The Law of Desire

by Gwyneth Bolton

  “Of course she’ll take the job with Hightower Security. And I’ll make sure that James makes her hours really flexible so that she can take classes and get her MSW like she planned. This is going to work out just perfectly.” His mother nodded her head in agreement with Samantha.

  “I’d be more than happy to take you around to the surrounding colleges and universities to check out the programs,” Penny offered.

  “But—” Minerva started, clearly overwhelmed.

  “If you’re going to try and come up with some reason why you have to go back to California, just forget it. You’re family now. We’ve claimed you. And I couldn’t bear the thought of one of mine out there on her own,” Celia interrupted as she patted Minerva’s arm and looked at Penny and Samantha for backup.

  “What if she doesn’t want to move? What if she wants to stay here with me?” Lawrence had to interject. If he let his mother, Samantha and Penny go on, they would have her moved out by the end of the day.

  All four women turned and glared at him before turning back and continuing with their conversation as if he hadn’t even spoken, even his own Mama. This was getting out of hand.

  “Minerva…” he started, but realized he didn’t want the Hightower wives and fiancée brigade around when he tried yet again to talk to the woman he loved and more than likely experience her rebuff.

  All four women turned and cut him disparaging looks. This time they stared at him as if they were all waiting to see what he would deign to say.

  “Never mind, we can talk once your new posse leaves,” he muttered ruefully.

  “She’s going with us. We’re going to spend the day at the spa and then tonight it’s Samantha’s bachelorette party. You guys have the bachelor party tonight,” Penny offered with a smirk.

  He’d forgotten about all the wedding hoopla. Joel and Samantha’s wedding was only a week away.

  “And you have to come to the wedding, too, Minerva. I don’t want to hear any excuses. You can even bring a date. I could maybe hook you up with someone.” Samantha turned and cast her mischievous eyes on him.

  “There’s this really nice young man at church.” His mother patted her chin with her pointer finger as if in concentration.

  “Hey! Mama! She doesn’t need a date. Minerva, can I please talk to you for a minute? And before you all turn and glare at me like I’m the spawn of Satan, just save it. Minerva. A minute. Please.”

  She stood and followed him to his study. She looked so beautiful he just wanted to pull her into his arms and kiss her until she agreed to stay with him forever. And he did want forever in her arms.

  “What do you want?” she asked with a sigh.

  “You.” He knew he had to sound earnest because he had never felt this much need in all his life. He wanted her and he needed her to believe that.

  “I’m here. What do you want with me? What do you have to say to me?”

  “I want you, Minerva. I want you. The last two weeks have been hell. You’re here and you’re barely talking to me. And now my entire family has decided to champion your cause and they’re all against me, even my own mama!”

  “Hey! I didn’t turn them against you.” She took a step back shaking her head.

  He couldn’t go much longer without touching her. Two weeks was long enough. He pulled her into his arms.

  She pulled away from him, only giving him a moment of connection.

  “This is not a good idea. I’m not doing this dance with you anymore, Lawrence. We’re from two totally different worlds. So this whole ‘I want you’ thing is pointless. It can’t go anywhere.”

  “That’s not true. Look, here’s the thing. I love you, baby. I love you. And I want you. I want you here with me.”

  Her eyes widened and she took two steps backward before turning and leaving the room.

  Deciding not to go after her, and instead to give her time to process what he had just confessed, was the hardest decision he had ever made. He just hoped it was the right one.

  After a night of wild talk and games with the women in Lawrence’s family, Minerva was beat. Those women knew how to have a great time and they knew how to get knee-deep in folks’ business. Between Celia’s proclamations that Lawrence and Minerva’s wedding would be next, and Carla’s claiming Minerva as her newly adopted second child, Minerva had gotten more than enough advice.

  “You’re back.”

  Lawrence sat on the sofa and his deep masculine voice greeted her as soon as she walked in the door. She wished his voice didn’t have such an impact on her, but it did.

  “Hey, you’re back early yourself. I thought for sure the wild bachelor party would still be going on.”

  “Nope, you ladies out-partied us. I’ve been home for over an hour.” He smiled at her and she had to catch her breath.

  “Oh. You didn’t have to wait up.”

  “Yes, I did. I need to talk to you, baby.”

  She took a deep breath and sat down next to him on the sofa. She kept her eyes pinned on her feet and hands, anywhere but on him. Out of all the advice she’d gotten from the women, the majority of that advice told her to believe Lawrence when he said he loved her. And she wanted to. God, did she want to.

  “I love you.”

  Her pulse began to race.

