Lessons in Rule-Breaking by Christy McKellen Read Free Book Online

reached the dining-room door her heel caught in a small hole in the marble and she stumbled forward, her arms flailing out at her sides as she tried to regain her balance.
    Xander stopped her from falling flat on her face by darting forward and grabbing her arm and pulling her against his body for support.
    Taking a hurried step away from the hard wall of his chest, she smoothed down her hair, then her skirt from where it had ridden up her legs, before flashing him a grateful smile. He watched her with an amused eyebrow raised. ‘You okay?’
    ‘Fine. Thank you.’ She gave him a friendly but controlled nod. ‘I’m not normally that clumsy, honestly.’
    Xander laughed. ‘Don’t worry on my account. It’s not often I get to play the knight in shining armour. It’s usually me falling down drunk.’
    ‘I’m not drunk. I only had a couple of sips...’ she began to argue, horrified he’d think she was that much of a lightweight.
    He held up a hand. ‘I’m joking, Jess. Jeez, I’ve never met anyone so bad at taking a joke.’
    ‘I c-can take a joke with the best of them,’ she stuttered, picking a rogue hair off the sleeve of her blouse before turning to stare him defiantly in the eye.
    Xander shook his head and grinned back at her. ‘Do you think you can make it to the table without taking another tumble? I can give you a piggyback if you like.’
    ‘I’ll be fine, thank you,’ she said. ‘Wouldn’t want to be responsible for putting your back out.’
    He laughed. ‘Never gonna happen. I’m as strong as an ox. See?’ He braced his arms in front of him, mimicking the stance of a bodybuilder.
    Jess couldn’t help but laugh at him.
    ‘Yeah, okay, He-Man, but I’ll walk, thanks.’
    He smiled back, and waved a hand, encouraging her to step to it. ‘After you.’
    The dining room was just as impressive as the living room with an enormous, highly polished dining table sitting pretty in the middle of the room, surrounded by what looked like twenty high-backed chairs.
    Another enormous chandelier, this time made from hundreds of pieces of blown glass in the shape of a flock of birds, let out a warm, low light over the room.
    ‘Wow, the light fixtures here are amazing,’ Jess said, staring at it in wonder.
    ‘Pretty cool, huh?’ Xander said, stopping next to her to admire it, too. ‘Roberto, who owns this place, made it. He’s sickeningly talented.’
    He was standing so close to her she caught another waft of his amazing citrusy scent, which sent an energised prickle right up her spine.
    ‘How lovely of him to let you use his place,’ she said, taking a careful step into the room, away from him.
    ‘Yeah, he’s a really generous guy. We worked on a couple of projects together a few years back, before we both started getting successful. He lets friends come and stay here when they need to escape for a bit.’
    ‘So you’re escaping right now?’ she asked, turning back to look at him.
    His expression closed over. ‘I need a bit of space to concentrate on a new exhibition, away from the din of the city.’
    ‘And away from the temptation of all those parties?’ she said, raising a playful eyebrow, hoping he’d bite and give her a bit of gossipy goodness that she could incorporate into her article.
    ‘Oh, I don’t know. I’m sure I can find a party round here if I really want to,’ he said, moving his shoulder in a circular motion as if trying to relieve a trapped nerve.
    ‘Have you hurt your shoulder?’ she asked.
    ‘Nah, I’m just a bit tense from being bent over drawing today. Why, are you offering to rub it for me?’ He flipped her a provocative grin.
    ‘You don’t want me giving you a massage—I’m terrible at it,’ she said, smoothing a lock of hair behind her ear, then flipping it back out again so it swung back to join the rest of her bob. She had a horrible urge to hide her face from him. He was so confusing with his ability to flip the conversation from something innocuous