Break the Rules (The Flanagan Sisters Book 1)
Read Break the Rules (The Flanagan Sisters Book 1) Online
Authors: Claire Boston
Break the Rules
The
Flanagan Sisters #1
Break the Rules
Bridget Flanagan knows
how to assess risks, but
are
the consequences of
exposing her heart too dangerous?
Bridget
has a passion for safety and in the world of oil refineries that makes her
great at her job. So when her big promotion goes to someone else, she heads out
on the town to forget her troubles. Jack Gibbs seems like the perfect man to
distract her.
At
least until Monday morning when she discovers Jack is her new boss. There's no
way she's going to keep seeing him, no matter the connection between them.
She's been burned before.
Jack
can't understand why Bridget's so against their relationship. They positively
sizzled during their one night together. He knows he has to be careful now she
reports to him, but she tempts him in every way.
Can
Jack convince Bridget to give him a chance, or is the risk too high?
First published by Claire Boston in 2016
Copyright ©
Claire Boston 2016
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
All rights
reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or
transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any
person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organizations), in any
form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying,
recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the
publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses,
places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s
imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons,
living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Break the
Rules: The Flanagan Sisters 1
EPUB
format: 978-0-9945528-0-8
Mobi
format: 978-0-9945528-1-5
Print-on-demand format: 978-0-9945528-2-2
Cover
design by Amygdala Design
Edited by Dianne
Blacklock
Proofread by Laura Cook
To my sister,
Jane
Bridget Flanagan’s head thumped in time to the
booming dance music. She shouldn’t have let her best friend Tanya
convince
her to go clubbing.
She
sighed. Who was she kidding? Tanya could convince her to do almost anything,
and the promise of a girls’ night to dance, drink, and forget her troubles
sounded like just what she’d needed.
But
her head had begun to throb almost immediately and Tanya had found a new
friend. It was a shame Sally and Trish hadn’t been able to come out tonight. At
least then she’d have someone to talk with. Bridget scanned the dance floor,
spotting Tanya dancing with the guy she’d picked up.
So much
for the girls’ night.
She
shouldn’t be surprised. Tanya did tend to forget everything when a cute guy
walked by.
Knowing better than to try to drag her out of the
club, Bridget headed for the bar and ordered a glass of water.
When it
arrived, she moved away, taking a sip and willing her headache away. Tanya
looked like she was going to dance all night.
“Is
that your friend dancing with my brother?” The male voice was loud but sexy and
his breath tickled her ear.
Bridget
jumped and turned so she was face to face with a man who did not slow her pulse
rate at all. He was slightly taller than she was, with thick brown hair and
dark eyes that smiled.
Yum.
He
pointed toward Tanya and leaned closer to be heard over the music. “Is your
friend the blonde in the red dress?”
Bridget
nodded. “That’s Tanya.”
“I don’t
suppose she’ll turn into a pumpkin by midnight?” He had a hopeful look on his
face.
Bridget
grimaced. “Not a chance. I wish she would.” She put the glass up to her
forehead and sighed at the coolness. “What about your brother?”
“His
motto is ‘all night long’.” He frowned. “Perhaps we can convince them to go
somewhere quieter at least, somewhere with some seating.”
She
was intrigued. Why had he come out if he didn’t want to dance? “You don’t feel
like partying?”
“I
moved back to Houston from Australia two days ago. My body hasn’t quite
adjusted yet.”
The
mention of his body had Bridget checking it out again. It looked perfectly fine
to her. His blue jeans fit in all the right places and the button-down black
shirt clung to his well-defined chest. She cleared her throat. “There’s a bar
around the corner. The music is quieter but they can still dance if they want.”
“Shall
we give it a go?”
“Sure.”
Bridget put her glass on the bar and followed him to where Tanya and his
brother were dancing. She couldn’t hear what he said but they nodded in
response. As he turned back to her, Tanya gave her
a very
unsubtle thumbs
up. Bridget ignored her. All she wanted to do was
find
some quiet and get rid of her headache.
Outside
the club, her ears adjusted to the blissful reduction in noise and she took a
deep breath.
“Bridge,
this is Hal,” Tanya chirped.