  “No, you don’t. How could you when you don’t trust me? You don’t even trust me to go back to California before we find out if I’m pregnant. You don’t trust me to be up front with you about something like that. So what if I am pregnant? Do you trust me to be the mother of your child?” They were from opposite sides of the tracks. She hadn’t really realized how hurt she was by that until she heard her voice. She felt her own pain through each crack and catch.

  “I want you to be the mother of my children. Baby, I love you. I didn’t want you to leave and go back to California. So I grasped at the first idiotic thing to come to my mind. I trust you with all my heart. Girl, you are my heart. And I just want a chance to make you fall in love with me as much as I am with you. I want you to stay.”

  She inhaled and exhaled in quick succession.

  Believe him.

  He reached out and caressed her cheek, turning her to face him. “I’ve never experienced fear like what I felt when I couldn’t reach you in time to stop David Sims from hurting you. And the guilt…I know I’ll carry it for the rest of my life. But I’m not going to let guilt and my troubles with trusting my feelings keep me from love. I kept thinking, after my cousin died, that I didn’t deserve to be happy. And all I focused on was proving I wasn’t a screwup and doing the right thing.

  “I didn’t trust myself to feel anything for anyone but my family and a few close friends. I never let a woman get close enough to penetrate my barriers. And then I saw you…And from the first moment I saw you, even with that crazy two-toned hair, you pushed against and past all my walls. You had me loving you in spite of all the feelings I’d worked so hard to resist and everything I thought I knew about you. Baby, I couldn’t have been more wrong, and I can’t be more sorry. I just hope you are willing to give me a chance to show you how much I love you.”

  His eyes sucked her right in.

  “Lawrence, you are the most amazing man I’ve ever known. You say I pushed past your barriers. But I say you drew me to you. I couldn’t resist you, even though you worked my last nerves from the first moment. I am so in love with you. And I have wanted to tell you that from the first moment your lips touched mine. But I’m so scared. I don’t think I could take it if you decided you didn’t want me anymore. It’s my whole heart on the line, my entire being. And I still feel like it might not be enough. We come from such different worlds, such different backgrounds.”

  As she spoke, she made peace with her decision. He shook his head and pulled her closer to him. “If you love me half as much as I love you, then none of that matters. Do you really love me, baby?”

  The strength of his embrace made her feel safe and secure. She loved him even more. “Yes. I do. A
nd I’ll stay in Jersey so that we can give our relationship a chance. But I think it would be best if I sublet Samantha’s apartment and took the job at Hightower Security. I know you offered to let me stay here and help me with paying for my MSW. But I don’t want to be a kept woman. I can pay my own way.”

  He frowned. “But I want you here with me. I see forever in your eyes, baby. We will make it last. This is the real thing.”

  “I believe that.” As she said it, she realized she really did mean it. “But I still think we should have our own space while we continue to get to know one another. I’m serious about not wanting to be a kept woman, Lawrence. This is important to me. Your aunt already thinks I’m not good enough for you. Just imagine what she’ll have to say if I moved in and let you take care of me.”

  “Aunt Sophie has issues.” Lawrence waved his hand in annoyance. “And you won’t be a kept woman.”

  “I know I won’t because I’m not going to allow myself to become one.” She knew she was making the right decision. They were going to make it work, the right way.

  He just smiled at her. “We’ll talk about this later. Right now, I just want you to say you love me again.”

  “And I want you to say you love me again and again and again,” she teased.

  “I love you, Minerva.”

  “I love you, Lawrence.”

  Epilogue

  “You may now kiss your bride.”

  Lawrence’s brother, Joel, didn’t seem like he had to be told twice. His head was already bent and he was swooping in before the minister finished the word bride.

  Minerva turned her gaze away from the smooching couple and took note of her handsome man, standing there at his brother’s side, looking as good as he wanted to look in his tuxedo. He certainly was the best man, even if she was just a tad bit biased.

  He winked as he smiled at her and she winked back as the goose bumps popped all over her body and the butterflies danced and fluttered in her belly.

  She didn’t know if it was the beautifully decorated church, all done up in rustic flowers that belied the ending of fall, or the beautiful rust gowns that the bridesmaids wore, but she could feel love all around her. And after the death and loss that had haunted her the past few months, it felt good.

  The flowing cream gown Samantha wore looked like something right out of a fairy tale. The color contrast between the gown and her smooth chocolate skin was breathtaking. The strapless dress had intricate beadwork on its bodice and layers and layers of raw silk on the skirt. Her jet-black natural hair was swept up in a sparkling tiara. She looked gorgeous, and Minerva couldn’t help wondering if she would look half as pretty on her own wedding day.

  The wedding reception was held in a posh hotel ballroom and the entire décor epitomized elegance. The same rustic floral arrangements from the church graced the ballroom and the color scheme of rust and the most majestic-looking purple she’d ever seen took shape in layers of silk and crepe. It looked like royalty was getting married and it was a sight to behold.

