The Rules of Persuasion

by Amity Hope

  “Lucas.” My mother’s voice was a low, sharp warning.

  “What?” I shrugged. “Dad thinks so.”

  Dad smirked. “And yet I have enough sense to not announce it in a public place.”

  “No one is paying attention,” I argued. “I don’t think I have anything to worry about.”

  “Do you want our attention?” Mom’s tone was condescending.

  “Not particularly,” I admitted. “But maybe you could take a little time to get to know my date.”

  Meg had barely said a word but she turned to me now, looking horrified.

  My father eyed her with curiosity while my mother did nothing to hide her distaste. She forced a pinched-looking smile. “Meg, why don’t you tell us about yourself?”

  Meg fidgeted with her napkin. She opened her mouth but quickly snapped it shut.

  “Meg.” I gave her thigh a gentle nudge.

  “I like spending time at the ocean,” she blurted out. “And watching old movies.”

  “Ah,” Mom said. “I suppose that explains the dress.”

  It wasn’t exactly an insult. But it sure wasn’t a compliment.

  “I think the girl looks pretty damn good,” Dad chuckled.

  I flinched but knew better than to reprimand my father. It would only make matters worse. If possible it was always best to ignore him so the matter would drop.

  “What else should we know about you?” Mom pressed. Her simple question felt like an inquisition.

  “I—I don’t know,” Meg stammered.

  “Oh, come now,” Mom coaxed. “There must be something interesting about you. You caught Lucas’s attention, didn’t you?”

  Mom had a talent for making any statement sound like a veiled insult.

  Dad was finishing off yet another drink as he blatantly checked out Meg’s cleavage. Why he had to check out my date’s cleavage when half the women in the room were showing a whole lot more, I didn’t know. Wait… Yeah, I did know. My dad could be a real bastard. Knowing him, he’d probably bring it up later, try to bond over it or some damn thing.

  If anyone ever wondered why I hated being a Prescott, this would be a prime example.

  “Meg drives a motorcycle,” I blurted. “It’s awesome.”

  My parents both swiveled their heads to look at me.

  “So I’ve heard.” Mom frowned.

  I glanced at Meg. She was throwing very sharp mental daggers my way.

  I gave an almost imperceptible shrug. I needed my parents to take serious notice of Meg. I wanted this night to be memorable.

  Reminding my parents I was dating a biker chick? Mission accomplished.

  “I understand your dad owns a business downtown.” Dad’s tone implied he was less than impressed.

  Meg nodded and eyed him warily.

  “What kind of business?” Mom asked.

  Dad waved a dismissive hand. “A little paint store.”

  “Do a lot of people buy paint?” Mom sounded skeptical.

  “Yes, actually,” Meg said firmly. “We do a lot of business with building contractors who work on hotels, apartment buildings, housing developments.”

  Dad gave a noncommittal grunt.

  “And your mother?” Mom asked the question of Meg but she looked to Dad for the answer.

  “Unemployed, I believe,” Dad said. His eyebrows arched in Meg’s direction. “Is that correct?”

  “Oh, dear,” Mom muttered, as if being unemployed were on par with being a convict. Ironic—and extremely hypocritical—considering she’d never worked a day in her life. “Unemployed.”

  Meg’s jaw was clenched so tight it looked painful. She didn’t respond to my parents’ grilling. Instead she turned to me with an accusing, hurt look in her eye. She must’ve thought my parents had gotten the information from me.

  They hadn’t.

  Dad had probably run a full background check on Meg the first time I mentioned her.

  “You live near the downtown area?” he asked, though really, he was telling.

  “Where all of those old houses are?” Mom cringed.

  “Please excuse me,” Meg said in a quiet, trembling voice. “I need to freshen up.” She narrowed her eyes at me in a warning not to follow.

  “She sounds delightful, my dear.” Mom’s tone was icy. I wasn’t sure that Meg was out of hearing distance yet. “I wonder what Jaclyn is up to this evening.”

