Read Hard & Fast (Rules to Break #1) for Free Online Page A

have to ask Cole if I can take the time off to go. I’ll pick up breakfast on the way back and who knows, maybe I’ll even get the part. The familiar longing for it, deep down in the heart of me rises when I think about it. I shake it off and focus on getting through tonight.
    Cole jumps out of the limo, but I’m already closing the front door. I want to be completely professional tonight. I turn to face him. “Mr. Dean.”
    “Miss Weatherston,” he says, and the words fall out of his mouth in a distracted way. His eyes rake over me slowly and linger on the sky-high heels I’m wearing.
    I get impatient. Yes, I know I’m not tan and blonde like everyone else in L.A. seems to be, but I can hardly help having milk-white skin with hair as red as mine is. I walk to the car where the driver’s holding the door for me. I’m not going to ask Cole if I dressed up nicely enough for him.
    The doors shut and we’re alone in the back of the limo.
    “Where are we going?” I ask as the driver pulls around in a circle to descend to the gates.
    Cole shakes his head. “Supperclub. Birthday of a friend of mine. You look incredible by the way.”
    I squash the little thrill that rushes through me. I picked a simple black dress that covers me from neck to mid-thigh, but the material shimmers and the shape of it drapes my body perfectly. It’s elegant and it makes me feel confident. I’m more concerned by what he just said, though, and I cut him a sharp glance.
    “Can I ask why you need an assistant at a club?” I’m on edge, suddenly. Am I on a date? Or will I just be fetching drinks for him all night?
    Cole smiles, stretching his legs out. “Don’t worry. All my assistants escort me to clubs. It’s just part of the job.”
    I try to imagine Val sitting here next to him. More alarming is the thought of just how many assistants he’s worked his way through.
    “Would it be alright if I ran a personal errand early tomorrow? I should be back before you need me to do anything.”
    Cole tilts his head, and I wonder if I’m going to have to lie about the audition. “Sure,” he says.
    I don’t speak for the rest of the journey, just look out of the tinted window and imagine that the limo’s mine. I get the part tomorrow and worrying about rent or having to keep this job disappears into the distant past when everyone starts wanting me for bigger and bigger roles—
    “Rose?” Cole touches my shoulder and I startle.
    He grins. “We’re here.”
    The limo has pulled around to a back entrance you wouldn’t even know was part of a club, but the door is already open, a smiling woman waiting for us. I see her eyes change as Cole gets out of the car, but she recovers herself in seconds and ushers us into the building. Music comes through the floor and I wonder if the club is underneath us.
    We’re handed glasses of champagne, but when I turn, I notice Cole didn’t take his. Alarm must register on my face because he waves his hand like it’s fine. I take a tiny sip, bubbles fizzing on my tongue, and we follow the woman down twisting steps. The music gets louder and I realize it sounds like jazz. Not what I was expecting.
    But as we step out into a subtly lit, low ceilinged room, I see that the place is done out like a speakeasy. There’s a live band on a low stage, and some of the guests and all of the staff are even dressed up in 20s costume. Cigar girls with trays hanging around their necks and their hair in pin curls wander around handing out drinks. A woman walks past, her beaded flapper dress sashaying as she moves. She winks at Cole and gives him a wave with one slim, silk glove clad hand.
    My stomach tightens and I take another, bigger sip from my glass. I recognize so many of the faces here and they are all stunning. I don’t know why Cole brought me here. Surely he doesn’t need assisting in having a good time in a place like this. As soon as I think that, I rephrase it in my head, because I will not be thinking