#1 Love

by T Gephart

  Neutral territory?

  Switzerland was neutral territory, not Kate Larsson’s house.

  “I can’t.” The excuses came thick and fast. “I start work on Monday and I still need to get my apartment in some kind of order.” And you know, I still hadn’t had that lobotomy. “I have a mountain of paperwork to go through.”

  All of it completely plausible, and not entirely false.

  His perfectly formed lips pulled into a pout, making him look adorable because just being sexy had obviously not been enough. “Come on, it’s Tuesday. You have three whole days to get your shit together. Give me an hour. Sixty minutes to see everyone, and then if you have to go, you can leave.”

  Next came the eyes.

  Wielding those incredible crystal-blue pools for evil as he did his best to look sorrowful. Even though I knew it was an act, I was helpless to resist them.

  Damn it.

  Not sure why I’d bothered, that puppy dog look of his was irresistible. There wasn’t a woman alive—including this one—who was immune. Those baby blues had been getting him out of trouble since he was five years old. If he ever needed help trying to convince a jury, all he’d have to do is unleash that look and he’d have them eating out of the palm of his hand.

  “Fine!” I huffed out in exasperation, followed by a pointed warning. “An hour, and then I swear, I need to go.”

  He dropped the pout, his lips curling into a victorious grin as he nodded. “If that’s what you want, I promise I won’t stop you.”

  Lord, what the hell had I agreed to?

  “And on that note, I should probably get going.” I made a show of shuffling off the couch and standing. “Since you’ve commandeered part of my weekend, I should really get back to my apartment. Lots to do.” Like freak the hell out in private. “But thanks for the evening, it was great seeing you.”

  He joined me on his feet, pulling me into the hug I’d been hoping for as he gave me his goodbye. I nuzzled closer, figuring I deserved the enjoyment of the well-toned chest of Alex Larsson considering the hot mess the weekend would be. It was the least he could do, and since he’d been the one who’d initiated most of the hugs I didn’t feel guilty either.

  Slightly pervy possibly, but guilty—nada.

  “You park out front?” he asked, my reward taken away as he pulled back. “I’ll walk you out.”

  “No, I don’t have a car. I can grab an Uber though, no big deal.” I slid out my phone from my jeans and swiped on the app.

  He grabbed my phone, stopping me before I could enter my location. “You’re not getting an Uber. I’ll drive you, give me a second to get my keys.”

  “You’ve been drinking,” I tried to argue.

  He scoffed, turning and grabbing his keys from a bowl on the coffee table. “Two wines, hours ago, hardly DUI material. Besides, you can show me where you live. I’ll need to know for when I pick you up on Saturday.”

  Well, he had a point there. As much as I hated the idea of him needing to chauffeur me around, my car situation wasn’t going to change by the weekend and I had no idea where Kate lived.

  “Okay, thanks.”

  He didn’t even have to unleash those baby blues, my agreement coming completely of my own volition.

  He lead me outside to a silver BMW i8 parked near the curb, a press of his fob confirming it was his car.

  “Fancy.” I eyed it up and down, the car worth more than most junior associates made in a year.

  “A gift from Eric.” He shrugged. “He had it for a few years and then got bored with it. I was more than happy to take it off his hands.”

  “Yeah, if he has any other cars he’s looking to get rid of, let me know.” I slid into the soft leather seat, the inside just as flashy as the sleek exterior.

  Alex laughed, moving to the driver’s seat before hopping inside. “You can tell him yourself when you see him on Saturday.”

  Awesome, because I needed the reminder in the ten minutes it had taken from agreeing and getting into the car that I was going to see his whole freaking family. One of which who was ridiculously famous. “I was kidding, I am not asking your brother for a car.”

  “Suit yourself.” He shrugged, pressing the ignition and firing up the engine.

  His face lit up like a little boy as the engine roared, his foot tapping the accelerator again before shooting me a sideways glance as he pulled out into traffic.

  God he was gorgeous.

  “Now, tell me where we’re heading.” His voice rumbled, pulling me from my thoughts.

