now, but there was something crushing about the thought of there being no chance.
    Reaching for her hands again, the expression on Adam's face turned to genuine concern. "Carly, talk to me. I need a little context here."
    "What do you want with this ?" she sighed, waving a hand between them.
    Adam took a few deep breaths before responding. "I don't know what I want. I can't ask you for an exclusive relationship. It's not fair since I never know when I'm going to be here. You deserve a man who can kiss you every morning when you wake up, and every night before you go to sleep. I can’t be that man right now." He tucked a finger under her chin to bring her eyes to his. "But I know what I don't want. No matter how we leave things, I don't want to see you look like this ever again. I don't want you to be upset. And I hate the fact that you're upset because of me."
    The sincerity in his words shocked Carly. She never expected him to bring the word relationship into the conversation. Granted, he wasn't offering her one and didn't specifically say he wanted one, but he mentioned it. What did that mean?
    "I'm not upset because of you," she said trying to pull herself out of her mood. "I guess...it's just... You weren't something I expected," she whispered. "You walked through the stage door last week , and I feel like I've been living in the eye of a hurricane ever since. I'm waiting to get thrown out into the storm."
    "I'm going to ask you now," he said softly, "What do you want? If you tell me that you want me to get on that plane tomorrow and forget your number, I will if that will be easiest for you. If you want to stay friends, I'm cool with that too." Carly flinched at the word 'friends'. She could lie to herself and say that was enough, but it wasn’t. It was the first time she could see herself giving her heart to someone and that scared the hell out of her. Even worse, she was afraid that she already had given him her heart without realizing it. Adam continued, "You just need to tell