Read Lessons in Rule-Breaking for Free Online

press reports on him between now and then, not very well. He’d become belligerent and withdrawn with the press and, instead of producing more work to shut his critics up, he’d thrown himself into partying and womanising instead. In fact he didn’t seem to have produced a single thing since that exhibition.
    Interesting.
    It was a soothing distraction focusing on work after the nerve-jangling meeting with Xander and her eyelids grew heavy as she relaxed into the soft mattress. Perhaps she could get forty winks in now to power herself up before having dinner with Xander tonight? She wanted to be at her sharpest when she faced him again. She had a sneaking suspicion he was deliberately trying to unsettle her so he could avoid having to answer any of her probing questions.
    If he thought it was going to be that easy to get around her he had another think coming.
    A loud scuttling sound—which seemed to be emanating from under the bed—made her sit bolt upright in alarm.
    What the hell was that?
    Out of the corner of her eye she thought she saw something dart from under the bed and disappear behind the vanity unit on the other side of the room.
    Goosebumps pricked her skin as all the hairs on her body stood up as one in disgust. Ugh! Bugs! Quite possibly cockroaches.
    Her spirits sank to the floor. How was she supposed to sleep with large indeterminate creatures running around under her bed?
    Taking care not to step on any of the little blighters, she dashed out of the room and back over to the reception and tried to persuade the woman to move her into a different room.
    Denied.
    It appeared—incredibly—that the hotel was fully booked.
    Jess sighed and went back to her room, feeling frustrated and discombobulated. She couldn’t afford to move out of this hovel—her savings wouldn’t stand it—and she wasn’t about to leave, not when the fate of her career was in the balance.
    She was just going to have to grit her teeth and suck it up.

THREE
    When dinner time rolled around, Jess drove back over to Xander’s villa in an even more agitated state than when she’d left it, which didn’t bode well for a relaxed and fruitful interview with him.
    She hadn’t anticipated having to conduct her interview over dinner either. She used to hate eating in front of other people after struggling with an eating disorder for most of her teens. Thankfully things had got a lot better on that front after she’d taken herself off for counselling during her time at university. After talking things through she’d been able to work out a way to deal with the feelings of shame and self-loathing that tipped her into comfort eating when she felt stressed and she hadn’t had a relapse since.
    She had a suspicion that eating in front of Xander was going to be a real test of her fortitude, though. He was just so in your face with his off-the-scale charisma and haunting good looks.
    Damn him.
    Rosa opened the door to her with a smile and showed her through to the huge living room, which was furnished with only a sofa, small drinks table and fireplace. There was an amazing coloured-glass chandelier hanging from the ceiling, which looked a bit like an exploding bouquet of long-stemmed flowers. Refracted shards of light from it bounced off the walls, giving the room the feel of a disco paused in time. Jess had never experienced anything like it. ‘Xander’s running a little late, but he’ll be with you soon,’ Rosa said, giving Jess a kind smile. ‘Can I get you a drink?’
    ‘Just some water, please,’ Jess said, determined to remain sharp and focused that evening, which meant no alcohol for her. She didn’t tend to drink much anyway—hating the way alcohol messed with her head—and she had a horrible feeling that just a sniff of the stuff tonight would be a disaster in terms of keeping her cool and collected front in place.
    Rosa nodded and gestured to the sofa before leaving her alone in the room.
    Jess chose not to sit down,