  I literally have no idea.

  Oh, he meant where I lived.

  “Primrose Apartments.” I rattled off the address. “The place is still sort of a mess.”

  It was my precursor, the warning that I wasn’t going to let him in. Not because I actually gave a shit about the mess, but because I needed to get my head together before we spent any more time together.

  “Noted, I’ll hold off on doing my inspection.” He laughed, not at all fazed.

  He handled the car like he’d handled the evening. Cool, calm and collected—not at all like the hot mess I’d seemed to be.

  I didn’t know if it was extreme confidence or he just wasn’t as invested as I was. Living under the shadow of my father had made me feel like I’d constantly needed to prove myself. And damn if that chip on my shoulder made me push harder than I probably needed to for acceptance.

  I hated it.

  And yet, I couldn’t stop myself either.

  We made small talk on the drive, Alex asking me more questions and me reciprocating. It was all rather benign, nothing of any substance, but it felt safe.

  “This must be you.” He stopped, pulling up to the faded pink stucco building, the front iron gate left ajar.

  “Yep. It’s me.” My lips tightened as my hand went to the door handle. “Thanks for the ride.”

  He reached across and squeezed my knee. “Come on, Maya, it’s the least I could do. Call me if you need anything between now and the weekend.”

  “Yep, sure. Thanks.” I nodded, stepping out of the car and onto the sidewalk. And as much as I would love to call him, there wasn’t a chance that would happen. Not because I didn’t trust him or thought he had ulterior motives. Nope, the lack of trust was on my part, needing to make sure I didn’t make a fool of myself.

  And with an awkward wave—on my part, he looked incredible—I turned and walked through the open gate to my apartment.

  The night hadn’t gone as I’d planned it.

  And I wasn’t sure if I was happy about my latest Larsson infatuation or I was annoyed at my predictability.

  Oh well, it wasn’t like anything was going to change. Maybe when I saw him next the initial shock will have worn off and I could go back to acting like a regular person.

  After all, I’d lost interest in all of his brothers in the past.

  But, damn, I wasn’t sure I wanted that either.

  Shit.

  “ARE YOU A DRUG DEALER?”

  I laughed, hoping to God I didn’t look like one. It wouldn’t do well for me when I finally went up in front of a jury. “No, of course not.”

  She peered around the room, looking at the transformation that had taken place, the inside of my apartment resembling a Target catalog. I was nothing if not motivated, and while I hadn’t had a chance to even look over my induction folder for work yet, the apartment was something I could get a handle on. The kitchen wasn’t finished yet, but she couldn’t see that from her eagle eye position.

  “Never seen anyone work so fast. Especially when they haven’t had a delivery from a moving truck. All of this looks new.” Her nose sniffed, like the air might reveal some alternate truth. “You better not be doing any kind of drugs, I know this place isn’t fancy, but I won’t tolerate any of that nonsense here.”

  Prim—my landlord—had some mail which, apparently—not likely—had gotten mixed up with hers. As tempting as it was to point out that mail tampering was a federal o
ffense, I knew she was harmless and just probably looking for an excuse to snoop. It wasn’t like I had anything to hide, so I opened my door and humored her. Besides, always good to get the landlord on your side. Never know when you’re going to need a repair expedited, and judging by the old pipes in my bathroom, I was probably going to test the theory sooner than later.

  “I promise you, no drugs.” I nodded, hoping my sincerity might convince her. “I’m a lawyer, trust me, it would be bad for business.”

  Not that it had stopped some other members of the legal faculty before, but I sure as hell wasn’t about to point that out.

  Her halo of bright red hair swung wildly as she shook her head. “A lawyer? Why the hell are you living here? Aren’t you people supposed to be rich?”

  If I had a dollar for every person who had that misconception . . .

  “Yeah, well, I fell in love with the view,” I lied, wondering how much longer I needed to be polite.

  Her eyes narrowed not believing me for a second. “Hmmm, well I guess I should go then. I’ll be seeing you around.”

  I didn’t doubt she would, I finger waved to her as she disappeared down the stairs while my attention was redirected to my ringing phone.

  It was late afternoon and I’d already spoken to my mother forty-two times. Okay, maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but it had been at least ten and there were no signs of her letting up. So I was fairly confident I knew who it was when I answered it.

  “Yes, Mom.” I didn’t bother checking the caller ID.

  “How many times has she called?” My brother Ben laughed in my ear. And as much as I loved my mother, it was great hearing from him for a change.

  I closed my front door and leaned against the wall with a huge smile on my face. “Close to a dozen. I stopped keeping score after seven.”

  “Well, she’s itching to come visit you. You haven’t been this close in years, and I think she expected you to ask her to help you get settled.”

  My mother had not so subtly hinted that she would happily take time off work, come to L.A., and help me adjust to my new home. But as much as I appreciated all she had done for me in the past, I worked better doing things on my own. I didn’t want to fight with anyone about where the proper place was for the salt shaker. It was beside the tequila, of course. So, delicately I hinted I would happily welcome houseguests later.

  Much later.

  Like give me a month or two at least.

  “Ben, I know she means well, but I want to do this on my own. She’ll have her chance to hover and visit, but for now, I’m finding my feet.”

  I knew he got it; he had been instrumental in convincing our mother I would be fine when I shipped out to the other side of the country for college. Out of the three of us, I was the only one who’d left. It hadn’t helped that I was the youngest.

  He chuckled. “I know, squirt, I’m just checking in on you. Besides, I heard that you’ve been spending time with Alex Larsson. Seems to me you don’t need any help at all in finding your feet.”

  “You’ve heard have you?” I deadpanned.

  “Yep, check your messages.” He could barely hide the amusement in his voice.

  I lowered the phone and flicked to my text messages. There it was—a group message no less—from my mother, both my brothers and their wives.

  Mom—Have a great time with Alex Larsson, Honey. He was such a nice boy, make sure you give Kate my love.

  Ben—Alex Larsson? As in, Nick’s kid brother?

  Mom—Yes. He and your sister have been talking. Isn’t it wonderful?

  Jordon- Didn’t I give that kid a wedgie?

  Ben—Didn’t you give us ALL wedgies?

  Jordon—It was character building. Look how awesome everyone turned out. Hey Sis, tell Roman he owes me fifty bucks. I left my porn DVDs in his room when we left.

  Mom—WHAT porn DVDs?

  Jordon- I meant history book. It definitely wasn’t porn.

  Vanessa—Chemistry maybe Dr. Zaveri? Pretty sure you never studied history. Unless you had changed your major before we met? ;-)

  Jordon—Why is this even a discussion? We should be talking about Maya and Alex. Not my major.

  Natalie—Oh, is he as hot as Eric? His brother is smoking.

  Ben—Hello? Have you seen your husband? I’m way hotter than Eric Larsson.

  Natalie—LOL

  Vanessa—LOL

  Ben—Why is that funny?

  Mom—Both my boys are handsome, but those Larsson boys are quite easy on the eyes.

  Jordon—Yeah, could have gone the rest of my life without hearing that, Mother.

  “Jesus Christ.” I pulled the phone back to my ear. “A group chat? Seriously? She couldn’t have just sent a private message directly to me? Someone needs to take away Mom’s smart phone.”

  Ben laughed, thoroughly amused. “She said it’s the easiest way to share the family news. Just like a family dinner.”

  Ironically, it was a lot like family dinners before I went away. And despite being annoyed at the start, it warmed me to know that we were still close. “So you think you’re better looking than Eric, huh? Delusional much?” I laughed.

  “Not you too,” Ben warned. “Bad enough my wife laughed at me.”

  “Probably because Natalie isn’t blind.”

  “Yeah, well let’s just wait and see, shall we? When we come visit, we’ll get together with all of them too. Let’s see how good looking the guy is without Photoshop.”

  Ben must be high.

