The Love Laws (10 page)

“What?”
Jamie squawked. “You’re lying. They wouldn`t do that!” She gave his chest a
shove, but he didn’t budge. What on Earth had Jessica and Duncan been thinking
to leave without saying a word? And now she was being high-jacked by this hot
maniac. Her sister was in so much trouble when she caught up with her.

“Your
sister wasn’t feeling so hot so I’m afraid they have abandoned you to the
wolves. But if you just give me five minutes, I’ll be glad to escort you home. Just
as I promised Duncan.”

She
narrowed her eyes at him. “What am I? A child? I do not need an escort home. It’s
only twenty blocks. Besides, I’m probably safer out there with the psychos than
I am here with you. Thanks anyway.” She tried to push past him on the other
side this time, but he moved directly into her personal space. Her breasts
briefly brushed against his stomach and she felt her nipples tighten in
reaction. Pulling back, she gave his shoulder a small jab and glared up at him.

He
ignored the shoulder jab completely. “Five minutes?” He asked hopefully,
brushing an errant lock of hair off her forehead.

“Fine,”
she grumbled, looking down at her dad’s oversized gold watch on her wrist again.
“But then we go our separate ways, okay?”

“If
you’d prefer me to follow you home like a stray mutt instead of simply walking
you to your door like a civilized bodyguard, then I suppose so, but either way
I will make sure you get home safe. Duncan gave me a mission and I plan to
follow through.”

Jamie
groaned in frustration. “I thought you guys were at each other’s throats. Now
you’re buddies again? How did that happen?”

“We
were hardly at each other’s throat,” he said with a shrug. “What can I say?
Even if we were, guys don’t hold grudges. We just beat the hell out of each
other for a few minutes until we get tired, have a beer and then agree to move
on.”

“Boys
are so weird.” She shook her head. “Is that what happened to your hand?” She
asked pointing at where a clean, white handkerchief was wrapped around his knuckles.

“Nope.
That I did myself.”

“I
repeat. Boys are weird,” she said with an eye roll as she tapped her watch
meaningfully. “Three minutes left, by the way.”

He
sighed. “Fine. That’s all the time I need.” He looked at the ground as if to
gather his thoughts and then raised his gaze to hers and looked deeply into her
eyes. His expression was sincere, sweet, and sexy as hell as he said in a quiet
voice. “Jamie. I’m sorry.”

Jamie’s
heart beat a little faster. “Sorry? Sorry for what?”

He
ran a hand through his hair. “God. So many things. Mostly for pushing myself on
you earlier when you clearly weren’t interested.”

Jamie’s
mouth actually dropped open in shock. “But you’re pushing yourself on me now!”
She said with an exasperated laugh as she waved her hand at the closed curtain.
“How can you apologize for the same behavior you’re using right this second?”

Kevin
shook his head in denial. “It’s not the same thing. I was hitting on you
earlier. Now I’m just trying to make things better between us.”

“You
have got to be kidding me. You’re aware that an apology usually implies that
you regret your actions and would not repeat them if you had the chance,
right?”

Kevin
looked uncomfortable. “Jamie. What choice did I have but to corner you? You’re
always running away from me or turning your back on me. After we talked on that
beach in Maui, I couldn’t even get you to look at me, let alone have a civil
conversation with me. So, you tell me. If you won’t give me a chance, how am I
supposed to tell you how much I regret how I treated you earlier?”

Jamie
just stared at him. It was true. She hadn’t been exactly friendly to Kevin. But
she couldn’t help it. He confused her. She knew he was trouble and yet she was
drawn to him anyway.  Being slightly hostile was typically all the
discouragement required to drive away a player like him. They usually moved
onto easier prey without a lot of encouragement. But Kevin wasn’t your typical predator.
He seemed genuinely apologetic and that made him even more dangerous. She
needed to keep up her tough front or she’d be all over him like a horny true
crim groupie. If there was such a thing.

