The Law of Unexpected Attraction: An Enemies to Lovers Romantic Comedy (Book 1: Dani & Nick)

by E. M. Shea

  “So when are you bringing me on board?” Margaret asked over the phone as the call played out through the car speaker.

  “I need to actually get some clients first,” Dani replied truthfully. “And I haven’t even officially moved into my new office yet.”

  “Isn’t that where you’re headed now?” Margaret asked a bit impatiently.

  “Sheesh! Are things that bad at Schulman? Besides, you’d be bored working with just me. No more intrigue of office politics, no Jeremy to get you a latte every morning …”

  Margaret’s sigh came through the speaker loud and clear. “Yeah, I would miss those things, true. But Leland and his demanding, pain-in-the-ass cronies—not so much. Well, how about you keep me posted on your new gig for now. Or gigs, I should say.”

  “Will do.”

  “One last thing.”

  Dani had a pretty good idea of what was coming. Still, she feigned ignorance. “What’s that?”

  “Have you heard from Nick?”

  “No, and it’s better that way,” she replied quietly as a sudden pang gripped her stomach. “It’s not like I’ve stopped thinking about him, but I just don’t see it working so I have to try to keep moving forward.”

  “Gee, and I thought I was cold.”

  “Margaret,” Dani protested, drawing out each syllable of her name. “That’s not fair, and you know it.”

  “Since when am I fair? Anyways, just concerned about your happiness, that’s all. But you know what’s best.” Pause. “Maybe.”

  “You’re too much,” Dani said with a slight hint of amusement accompanied by an eye roll. But her line of vision froze as she caught a flash of red in the rearview mirror. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”

  “No, I was being serious.”

  “Not you. Look, I have to go. Would you believe I’m being pulled over by a damn police car? And I’m not even speeding!”

  “Remember what I told you before! Prop up your cleavage and—”

  Dani disconnected the call before Margaret had a chance to finish dispensing her wayward advice. She waited for the officer to approach the car door, then rolled down the window.

  “Morning, ma’am,” he said as he bent down to look inside. “Can I see your license and registration?”

  “Yes. But can you tell me why you pulled me over? I know I was driving below the speed limit.”

  “License and registration, please,” he repeated without further explanation. Dani felt her cheeks redden with annoyance as she shuffled through the glove compartment. It was one thing to be digging for documents when she knew she had disobeyed the law, but doing so when she had made a concerted effort to stay within all legal driving parameters? That just wasn’t right. Handing over her driver’s license and registration, she made a mental note of the officer’s name badge on his Cedarsville Police Department uniform: Gus Granger.

  He walked several feet in front of her SUV, his back facing her as he talked into a cellphone. A minute later, he was back at her window.

  “I’m afraid you’re going to have to come with me,” he said evenly.

  Dani’s mouth dropped open. “For what?” she finally asked.

  “There’s an issue with your registration.”

  “What kind of issue?”

  “I’m not allowed to explain.”

  “You’re not allowed to explain? This is outrageous! And I’m pretty sure it’s illegal.”

  Gus appeared unmoved by Dani’s protest. “Oh really? And what are you—a lawyer or something?”

  For a split second, she thought she saw the hint of a smirk on his lips, but realized she must be imagining things. “As a matter of fact, I am.”

  “Well, I’m a police officer. And I’m telling you to please exit your vehicle. Failure to comply will only make things more difficult.”

  Her heart racing, Dani stepped out of the SUV and swiveled her neck around in a panoramic search of the vicinity. She was almost certain there had to be a partially hidden camera crew filming some kind of gotcha reality show, but it was just her, an obnoxious police officer, their vehicles and a quiet stretch of road.

  “This way,” he said, pointing to his police Ford Explorer.

  “Wait, wait, wait.” Dani dug her heels into the ground as she shook her head. “Something’s not right here.”

  “Tell it to the judge,” Gus said out of the corner of his mouth. “Something tells me you’re good at that.”

  The comment struck Dani as odd, but she pushed it aside for more pressing issues. “I’m not getting in that vehicle. Not without some kind of explanation as to what I’ve supposedly done.”

  He turned and studied her for a moment. “Yeah, well, I heard you could be difficult. But boy, I had no idea.” Again, he nodded to the Explorer. “Let’s go. Otherwise, I’ll have to get out the cuffs.”

  Dani was beginning to wonder if she had hit her head a few miles back and had woken up in the Twilight Zone. “What do you mean, you know I can be difficult?”

  He shrugged. “Nothing. Never mind—let’s go.”

  “That’s it,” Dani said, extracting her cellphone from her purse. “I should have thought to do this sooner.”

  “Who are you calling?”

  “Sergeant Nick Bellamy. I’m sure you know who he is. And I’m sure he’d want to know that one of his officers is breaking the law himself.”

  “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Gus loudly declared, resting his hand on his gun holster.

  “Oh my god! Are you going to shoot me?”

