The Love Laws

by Tamara Larson

  Her sister. Pregnant. It was hard to believe. Before meeting Duncan it had looked like Jessica was going to take her virginity to her grave, but now she was married to one of the hottest, kindest, most virile men either Martin sister had ever had the pleasure to encounter. And now a perfect little baby was on the way to complete Jessica’s perfect little life.

  The last thing Jamie wanted at this point in her life was a living, breathing, poop-machine totally dependent on her for every single little thing. She couldn’t even handle her own life, so wasn’t close to being prepared to take on a baby. But she could admit to herself that her sister’s news had revved up the volume on her biological clock by a couple of decibels.

  A baby. Yes. She wanted that. Someday. When her life was settled and she was no longer struggling to keep her business alive. Her imaginary future baby deserved a mother who wasn’t so stressed out all the time.

  Not that she wasn’t happy for Jess and Duncan. She was totally overjoyed for them, but it still stung. Everything seemed to work out for Jessica, but her own life, by comparison, seemed like an endless battle for survival. She couldn’t even keep her business afloat and yet the good news just kept rolling in for her twin.

  What was wrong with her exactly? Jamie wondered. Was she an awful person? Was this Karma at work? Was she being punished for not being a saint like Jessica? It almost seemed like her wild past would haunt her forever.

  She reveled in her own selfish bitterness for a few more moments. Then she mentally gave herself a shake. She would not be the type of person who begrudged her sister’s happiness. And she refused to cause a permanent rift between Duncan and Kevin even though she would be thrilled to never see Kevin’s incredible shoulders and dazzling smile ever again.

  Despite the undeniable tension that existed between her and her brother-in-law she liked and respected Duncan and knew how much he valued his friendship with Kevin. She personally couldn’t see why the two men were such buddies. Duncan was a total boy scout while Kevin probably would have been thrown out of that particular organization for compromising a girl scout or possibly leading a panty raid. He seemed like a complete douchebag to her, a superhot douchebag, but one without a lot of other redeeming qualities.

  But she trusted Duncan’s judgement enough to suspect that there was more to Kevin than what she was seeing. Despite his questionable behavior there was also something in his eyes that suggested there might actually be a decent guy underneath the womanizing exterior. Not that she cared.

  Besides, she refused to be responsible for ending a twenty-five year friendship. Even if Kevin totally deserved it. So, she would make nice and try to bring the two men together again. Whatever it took.

  Pasting on a huge, fake smile she checked out her reflection in the mirror again. She looked a bit like a crazed beauty pageant contestant, but at least she no longer resembled a pinch-faced DMV employee.

  With a shake of her hair she exited the rest room, tugging down on the hem of her too-tight skirt to ensure she wasn’t flashing anymore thigh than absolutely necessary. She was so preoccupied with her primping that she nearly smashed into the large, familiar body parked in the middle of the corridor leading back to the pub’s main room.

  Her heart took a rather sharp leap and then she felt an enthusiastic flutter between her legs when she saw the object of her lust smiling down at her with undisguised admiration. With some difficulty she managed to firmly ignore her body’s ill-advised elation at seeing him again so soon.

  “Kevin,” she cried, pushing away from his wide chest with both hands. She was surprised to note that he removed his hands from her waist immediately without even attempting a half-hearted grope. “What are you doing here? I thought Duncan escorted you from the building.”

  Kevin ducked his head, looking more than a little embarrassed. “He escorted me back in after I sobered up a bit and got my shit together.”

  “It’s been, what? Forty-five minutes since you were pounding down tequila.” She glanced down at her watch. “And you’re now miraculously sober? And well-behaved?” She challenged, trying to dodge around him, but he stubbornly refused to move out of her path. His large frame almost entirely blocked the exit, but in the most delicious way imaginable. To get past him there was no escaping the fact that her curves would be forced to come into contact with the hard angles of his body.

  The possibility of rubbing herself against him gave her an involuntary thrill. She couldn’t deny that she was wildly attracted to him which was exactly why she needed to keep her distance. If she touched him she couldn’t see how she’d be able to hide how completely undone she was by his irresistible physical presence.