Sticking
out her chin, she gave him a tight smile. “Talk is cheap, Buddy. I suggest you
put some action into play.”

 A
huge, very naughty smile broke out across Kevin’s face and he leaned down far
enough to breath in Jamie’s ear, “Hmmm. I like the sound of that. What kind of
action did you have in mind exactly, Angel?”

Jamie
pushed against his hard chest. “Quit calling me that. And I didn’t mean that
kind of action, you sex maniac. Didn’t you just get in big trouble for hitting
on me?”

Kevin
chuckled. “Sorry, I can’t help myself. You bring out the pervert in me.”

She
rolled her eyes. “No. What I meant was a favor. And not the dirty kind either.”

Kevin
raised a speculative eyebrow. “So, the boring kind then? Name it and we’ll see
if we can come to some kind of arrangement.”

Jamie
could well imagine from his provocative tone what kind of arrangement he’d like
to make. She was fairly certain it would involve some sweaty nakedness. As
enticing as that thought was she chose to ignore his thinly-veiled proposition
and pretend she had no idea what he meant. “Well, I don’t know if you’re aware
of this or not, but I’m collaborating on a series of articles for one of the
local papers.”

He
beamed at her, all efforts at seduction clearly forgotten when faced with this
new information. “That’s great. You’re a writer? I had no idea. Did you want
some pointers? I could read over your copy if you’d like.”

Jamie
felt her stomach drop. She could just imagine Kevin’s reaction to The Love
Laws. He would laugh himself sick. He was a serious writer who wrote actual books
about grim subject matter. His work required extensive research and
fact-checking. He didn’t just slap down a few opinions on paper and present
them as gospel. He was well-respected in the true crime genre because he did
his homework and never sensationalized his work. He didn’t need to. It stood on
its own merit because he was actually very good at maintaining the balance
between professional distance and victim sensitivity.

She
would never admit it to him, but she had actually read one of his books and
been horrified at the subject matter. She couldn’t, however, help but be impressed
with both the quality of the writing and his ability to engage the reader. Her
foray into giving advice to the romantically challenged would seem ridiculously
fluffy by comparison. The last thing she wanted was him condescending to read
her views on how to get a man. How embarrassing.

“Ummm.
No. I think I have it covered.” She said casually. “But I do need some help
with something. If you’re serious about making amends.”

“Okay,”
he said slowly, rubbing his gold-stubbled chin. “What exactly do you need me to
do?”

“Well,
Cathy, my test subject, is a little on the shy side. And I was hoping you could
flirt with her. Build up her confidence a little.”

His
golden eyebrows went up in surprise. “You want me to take out your friend?
Sight unseen? To build up her confidence? What kind of article is this
exactly?”

“Does
it matter?”

He
sighed. “I suppose not. If you’ll forgive me for breathing tequila fumes all
over you earlier, then I suppose it won’t kill me to boost your friend’s self-esteem.
But I’m more than a little curious about why she needs boosting.”

“Stop
calling it boosting,” she said with an impatient finger wag. “She’s not a car. You
make it sound like I’m asking you to perform some kind of illegal act on her.”

“Well,
that’s always an option depending on the act you want me to perform and what
you’re willing to trade.” He smiled as she rolled her eyes at him. “But I gotta
say, this seems like a lot to ask. And why me? You act like I’m packing Anthrax
and yet you want me to flirt with your friend? Couldn’t you find someone less
repellant for the job?” The side of his gorgeous mouth quirked up in an
arrogant little smirk that made her want to slap him silly.

She
gave a long suffering sigh and placed her hands on her hips. “Just because
you’re not my type doesn’t mean that you don’t have your appeal. To someone
naïve and inexperienced like Cathy you’d seem like a real catch.”

“But
not to you?” He asked doubtfully.

“No,
not to me.” Jamie said without hesitation.

“Why
not? We obviously have some major chemistry and we’re both single. I don’t see
why it’s such a big deal that I want to get to know you better.”  

