Free LOVE on The Horizon (Breaking The Rules #1) by A. M. Madden Page A

nothing but hell .
    Seeing her but not touching her was hell.
    Miserably moving through the day in a constant state of arousal while forcing a smile on my face was hell.
    Ricky hounding me relentlessly was hell.
    “So, we’re back to you ignoring me?” Her soft voice behind me drowned out the sound of the engines roaring through the sea.
    I turned to see her standing a few feet away. Thankfully, she had changed out of the gown she wore earlier. It was late, very late. No one was around, and still I felt like I was doing something wrong… Maybe because, in my thoughts, I was.
    “Why are you still up?”
    “I couldn’t sleep. You?”
    “Same.”
    She stepped to the rail, leaving a considerable amount of space between us. We both stared at the blackness of the night as it met the shimmering, dark waters. Even though the air around us was unseasonably cool for the tropics, my skin still felt sticky and uncomfortable.
    “I’ve been thinking. Maybe I should leave.”
    I turned to look at her, but her gaze held steady in the darkness. “I don’t want you to go. You’re doing such a great job, and your future with Sunset is a bright one.”
    “It’s not worth it,” she admitted while shaking her head.
    “What’s not?” I asked, knowing I was also asking for trouble.
    “Being here.” She finally turned her head to meet my eyes. “If it’s going to be a nightmare, it’s not worth it.” Even in the dark, I could see her eyes glistening with emotion, making them look even bluer. “This is torture for me. I can’t keep pretending. It’s too hard.”
    “You don’t mean that.” She was killing me. My resolve was quickly disappearing with every word she spoke.
    “I do.” Her eyes remained focused on mine, and I couldn’t think of anything other than kissing her. “I’m just going to put it all out there.” I watched her swallow a huge gulp of air before she continued. “I’ve never met a man who made me feel winded by his presence. I’ve never looked forward to seeing a smile, hearing a laugh, or smelling a cologne before. I’ve never met a man whom I thought about more than not.”
    I completely understood the battle she was experiencing. I, too, felt every push and pull having her here was causing within my heart. I was literally drowning in my growing feelings for her. Even now, her beauty suffocated me. Her thick waves of chestnut brown hair cascading around her shoulders, her full, parted lips begging to be kissed, her pebbled nipples from the cool air pushing against the fabric of her top all made it hard for me to breathe.
    I needed her to be more adamant that whatever this was between us couldn’t happen. If she were to thrust a firm hand in my face and tell me to fuck off, that would be all I’d need to leave her alone. Instead, she stood there saying things to me that had my heart squeezing painfully with emotion.
    Ricky’s words played in my mind. There were a million reasons why it was a bad idea, but one very good reason why it wasn’t. That one reason was causing every cell in my body to pulse with need. This was so unfair. Didn’t I deserve to be happy?
    In a tone of voice barely above a whisper, she said, “So now you know how I feel.”
    The admission from her lips had me taking a step toward her, until I halted immediately. What was I doing? We were out on deck, and I was about to cross that line again. The problem was I no longer cared. Logic was the furthest thing from my mind. All I thought of were my growing feelings toward her.
    “We need to talk about this, but not out here,” I whispered, holding her gaze with mine. “I’ll come to you.”
    She nodded, understanding my words, and quietly walked away.
    When I appeared at her door fifteen minutes later, all I could think of was what she’d feel like beneath my touch.
    She opened her door, stepping aside to let me in.
    “Rebecca, this will change everything.”
    “I know.”
    “Are you sure?”
    “About this? No.”