Rules of Love (10 page)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Jason followed Max into another room. The wood-and-glass cases that lined the wall were filled with the numerous awards Max had received over the years.

They stopped in front of a movie poster of Max and Amber when she was a little girl. The only movie, he recalled, they were in together.

“Amber's a special girl,” Max said. He continued walking and looking at the pictures of Amber in various poses and ages that also filled the wall. The boy next to her was her younger brother.

“I agree,” Jason responded.

Max stopped walking and looked at Jason. They were almost the same height, so they were eye to eye. “Your dad was a good man.”

Jason eyed him curiously. “How do you know my dad?”

Max removed his wallet from his pants' pocket. He opened it and pulled out an old-looking picture. He handed it to Jason. Jason stared at it. His mouth dropped open.

“Your dad saved my life.”

“I don't understand. Am I missing something?” Jason tilted his head.

“I was headed down a road of destruction. I was drinking more than I should. I was using all kinds of drugs. It's a miracle I survived. And I was close to dying when your dad found me in the alley behind his automotive shop.”

“He never mentioned knowing you,” Jason said. Jason's dad was dead now, but Jason didn't remember ever hearing him mention the actor Max Simone.

“Your father was a humble man. After I sobered up, I offered to pay your dad something, but he wouldn't take it. So instead, I would make sure I got groceries delivered to him at least once a week. But then one day I was told he moved, and I lost contact.”

“We had to move. With business being slow, he was forced to close his shop, and my mom's job wasn't enough to pay the mortgage. We ended up moving in with my grandmother.”

“Yes, I later found that out, but by that time, your dad had died.”

“This is amazing. You actually knew my dad.” Jason frowned hard, feeling the wrinkles gather across his forehead.

“I tried to keep up with you, but you disappeared on me. That is, until I saw you at an event. You introduced yourself. You are the spitting image of your father when he was your age.”

Jason looked at the photo in his hand again. Max was right. Jason looked exactly like his father. The only difference was the hair. His father's hair had been long, but Jason liked wearing his short.

“This is all surreal.”

“Now, you don't think I would set up my daughter with a complete stranger, do you?”

Jason stuttered. “I really didn't know what to think. I thought it was odd. I know we've met on other occasions. I didn't realize I had made such a big impact on you, where you would want me hooking up with your daughter.”

“Let's get something straight. I didn't want you hooking up with her. I was hoping you two kicked it off. Eloping with her wasn't part of my plans. Marriage, yes, in the future, but fate intervened, and now you two are married.”

“But Mr. Simone, I'm sure you know we're supposed to get an annulment. The only reason Amber isn't pursuing it now is to please you.”

“Keep telling yourself that. Amber doesn't do anything she doesn't want to do. If she wanted to divorce you right now, she would. Neither I nor her mother would be able to stop her,” Max said. He patted Jason on the back. “Come on. I'm sure Charlotte's ready to leave, and we can't keep a pregnant woman waiting.”

Jason followed Max out of the room. The Simones walked Charlotte and Jason to the front door. Charlotte talked nonstop on the way back to the office, but Jason couldn't stop thinking about what Max had shared with him. Interesting how their lives interconnected.

* * * * *

Amber spent the day juggling her time. She wrote a few chapters of her novel, and she revised the screenplay she'd been commissioned to do. She found herself keeping a watchful eye on her cell phone.

She felt relieved when she finally received a response to her text message to Jason. He mentioned wanting to talk to her later. She tried to get into the lives of her characters as she typed the last few words of the chapter she was working on.

Amber wasn't in the mood to eat anything heavy, so she made a quick, light pasta salad with chopped chicken breasts.

She sat next to Jason at the kitchen table. Over dinner, he shared with her the events of his day.

“Wow. What an interesting story. I knew my dad had been on drugs, but he rarely talks about that time in his life. Well, not with me anyway.”

“Now I know why your dad seemed to like me. He knew my father.”

“That's a good thing, right?” Amber asked.

“I'm nothing like my father.”

“I beg to differ. You're in a field where you are always helping someone. You're either helping them find work, helping them make more money, or rescuing them from a situation they created.”

Jason bit his lip. “You have a point. I guess I'm more like my dad than I realized.”

Amber took some of the dirty dishes to the sink. Jason followed her with the other dishes.

Jason assisted her with cleaning up the kitchen. After washing the last dish, Amber dried her hands on the dishtowel. She turned to face Jason. “I originally planned on making you a pie for dessert but got out of the baking mood.”

“I don't need a pie when I have you.” Jason lifted Amber in the air and placed her on the kitchen counter.

“Jason, what are you doing?” Amber asked.

Jason placed his finger over her lips. “Shh. Just let me have my dessert.”

Before she could protest, Jason slid her pants off. “Don't move,” he said.

She watched Jason go into the refrigerator. He returned holding a can of whipped cream.

“What are you going to do with that?” Amber chuckled.

“It's my own creation. It's called Amber à la mode.”

Jason removed her panties and sprayed the whipped cream between her legs.

“I can't believe you're doing this.”

“No talking,” Jason said.

Amber couldn't think of any words to say when Jason began eating the whipped cream from her sex. All she could do was moan out in pleasure.

She held on to the edge of the counter, as Jason had both of her legs around his shoulders. She felt her legs begin to shake.

“Jasonnnnnnn,” she screamed.

Amber couldn't control what happened next. She squirted in Jason's mouth. Her head spun from the sensation sending shock waves through her body. She'd read about the action but, until now, had never experienced it before.

Jason didn't stop when it happened; it seemed to encourage him to continue to pleasure her with his mouth.

Amber's emotions were all over the place. Her feelings for Jason were a combination of love and lust. At this moment, it was pure lust because all she wanted was to feel him inside of her. She didn't just want him. She needed him.

Chapter Twenty-Five

It was unlike Jason to be home on a regular basis before seven, but this week he'd left the office no later than five thirty. Amber greeted him with a home-cooked meal every night. Tonight, however, they would be attending the wedding reception her parents were throwing for them.

Jason stood in front of the mirror and adjusted his bow tie. Amber had informed him it was a black-tie event. Jason had several tuxedos in his closet, so there was no need for him to rent one.

Amber had insisted on using one of the guest rooms downstairs to dress, so he left the master bedroom and went to see if she was ready.

Jason's phone rang.

“I'm outside,” the driver said.

“We'll be out shortly,” Jason responded.

Jason had ordered a car service to take them to and from the Simones'.

“Knock knock,” Jason said aloud as he stood outside the bedroom door.

Amber opened the door. “I'm ready.”

Jason greatly admired her beauty. Her hair was pulled up in a bun, with a few ringlets of hair framing her face. The makeup she wore perfected each one of her features. The pink lipstick on her brown, full lips was appealing. Gone were the glasses, so he could peer into her hazel eyes.

Once he got past her beautifully made-up face, he noticed the thick strand of pearls around her neck.

The long, strapless, hot-pink dress fit her body perfectly. The diamonds fixed on the waist sparkled.

“You look stunning,” Jason said.

“Thank you.” Amber blushed.

“I'm the luckiest man alive,” Jason noted.

“You think,” Amber teased.

Jason smiled. He knew Amber's attitude was her defense mechanism. There was no way a woman like Amber could make passionate love to him on a daily basis the way that they had and not have feelings for him.

Every time he wanted to approach the conversation about his feelings, something seemed to interrupt, so he decided to just go with the flow. Let everything just happen.

He loved Amber. He hoped his intuition wasn't off, hoped she loved him too.

Amber cleared her throat. “Are we going to stand here all day?”

Jason snapped out of his thoughts. “You have me in a trance.”

“Whose car are we going in?” Amber walked around him and asked.

“I ordered a car for tonight. The driver's waiting outside for us now.”

“I'm ready,” Amber said.

A few minutes later, they were in the back of the limousine and headed to the Simones'.

* * * * *

Amber got lost in her thoughts as she looked out the window on the ride over to her parents' house. Jason wasn't talking, so she didn't know what was going on in his mind. She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye.

He seemed to be lost in his own thoughts as he looked out the other window. She wished she knew what was on his mind. They were probably thinking the same thing. How did they end up in this place?

Tonight she planned to enjoy being a married woman because she knew soon she wouldn't be. Jason had made her feel special. If she hadn't known any better, she would think they were actually a real newlywed couple.

The sex between them was sizzling hot. Their conversation never got dull. They were a perfect fit. If truth be told, Amber couldn't imagine how she had lived without Jason.

She didn't want this fairy-tale week to end.

She wanted to be the happy bride, not just tonight, but every night. She wanted to live the life she wrote about. She wanted her fictional world to become a reality. She'd hoped that Jason would feel the same way, but she realized he wasn't the settling-down type. He'd admitted that marriage wasn't part of his immediate personal plans.

So tonight, she would be like Cinderella and enjoy the ball, and tomorrow, she would face reality and deal with how to dissolve their marriage.

When her parents said they were throwing them a wedding reception, Amber had had no idea this many people would be invited. Her mouth dropped opened when she noticed all of the cars outside as the driver drove up the circular driveway. There was no reason to use the valet service her parents provided, since they were in the limousine.

The limousine parked. The driver got out and opened the passenger door. Jason exited first. He held out his hand to Amber. She reached for it and allowed him to help her out.

Jason had been quiet most of the ride there. She turned to face him. “Are you having second thoughts?” she asked.

“No. Did I give you a reason to think that?” Jason responded.

“You haven't said but a few words. I wasn't sure how you were feeling,” Amber noted.

“Just thinking, that's all.”

“You sure there's no problem?” Amber's stomach was filled with butterflies. She didn't know what to expect when they walked through the front door.

She liked being in the background, but she knew the moment they stepped inside, all eyes would be on them.

Jason picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. “Baby, I'm fine.”

She loved it when Jason called her
baby
. He said it in a way that actually made her feel that he was sincere. That she was actually his.

“Get ready for the circus.” Amber squeezed Jason's hand.

“This is our night, so let's enjoy it.”

Jason and Amber walked up the stairs hand in hand.

Amber's hand shook as she placed it on the doorknob.

Chapter Twenty-Six

It was like a who's who of Hollywood in attendance. Jason and Amber were immediately met by her parents.

After they exchanged hugs and kisses on the cheek, they followed her parents through the mansion. The place was decorated with pink-and-white flowers, balloons, and ribbons. Jason thought he'd even noticed a few doves.

They stopped right outside the doorway that led outside. The backyard had been transformed to an outdoor ballroom. Jason was impressed.

Max was handed a microphone. “Ladies and gentleman, our guests of honor have arrived. I have the pleasure of introducing to you my daughter and her husband, Mr. and Mrs. Jason and Amber Lewis.”

Cheers were heard.

Max handed Jason the microphone. Jason covered the microphone. “I didn't know I had to say anything.”

“Improvise. You're good at it,” Amber said between gritted teeth and her plastered-on smile.

Jason smiled on the outside, but his stomach was flipping on the inside. He could charm a crowd at someone else's wedding reception, but this was his own. What was he supposed to say?

Amber's mom leaned close to him and whispered, “Just speak from the heart.”

Amber squeezed his hand. Jason looked at the crowd of people. Some he knew and most he didn't.

“Amber and I would like to thank you all for coming out tonight to help us celebrate our union. