Kerry gave him a small bite and then looked up at him, smiling, and flipped a long, silky strand of her waist-length black hair back over her shoulder. “It certainly doesn’t feel wrong. And your dick seems to approve,” she said, reaching down to tweak his erection lightly.
“Well, my dick isn’t in charge here,” Kevin said as he attempted to roll her gently to the side.
Instead of complying she wrapped one slim thigh around his hip and laughed. “Are you sure about that?” She asked, pumping her fist down his straining shaft. When he gasped, she threw her head back and looked at him with velvety dark eyes, daring him to deny his attraction to her.
Her exotic beauty disarmed him for a moment. Everything in him called him a fool for denying the opportunity to enjoy what she offered so willingly and apparently without strings. He thought seriously about ignoring his conscience completely. After all, he’d already been with her countless times during the night. What difference would one more indiscretion make? But with Kerry there were always strings attached—very unpleasant, sticky, web-like strings. If he gave in now, when his wits were about him, he would eventually regret giving into his libido.
“Absolutely sure,” he said through gritted teeth as he unceremoniously dumped her off his chest. “He's only an advisor. I make all the final decisions.”
Kerry recovered quickly and stretched out across the mattress, admiring herself in the mirrored headboard for a moment before shifting her attention back to Kevin. Her eyes narrowed as she watched him climb off the bed and look for his clothing. She couldn’t believe he was ignoring her like this. No matter. She knew how to get his attention.
She gracefully slithered into a sitting position on the bed and raised her arms over her head to make her chest jut out provocatively. She smiled when the pose caused him to stop in his tracks and stare at her. “Maybe you should listen to your advisor this time,” she said, raising herself up to her knees on the mattress, she looked blatantly down at his crotch and then back up at him meaningfully. “At least keep an open mind,” she said with a shrug that caused her small breasts to jiggle prettily. “Maybe you’ll like what he comes up with. I know I can think of a few interesting possibilities,” she said, while licking her cherry-red lips and lifting her hair off her neck in a pretty good imitation of a 1950s pin-up.
Kevin loved women. He especially loved their bodies—all their curves and softness and warmth. Some men demanded certain physical criteria for their partners—big breasts, great legs, a shapely bottom…whatever. But Kevin felt they were all gorgeous in some way. Kerry was no exception. She was a bit on the thin side, but it still felt like turning away from her was a betrayal to his nature. Not to mention stupid. What kind of guy said ‘no’ when a woman came on to him like this anyway?
It just wasn’t in him to reject women. He wanted to worship them, pleasure them, appreciate them and make them realize how beautiful they were. Angering and rejecting them was not what he was all about. But in this case, he knew he had no choice.
“I wish I could, but I gotta go,” he said with a smile, trying for casual friendliness as he pulled on his dark blue, button-down shirt.
Kerry flopped back on the bed and glared up at him as she crossed her arms over her slender chest. “I can’t say I really care for being used and discarded like this,” she said petulantly.
Kevin groaned inwardly. She just couldn’t make this easy, could she?
“Listen, Ker. I’m sorry, but last night was a mistake. You must know that. I drank too much and things got out of hand.”
“A mistake? Fucking me was a mistake?” She asked evenly, but her eyes were drilling holes through him.
“Well, yeah, kind of. I wasn’t thinking clearly.” Why did explanations always sounded so lame exactly? Christ, why had she woken up? This would have been so much easier if he could have just skulked out and sent her some flowers later. He hated feeling like such a total weasel. Right then he promised himself that he would never, ever indulge in a one-night stand again. They just weren’t worth it. And he was just getting too damn old for this game.
“Seems to me that you think entirely too much these days,” Kerry said, watching him fasten the belt on his jeans with cool, assessing eyes. “You never had that problem in high school. In fact, you weren’t thinking much at all the night before my wedding when we went skinny dipping together, now were you?” Her smile was meant to look nostalgic, but Kevin could hear the threat in her voice. This wasn’t just a trip down memory lane. She actually thought that ancient indiscretion had some power over him—ten years later.