  “She’s probably messing around with some guy she barely knows. It seems to be her favorite pastime.” I pushed away from the table without excusing myself.

  Meg was out of sight by the time I reached the massive hallway. I thought it was safe to assume she’d darted into the sanctuary of the restroom. I stood by the door for a while, waiting for her to come out.

  I wasn’t sure how many minutes passed. I felt as if I’d been standing there all night when I started to pace. I caught a few curious glances. I ignored them. My too-tight, absurdly shiny black dress shoes smacked against the tile as I made another pass by the ladies’ room.

  Chances were good there was a window in there. I wouldn’t doubt Meg was angry enough to crawl through it. I continued to pace, wondering what I should do. Keep scouting out the hallway? Or maybe check the parking lot?

  I spun around to make another lap when Meg exited the bathroom and crashed into my chest.

  “What were you doing in there?” I demanded. “I didn’t think you were ever going to come back out.”

  “Could you blame me?” she shot back. “That was absolutely humiliating. What did you tell your parents about me? Why did you even want me here? Did you get a kick out of them mocking my family?”

  “I’m sorry. I have said very little to my parents about you. Whatever Dad found out, he found on his own. It’s what he does.”

  “You should’ve warned me.” Her lower lip was still trembling. I wasn’t sure if it was from hurt, or anger, or possibly a combination of the two.

  “You’re right. I was wrong. I should’ve stepped in. I’m sorry for making you feel snubbed in there. For the record,” I said, “there isn’t another woman in that room as beautiful as you.”

  “Considering the amount these ladies have invested in plastic surgery, that’s quite a compliment,” she snarked.

  “Forgive me?” I was afraid she would say no. Meg seemed tough but now that I was getting to know her, I caught glimpses of an intense vulnerability.

  She crossed her arms over her chest.

  I was going to have to work for it.

  I took her hand in mine. My thumb traced circles on the back of her hand. “If it’s any consolation, my parents are critical of everyone.”

  “Even you?”

  “Especially me. According to them there is very little that I do right. They take every opportunity to let me know that.”

  “That’s too bad,” she said softly. “Seems to me like you’re the kind of son most parents would be over the top proud of.”

  I noted Meg’s lashes held a bit of moisture. Had my parents brought her to tears? Worse, had I brought her to tears with my inaction? Yet here she was, trying to make me feel better.

  “You, Meg Matthews, are far more complicated than I thought.”

  A smile flickered across her face. “I could say the same about you. You aren’t the person I thought you were. I’m glad I was wrong about you.”

  I couldn’t think of an answer for that. In fact, I couldn’t think at all. I simply acted. I leaned in and kissed her. She didn’t hesitate to kiss me back. When she moaned softly and pressed her body into mine, I almost got lost in the kiss completely. My common sense yanked me back with a vengeance.

  What was I doing? This romance was fake. But the kiss felt far too real.

  Chapter Twelve

  Meg

  “That’s it?” Francesca gave the cannoli filling a brutal stir. “He just turned around and walked away?”

  “Yes.” I had opened my eyes in time to see Luke’s retreating back.

  I
swiped my finger along the side of the bowl. I popped a bit of the sweet goo into my mouth. She swatted at me, but I backed away before she made contact.

  Francesca’s nonna would be so proud. If she thought baking was part of the dying art of domestic abilities, my friend was always busy trying to keep it alive. Her family had been in this country for generations, and much of their cultural heritage had been lost. But food, that was the one cultural tradition they clung to.

  “What did you do?” Kylie wondered.

  “What could I do? I didn’t know anyone there. By the time I got back to the table his parents were gone. I sat down and ate my crème brûlée. I ate his, too.”

  “And then…?” Francesca prodded.

  “Just as I was thinking I might have to call one of you to ask for a ride, he showed up at the table. He said he needed a minute to pull himself together.”

  Francesca glanced up from her work. “I have a hard time picturing Luke falling apart in the first place.”

