Breaking the Rules by Jennifer Lewis Page B

down on the table, then hesitated for a second with her hands on her hips.
    “Aren’t you going to join me?”
    “I had something to eat earlier.” She raised a hand to push back her hair, her movements still hesitant, edgy.
    “Will you sit with me?”
    Something had changed since last night. Since that odd but lovely moment when she’d told him she liked him. He didn’t want her off scuttling around the apartment, not looking him in the eye, then shoving him out the door without really facing him.
    She bit her lip, hands still on her hips. “Okay.” She yanked out the chair, then sat down quickly, adjusting her full skirt about her legs.
    He scooped up a big forkful of eggs and shoved it into his mouth. She watched him suspiciously as he chewed.
    “S’good.”
    “I’m glad.” She licked her lips and shifted a little.
    “Would you like a bite?” He proffered a forkful of bacon and eggs.
    A shy smile curved her lips. “No, thanks. You eat it.”
    “Okay.” He forked the breakfast into his smiling mouth and chewed it, watching her. She blinked nervously.
    “Your grandma didn’t haunt me last night.”
    “Did you think she would?”
    “It seemed like a possibility.”
    She smiled. “I was a little worried, too, since we didn’t burn her bed. It’s metal. She never much liked sleeping in bed, though.”
    “Where did she sleep?”
    “On the couch in the living room mostly. She usually fell asleep during Law & Order .”
    Their chuckles mingled, and the tension lifted slightly.
    “Did you burn the sofa?”
    She nodded. “In the fireplace. My cousin Roman chopped it up with an axe.”
    “I bet the neighbors enjoyed that.”
    “The neighbors don’t bother us.”
    “Yeah, ’cos they think you’ll put a curse on them.”
    “Probably.”
    “Have you ever put a curse on anyone?” A little twinge of anticipation tightened his belly.
    She paused, looked at him slyly, a smile playing across her lips. “Maybe.”
    “You wouldn’t put one on me, would you?” He hoped his tone sounded light.
    She didn’t answer right away. She studied his face and her eyes narrowed slightly. “You may not like this…” She paused and licked her lips thoughtfully. “But I think you’re under a curse already.”
    “Yeah, well, you may have a point there.” He tried to sound jovial as he shoved more food in his mouth.
    “I’m serious.”
    “I bet you’re always pretty serious.”
    Her shoulders hitched in a tiny shrug. “You don’t have to listen to me. You didn’t pay me for my advice, and you don’t have to take it.”
    “Just to keep it lively, what would be your advice?”
    “First, you need to find the root of the curse, where it’s taken hold.”
    “Wait a second here.” Joe held up a hand as he finished chewing and swallowed his mouthful. “Are you trying to say someone out there has actually put a curse on me?”
    “Not necessarily.” She regarded him steadily, her heart-shaped face solemn. Calm repose had replaced her flightiness of earlier. She was on her own turf now.
    Joe’s gut tightened again. “Well?”
    “A curse can come into being without deliberate ill will on the part of any one person.”
    “You mean it can just spring to life?”
    “Not exactly, it’s hard to explain.” She rearranged the bracelets on her wrist, hesitating. Then she looked back up at him cautiously. “If you lose faith in yourself, that can function as a curse.”
    “Like a self-fulfilling prophecy?”
    She nodded. “Kind of.”
    He’d lost faith in himself all right. Not all at once. It had been nibbled away in tiny bites until there just wasn’t any more left. But he didn’t want to tell his pretty gypsy girl about all that stuff. Didn’t want to think about it either.
    Damn she was pretty. He loved her serious expression, no simpering and flirting for her. Getting into her pants might cure what ailed him. Not that she wore pants. Getting under that big skirt then. Maybe she’d let him crawl