  Sure, if I looked at him objectively, he was handsome. And out of the two of my brothers, he was the one the girls all chased. But, he wasn’t in the same league as the Larsson brothers.

  And, in what universe did he think we were all going to get together? Did he miss the memo that most of them were famous?

  High.

  Only explanation.

  “Yeah, let’s worry about that later. I should go, Ben. Tell everyone I said hi.”

  “Or you could just tell them yourself in the group chat.” My pain in the ass brother laughed.

  “I hate you.”

  He chuckled. “Love you too, sis.”

  Maya—I’m going to start a cult. Calling it Larsson-ism. We meet at dawn in Death Valley where we dance naked and chant to the Larsson Gods.

  Vanessa—I’m in.

  Natalie—Me too, sounds like fun.

  Mom—Bring a coat, baby. The mornings can be cool in the desert.

  I shook my head, laughing as I tossed my phone in my handbag. They were a crazy bunch, but they were my crazy bunch, a smile still on my face as I went to my bedroom and finished getting dressed.

  I slipped out of my jeans and T-shirt, and grabbed the dress that had been lying on my bed.

  Unlike Tuesday night where I’d dressed down, I’d decided to wear the red dress that did good things for my boobs. I mean, it was important to look my best, right? And what was the point of having nice things if I couldn’t wear them? Of course, it was probably slightly overdressed, but things were always fancier in L.A.

  Besides, if things got super awkward, I’d just tell them I had other plans. The dress would be my coconspirator. It was actually pretty smart, or at least that was what I rationalized as I applied a layer of matching red lipstick.

  As I slid into my heels, there was a knock at my door, my heart pounding in my chest as I walked from my bedroom to my front door. God I hoped it wasn’t Prim again, I really didn’t want her to see me all dressed up and assume I was involved in prostitution instead of narcotics.

  “Hey.” I tried to sound casual as I opened the door, a smiling Alex Larsson standing on the other side.

  Dressed in dark jeans that had no business looking that good, a button down he’d rolled at the sleeves and a pair of shades, he looked beyond edible. His blond hair was tousled with just the right amount of edge, still promoting his polished look and hinting at the rebellion underneath.

  Maybe the idea of a cult hadn’t been a bad on
e after all. I’d have no problem spending my days worshiping a man who looked like that.

  He peeled off the dark aviators that had been hiding his crystal-blue eyes. “Hey yourself.” His eyes traveled along the length of my body.

  It was tempting to tell him my fake excuse, that I had a thing later and it would be easier to already be dressed than to have to come home. Or run back into my room and change into something a little less flashy.

  But I didn’t do either.

  Instead, I kicked up my chin and pretended it was business as usual. Nothing more to see here, folks. Fake it until you make it . . . and all of that.

  “I’m ready to go, if you are?” I grabbed my keys, pretending that my heart didn’t feel like it might explode. It also didn’t help my pulse to see his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed hard.

  “Very ready.”

  I shouldn’t care that he seemed to be affected.

  But I did.

  My smile beamed as we walked down the stairs to my courtyard, careful not to catch my heels on the metal stairs as we made our way down to where he’d parked his car.

  Alex stalked over to the passenger side door, waiting until he was beside me to hit the key fob to unlock it. His hand reached for the handle, opening the door for me and stepping aside.

  “After you.” He smiled, watching me as my body sunk into the low seat of the sports car. My change in position had me eye level with his crotch.

  Well. Then.

  I bit my lip trying not to grin like an idiot.

  He closed the door and went across the other side, sliding into the driver’s seat in a swift, sexy move. I probably needed to stop noticing all the ways he was sexy considering we weren’t on a date and on the way to his mother’s house. But I was having a hard time with the argument.

  It had been my hope that between seeing him the last time and now, that I’d be able to recalibrate my brain.

  We were not going to date.

  He probably wasn’t interested.

  I just hadn’t dated in a while, and like water after a drought, I was just thirsty. And boy was I ever.

  But as he put the car into gear and looked over at me and smiled, all that common sense seemed to disappear.