  “Right?”

  “So how did you leave things?” Kylie winced, probably trying to picture herself in the situation.

  “Awkwardly,” I admitted. “He dragged me around so we could say our good-byes and then he drove me back here. He hardly said a word. It was so strange because before that I felt like we actually connected.”

  “Good-bye kiss?” Francesca wondered.

  “No,” I snorted an unladylike laugh. “Why would he? There was no one to show off to.”

  She gave me a look as she placed the cannolis on the tray. “There was no one in the hallway, either, correct?”

  I moved forward and swiped some more filling. She didn’t swat me away this time. “I’ve actually started to wonder if maybe there was. Maybe someone from school walked by—or his parents—and I didn’t see them. Someone he thought was worth persuading.” I stuffed another glob into my mouth. “I thought the kiss was a real kiss but looking back, I don’t know what it was. I probably read the whole thing wrong. He was in a terrible mood after that. I felt as if I did something wrong.”

  “Maybe he wasn’t thinking straight because of his parents,” Kylie suggested.

  “Definitely a possibility.”

  “Speaking of parents,” Francesca segued a little too smoothly, “how are things going with yours?”

  I made a noncommittal sound as she placed six cannolis on a small plate. I took her dirty dishes to the sink and rinsed them while she covered the larger plate and put the desserts in the fridge.

  “That bad, huh?” She took the small plate and motioned for us to follow her.

  We passed Mrs. Rossini as she watered the plants in the foyer. “Any left for me?” she asked.

  “In the fridge,” Francesca answered.

  We reached her room, and she kicked the door shut. We dropped down to the floor with the plate of desserts between us.

  “Talk to us,” Francesca ordered. “What’s going on with your parents?”

  “The usual,” I grudgingly admitted. “Only worse. If things don’t change soon, their marriage might be over.”

  “Meg,” Francesca said regretfully. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Me too,” Kylie added. “Your family has been through enough the past few years.”

  I broke a piece off my dessert. “Can we change the subject? It’s so depressing I don’t even want to talk about it.”

  “If you decide you want to, you know we’re here for you. You were both here for me last summer when Nate and I broke up.”

  That had been awful. He had decided he didn’t want a long-distance relationship. He’d ended things at the start of the summer, and Francesca had been devastated. Apparently so was Nate, because by the time he left for college, he’d begged her to take him back.

  “You’re always here for me, too,” Kylie added.

  She was one of four girls. Her parents were overprotective to the extreme. The girl was repressed.

  “Thanks. But there’s not much else to say.”

  “You’re not getting into more trouble, are you?” Francesca asked pointedly. “You haven’t painted anything recently?”

  When I’d requested a subject change, this was not what I had in mind.

  “No.” I picked off another piece of my dessert and popped it in my mouth. Francesca would be furious if she knew I thought about it. But seeing the posters at school, hearing students murmuring about the reward, on a nearly daily basis was an excellent deterrent.

  “Other than last night,” Francesca started, “this fake relationship has been tolerable?”

  “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but yeah. I don’t mind spending time with him.”

  “You seem happier than you’ve been in a long time.” Kylie offered a relieved smile.

  “Luke’s a good distraction.” Not only was he filling up a lot of my time, he was filling up a lot of space in my head. “He can actually be a really nice guy.”

  “So why don’t you make the fake relationship a real relationship?” Kylie wondered.

  I frowned. “That wasn’t the deal.”

  “So change the rules.”

  Change the rules?

  “Who says I want to?”

  “Do you?” Francesca was suddenly alert.

  Do I?

  “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter because Luke said from the start he doesn’t want a real relationship. That’s why he’s blackmailing me, remember?”

  “That was before he got to know you.” Francesca leveled a stern look at me. “I’m telling you, I’ve seen you together, that boy is into you.”

  “He’s not,” I corrected. “It’s all for show. There’s a list of rules to prove it.”

  “Feelings change. Look at Nate and me. We started off as friends.”

