Breaking Stone: Bad Boy Romance Novel Read Free Page A

pushed up from the table, sending my chair tumbling backwards. I corrected it, fumbled in my wallet and dropped a few twenties on the table for Suzette, then weaved through the patrons crowded near the door.
    By the time I made it to the street, Katrina and the good Samaritan were gone, hopefully in different directions.
    This was nuts. There was a brunette with a ready mouth sitting in the bar, yet I was standing in the street wondering if my straight-laced future assistant was okay.
    Not my responsibility.
    I stopped a cab, climbed in and contemplated having him crawl for a few blocks to check on Katrina, but I didn’t need to add ‘stalker’ to my list of failings.
    I’d see her Monday.
    “Penn Station,” I said, and sank back into my seat.

3
    Katrina
    “ D o you actually have to live with him?” Carrie, my roommate, asked.
    Sarah had given me permission to say that I was working as Stone Logan’s PA for the next six weeks while he wrapped up his book, but that was all the information I was allowed to divulge.
    “No, hell, perish that thought. They’ve got separate accommodations up there for me to live in, and I go to his house each day. Really, it’s no different from an office job.”
    “Except, you know, hot Stone and you alone in his lair.” Carrie clutched her hands to her chest.
    In an attempt to see how difficult it was going to be to keep this assignment a secret, I’d done my best to not say a word to Carrie when I arrived home. That lasted all of about five minutes. Carrie could immediately tell I was excited about something.
    “I have to be professional and on my game,” I said, snagging a piece of broccoli Carrie was stir-frying in the pan.
    Carrie tried to whack my fingers with the spatula. “That wasn’t professional.”
    “I need practice,” I said between chews. “Damn, this is good. How can you make such a dull vegetable taste so exotic?”
    Carrie worked in one of those trendy cafes where they serve hipster food, stuff that’s organic, vegan, gluten-free, grown with the phases of the moon, and every dish fringed with micro-greens. We’d been friends for years, and Carrie was generous when money was tight and I struggled to make rent.
    “I treat it with respect,” she said with a grin. “Grab the plates and open that bottle of Chardonnay in the fridge. Let’s sit and eat. You can tell me everything about Stone.”
    We sat at the kitchen counter. Our apartment didn’t have room for a dining table, but the kitchen had a small island and a couple of stools.
    Carrie raised her glass. “Here’s to your future as nanny to the literary world.”
    We clinked and I took a sip.
    “Have you told your mom yet?”
    Mom would probably have kittens. Stone Logan would be everything she despised and everything she’d like to brag about. She’d immediately reel off five reasons why I would fail at this and take much pleasure in comparing this to other instances when she’d successfully predicted my downfall.
    “I haven’t said anything yet. I’m trying to imagine her reaction so that I can put out the fires before they take hold. I think I’ll say it’s some random author and not actually name him. If she pushes for a name, I’ll say I can’t tell her because of the NDA I signed.”
    “I thought you were going to stop doing that, Kat. You cannot micromanage your mother’s emotions. Just tell her the truth, and if she starts ranting, move on to a new subject.”
    I chased half an almond around my plate with way more dedication to the pursuit than was required. Even friends like Carrie, who had known Mom for years, had no real idea of the way her behavior affected me. I’d learned how to shrug off the advice thinly disguised in her put-downs in a way that appeared that I was grateful to hear it. Unfortunately, years of my mother’s manipulation are layered inside me. I took the apartment with Carrie when I really couldn’t afford it just to get away from her control.
    Of course,