Rules of Love

by Shelia M. Goss

  “We’re not supposed to call our customers by their first names, ma’am.”

  “I am the customer, and I insist that you call me Amber.”

  “Okay, Mrs. Lewis. I mean, Amber. Is there anything you need for me to do?”

  “Nothing special. I was about to start cooking dinner.”

  “I probably shouldn’t say this, but how long have you known Mr. Lewis?”

  “Long enough to get married.” Amber smiled.

  “That’s what I get for being nosy.”

  Amber laughed. “I would have asked too.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  The smell of roasted garlic filled Jason’s nostrils the moment he opened his front door.

  “Honey, I’m home,” Jason yelled. I’ve always wanted to say that, he said to himself and chuckled.

  Amber yelled, “I’m in the kitchen.”

  “I’ll be there in a minute.” Jason placed the mail he’d been holding in one hand on the mantel and his iPad case holding his iPad and notepad right next to it. He hung his jacket up on the nearby coatrack.

  “You got it smelling so good up in here,” Jason said as he walked near Amber and planted a kiss on her cheek.

  “I wasn’t sure what time to expect you, but the food is almost done.”

  “Let me freshen up a little and I’ll be back downstairs,” Jason said.

  His attempt at taking a sneak peek into one of the pots on the stove was met with a hand slap.

  “Ouch.”

  “No peeking,” Amber said.

  “Fine. I’ll be back.”

  Jason picked up the mail on his way upstairs. He removed his suit and tie. His phone rang.

  “Jason, dude, what happened to you?” Jasper Nelson, a music executive Jason worked out with at one of the local gyms, asked.

  “I woke up late this morning and barely made it to the office on time.”

  “I told Allen you weren’t going to be there. I won the bet,” Jasper said.

  Allen Bates was not only a friend of Jasper’s but a good friend of Charlotte’s. He was also the entertainment attorney Jason’s firm used to handle their legal work.

  “I’m sure you heard by now that I’m married.”

  “Yes. I’m mad because you didn’t give us a chance to throw you a bachelor party. With me being all tied down, I look forward to men events.”

  “Don’t let Isis hear you say that,” Jason said.

  “Speaking of Isis, she wants us to do a reality show.”

  “Don’t do it. I’ve seen reality shows break up plenty of relationships.”

  “That’s exactly what I said.”

  “Dinner’s ready,” Amber shouted from the bottom of the stairway.

  “Tell Allen I’ll see you both later this week. My wife’s calling for me, so I’ve got to go.”

  Jason hung up and went directly to the bathroom to wash his hands before heading downstairs to the dining room.

  Ten minutes later, Jason’s mouth watered as he looked at the food on his plate. The tender roast was surrounded by roasted garlic potatoes, fresh-cut green beans, and garlic bread. To wash it down, Amber filled his glass with lemon iced tea.

  “I just got off the phone with a guy I work out with at the gym. I might need to add an extra hour if you keep cooking like this.”

  Amber smiled. “I take it that you like it.”

  “Can you say love? The roast is so tender it practically glides down my throat.” He lifted the fork of food into his mouth.

  “Tomorrow, I’ll cook my mom’s favorite recipe—meatloaf.”

  “She cooks. She’s as sexy as a video vixen and she’s as sweet as pie. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

  Jason was seriously hooked on Amber.

  * * * * *

  After they ate, Amber cleaned up the kitchen. She found Jason working in his home office. She stood behind him and wrapped her arm around his neck.

  “You put in over forty hours at the office and then you come home and work. No wonder you don’t have a woman,” Amber said.

  “I didn’t have a woman because I was waiting on you.”

  Amber walked around him and picked up his cell phone. “When does Jason Lewis, the manager to the stars, turn off, and when does Jason Lewis, the man who can make me scream, turn on?”

  Jason took the cell phone from her and placed it on the desk. He pulled her onto his lap. “That should answer your question. No doubt that I’m turned on.”

  Jason pulled her head down and kissed her lips.

  The air conditioner was set at sixty-five degrees, but Amber felt like her body was over a hundred degrees. She unbuttoned Jason’s shirt, kissed his chest. She stood, and without taking her eyes off him, she unbuckled his belt. She threw the belt to the floor. She unfastened his pants and eased them down his legs along with his boxers.

  Her eyes keyed in on his long, hard, thick member standing straight at attention. She licked her lips. She kneeled and took the head in her mouth while using one of her hands to stroke it.

  “Ooh, yes,” Jason moaned.

  The more Jason moaned, the more it excited Amber. She took him into her mouth inch by inch until her mouth was filled with him. Her full lips became a suction cup as she devoured him. She sucked until she saw his eyes roll to the back of his head.

  He placed his hand on her head, not wanting her to move from that position.

  Amber felt his body moving rapidly beneath her. She knew it wouldn’t be long before he exploded in her mouth, and with one stroke of her tongue, he let go of his release.

  She swallowed, wiping the remnants of his love from the corners of her mouth with her hand.