Hal
was slightly taller than his brother, maybe six foot two, with the same thick
brown hair and dark eyes.
Bridget
forced a smile.
“Nice to meet you.”
Tanya
raised her eyebrows, waiting expectantly. “Who’s this?” she nodded to Hal’s
brother.
Bridget
shrugged apologetically. “We didn’t swap names. I’m Bridget.”
“Jack.”
He smiled at her and she forgot her pounding head for a moment. It was some
smile, lighting up his eyes and sending
a lovely
warmth through her body.
“Great.
Now let’s find something to drink,” Tanya said, and keeping her hand tightly in
Hal’s, she led the way to the bar. Hal didn’t seem to mind.
Bridget
walked alongside Jack, not sure what to say. Now she was out of the noise she
realized she’d effectively been picked up. Was this some kind of scam the
brothers had going? Find two girls and take them somewhere quieter?
She
snuck a look at Jack. No, he really did look as tired as she felt.
They
walked past a drugstore. “Wait a
second,
I’ve got to
grab something.” Bridget dashed inside, found the painkillers and bought a
packet. When she went back outside, Jack was the only one waiting for her.
“Where’s
Tanya?”
“They
went on ahead. I thought I’d wait.”
Bridget
tamped down her annoyance. They’d only just met these guys, and while they
seemed nice, they could be anyone. Tanya should be more careful. “Thanks.”
Inside
the bar, they found a table away from the music. It was quieter than the
nightclub and they could talk without shouting. Bridget ordered a glass of
water and a coffee, and took two pills. Hopefully they would kick in quickly.
Tanya
put her drink on the table and grabbed Hal’s hand. “I love this song.” She
pulled him away to the small dance floor.
Bridget
slid on to a chair next to Jack who was nursing his cup of coffee. She had to
say something, otherwise this was going to get awkward fast.
“So
you’ve just moved back from Australia?” she asked. “How long were you there?”
“Three
years. I was ready to come home and the perfect job opportunity came up.”
Bridget
did
not
want to talk about work. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep
the frustration out of her voice if she spoke about her job. “What did you do
for fun?”
“I
did a lot of surfing, a bit of diving, and was roped in to play cricket and
Aussie rules football.”
“Is
their football much different from ours?”
He
laughed,
a warm, rich sound.
“Yeah,
completely different.
It took a bit of getting used to.”
Bridget
couldn’t help smiling back at him. He had one of those laughs that made her
want to laugh as well, made her want to make him laugh so she could hear it
again.
“Have
you ever been to Australia?” he asked.
“No.
I was born in El Salvador, but since I moved here I haven’t done a lot of
traveling. I’ve been focused on work.”
Which had turned out
to be a waste of time.
“When
did you move here?”
A
stray curl floated in front of her face and she brushed it back impatiently.
Her hair did its own thing when she left it out. “I was five.”
“It
must have been hard, moving somewhere you didn’t speak the language.”
“My
father was Irish so he used to speak English to us at home.” She remembered it
was like a secret language because her mother couldn’t speak English. She’d
always thought it was her special thing with her father. “I was lucky because I
was starting school and it didn’t take long for me to pick it up.”
“Do
you still speak Spanish?”
“
Sí
.
My family still speaks a lot of Spanish at
home.”
“I only
know high school Spanish and I’m not going to embarrass myself by attempting it
now. Do you have any siblings?”
“Two sisters – one older, one younger.
What about you? Is it just you and Hal?”
Jack
glanced over at the dance floor where Tanya and Hal were still dancing.
“Yeah.”
“You
must be close to go out clubbing together.”
He
shrugged. “I’m staying with him until I find my own place. He lives closest to
where I’ll be working from Monday. He said we had to celebrate my return to
Houston.”
She smiled.
“I see he’s pleased about your homecoming.”
Hal
was bumping and grinding behind Tanya.
Jack
laughed again. “What about you and Tanya? Having a girls’ night?”
“Supposedly.”
Bridget sighed. “Tanya said I needed to dance my worries away.” At his
raised eyebrow she added, “I got passed over for a promotion yesterday.”
“That’s
rough. What happened?”
She
shook her head. “I don’t want to talk about it. I’ll get all bitter and you’ll
think I’m a scary shrew.”