  “Huh?” Gus followed Dani’s line of vision down to his secured gun, then released his grip as though touching a hot stove. “Oh geez, sorry! It’s just a habit I have.”

  “Shooting innocent people?”

  “No—resting my hand on my holster.”

  “That’s it,” Dani muttered as she opened the contact list on her phone and scrolled down for Nick’s number.

  “Hang on a second. Please.”

  Something about the genuine pleading in Gus’s voice hit a nerve in Dani, prompting her to look up from the phone.

  “You can’t call Nick because I’m kind of doing this on his behalf.”

  It took a few moments for Gus’s confession to fully register. “You mean to tell me he put you up to this? That he actually hates me so much that he wants me falsely arrested?”

  “No, no! It’s not like that at all. See, we were talking the other day, and he admitted that he misses you and wishes you’d give things another chance. So I offered to help.”

  “This is what you call helping?”

  “Yeah—I know. It’s not quite going according to plan.”

  “So what exactly was the plan?”

  “Well, that you’d think I was taking you to the police station, but instead, I’d take you to his place where he’s waiting right now with a catered brunch, a bottle of good wine and the willingness to grovel.”

  Dani began to grin, then thought better of it. After all, Gus didn’t deserve to be let off the hook after scaring the bejesus out of her—at least not yet. “And he expected that I would just willingly get in your vehicle and be carted off to the police station for no good reason?”

  Gus bared his teeth as his head teetered side to side. “Weeeelllll … not exactly. I had to convince him to leave the details to me and trust that I could pull it off.”

  “How did you even know I’d be driving on this road today?”

  “I kind of did a little surveillance.” Seeing Dani’s eyes widen, Gus raised his hand and quickly added, “Now don’t go getting all lawyer on me. All I mean is I was parked at the end of your block this morning and saw you pull out of your driveway.”

  “So you tailed me?”

  “Ummm … more like I followed at a respectable distance.”

  Dani wanted to gasp, but was too worked up to fully exhale. “And this is my tax dollars at work?”

  “Actually, I’m off duty today. So really, this is probably more like my well-meaning but perhaps,
uh, slightly misguided friendship with Nick at work.” Gus sighed as Dani’s cold stare showed no signs of thawing. “Look, I get that you’re not happy about this. But can’t you try to see the big picture? This guy is crazy about you. Enough so that he went against his better judgement and listened to me of all people when I said I could help. All he wanted was the chance to shock and awe.”

  Dani wrinkled her eyebrows. “Shock and awe?”

  “I can explain. But first, what do you say? Now that you know what’s behind all of this, can’t you just play along and let me drive you to Nick’s place? Then, it’s up to you what you do. But I think you should at least give him a chance to say what he has to say.”

  Dani contemplated Gus’s proposal for several moments. This was one heck of a crazy scheme that he—apparently with Nick’s blessing—was trying to pull off. Not to mention all the legal ramifications that a good attorney like herself could take to the bank, and then some. And yet, what she was feeling above all else right now was flattered that Nick would go through so much trouble to try to win her over. And hopeful that maybe they could in fact work something out.

  “Okay,” she conceded. “I’ll go.”

  Gus’s face lit up. “Great!”

  Dani turned to her SUV parked in the breakdown lane. “What about my car?”

  “I’m going to put an official department sticker on it so no one will tow it. I’m sure Nick will bring you to pick it up later.”

  Satisfied with Gus’s answer, Dani followed him the short distance to his police SUV and waited as he stickered her SUV. Five minutes later, as they were en route to Nick’s condo, Gus looked in the rearview mirror at his still slightly bewildered backseat passenger. “So,” he began nonchalantly. “Are you familiar with Doctor Love Rocket?”

  ◆◆◆

  Nick paced back and forth in his kitchen, pausing only to examine the linoleum floor out of concern that he was making permanent track marks. He checked his watch for the umpteenth time, then once again inspected the setup on the kitchen table. Two fragranced candles burning low, a vase of fresh roses, freshly baked quiche, muffins and other Sunday brunch fare from a local high-end caterer, a pot of steaming coffee and a bottle of white wine chilling on ice. He had to admit it all looked pretty damn good—especially in comparison to the usual table display, which typically consisted of an energy drink container or two, a week’s worth of unread mail, a few sport bars plus several more wrappers, and an empty takeout container or two. Not to mention enough crumbs to feed a small army of mice. But after spending all morning scrubbing and sweeping and polishing until the place shone so bright that he contemplated wearing sunglasses indoors, everything was finally where he wanted it to be. Well, almost everything. He glanced at his watch yet again. Where the hell is Dani? And why did I ever think this was possibly a good idea?

  Sighing loud enough to nearly blow out the candles from five feet away, his brain worked overtime as it ran through all the scenarios of what could possibly go wrong with Gus at the helm of such a crazy-ass idea. The only thing he knew for certain was that he had to have been in a desperate state of mind to agree to Gus’s “shock and awe” plan. She would be shocked, all right. But in awe? Only at the insane nature of what was about to transpire. And not in a this-is-insane-but-I’m-so-touched kind of way, but more like a this-is-insane-and-you-should-be-locked-up conclusion.