  “Not entirely. But probably as close as I get lately,” he said with a disarming grin.

  “Great. I’m happy you can see straight again. Now, can I kindly get by?” She asked, raising her eyebrow in a gesture that was supposed to intimidate him but only seemed to make his grin widen.

  “Nope,” he said, crossing his arms over his mouth-watering torso.

  Despite herself, she felt her lips quirk up in an answering grin. He was just so ridiculous. Sober or not, did he actually think he could trap her in the bathroom? He’d closed the long, velvet curtain separating the bathrooms from the main pub, but did he really expect that flimsy barrier to discourage bar patrons from intruding on this little scene?

  Trying to sound annoyed, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and glared at him. “Nope? What do you mean? Nope? Are planning on keeping me prisoner here in the hallway? Nice plan. This is a drinking establishment. Eventually someone is going to have to relieve themselves. And they’ll probably notice that you’ve commandeered this space and come to my rescue. So maybe it would be better if you just let me out now. Unless, of course, you want Duncan to kick you to the curb again.” She gave him a smug grin.

  Kevin uncrossed his arms and leaned down towards her with a wicked glint in his topaz eyes. He strongly resembled a tawny housecat preparing to pounce on a juicy mouse. “Sorry, Angel. But you`re on your own. Duncan and your sister are gone. They sent me in here to let you know. Among other things.”

  “What?” Jamie squawked. “You’re lying. They wouldn`t do that!” She gave his chest a shove, but he didn’t budge. What on Earth had Jessica and Duncan been thinking to leave without saying a word? And now she was being high-jacked by this hot maniac. Her sister was in so much trouble when she caught up with her.

  “Your sister wasn’t feeling so hot so I’m afraid they have abandoned you to the wolves. But if you just give me five minutes, I’ll be glad to escort you home. Just as I promised Duncan.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “What am I? A child? I do not need an escort home. It’s only twenty blocks. Besides, I’m probably safer out there with the psychos than I am here with you. Thanks anyway.” She tried to push past him on the other side this time, but he moved directly into her personal space. Her breasts briefly brushed against his stomach and she felt her nipples tighten in reaction. Pulling back, she gave his shoulder a small jab and glared up at him.

  He ignored the shoulder jab completely. “Five minutes?” He asked hopefully, brushing an errant lock of hair off her forehead.

  “Fine,” she grumbled, looking down at her dad’s oversized gold watch on her wrist again. “But then we go our separate ways, okay?”

  “If you’d prefer me to follow you home like a stray mutt instead of simply walking you to your door like a civilized bodyguard, then I suppose so, but either way I will make sure you get home safe. Duncan gave me a mission and I plan to follow through.”

  Jamie groaned in frustration. “I thought you guys were at each other’s throats. Now you’re buddies again? How did that happen?”

  “We were hardly at each other’s throat,” he said with a shrug. “What can I say? Even if we were, guys don’t hold grudges. We just beat the hell out of each other for a few minutes until we get tired, have a beer and then agree to move on.”

  “Boys
are so weird.” She shook her head. “Is that what happened to your hand?” She asked pointing at where a clean, white handkerchief was wrapped around his knuckles.

  “Nope. That I did myself.”

  “I repeat. Boys are weird,” she said with an eye roll as she tapped her watch meaningfully. “Three minutes left, by the way.”

  He sighed. “Fine. That’s all the time I need.” He looked at the ground as if to gather his thoughts and then raised his gaze to hers and looked deeply into her eyes. His expression was sincere, sweet, and sexy as hell as he said in a quiet voice. “Jamie. I’m sorry.”

  Jamie’s heart beat a little faster. “Sorry? Sorry for what?”

  He ran a hand through his hair. “God. So many things. Mostly for pushing myself on you earlier when you clearly weren’t interested.”

  Jamie’s mouth actually dropped open in shock. “But you’re pushing yourself on me now!” She said with an exasperated laugh as she waved her hand at the closed curtain. “How can you apologize for the same behavior you’re using right this second?”

  Kevin shook his head in denial. “It’s not the same thing. I was hitting on you earlier. Now I’m just trying to make things better between us.”

  “You have got to be kidding me. You’re aware that an apology usually implies that you regret your actions and would not repeat them if you had the chance, right?”

  Kevin looked uncomfortable. “Jamie. What choice did I have but to corner you? You’re always running away from me or turning your back on me. After we talked on that beach in Maui, I couldn’t even get you to look at me, let alone have a civil conversation with me. So, you tell me. If you won’t give me a chance, how am I supposed to tell you how much I regret how I treated you earlier?”

  Jamie just stared at him. It was true. She hadn’t been exactly friendly to Kevin. But she couldn’t help it. He confused her. She knew he was trouble and yet she was drawn to him anyway. Being slightly hostile was typically all the discouragement required to drive away a player like him. They usually moved onto easier prey without a lot of encouragement. But Kevin wasn’t your typical predator. He seemed genuinely apologetic and that made him even more dangerous. She needed to keep up her tough front or she’d be all over him like a horny true crim groupie. If there was such a thing.

  Sticking out her chin, she gave him a tight smile. “Talk is cheap, Buddy. I suggest you put some action into play.”

  A huge, very naughty smile broke out across Kevin’s face and he leaned down far enough to breath in Jamie’s ear, “Hmmm. I like the sound of that. What kind of action did you have in mind exactly, Angel?”

  Jamie pushed against his hard chest. “Quit calling me that. And I didn’t mean that kind of action, you sex maniac. Didn’t you just get in big trouble for hitting on me?”

  Kevin chuckled. “Sorry, I can’t help myself. You bring out the pervert in me.”

  She rolled her eyes. “No. What I meant was a favor. And not the dirty kind either.”

  Kevin raised a speculative eyebrow. “So, the boring kind then? Name it and we’ll see if we can come to some kind of arrangement.”

  Jamie could well imagine from his provocative tone what kind of arrangement he’d like to make. She was fairly certain it would involve some sweaty nakedness. As enticing as that thought was she chose to ignore his thinly-veiled proposition and pretend she had no idea what he meant. “Well, I don’t know if you’re aware of this or not, but I’m collaborating on a series of articles for one of the local papers.”

  He beamed at her, all efforts at seduction clearly forgotten when faced with this new information. “That’s great. You’re a writer? I had no idea. Did you want some pointers? I could read over your copy if you’d like.”

  Jamie felt her stomach drop. She could just imagine Kevin’s reaction to The Love Laws. He would laugh himself sick. He was a serious writer who wrote actual books about grim subject matter. His work required extensive research and fact-checking. He didn’t just slap down a few opinions on paper and present them as gospel. He was well-respected in the true crime genre because he did his homework and never sensationalized his work. He didn’t need to. It stood on its own merit because he was actually very good at maintaining the balance between professional distance and victim sensitivity.

  She would never admit it to him, but she had actually read one of his books and been horrified at the subject matter. She couldn’t, however, help but be impressed with both the quality of the writing and his ability to engage the reader. Her foray into giving advice to the romantically challenged would seem ridiculously fluffy by comparison. The last thing she wanted was him condescending to read her views on how to get a man. How embarrassing.

  “Ummm. No. I think I have it covered.” She said casually. “But I do need some help with something. If you’re serious about making amends.”

  “Okay,” he said slowly, rubbing his gold-stubbled chin. “What exactly do you need me to do?”

  “Well, Cathy, my test subject, is a little on the shy side. And I was hoping you could flirt with her. Build up her confidence a little.”

  His golden eyebrows went up in surprise. “You want me to take out your friend? Sight unseen? To build up her confidence? What kind of article is this exactly?”

  “Does it matter?”

  He sighed. “I suppose not. If you’ll forgive me for breathing tequila fumes all over you earlier, then I suppose it won’t kill me to boost your friend’s self-esteem. But I’m more than a little curious about why she needs boosting.”