  Dressed in her own stunning red backless gown, Minerva felt like royalty herself as Lawrence swept her around the dance floor. The bride and groom had shared their special dance and the dance floor was now crowded with guests. No matter how many people surrounded them, she couldn’t take her eyes off Lawrence.

  “You look beautiful.” He bent down and brushed her lips with his. “I love you.”

  “I love you, too. More than you’ll ever know.” She couldn’t believe just how easy it was to express how she felt about this man. She didn’t think she would ever get tired of telling him she loved him.

  They danced just about every dance together. Close. Connected. One. Neither of them wanted to part when it came time for the single men and women to do the age-old garter and bouquet catch. But no one in the family would let them sit it out.

  Minerva stood in the circle of women not really trying to catch anything. She smiled when Samantha looked back and winked at her before tossing the beautiful flowers. They landed right in her arms and she clutched them tight to her chest just in time to stop this really mean-looking sister from snatching them away.

  She watched as they literally dragged all the single men onto the floor and noticed that Lawrence’s older brother Patrick was oddly missing.

  None of the men seemed to be focused on Joel. In fact, they seemed to be doing their best not to pay attention to Joel or where he aimed the frilly blue lace garter. The only one who looked like he was waiting to catch the thing was Lawrence. And catch it he did.

  Before she knew it, she was being swept onto the middle of the floor and plopped unto a chair. She held her breath as Lawrence slipped the garter belt up her thigh in an achingly slow manner. The “coincidence” of her catching Samantha’s bridal bouquet and Lawrence catching the garter belt no longer took center stage in her mind. She wasn’t even thinking about the crowd of people standing around them in the posh ballroom. They might have been the center of attention at the moment. But all she could think about was Lawrence’s hand caressing her thigh as he put the garter in place.

  She stared at him as he kneeled on one knee in front of her. He gazed up at her with an intensity that made her breath catch in her throat and her heart thud with the force of a thunderstorm. She opened her mouth and closed it.

  “Are you done?” Her question came out in a soft panting whisper.

  He shook his head before responding. “No.” He reached for her hand and led her away from the dance floor. They walked in silence out onto the balcony.

  He bent down and covered her mouth with his. The kiss was the perfect mix of gentle and all-consuming. The teasing nibbles of his teeth and flicks of his tongue turned her inside out and back again.

  She gulped and traced his loving mouth as if she were trying to commit the shape and frame to sensory memory.

  “I could kiss you all day.” He caressed the side of her face and trailed down to the base of her neck as he stopped the kiss and pulled away.

  She smiled because he hadn’t said anything she didn’t feel ten times over.

  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box. “I’ve been waiting for the right time to do this. And now seems like the perfect time.”

  “Lawrence?” This couldn’t be what she thought it was. Could it? He couldn’t be asking her to marry him.

  She wasn’t pregnant. They had gotten proof of that the morning after they confessed their love for each other. If he was asking her to marry him, it wasn’t because he felt obligated. He must really want to.

  “I love you with all my heart and soul, Minerva Jones. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to be there beside you when you accomplish all the amazing goals you have for your life. I want you to be the mother of my children. I want you to stay with me, forever. Loving you has made me a better man than I ever could have dreamed of being. I trust you with my life, with my heart. I said you wouldn’t be a kept woman because I already knew that you would be my wife. Please help me to be an honest man and say you’ll be my wife. Will you marry me, Minerva?”

  He opened the box and the most beautiful ring she’d ever seen glimmered inside. The emerald-cut diamond sparkled so brightly it sent rays of sunlight through its prisms.

  He loved her and he wanted to marry her. Her heart felt so full it threatened to burst wide open.

  “I love you, Lawrence. And I can’t think of anything I’d rather do than be your wife. Yes. I’ll marry you. You sure about this, Detective? I plan on making this a life sentence for you with no possibility for parole. You’ll be stuck with me.” She gazed lovingly in his eyes.

  “That’s exactly what I was hoping for. Anything else would be criminal. Punishable to the full extent of the law, baby.”

  “Really, the law, huh? Well since I’m living crime-free these days, I wouldn’t want to do anything to get me in trouble with the law. What law would I be breaking by the way?”

  He grinned before standing and swooping
her up. “The law of desire, baby.” Then he covered her lips in a searing kiss.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-2538-5

  THE LAW OF DESIRE

  Copyright © 2008 by Gwendolyn D. Pough

  All rights reserved. The reproduction, transmission or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without written permission. For permission please contact Kimani Press, Editorial Office, 233 Broadway, New York, NY 10279 U.S.A.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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  Table of Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Epilogue