  The honk of a horn followed by the quick blare of a siren just outside his front door brought Nick back to what was left of his senses. He pondered for half a second whether there was still time to salvage the situation, then hightailed it out the door, down the steps and into the front parking lot. Gus had just opened the back passenger door, turning to Nick with a wink as Dani gingerly stepped out. She looked as ravishingly casual as he had expected for an early Sunday afternoon: her hair in a loose ponytail, a lightweight charcoal jacket draped over a gray fitted sweater, faded jeans and burgundy ankle boots.

  “Well, look who’s here,” Gus said to Dani in such a stilted fashion that Nick nearly turned to see if there were cue cards plastered on the building behind him. “It’s Nick,” he continued, nudging Dani so sharply that she lost her footing and had to right herself.

  Nick rolled his eyes, certain that Gus must have let the cat out of the bag from the get-go. Then again, would Dani have gotten into his police SUV under any other circumstance?

  “Well, I guess I’ll leave you two alone,” Gus announced as Dani and Nick awkwardly eyed each other. Nick waved Gus off, Dani following suit as though departing from a newfound friend.

  “Interesting guy,” she said as they made their way up the stairs to Nick’s condo.

  “Gus? Yeah, he means well.”

  “A bit obsessed with someone by the name of Doctor Love Rocket, though.”

  Nick groaned. “Don’t tell me he was chewing your ear off about that.”

  Dani smirked. “Kind of. But I have to say, Doctor Love Rocket does have some good insights.”

  Nick paused as he opened the door to his condo and ushered Dani inside. “Oh?”

  Dani shrugged. “Just common-sense stuff, I guess. Like how first impressions aren’t always right.”

  “This is true.”

  “And it’s okay to not always see eye to eye on things. Just as long as you respect each other’s differences.”

  “Geez,” Nick said as they entered the kitchen. “Did he replay a year of episodes on the way over?”

  “Are you saying you disagree with Doctor Love Rocket?” Dani asked, a teasing quality to her voice.

  “No. In fact, that’s kind of why you’re here.”

  “You mean he advocates kidnapping people?”

  Nick wasn’t sure whether to grimace or smile. Instead, he pointed to the fully stocked kitchen table. “Have a seat.”

  Dani walked over, then leaned in to smell the roses, her eyes scanning the mouthwatering display of food and beverages. “Wow. You really outdid yourself here.”

  “Wait,” Nick said suddenly as she was about to be seated. He reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her towards him and then fully embracing her. He could feel the tenseness in her body begin to melt, and as he pressed his lips against hers, their softness inviting him to explore further, she went limp in his arms.

  “Wow,” she said again quietly once their lips finally parted. “And I’m not talking about the roses and quiche this time.”

  Nick grinned. “I’ve been wondering how to say what I’ve been feeling for a while now, but I’m still not sure if I can find the right words.”

  Dani stared into his eyes. “Hmm. Well, what would Doctor Love Rocket say?”

  Nick was game to play along. “He’d probably say that it’s not easy to find someone you really care about in this world. So when you do, it’s something worth fighting for.”

  Dani nodded. “Okay. Does he, um, have any thoughts about when these two people are on opposing sides of the law?”

  “Well, I’m pretty sure he would recommend not getting involved with a serial killer.”

  “Good advice.”

  Nick smiled softly as he ran his fingers through her hair. “But if one person enforces the law, and another person legally represents—let’s just call it an alternative viewpoint—then I think he would say that in the scheme of things, that’s not so important.”

  Dani arched an eyebrow. “Really?”

  “Really. Especially when they have other big things in common.”

  “Like … they both love cats?”

  Nick laughed at her hopeful expression. “Right. Something like that. Or they both love helping others less fortunate than themselves.”

  “Agreed. Very important.” Dani playfully nibbled his bottom lip. “But promise me something.”

  Nick questioned her with his eyes.

  “No more charity dates. Except with me.”

  He grinned, kissing her forehead. “Agreed.”

  She nodded to the table. “Come on. Let’s have some brunch,
and we can make a toast to us and a new beginning.”

  He pulled her into another kiss. “And let’s not forget Doctor Love Rocket.”

  She grinned, then nuzzled his cheek. “I suppose he does deserve a mention in all of this.”

  And with that, they headed hand-in-hand to the table. Thoroughly in love. Case happily closed.

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  About the Author

  E.M Shea's professional writing background runs the gamut from newspaper journalist and magazine editor, to corporate and ad agency copywriter. But her true joy is creating stories that will make you swoon, chuckle and sigh. (And not necessarily in that order.) She especially loves that magical moment when the characters spring to life and help take the narrative to new and unexpected places.

  An animal and nature lover, she lives in New England with her horses, goats, pig, cats and dog. (No wonder her ideal gift is a shiny new wheelbarrow.) They have yet to read any of her books, but still provide daily moral support.

  www.emsheabooks.com

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