Unfortunately, it did. He couldn’t imagine his best friend caring about Kerry being unfaithful at this point. Duncan was so in love with Jessie that his ex-wife could probably post her sex life on the internet without provoking a jealous response from him. But he would definitely question Kevin’s loyalty if he found out he’d almost slept with Kerry just hours before their marriage ceremony. Kevin didn’t think it would cost him Duncan’s friendship—they’d known each other too long for that—but he really couldn’t bear the look of disappointment and disgust on his friend’s face if he did find out. Kevin needed his support too much right now if he was going to clean up his act.
Also, somewhere at the back of his mind, he knew that Duncan told his wife everything. And Jessie was incredibly close with her sister, Jamie. The last thing he wanted was that fiery redhead finding out how badly behaved he’d been in the past. Whatever small chance he had with her would be destroyed if she knew. And that mattered. A lot.
Maybe he had nothing to worry about. Duncan made a point of avoiding contact with Kerry. Even if she did tell him it was unlikely he would believe her anyway. She was a prolific and accomplished liar. It seemed to come naturally to her. Unfortunately, Kevin wasn’t nearly as good at deception, but he decided to go for the bluff anyway.
“That was a long time ago,” he said casually, checking the pocket of his jeans for his keys. “And besides, Dunc already knows.”
Kerry began laughing. Not just a chuckle, but real peels of mirth that caused his erection to wilt dramatically.
“You are the worst liar,” she gasped after a few moments. She held her hand against her breast as if to prevent her heart from leaping from her chest. “No wonder you left the force. How on Earth do you even manage to write? Isn’t that lying for a living?”
Kevin was tempted to explain, once again, that he was a true crime writer, not a fiction writer, but knew making that distinction to Kerry wouldn’t be worth the effort.
“Listen,” he said quietly when she stopped laughing and looked up at him expectantly. “I’m sorry if you expected more from this, but you know I’m not the commitment kind of guy.”
Kerry looked like she would start laughing again, but restrained herself mightily. “Commitment?” She nearly sputtered. “You thought I wanted a commitment? From you?” Her eyes raked him from head to toe and then back again. “Kev, no woman alive would want a commitment from a guy like you,” she said earnestly. “You’re exactly what you’ve always been—a last fling or a one-night stand. Face it. You’re doomed to being Mr. Right Now, never Mr. Right.”
Kevin knew he shouldn’t care, but her words stung nonetheless. He was tempted to ask why he wasn’t forever material, but didn’t really want to know the answer. He was feeling shitty enough as it is without getting more psychoanalysis from a psychopath with a grudge to settle.
“Then why are you pissed off I’m leaving?” He asked as he leaned down to pick his black leather jacket off the floor.
“I’m not pissed off you’re leaving,” Kerry said, rolling her eyes at him. “I’m pissed off because you would presume to leave me.” She pointed at herself. “I was looking forward to sending you packing. Not the other way around. Don’t you remember how you rejected me the night before the wedding? How you said ‘no’ at the last possible second? Well, this was supposed to be payback for that.”
Kevin shrugged into his coat and
shook his head in disbelief. Could she really still be angry about something for this long? Then systematically seek him out for revenge? It seemed impossible, even for Kerry
“You have got to be kidding me. You boffed my brains out and that’s my punishment for not sleeping with you ten years ago? Pretty twisted Kerry. Even for you.” With that he walked away from her without looking back. A pillow just missed his right shoulder as his fist closed around the doorknob, but he ignored it. And her screech of anger.
Despite everything he didn’t want to see her sitting there, alone, small, and enraged at his words. Instead he walked out on both her and his past, and hopefully toward a future without the doubts and fears that had plagued him recently.
Chapter Three
“So, how do you see this playing out exactly?" Jamie asked, looking speculatively at the tower of notes sitting in front of Cathy's huge hot chocolate with extra whip and a muffin the size of a small dog. Jamie thought she could actually see a pie chart mixed in with Cathy's scribbles. What exactly had she gotten herself into?