  He beckoned for her to sit on top of him. She did as commanded. The chair squeaked as she rode him into oblivion. The more she bounced up and down on him, the louder his moans got. The louder her moans got.

  The intensity of their lovemaking increased with each thrust of her hips. She felt dizzy. She felt as if her entire body was going to shatter into tiny pieces as the orgasm swept through her entire body.

  “Just hold me,” she whispered as her head fell on Jason’s chest after the earth-shattering experience.

  Jason couldn’t move and neither could she. They held on to each other in the same position until Jason gathered up enough strength to move. She stood on wobbly legs as he led her to the bedroom.

  Their lovemaking session wasn’t over. Jason was relentless. She lost count of how many orgasms she had that night. Her body shook from just the touch of Jason’s hand as she lay next to him in bed.

  Amber loved how attentive Jason was to her needs. For the first time, she felt at ease being herself in a relationship. She frowned at the thought of going back to her life before Jason.

  Chapter Twenty

  Jason woke up a few minutes before the alarm. She’s so cute when she sleeps, Jason thought as he watched Amber.

  He didn’t want to wake her, so he quietly slipped out of the bed. He grabbed his phone and went directly to the bathroom. Once he was inside, he turned the alarm off.

  He went about his normal morning routine. Since he had missed going to the gym yesterday, he would make up for it this morning. He washed his face and brushed his teeth. He put on his workout gear. He would take a shower and get dressed for work after his workout.

  He was shaving when he felt eyes on him. He looked up.

  Sleepy and sexy, Amber stood in the doorway, wearing nothing but her robe. The robe slid open, and his eyes took her all in from head to toe.

  “Baby, it’s early. Go back to bed.”

  She rubbed her eyes. “I’d planned on cooking you breakfast.”

  “That’s okay. I’ll grab some of that fruit you bought. I’m about to head to the gym. I’ll get dressed for work after I work out.”

 
Jason leaned over to kiss Amber, but she blocked him with her hand. “Morning breath,” she said.

  “I don’t care.” Jason moved her hand and kissed her anyway. “Get back in the bed.” Jason kissed Amber on the forehead. She said goodbye to him barely above a whisper and went back to sleep.

  * * * * *

  Amber woke up dazed and confused. “Where am I?” she asked aloud.

  It took a few seconds for her brain to register her location.

  She glanced at the clock. It displayed in big numbers 9:15. Amber normally woke up at seven thirty. She couldn’t believe she’d slept that long. She’d never experienced as many orgasms as she had the night before either, so that might have been the reason why she slept in. Her body needed the extra sleep to recover. She vaguely remembered Jason leaving for work this morning before she went back to the bed.

  Her phone light flashed. She’d received voice and text messages from several people. She sent Jason a quick text saying good morning, and got up to wash her face and brush her teeth.

  Once she decided what she wanted to wear, she took a shower.

  She needed to work on her novel, but she’d gotten an email from a studio wanting to hire her to write a script.

  She hated dealing with the business side of things; that’s why she’ hired C & J Management. She called Jason.

  “Hey baby, how are you?”

  “I’m fine. Can you squeeze me in this afternoon? I really need to see you.”

  “We can talk now, if you like.”

  “It’s business,” Amber responded.

  “Why don’t you meet me for lunch? We can discuss it then,” Jason suggested.

  “Where?” she asked.

  “Meet me in Beverly Hills at the Bistro around twelve thirty.”

  “It’s the first place you took me to lunch.”

  “You remembered?” Jason asked.

  “It wasn’t a date, but I was just as nervous as if we were on one.”

  “Charlotte was there too.”

  “Oh, yeah. How could I forget?” Amber laughed. “Well, let me let you go. See you soon.”

  Amber removed the jeans and T-shirt she had on and changed into a pink-and-green pantsuit. Pink was not only her sorority color but happened to be one of her favorite colors. She sifted through one of her suitcases and located her flat iron. She styled her hair and decided at the last minute to put on some makeup. She looked in the mirror at her reflection. Although she didn’t wear makeup on a regular basis, Amber knew how to apply it. She came by it naturally. Her mom was an international model who had taught Amber her beauty secrets.

  As Amber thought about it, her mom had taught her many life skills. She didn’t always use them, but they came in handy whenever she needed them.

  Amber looked at the time. She didn’t want to rush. If she got there early, she would work on her book. It took her longer than she expected to figure out how to synchronize his printer to her iPad. Once she did, she printed out the contract and left to meet Jason at the Bistro.

  When she arrived, she decided to utilize the restaurant’s valet service since she wore heels with her pink-and-green pantsuit.

  “How are you today?” the valet attendant asked as she exited her car.

  “Great.”

  “Here’s your ticket.” He handed her the ticket and got in the driver’s seat.

  Amber removed her sunglasses and walked into the restaurant.

  She located a table near the back and near a window so she could see who was driving up. She sent Jason a text, alerting him of her location. She pulled out her iPad and wireless keyboard, tuned out the noise around her, and began to type.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Jason looked at his watch. He was running late. He rushed inside the Bistro in search of Amber. He located her at the back of the restaurant. Her head was down. He saw her type feverishly.

