Axel Rules lives by three rules:
He never kisses a woman on the lips.
He never sleeps over, and they’re not allowed to sleep at his place.
And the final rule, he never dates single mothers.
Joey Sinclair is a single mother, and she owns the coffee shop in town. He knows she has a history. She stood up against her abusive ex-husband. The ex left town, and wanted nothing to do with his daughter. Axel doesn’t want to get involved with Joey, but he can’t get her out of his mind.
When her parents take her daughter away for the weekend, they order her to have some fun. To relax.
It had been so long since she enjoyed some time to herself. Going to the bar, all she intends to do was drink a beer, and dance.
That first night, Axel breaks all of his rules. He couldn't resist kissing Joey. Her lips were too damn good to ignore. One kiss led to a sleep over, and when he woke up, Joey had snuck off. And now, he had broken his third and final rule, he was falling for a single mother. His father had taught him these rules, so he didn’t get his heart broken. What he didn’t truly realize, his father had loved before.
Now, it was Axel’s turn to fall in love. But will Joey fall in love with him? Will she give herself to him? He has a terrible reputation. But, Axel’s ready to settle down. He wants to be a father to Joey’s daughter, and he wants to have children of his own. But will she be willing to take the risk?
“So, you’re all alone?”
“That’s right. Wait, you’re not some kind of axe-wielding murderer on the weekends, are you?”
“Only at Halloween.”
Joey threw her head back and laughed. “I like it.”
He winked at her, mainly because he had torn a couple of shorts, painted red on the hems, and held a blunt axe, to go to a few Halloween parties. He wasn’t exactly inventive.
“What do you dress up as for Halloween?”
“The busy mom,” she said. “Trying to make it home in time to take her kid out trick-or-treating.”
“Sounds like hard work.”
“It is, but Adeline is worth it.”
The music seemed to pick up a notch.
“Do you want to dance?”
The last time he asked, she had declined, but she frowned and then put her hand in his. “Sure, why not?”
Now he was surprised, but he wasn’t about to take it back. Gripping her hand firmly but not hard, he led her onto the dance floor. There were already several couples there, and he pulled Joey in close, and as he stared into her blue eyes, he was completely entranced by her. She was stunning.
“Do you do this often?” she asked.
“No, I don’t do a whole lot of dancing.”
“You should. You’re good.”
He had both hands at her waist, and he couldn’t bring himself to look anywhere else. It was like they were the only two people to exist.
The music sped up, he grabbed her hand and suddenly gave her a twirl, spinning her away from him, then pulling her back toward him. He gyrated his hips and felt as Joey followed his lead. For a good hour they danced, and when it came to a slow song, he expected her to go back to the bar, only she took hold of his hand and then placed his other at her waist.
“This is nice, thank you,” she said.
“You’re not too bad a dancer at all.”
“It has been a long time since I danced with anyone but my daughter.”
He knew there hadn’t been anyone since George. It was common town knowledge that Joey was completely devoted to her daughter. Staring into her eyes, he couldn’t help but drop his gaze to her lips. They looked so plump, so inviting. He wanted to kiss her.
Rule one. He had to keep remembering rule number one. He refused to break it. Only, he was already breaking rule number three. Joey was a single mother.
And then, he didn’t know what made him change his mind. Just one moment he was looking at her, and in the next second, he pulled her in close and broke his first and third rule by kissing Joey.
He expected everything to just make him stop. The reality of what he was doing. Feeling her lips against his. Something had to stop him.
Only, it didn’t.
Nothing stopped him, as he kept kissing her, and it felt so damn good.