“That’s
not likely to happen.” His gaze sent warm tingles through her body. “How’s your
head?”
She
blinked. “It’s dulled to an ache.”
“It’s
a start.”
It
was. If she made no sudden movements she could mostly ignore it. She was
enjoying talking to Jack. It wasn’t the usual slightly sleazy pickup she was used
to. She felt she could actually get to know him. When was the last time she’d
been able to do that? She frowned as she tried to remember. There’d been no one
since Lionel. She was still recovering from
those
burns and had thrown
herself into her work to prove herself. Then in the last six months she’d been
temporarily reassigned to a managerial role which came with even more
responsibility and a greater workload. When her boss had finally retired, she
was sure she’d get the role permanently – he’d recommended her.
Someone
obviously hadn’t agreed with him.
Bridget
pushed the thought aside. She wasn’t going to let work mess up her evening. She
wouldn’t think about it until Monday, when she met her new boss. In the
meantime she was going to enjoy the night.
“So
no
work talk
. What do you do for fun?” Jack asked.
It
was a good question. She’d been so busy at work she hadn’t had time for fun.
Sometimes Tanya would convince her to go out dancing, or they’d go for drinks
with a couple of girls from work, but more often than not it ended with her
friend finding a guy and Bridget hanging in a corner, waiting until Tanya had
had enough. Bridget wasn’t willing to leave her by herself. Often Tanya drank
too much and didn’t make the best choices. At least Bridget could keep her from
doing anything too silly.
“I
read when I get the time,” she said in answer to Jack’s question. “I go to the
movies, have drinks with friends, you know the usual stuff.”
“What
do you read?”
She
hesitated. She was always getting ribbed by the guys at work for her choice of
reading material.
“Romance.”
She loved the happy
endings.
“Can’t
say I’ve read much of that,” Jack admitted. “I’m more into action and
suspense.”
“There
are some great romantic suspense books out there. You should give it a try.”
“I
might.”
“So what about you?
Now you’re back in Texas, there’ll be no cricket or Australian
football.”
“I
heard about a cricket league around Houston, but I didn’t love the game that
much. I’d like to check out local dive sites though. But the first thing I need
to do is
find
somewhere to live. As much as I love my
brother, he’s not the tidiest of roommates.”
She
grinned, thinking of Tanya. “I’ve always wanted to learn to scuba dive. It must
be amazing to stay underwater for so long.”
“It is.
You should definitely try it.” His eyes lit up and his enthusiasm was palpable.
“Once you’ve dived you’ll be hooked. I know I was.”
“Maybe
I will.” She should have a bit of free time now she was going back to her old
job. She deserved to do something for herself.
Tanya
and Hal came back to the table and Tanya flopped on the chair next to her. She
took a deep swig from her cider. “You two should dance. Get your bodies
moving.
” She raised her eyebrows up and down.
Bridget
suppressed a groan. Tanya was in her “I’ve had enough to drink to think I’m
being subtle but I’m not” mode. Next she’d start making sexual innuendo,
because she’d decided the solution to Bridget’s worries was to get laid.
“You
two are doing enough moving for the both of us,” Jack said.
“Tanya
knows how to dance.” Hal grinned.
Tanya
beamed at him. “You’ve got some moves yourself.” She took another sip of her
drink and sighed. “You guys have the most glorious hair. I’d love to have you
in the shop.”
They
exchanged a confused glance.
“She’s
a hairdresser,” Bridget explained.
“Well,
you can run your fingers through my hair any time you want,” Hal told her.
“Oh, good.
Turn around.” When he did, Tanya dug her fingers into his hair.
Bridget
turned to Jack. “Tell me more about diving. Did you go to the Great Barrier
Reef?”
“No,
I was on the west coast, but the Ningaloo Reef is an amazing dive. In places
you don’t even need scuba gear, you can walk straight off the beach with
goggles and snorkel and see fish and coral with the most amazing colors.”
Bridget
didn’t even know how to use a snorkel. The only swimming they had done as
children was at the municipal pools, when their mother could afford to pay,
which wasn’t often. These days she liked to swim to keep fit, but she didn’t
get a chance very often.