Break the rules

He's supposed to protect me.

It's just a shame that, when I'm around him, I'd have to protect myself-mostly from myself.

I'm Allie Bennett. Bestselling author, professional creator of dangerous men, and firmly convinced that control is vastly overrated.

At least, that's what I was before someone decided to turn my books into reality.

A threat that's way too personal. A stranger who apparently knows my every move. And suddenly, Cole Mercer is standing in front of me-the man who's supposed to make sure nothing happens to me.

My new bodyguard.

Dominant. In control. Unbearably arrogant.

And, unfortunately, so damn attractive that after just five minutes, I already understand why the women in my novels regularly make completely stupid decisions.

Cole sets the rules.

I don't go anywhere without him.

I tell him where I am.

I stay away from potential dangers.

And when he tells me to run, for once, I don't ask any questions.

The problem?

I've never been particularly good at following rules.

The closer the threat gets, the less distance Cole keeps between us, and soon I no longer know which is more dangerous: the man who's apparently watching me-or the one who sleeps just one door away from me every night.

Because there's a war raging between Cole and me.

We provoke each other. We tease each other. We cross boundaries that we both know would have been better left untouched.

And at some point, a single glance from him is enough to make me forget why I actually can't stand him.

Cole claims his job is to keep me alive.

I'm starting to suspect, though, that that's no longer the only reason he won't let anyone get close to me.

Because as we try to figure out who's behind the threat, it's becoming increasingly clear that Cole himself is part of a game whose rules I don't know.

And maybe the attack was never meant for me.

Maybe I was just the quickest way to him.