UNDER HIS RULES

It all started during summer, when I fell in love with my dad’s best friend.

Someone I had called Daddy since I was a baby.

I still called him Daddy, but now, whenever the word left my lips, something inside me changed.

He loved it when I called him that.

He would smile with his lips, those tormenting yet beautiful blue eyes watching me in a way that always left me wondering what was going on inside his head.

I never imagined I would find myself falling for my dad’s best friend.

But I did.

And before I knew it, I was drawn into a relationship I knew I shouldn’t want.

There were rules between us.

Rules I was supposed to follow.

And when I broke them, Damien had his ways of reminding me who was in control.

The worst part?

I didn’t always want to obey.

Sometimes, I deliberately tested his patience just to see what he would do.

To him, it was punishment.

To me, it was something else entirely.

Jane’s POV

My dad told me I’d be spending my summer at his best friend’s place.

I was elated.

I’d be spending my summer with Mr. Damien.

The same Damien Maxwell—one of the richest and most respected men I knew.

The last time I saw Damien, I couldn’t stop looking at him.

I ogled him so shamelessly that he eventually caught me staring.

I should have looked away.

I didn’t.

There was something fierce about him. His blue eyes had a way of making me feel exposed, as though he could see every thought I was desperately trying to hide.

And lately, those thoughts had become harder to control.

He was my dad’s best friend.

A man I’d known almost my entire life.

A man I was supposed to see as family.

Instead, I found myself noticing things I had never noticed before—the way his voice deepened when he was annoyed, the way his jaw tightened when he was concentrating, the way his eyes lingered on me whenever he thought I wasn’t paying attention.

It was wrong.

I knew it was wrong.

But knowing that didn’t stop my heart from racing whenever he was around.

And now, I had been given the chance to spend an entire summer with him.

My mind immediately began running wild.

“Jane, you’ll be spending the summer with my friend Damien,” Dad said. “I’ll be travelling on an important business trip. You can always contact me whenever you need anything, but I trust Damien to take very good care of you.”

I stared at him.

Then, despite myself, I smiled.

He had no idea what he had just done.

He had no idea that sending me to Damien Maxwell’s house for the summer might be the worst decision he had ever made.

Because I was no longer the little girl Damien remembered.

And I was beginning to wonder if he had noticed that too.

The next morning, Dad dropped me off at Damien’s mansion.

I stared through the car window as the huge black gates opened slowly, revealing the long driveway ahead.

I’d been here before, but I was younger then.

Everything seemed bigger now.

The house stood at the end of the driveway, surrounded by perfectly trimmed lawns and tall trees that swayed gently in the afternoon breeze.

“This place hasn’t changed,” Dad said as he parked.

I looked at him.

“Except me.”

He laughed.

“You’re definitely not a little girl anymore.”

My heart skipped.

If only he knew how much that statement had been bothering me lately.

Dad got out of the car and opened the trunk.

“Come on. Let’s get your bags.”

I stepped out and stretched my arms.

I had barely taken two steps when the front door opened.

My heart immediately started pounding.

Damien.

He stood at the entrance in a dark shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His expression was calm, almost unreadable.

He looked exactly the way I remembered him.

No.

He looked better.

Much better.

His eyes found mine.

For a few seconds, neither of us said anything.

Then his gaze shifted to my father.

“You’re early.”

Dad laughed.

“Traffic wasn’t as bad as I expected.”

Damien walked down the steps toward us.

I suddenly became aware of everything about myself.

My hair.

My clothes.

The way I was standing.

I quickly looked away.

“Damien,” Dad said, pulling him into a brief hug.

“Good to see you.”

“You too.”

Then Dad turned toward me.

“Jane.”

I looked up.

“Come say hello.”

I swallowed before walking toward them.

Damien’s eyes settled on me again.

“Hello, Daddy.”

The word slipped out naturally.

But this time, something about the way he looked at me made my stomach tighten.

His expression changed for the briefest moment.

Almost too quickly for me to notice.

Almost.

“Hello, Jane.”

His voice was deeper than I remembered.

I smiled.

“It’s been a while.”

“It has.”

Dad looked between us.

“You two should have plenty of time to catch up. I’ll leave you both to it once I get her bags inside.”

Damien nodded.

I watched my father walk toward the trunk.

Then I looked back at Damien.

He was still watching me.

And suddenly, I wasn’t so sure spending the summer here had been such a good idea.

“You’ve grown,” he said.

I smiled nervously.

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me.”

His eyes remained on mine for a moment longer before he looked away.

“Your room is ready.”

“Thank you.”

He turned toward the house.

I followed him.

The silence between us felt strange.

I had known Damien for years.

Yet walking behind him now felt completely different.

Maybe it was because I was no longer twelve.

Maybe it was because I was finally old enough to understand the things I shouldn’t be thinking about.

Or maybe it was because, for the first time, I noticed the way Damien deliberately kept his distance from me.

And somehow, that only made me more curious.

We reached the entrance.

Damien stopped and looked over his shoulder.

“There’s one thing you should know, Jane.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“What?”

His expression hardened.

“This is my house. While you’re staying here, I expect you to respect my rules.”

I smiled.

“I always respect rules.”

One corner of his mouth lifted.

“No, you don’t.”

I blinked.

He walked away before I could respond.

I stood there for a moment, watching him disappear down the hallway.

Then I smiled to myself.

Maybe summer was going to be more interesting than I’d imagined.

And I had a feeling Damien Maxwell was going to be the reason why.