  “My parents are teetering on the brink of divorce. I have a reward hanging over my head. Getting emotionally involved with someone is the last thing I need,” I decided. “Luke and I are friends, nothing more.”

  “Then you can’t let him get away with kissing you like that.” Francesca scowled, indignant on my behalf. “He’s taking advantage of the situation.”

  “Unless you want him to kiss you like that.” Kylie made a dreamy face. “He’s so cute. I know I would kiss that boy every chance I got.”

  I grinned. “I didn’t exactly mind.”

  “So you do have feelings for him,” Francesca pressed.

  “I didn’t say that,” I corrected. “I just said kissing him is…not terrible. I mean, the only guy I’ve ever dated was Gavin.” Gavin McKenzie and I’d dated for three whopping months freshman year before he moved away. It was just as well, because Sydney’s diagnosis soon followed. “Kissing Gavin was nothing like kissing Luke.”

  “I suppose not,” Francesca said wryly. “Just don’t lose sight of what’s really going on.”

  “I won’t.” I hesitated. “I’m tired of being miserable all the time. High school is almost over. I feel like it passed in this awful, dark haze. I’m stuck with Luke for now. I can either mope around about it or I can try to enjoy it.”

  “Be careful, Meg,” Francesca warned. “Don’t let yourself enjoy it too much.”

  …

  “Nutmeg.”

  I nearly ran into a tree as I swiveled my head around to look over my shoulder. I skidded to a stop as Luke jogged up the trail, closing the distance between us.

  Lady yipped in greeting.

  “Hey, there,” Luke said. “You must be Lady.” He knelt and held out his hand. She sniffed it and then plopped onto her haunches. Her tongue lolled as he gave her a good rub down. After a few minutes he returned his attention to me.

  “I didn’t know you were a runner.”

  “I’m more of a slow jogger,” I admitted. “Lady starts out with a lot of energy, but she loses momentum pretty quickly.”

  “Mind if I join you?”

  “You won’t get much of a run in,” I warned. I took off at our usual plodding pace. Luke slowed his stride to match ours. />
  The trail was narrow, barely wide enough for two people to run side by side. Trees flanked the edges. It wound through the woods, curving around the park.

  The sound of our feet smacking the packed dirt and Lady’s panting filled my ears, and I suddenly felt awkward. I couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t make it worse. His behavior after the kiss left me mentally floundering.

  I was grateful that he’d caught up to us so late. The trail would be spilling us back into the park soon.

  He was the one to break our silence. “You’re mad about last night.”

  “I’m not mad. I’m confused,” I confessed.

  “I was going to call you tonight so we could talk about it. Since we’re both here, I guess we should talk about it now.”

  “So talk.”

  “I wanted to apologize again for the way my parents treated you. For the way I let them treat you.”

  “Apology accepted.”

  “And the kiss,” he blurted. “I should apologize for that, too. Emotions were running pretty high. I guess we kind of got caught up in the moment. I did, anyway.”

  “Is that what happened?”

  “Isn’t it?” His tone was guarded, making me feel as if I needed to answer carefully.

  “I don’t know. You kissed me.” Never mind that I didn’t resist. Resist? I practically melted all over him.

  The trail widened, and we jogged onto an open field. I could see Luke’s SUV parked at the edge of it. We slowed our pace to a walk. He headed that way and I reflexively followed.

  “You’re not really my girlfriend.”

  “Yes, Luke, I’m aware.” Irritation flooded my words. “I have not forgotten you’re blackmailing me.”

  He gave me a scolding look. “What I’m trying to say is that I know I can’t just kiss you for the hell of it. That wasn’t the agreement. It won’t happen again.”

  “Is that why you disappeared after?”

  “Yeah.” He gave me a sheepish smile. “I felt like an ass.”

  We reached his Navigator. “As long as you’re here,” he said, “I’ve got something to show you.”

  Lady sprawled out on the asphalt as I waited for Luke.