They had arranged to meet at a local coffee shop that evening to discuss some of the details of "Cathy's Love Guru" story idea. Unfortunately, now that they were here Cathy was having some trouble expressing herself without Clay as a buffer between them.
Cathy stabbed at her glasses with her finger again, and Jamie fought the impulse to grab her hand and force it away from her face. Honestly, the girl's nervous ticks were driving her crazy. Between stabbing at her glasses, darting glances around the room, and shuffling through that giant stack of paper, the introverted blonde had only mumbled a few words about the project. It was, without a doubt, the most awkward cup of coffee Jamie had ever experienced in her life.
Today Cathy was wearing what appeared to be a camouflage caftan. The floor-length, shapeless dress was covered in a swirling mixture of olive and khaki green that washed out her fair complexion and made her look like she might vomit at any moment. Not that anyone would notice given the pattern of her ensemble. The oddest thing about her outfit was the rather voluminous puffs exploding from the shoulder seams. She had found or made a dress with actual shoulder pads, circa 1984. Jamie would have been impressed at the find if she wasn’t quite so horrified.
She shook her head, took a surreptitious look at her watch and tried not to think about the fact that Cathy looked like a cross between a green beret and an eighties transvestite. The high-top Keds sticking out from beneath the hem of her tent-like creation just completed her overall disastrous look. This girl needed a complete style overhaul in the most desperate way. But how was she going to introduce the idea without crushing Cathy’s delicate feelings?
Taking a deep breath, Cathy squared her shoulders and looked Jamie in the eyes for the first time in 10 minutes. This lasted at least 2 seconds before she shifted her gaze downward and deflated like a limp balloon. "It's stupid. What was I thinking to even suggest I could do this? We should just forget about it." She gathered her notes and shifted in her seat to stand up.
Jamie grabbed her hand before she could flee. "Cat, it's not stupid. You can totally do this. I think it's a great idea and so does Clay. So, just relax and tell me what you were thinking."
Cathy sat back down, gingerly, and removed her clammy hand from Jamie's grip. She took a sip from her hot chocolate to stall for a moment and set her pile of papers back down on the table, arranging them carefully in a perfect rectangle.
Jamie's lips twitched with a smile but she didn't comment on the white mustache of whipped cream Cathy now sported along with her dead serious expression.
"Well, um," Cathy said so quietly that Jessie had to lean in to hear her. "It's really just in the early stages of development, but uh... I thought you could just jot down some notes about where you think women go wrong when it comes to attracting men, and then I would come up with some kind of related task to demonstrate your theory. Then we could report the results." She looked at Jamie expectantly, biting her lip as if expecting laughter or downright hostility at her suggestion.
Jamie kept her expression carefully neutral. She thought Cathy's idea sounded positively boring. And was pretty sure it had been done before. What they needed was something exciting. But how did she convey that without discouraging Cathy entirely? "Can you give me an example?" She asked, nodding her head enthusiastically.
"Oh. Okay. Let's say one of your rules is, 'Men like women who don't wear makeup.' Well, we could sit you in a bar somewhere and compare responses. See if you get hit on more with or without makeup." Cathy smiled triumphantly at Jamie, warming to her idea now that she was actually able to express it without fear of reprisal.
Jamie groaned inwardly. Is this the kind of advice Cathy thought she could provide? Obviously, she had no idea about men. If Jamie sat alone in a bar, she would be approached even if she wore a dead squirrel on her head, let alone a clown's mask worth of makeup. Not because of the way she looked in particular, but because men circled like great white sharks if they saw any attractive, young, slim woman sitting alone at a bar. She'd be lucky to get out of there without being offered money for some kind of deranged sexual act.
"That's an interesting idea but don't you think it would be a conflict of interest if I'm the test subject? I mean, obviously, I will try to skew the results to support my hypothesis
"You will?" Cathy looked at her with wide, shocked eyes.
Jamie shrugged and then straightened the cuff on her cream silk blouse. "Well, yeah. If the experiment was providing us with evidence that was contrary to my advice then I think I would probably be tempted to alter the outcome."
"I don't understand. How would you do that exactly?"
"Well, let's look at your example. Pretend that I'm the test subject." Jamie pointed to herself. "And let's say my advice was for women to stop wearing makeup because men find them less approachable when they're plastered with Revlon. Now if I want to support my theory then I would do what I could to ensure that more men approach me when I’m cosmetic-free."
"How would you do that exactly?" Cathy asked, clearly confused but very, very interested.
"Well, I would change my demeanor completely. I would act friendly and vivacious without makeup, and cold and bored later on when we did the other half of the experiment. There's a lot more to attracting men than applying blush. They approach women who seem fun and relaxed. Not tense and hostile. Ultimately, they want the easy target. Just like a hyena will seek out the weakest in the herd, men will zero in on a woman who is open to flirtation. Looks are secondary to the proper attitude."
"See!" Cathy bounced in her seat with excitement. "That's exactly the kind of advice you could give. I'm not sure if I buy it completely, but it almost sounds plausible when you say it."
Jamie arched one dark auburn eyebrow at her. "So, you don't think I'm right?"
Cathy held up her hands in supplication, obviously concerned that she'd offended her prospective Love Guru. "No, I didn't mean that. I'm just saying that men would approach you even if you wore a bag over your head and some lederhosen. With or without makeup might not be relevant in your case." She gestured towards herself. "But other women aren't so lucky. Beauty matters a lot more than you seem to think. But since you look like Jessica Rabbit, you might not have an accurate picture of what most women have to overcome in order to attract a man."
Jamie practically spewed her tea. "Jessica Rabbit? I do not look like a cartoon character. Where did that come from?"
"Willem said it. He also said you were hot enough to make him consider changing teams," Cat said with a small grin.
Jamie returned the smile and shook her head. "As flattering as that is, his team can keep him. I'm not interested, and I'm sure Clay would not be happy to hear that he was considering switching."
"He said it to Clay."
"Oh my God. That guy is such a douche-bag. Why would he say that to Clay?" Jamie said, rolling her eyes. Willem was Clay's sometimes boyfriend, and the cause of much stress in his life. No
matter how awful he was, Clay just couldn't seem to get enough of his bad boy charms. He said he loved a challenge, but Jamie suspected that Clay got off on the drama of being with someone who treated him like crap.
"Probably wanted to make Clay jealous and put a wedge between you two in the process. Willem hates that my brother spends so much time with you and Jessica.” She gave Jamie a mischievous look from over her glasses. “Or possibly he was hinting at a threesome. Who knows with that guy?"
Threesome? Jamie covered her mouth with one hand. Had Cathy actually suggested such a thing? Clay’s little sister obviously had hidden twisted depths. Maybe this wasn’t going to so difficult after all. "I can’t believe you just said that. I'm totally shocked."
"What? You thought Clay was the only one who could say outrageous things?" Cathy asked, her eyes sparkling impishly behind her thick, dark glasses. "I'm not completely innocent you know. I'm just freakishly shy and a little socially-challenged."
"I can see that you're not as naive as I thought, but getting back on topic. I really don't think I'll make a good test subject, so what's Plan B?"
"Plan B?" Panic made Cathy’s usually soft voice go squeaky.
Jamie tried not to sound impatient, but it was really, really difficult. "Yes. Do you have anyone else in mind? Someone at the paper? Or an adventurous friend or two?"
"Not really." Cathy avoided Jamie’s eyes.
Jamie was pretty sure Cathy didn’t have any friends, let alone an adventurous one or two.
“What about you?" She asked gently.
"ME? I don't think so." Cathy shook her head vehemently and drew back in her chair like Jamie had reached out and slapped her.
"Why not? You said you'd take my advice when you were trying to sell me on this idea. Was that just a manipulation, or were you serious?"
Cathy looked like a deer caught in headlights. She had obviously never thought she'd be taking such an active role in this project. "I was serious, but not like this. Everyone at work will read about my pathetic attempts to attract a man. They'll all know that I'm a loser. They might even think I orchestrated this whole thing to improve my love life," she said glumly.
The Love Laws Page 3