  “May I help you?” a waiter asked.

  “My wife’s waiting for me,” he said.

  He bent down next to Amber and planted a kiss on her cheek. “Sorry, I’m late.”

  She stopped what she was doing. “That’s fine. It gave me time to work on my book.”

  “I know you write screenplays, but I wasn’t aware you were also an author.”

  “Not officially. I haven’t sold it to a publishing house yet. But we have time to discuss that. I asked you here to talk about this other writing project.”

  Amber reached into her handbag and pulled out several sheets of paper. She handed them to him.

  A waiter came over and took their order. While waiting on their food, Jason skimmed over the pages. “This is a good contract, but I do see a few things that need to be addressed. I will get them changed before having you sign it.”

  “I trust you in that area. But we need to do some other official paperwork first.”

  “Like renewing your contract?”

  “I like the personal care that I get with C & J Management, so I look forward to continuing our business relationship.”

  “Yes!” Jason said loudly, unable to hide his excitement.

  Some of the nearby patrons turned and looked in their direction.

  “I take it you’re happy about it.”

  “I sure am. I don’t have the papers with me, but I will bring them home tonight. You can read over them and we can make everything official. In the meantime, can you email the original email you received, and I’ll get to making the revisions so you can get paid properly?”

  Amber picked her phone up, used her stylus pen, and said, “Done. You should have it.”

  Jason’s phone beeped. He glanced at it. “Got it. I’ll get on this soon as I get back to the office. Now we can concentrate on other things.”

  The waiter returned with their food.

  They each concentrated on eating the food in front of them.

  Amber said, “Why are these people trying to sneak and take pictures of us?” Amber looked around the room.

  Jason hadn’t noticed until Amber pointed it out. “Baby, you were once a child star. People are fascinated with you. And not just because of your dad either.”

  “Once I got old enough to decide on what I wanted to do, I decided that I preferred the behind the scenes. With my vivid imagination and writing skills, I pursued being a screenwriter. I no longer want to act or be the center of attention. I’ve had enough of that to last a lifetime. Let someone else relish the spotlight.”

  “I understand. After working with other celebrities, I empathize with you all. It’s hard not being able to do simple things, such as going to the movies or the store, out of fear of being bombarded by some overzealous fan or the paparazzi.”

  “I look a little different than I did as a little girl, so I’ve been able to live somewhat of a normal life. But now, everyone is interested in what Amber is doing. People are making memes of the before and after shots of me. Some of my ex-boyfriends are capitalizing on having dated me, so they are getting their five minutes of fame. It’s ridiculous.”

  “I have already drafted up a press release. All I need is your approval, and I’m sending it out to all the media outlets.”

  Jason sent Amber an email with the document he’d drafted earlier.

  Amber read it. “Sounds good. But this press release sounds like we’re in love and have no plans on getting a divorce.”

  “I am in love. Can’t you tell?”

  “Yeah right,” Amber responded.

  “The divorce. Well, that’s still up in the air. I don’t know about you, but I’m enjoying the married life.”

  “Four days is not enough time for me to decide whether or not I like being married.”

  “Ouch,” Jason said. “And I thought you were digging me.”

  “It’s not that. I just don’t want to get so caught up and forget the
fact that you never wanted to get married in the first place.”

  “Amber, that’s what we need to talk about.” Jason’s phone rang. “Hold on. I need to get this. It’s your father.”

  “Tell him I said hello.”

  “Mr. Simone, how may I help you?” Jason asked.

  “I wanted to talk to about a few things,” he responded.

  “Charlotte informed me you wanted to meet with us.”

  “I’ll be seeing you at my house around noon. But I’m calling you to talk about Amber.”

  “Amber?”

  “Yes, my baby girl. How do you feel about her?” Max asked.

  “I care about her. She’s a sweet person.”

  “I know, and I don’t want her hurt,” Max stated.

  Jason looked across the table at Amber. Amber stared back at him. “Mr. Simone, I have no plans on hurting your daughter.”

  “Just be sure you don’t. If I hear otherwise, you will have me to answer to.”

  “Understood,” Jason responded.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow. We can talk more then.”

  Max disconnected the call.

  Jason stared at the phone.

  “You should have told him we were having lunch.”

  “It wouldn’t have made a difference.”

  Jason rubbed his head.

  “Are you nervous?” Amber asked.

  “No. Well, yes. Your dad makes me nervous.”

  “Max Simone does have that effect on people. One thing about my dad, he either likes you or he doesn’t. Rarely in between.”

  “You’re supposed to be helping me but you’re not.” Jason drank his cold lemonade.

  “If it’s any reassurance, he must like you. He sent you on an all-expense-paid trip to Vegas with his daughter.”

  Jason thought about it. Amber did have a point.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  As promised, Amber cooked meat loaf and mashed potatoes. They discussed her contract over dinner. Afterward, she signed the papers. Amber renewed her contract for another year. He sent Charlotte a text message to alert her to the news. She responded with a smiley face and balloons.