The Rules Of Attraction

by Khardine Gray

  “I know.” As tense as I felt from all that was going on seeing her made me relax. “At the club I thought about my life with Tom, how naïve I was about him and Becca, and how much time I wasted. I just wanted to escape for one night and forget everything that happened to me. Being the good girl got me nowhere. I just wanted to forget the big loser I turned out to be.”

  “You aren’t a loser.” She looked pained to hear that.

  “Eilesh, you went to George Town with me and you know how hard I worked. It was years of it, and now I’m a PA. And, all that time I was such a good girlfriend to Tom, only to lose him. I didn’t even do anything wrong.” I was close to the tears I didn’t want to cry.

  “None of that makes you a loser.”

  “Doesn’t it?”

  “No. Summer, shit happens sometimes and realistically, let’s focus on how your life was back then when you worked for Ashfords and you had Tom. Were you happy?”

  I blinked then focused on her, thinking about the question.

  Was I happy?

  I was in the career that I loved and with a man I thought I loved, my father was still alive so I should have been happy right?

  “My father was still alive.” I said more to myself than to her, holding his memory close to my heart. Those last few months with him were horrible. He just deteriorated right in front of me and there was nothing I could do to help him.

  It killed me to see him suffer that way. It killed me to think of his suffering now.

  Eilesh reached across the table and covered my hands with hers.

  “You can’t do anything about your father, and when he was alive, you did all that you could do. He couldn’t have asked for a better daughter. No one could.”

  Her words soothed my grief, and I was grateful for them.

  “Thank you.”

  “There’s no need for thanks Summer, truth is truth. Now back to the question and just think of Tom and Ashfords. If memory serves me right I don’t remember you being happy back then. You seemed okay working for Ashfords but you were looking to leave when you saw that they were being picky with which attorneys they gave their cases to. I guess we now know the reason for that.”

  “I got all the basic stuff.” I sighed with remembrance.

  When I first started working at Ashfords I got to do a lot of exciting cases like mergers and acquisitions. Towards the end I practically acted like a legal assistant. It drove me crazy.

  “And Tom. Don’t even get me started. You called me a lot complaining that he would be away when you went back to Ohio to see him on weekends. And I’ll point out that you made all the effort in your relationship. God bless the times he went to LA to visit you. You did all the travelling, backwards and forwards to Ohio several times a month.”

  I hung my head down. She was right. Again.

  I did do most of the work. I flew from LA to Ohio to spend time with him, and book time off every chance I got.

  I spent more time with him than I did with my father. I saw Tom at least four times a month and my father twice if I was lucky.

  He on the other hand would go out when I was back, come home drunk, or just be away.

  “And then there was the things he’d say to you.” Eilesh added looking truly annoyed. “Remember the strip club?”

  I frowned now at the memory. He came back drunk one night and let it slip that he’d been to a strip club, and that I should consider having work done on my breasts to make them look more like the stripper who’d given him a lap dance.

  “God, I’m such an idiot.” All of that was my own stupid fault for allowing it to happen.

  “No, you just loved him. I went through something similar with Jaxon. That was a tough time for me, but I got through it.”

  Eilesh and Jaxon were together for a few years but the guy couldn’t commit to her. It took her a very long time to get over him.

  “I know, and look you have Cody.” I smiled. I might have been bitter about my horrible relationship with Tom, but I could tamp down my feelings for Eilesh. If only for a few minutes. I was happy that she found love with a man who worshipped the ground she walked on.

  “I have Cody, and you will have your Mr. Right too. It just wasn’t Tom.”

  “It was never him. I feel so stupid that I didn’t know about him and Becca. Worse that I thought we’d be okay with a long distance relationship.” I felt that with all my intelligence I should have been clever enough to see the truth sooner and prevent myself from getting hurt.

  “There’s nothing stupid about it. You aren’t the first woman that something like this has happened to. This is time for you to reflect.” She stated. “It’s the calm after the storm.”

  “Are you going all wise on me?” I giggled.

  “Yes, but hey it’s true. You know after a storm when there’s a period of uncertainty and everyone’s not sure what’s going to happen? It’s that time for you, and you can make it whatever you want.”

  “I’d feel a lot better if I was an associate somewhere, but being a PA’s not exactly a bad thing right now.”

  She looked pleased to hear that. “I’m really glad you took the job. It was a good move, Summer.”

  I nodded in complete agreement.

  “What’s it like living and working with Alex?” A mischievous smile lifted her pretty red lips.

  I shuffled in the seat and rested my hands on my knees. “It’s nice.”

  “You look a little more taken than just nice.”

  “He’s nice, and he’s a good lawyer.”

  He was really good, and I liked the care he took with his clients.

  The playful guy who I saw outside of work didn’t exist when it was time to be serious.

  “Coincidence much,” Eilesh beamed.

  “I can’t get over it myself. It’s too weird.”

  “And, your skin’s glowing.” She smirked fluttering her lashes.

