The Rules of Persuasion
Page 20
“What are we doing here?”
“I wanted to talk, but not in the restaurant.”
That grabbed my attention. I twisted in my seat to fully face him. “Is something wrong?”
“I talked to my dad today, finally,” he said. “I told him law school wasn’t for me.”
“And…?”
“He laughed at me. Then he yelled. Then he threatened.” He shook his head. “It went pretty much the way I expected it to go.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m not. I’ve been thinking it’s for the best. I talked to Miss Perez last week. You were right about her.” He smiled. “She helped me look at my options. And there’s always the chance that Coach will be able to line up some scouts since I’m not going to Colorado. But if that doesn’t work out for me, I’ll figure something else out. She’s pretty sure my grades will help me qualify for an academic scholarship. Dad was always so hard on me about my grades. I guess it’s paid off.”
“That’s good, right?”
“It is good. Knowing I’ll be able to get out from under my parents, it’s freeing.” He swung his attention back to me and gave me a teasing grin. “Miss Perez said it will also look good on my transcripts to have the Ecology Club listed. It will round things out for when I start applying to colleges.”
“You’re joining the Ecology Club?”
He grinned. “Why not?”
I smiled but my eyes floated back to the tower.
“Hey, Nutmeg.” He twirled a lock of my hair around his finger and I turned to face him. “I know you miss it. But you need to move forward from here. No looking back.”
“I know.” It was hard, but he was right.
“I have something for you.” He pulled a small box out of the armrest. “As you can see, it’s not a pony. But it is a bit shiny.”
He held out the long, thin, burgundy box to me. His eyes sparkled and those adorable dimples about did me in.
“Open it.”
I did as requested and gasped at what I saw.
“Luke.” His name came out as a reverent whisper. Never in my life had I received a gift that was so perfect.
The pendant that rested against a bed of black velvet made my heart skip a beat. I lifted a finger, touching the edge. The center of the pendant was a heart, encrusted with rubies. From the heart sprouted two wings. The diamond chips comprising the wings sparkled as he shifted the box in his hands.
“Do you like it?”
“I absolutely love it.”
“I know you painted because it made you feel closer to your sister. Now that you’ve given it up I wanted you to feel like you were keeping a little piece of Sydney with you, no matter where you go, or what you do.”
He pulled the delicate chain from the box. I instinctively leaned forward so he could clasp it around my neck. When it was in place I leaned back again. My fingers brushed against the quarter-sized piece of jewelry. “I don’t think I’m ever going to take it off.”
My admission made his smile even bigger.
My smile faltered. “I’m sorry. I didn’t get you anything.”
I wasn’t well versed in the rituals of one-month anniversaries.
Fake dating Luke had been nice. Dating him for real was so much better.
“I didn’t want you to get me anything,” he said. “If it makes you feel better, don’t think of it as an anniversary gift. Let’s think of it as an apology gift.”
“Apology?” I echoed.
“An apology for blackmailing you. I can’t stop thinking about how stupid that was. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’m not. If you hadn’t blackmailed me, I’d never have gotten to know you. And if you hadn’t forced me to play by the rules, we wouldn’t be sitting here today.”
“The rules.” Luke smirked and shook his head. “They didn’t work out the way I thought they would.”
“No?” I twisted around, squeezing myself between the seats. I spotted the green notebook sticking out from under his floor mat. I grabbed it and plopped back onto my seat.
He groaned. “What could you possibly be writing in that thing?”
I tugged out the red pen he’d crammed in the spiral binding. I quickly scrawled a sentence at the bottom of an already filled up page.
Meg and Luke have no more rules.
He flashed a wry smile. “I like some of our rules.”
“Me too,” I admitted. “But I’d rather do something because it’s a choice.”
“Good point.” He leaned in, his breath whispering across my cheek. “And if I choose to kiss you now?”
Despite all the times Luke had kissed me, he could still make my heart hopscotch in my chest. “I’d say you’re making an excellent choice.”
He pulled the notebook from my hands, tossed it on the backseat, and showed me just how much he appreciated my answer.
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Acknowledgments
There are no words to describe how grateful I am to my sons, Zack and Nick. Writing is such a time-consuming process. You’ve never complained about how many hours I spend locked away, even when it takes time away from you. I appreciate your support and your excitement over the years as my writing career has progressed. I love you more than you will ever know.
Thank you to my family and friends. You have always been there for me, always supported me. I am so incredibly lucky to have each and every one of you.
To my readers, old and new, thank you for choosing to spend your time with the characters I’ve created.
Stacy Abrams and Alexa May, I am so grateful that you saw the potential in my manuscript. Your input on this book was invaluable. Thank you for helping me to mold it into the version it is today. I would also like to thank everyone behind the scenes at Entangled Publishing. I feel so fortunate to be working with such a wonderful team.
About the Author
Amity lives in beautiful northern Minnesota with her two sons, two persnickety cats, and the world’s sweetest Rottweiler.
She has a degree in elementary education and worked in that field for ten years before deciding to self-publish. It was the best decision she’s ever made.
If she’s not writing, or spending time with her boys, she’s most likely reading.
Visit Amity online at: http://authoramityhope.blogspot.com/
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