His
tone was complete innocence but his wicked eyes suggested getting to know each
other better would most likely involve
The Kama Sutra
and a few
embarrassing strained muscles. And more pleasure than she could imagine. As fun
as all that sounded, she was not interested. Not at all. Best to put a complete
stop to this now.

She
patted his broad chest and spoke softly, like she was trying to soothe a hyper
Golden Retriever pup. “Listen, I’m sure you’re a very nice man-whore, but I would
rather be chased by wild dingoes with a pork chop tied around my neck than get
involved with a guy like you.”

“Wild
dingoes? Harsh!” He spluttered, eyes blazing with indignation now rather than
seduction. “I thought you were the liberal, non-judgmental sister! How can you
stand there and say that when you don’t know anything about me?”

She
rolled her eyes. “You do show up in the tabloids occasionally, you know.”

He
returned her eye roll with one of his own. “And you believe everything those
rags put out there?”

She
held her hand up. “Fair enough. But I do have first-hand knowledge of how
you’ve behaved around me. And Duncan mentioned once that you were a ‘chick
magnet.’ He’s a reliable source, isn’t he?”

“He
said that?” For a moment Kevin looked flattered by Duncan’s description and
then he remembered he wasn’t supposed to be proud of that particular title. He
lowered his brows in an unconvincingly stern look. “That doesn’t mean that I’m
a slut,” he said in disgust.

“Are
you actually going to pretend that you haven’t slept with scores of women?”

“A
score means twenty. How many scores of scoring are we talking about here?”

Jamie
felt her lips starting to turn up in amusement at his play on words, but
somehow managed to keep her expression serious. “The exact number doesn’t
matter, though I’m sure it’s borderline disturbing. The point is that you treat
women like they’re disposable.”

He
looked startled. “I do not treat women like they’re disposable. I love women. If
anything, they treat me like I’m disposable. Not the other way around.”

“Poor
baby,” she said with mock sympathy. “So, basically, you’re claiming that you
try to have serious relationships with all the women you sleep with but none of
them want anything more from you than a ride on your love rocket? You must feel
so empty and used.”

He
grinned sheepishly. “Well. No. I wouldn’t say that exactly. I’m actually pretty
okay with that part.”

“I
rest my case.”

“Jamie.
That’s not fair. I’m a single guy in my early thirties. Am I supposed to be a
virgin? Would that make me more acceptable?”

She
shook her head “No, that would make you kind of creepy.”

“So
guys who refrain from having sex are creepy and men who enjoy pleasuring women
are man-whores? Is that what you’re saying? No middle ground? Kind of
narrow-minded, don’t you think?”

“Kevin.
Of course there’s a middle ground. The difference between you and your average
guy is that most of them have had at least a couple of actual relationships
mixed in with the occasional one-night stands.”

He
held up his right hand as if making a pledge. “Jamie. I swear I’m your typical
guy. I want the same things everyone wants, including a steady girl. I just
meet a lot more single women and have more opportunity to get naked with them.”

“Fine.
Answer me this. Have you tried to have a relationship with a woman, outside of
the bedroom? Ever? How about in the last five years? If you can tell me that
you’ve spent two or more consecutive nights with the same woman, I’ll take back
the man-whore label and never apply it to you again.”

His
blank look said it all.

“Ha.
I knew it,” Jamie crowed triumphantly, poking him in the stomach with her index
finger. His midsection was rock hard, but he still flinched away like she’d
burned him. Obviously he was ticklish. She had to hold herself back from
testing out some other body parts to see if they’d get an equal reaction. But a
tickle fight in the middle of this hallway was likely to turn into an entirely
different kind of game. One involving a lot of laughter and more than a little
friction.

He
rubbed his scruffy chin again with one hand and gave her a contemplative
glance. “Yeah. You seem to have guys all figured out. Funny that you’re still
single, isn’t it?” He gave her his best innocent, wide-eyed look.