  “Stop calling it boosting,” she said with an impatient finger wag. “She’s not a car. You make it sound like I’m asking you to perform some kind of illegal act on her.”

  “Well, that’s always an option depending on the act you want me to perform and what you’re willing to trade.” He smiled as she rolled her eyes at him. “But I gotta say, this seems like a lot to ask. And why me? You act like I’m packing Anthrax and yet you want me to flirt with your friend? Couldn’t you find someone less repellant for the job?” The side of his gorgeous mouth quirked up in an arrogant little smirk that made her want to slap him silly.

  She gave a long suffering sigh and placed her hands on her hips. “Just because you’re not my type doesn’t mean that you don’t have your appeal. To someone naïve and inexperienced like Cathy you’d seem like a real catch.”

  “But not to you?” He asked doubtfully.

  “No, not to me.” Jamie said without hesitation.

  “Why not? We obviously have some major chemistry and we’re both single. I don’t see why it’s such a big deal that I want to get to know you better.”

  His tone was complete innocence but his wicked eyes suggested getting to know each other better would most likely involve The Kama Sutra and a few embarrassing strained muscles. And more pleasure than she could imagine. As fun as all that sounded, she was not interested. Not at all. Best to put a complete stop to this now.

  She patted his broad chest and spoke softly, like she was trying to soothe a hyper Golden Retriever pup. “Listen, I’m sure you’re a very nice man-whore, but I would rather be chased by wild dingoes with a pork chop tied around my neck than get involved with a guy like you.”

  “Wild dingoes? Harsh!” He spluttered, eyes blazing with indignation now rather than seduction. “I thought you were the liberal, non-judgmental sister! How can you stand there and say that when you don’t know anything about me?”

  She rolled her eyes. “You do show up in the tabloids occasionally, you know.”

  He returned her eye roll with one of his own. “And you believe everything those rags put out there?”

  She held her hand up. “Fair enough. But I do have first-hand knowledge of how you’ve behaved around me. And Duncan mentioned once that you were a ‘chick magnet.’ He’s a reliable source, isn’t he?”

  “He said that?” For a moment Kevin looked flattered by Duncan’s description and then he remembered he wasn’t supposed to be proud of tha
t particular title. He lowered his brows in an unconvincingly stern look. “That doesn’t mean that I’m a slut,” he said in disgust.

  “Are you actually going to pretend that you haven’t slept with scores of women?”

  “A score means twenty. How many scores of scoring are we talking about here?”

  Jamie felt her lips starting to turn up in amusement at his play on words, but somehow managed to keep her expression serious. “The exact number doesn’t matter, though I’m sure it’s borderline disturbing. The point is that you treat women like they’re disposable.”

  He looked startled. “I do not treat women like they’re disposable. I love women. If anything, they treat me like I’m disposable. Not the other way around.”

  “Poor baby,” she said with mock sympathy. “So, basically, you’re claiming that you try to have serious relationships with all the women you sleep with but none of them want anything more from you than a ride on your love rocket? You must feel so empty and used.”

  He grinned sheepishly. “Well. No. I wouldn’t say that exactly. I’m actually pretty okay with that part.”

  “I rest my case.”

  “Jamie. That’s not fair. I’m a single guy in my early thirties. Am I supposed to be a virgin? Would that make me more acceptable?”

  She shook her head “No, that would make you kind of creepy.”

  “So guys who refrain from having sex are creepy and men who enjoy pleasuring women are man-whores? Is that what you’re saying? No middle ground? Kind of narrow-minded, don’t you think?”

  “Kevin. Of course there’s a middle ground. The difference between you and your average guy is that most of them have had at least a couple of actual relationships mixed in with the occasional one-night stands.”

  He held up his right hand as if making a pledge. “Jamie. I swear I’m your typical guy. I want the same things everyone wants, including a steady girl. I just meet a lot more single women and have more opportunity to get naked with them.”