Six Rules: Book Two in the SIX Series by Randileigh Kennedy

question,” he said
smiling.
               “Well, it probably is me. I guess I’m just not good
at changing who I am for someone. I hate having to worry about what they want
from me, you know? I wish I could just have what I wanted, but I know it
doesn’t work that way,” I replied honestly.
               “Exactly. So what if you could choose the kind of
relationship you ultimately wanted? What if all the wants and needs and
expectations were laid out like bullet points. Like a business contract,” he
said, raising an eyebrow. He paused, waiting for my response.
               “Oh no, I’ve read those books. A relationship contract,
red rooms, and flogging, whatever that is. That is so not my style,” I said
vehemently shaking my head.
               “Flogging? What are you talking about?” he asked, looking
quite perplexed.
               “Never mind. I’m kind of glad you have no idea what I’m
talking about. Just continue, what do you have in mind? What are you getting
at?”
               “Well, what do you want from someone? Like if you could
make a list of the things you absolutely wanted from someone, what would you
pick?” Greyson stared at me curiously.
               “Well, I don’t know. I would probably have to think about
it. But that’s not really fair. I mean, what about you? What do you want?” I
asked, intrigued by what he had in mind.
               “What if we each wrote down some things. We can do it on
the back of our napkins,” he said, pushing a paper La Luna napkin towards me. “We
can each write down a few things that would make a person our ideal
relationship partner.”
               “I’m listening,” I replied, giving him my full attention.
                “Then,
as long as there are no deal breakers, we could give it like a month or two. Or
hell, how about three weeks. Somehow your parents knew in three weeks, so it’s
possible, right? That way it’s not so much time that were deeply invested, but it's
enough time to at least roll the dice on this idea to see if it works. So we
just spend three weeks giving the other person their ideal relationship. And
then at the end of the three weeks if one of us wants to go our separate way,
fine, no hard feelings. But at least for a few weeks we’ll each get a perfect
relationship. Then we can’t claim we suck at relationships anymore,” he said
shrugging.
               “So really, you’ll be Mr. Right for me for three weeks?
And then if you still make me crazy, I can just walk away? No questions asked?
No dramatic break-up?” I asked skeptically. I had to admit, something about his
idea intrigued me. A guy who finally cared what I wanted? Who was willing to
just lay it all out there right from the beginning? I wondered if this could
actually work.
               “What do you think?” Greyson asked, amused at my interest
in the idea.
               “So, like a business contract, but for a relationship? It
sounds mechanical and completely not romantic. But yet, in a weird way,
it kind of makes sense to me,” I responded, mulling it all over in my head. Did
I even know what I really wanted from someone?
               “Think about it.
Relationships really are like a business transaction. I mean sure, all that
‘love’ stuff, but there has to be some mutual agreements going on for it to
actually work, right? Some boundaries, expectations, that kind of thing. So
many people get married just to find out they wanted kids and the other person
didn’t or they wanted to move out of state and the other person wanted to stay
put. So those relationships just fall apart, or someone ends up unhappy at the
very least,” he explained matter-of-factly. He was quite convincing as he
spoke. “And not that this relationship has to be that serious, but we’re
both busy, right? And relationships don’t work out for