  “That’s the beauty cream.” I splashed out yesterday on the skincare range I used to get before I left Ashfords. My skin literally absorbed it the minute I put the moisturizer on, desperate for the care.

  “Summer, your skin is glowing like you just had sex.” She chuckled then lowered her voice. “Did you?”

  “No, God. I’m not. He’s my boss.”

  “And that means no sex?”

  “No sex. I’m not. I just…” my voice trailed off when I thought of the last kiss Alex and I shared.

  “Just what?” Eilesh widened her curious eyes in expectation.

  I slumped my shoulders. “Okay, we kind of kissed the other day.”

  “Kissed! Oh my gosh girl. And how can you kind of kiss?” Her shriek elicited a few curious stares from the people close to us. “Seriously?”

  “I shouldn’t have kissed him. It was stupid.” Although it was a really good kiss.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “I don’t know. And living with him is going to make resisting him a hundred times harder.” It was going to be near impossible to be serious around him and act like I wasn’t attracted. I didn’t like that I couldn’t trust my body, or my mind for the matter. I couldn’t think when I was around him and honestly was I supposed to just conveniently forget that I’d slept with the man?

  “Would it be such a bad thing? I mean just to enjoy yourself with a man who wants you. What woman wouldn’t want that, Summer?”

  I didn’t know any.

  “He’s my boss.” That was the thing I had to place I’m my mind. Alex is my boss, that made him feel forbidden. “I don’t need things complicated. Just simple. It’s complicated enough with the job being a live-in position.”

  Eilesh narrowed her eyes at me and inclined her head to the side. “You know, Summer, I still can’t remember that being part of the job specs.”

  I bit the inside of my lip as I contemplated the possibility of Alex making that part up like he did with the money, but I didn’t know why he would.

  “Alex said it was a live-in position.”
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br />   Eilesh started to laugh. “He’s eccentric and spontaneous so let’s chalk it up to that. If you want I can check it out with his dad.”

  Somehow I didn’t think I should do that. “No. That’s fine. I don’t think there’s anything weird going on. We talked about how we’d work at the office and the apartment.”

  “Did you guys schedule in kissing breaks?” Eilesh giggled.

  I grimaced. “No.”

  “It’s good to see you like this.”

  “Like what? I’m a mess.”

  “Honey the definition of a mess does not meet her friend dressed in designer wear and Dior pumps.”

  I couldn’t resist wearing the beautiful rose gold slinky top Alex got me and the wrap over skirt. The pumps just carried everything off. I felt like a model as I walked here. It was the most beautiful I’d felt in a long time.

  “You know what I mean.” I sighed resting back against the soft leather of the booth.

  “I can’t wait to see what happens next.” She brushed back a lose strand of her hair and giggled.

  “I’m a woman on a mission.”

  She shook her head. “You’re a single woman on a mission.” She corrected. “Imagine the possibilities.”

  “I can’t think like that right now.”

  “Give it time.” She smiled at first then the seriousness returned to her face. “For everything.”

  Time was what I needed. For everything. I’d been hit with three massive blows in a short space of time.

  I looked at Eilesh and nodded.

  Chapter 11

  Alex

  Jesus, this man was the definition of Asshole in every essence.

  I’d sat here in the meeting room with Devon and his PA for over an hour while he dictated to me what he wanted me to do.

  I didn’t know who the hell he thought I was but he must have taken my usual light hearted manner to mean I could be easily controlled.

  Or, that I would turn a blind eye to the obvious lascivious manner in which he looked at Summer.

  She sat at the little desk that was set up with a laptop and stationary so she could take minutes for the meeting and do her thing without any distraction. It was off to the corner of the room but aligned so both myself and Devon could see her.

  Her cheeks looked flushed and even though she typed away, she looked uncomfortable.

  She’d lived with me for a total of ten days now.

  I’d miraculously managed not to kiss her, or do anything of a sexual nature.

  It was torture, but I managed.

  To say she was beautiful was an understatement. She had the kind of beauty that would make you want to stare, but in the way that would tell her you were admiring her.

  The way Devon, a man of sixty five years old, looked at her made me feel like I would get up from this chair and pulverize him.

  Celeste, his fucking hell spawn, was the same age as Summer. I didn’t know how men like him could be like that, and I really hoped that I didn’t come across as creepy or leery whenever I looked at a woman.

  “I’m certain that you should have this in the bag. The prosecution doesn’t have a case. I have shown every step of the way that I was offering good customer care. It’s the woman’s meddlesome nephew that’s trying to take advantage of a situation, and my company.” Devon said with furrowed brows.

  I continued to look at him and wondered if he was seriously going to be like this for the whole time.

  The way I saw it, the outcome could go either way, but we actually had a strong case.

  Mrs. Denman, a war widow of fifty years old was the woman suing. She’d been contacted by a broker in Devon’s company who wanted to tell her of a great investment opportunity. There was a new metal called silveranium being mined in the Ivory Coast in Africa. It became quite popular in use in the medical world. It was all trial and tests at the moment but there was a lot of talk about it for its anti-cancer properties.

  Mrs. Denman bought twenty thousand dollars’ worth of shares in Silveranium Tech one of the companies that had jumped on board to benefit from the profit. When she bought the shares business looked like it was booming. But then a few weeks later the shares plummeted and practically became worthless.

  I’d done a bit of research and saw that there was talk of one of the medical trials going wrong, but it was inconclusive as to whether that was from the silveranium dosage. It looked like that was what caused the share price to fall so dramatically. But then I noted that Silveranium Tech was a new company that didn’t really have a share history of any length of time that anyone could make much assessments from.

  I didn’t dig deeper than that because it all appeared to be one of those instances where a risky investment hadn’t worked out. There wasn’t much anyone could do when that happened because of the risk involved.

  Mrs. Denman was however suing because she felt she’d been given information that misrepresented what she was putting her money into, and because she felt the broker should have analyzed the market more before advising her to purchase the shares.

  She suffered a heart attack when she heard the news and was claiming emotional distress for that reason. She’d spent her entire life savings on it because it was a sure deal.

  I looked over the files and the allegations raised by the prosecution, tried very hard to find fault with Devon’s company, but so far found nothing.

  Devon’s company had actually taken extra steps to warn the woman of the risks. She even signed a disclaimer that excused them of liability because they were only acting in an information only capacity. They weren’t providing the advice they normally gave for other investments.

  Things like gold, and shares in established long standing companies were what they gave ground advice on and even allocated a wealth management advisor to their clients if they took on a huge investment of that nature.

  To settle the suit Devon was willing to offer the woman her money back, but she was suing for seventy thousand dollars. That included medical treatment her insurance didn’t cover, plus her loss of earnings due to being off work and not being able to work for the few months until she got signed off from her doctors.

  I had to admit that this was the first time I’d be wrong.

  Although, I still had a feeling in my gut that told me something wasn’t right, it all seemed legit. Didn’t make me like the guy anymore but I guess that I could put my indifference towards him aside.

  Whatever I felt, I couldn’t let it get to me because that would be shooting myself in the foot. This case was my own trial, and I had a lot weighing on it. From my understanding I just had to do my best, and what I would normally do. Whether the outcome was favorable or not to Devon.

  “I can assure you I’ll address everything.” I said templing my fingers and bringing them up to my chin. The settlement meeting was set for eight weeks’ time. Long enough for both sides to prepare. “I’ll look into the case thoroughly.”

  “Make sure you do,” Devon nodded. “You know what these people can be like.”

  “She’s lost a lot, it’s understandable that she’s pissed. But looks like you took the steps you needed to excuse liability.”

  Summer tapped away at the keyboard and Devon turned his attention to her looking straight at her breasts.

  His eyes lingered there. Feeling his gaze on her she lifted her head and looked at him.

  She looked away and frowned.

  That was it. I’d had enough. If I was going to work with him then we’d need to set out some ground rules.

  I stood up and walked over to her, then bent low to whisper into her ear.

  “Angel, go to the office and wait for me.” I told her trying to keep my voice low.

  “Don’t you need me to take notes?” She replied, whispering back.

  “Summer, if this man looks at you like he has been one more time I will kill him and end up on trial for murder.” I told her straight.

  She turned so she could look me in the eye, surprised by
my words. But, at the same time looking grateful.

  I held her gaze, finding myself falling into the depth of that wondrous color that filled her beautiful eyes.

  I wasn’t above staying like this forever, frozen in time staring at each other. Breaking the contact I stepped back and nodded, giving her approval to go.

  “Are you sure?” I liked that she was so professional, willing to stay and do her job even though this creep was being such an ass.

  “Yes, plus I’m about to give this jerk some hard words. I don’t want you to hear me talk that way.” I knew I was going to lose my cool and didn’t want her around for it.

  She gave me a little smile and then got up to leave.

  The minute she went through the door and closed it behind her I walked over to Devon, sat on the edge of the desk and stared him down.

  “Why’d you send her away? She was a nice sight for sore eyes. New girl? I like her more than the last. She has a nice rack.” He winked at me like we were old buddies.

  All the time he talked I just stared at him, and stared, and stared until he seemed to get the message that I wasn’t impressed.

  “Look Devon, first things first don’t ever look at my PA again, ever. You’re old and I would hate to beat you to a pulp.”

  Devon looked taken aback. “That’s hardly called for. I was simply making a statement. She’s a beautiful woman, and I know what you’re like so don’t play saint with me.”

  He straightened up, taking on a cocky, authoritative attitude.

  “Devon, you and I haven’t had the privilege to really talk like this. Man to man. I’m a serious guy when I want to be. I take my job very seriously, and those I work with even more serious. Don’t fuck with me. Don’t do it. And don’t cross me either, or test me.” I made sure there was solid eye contact so he could see the depth of my seriousness.

  “Noted.” He cocked his head to the side.

  “Good. Next thing. Is this everything? Do I have everything from your side?”

  That was me trying to make sure I’d covered all bases and settled the concerns I had.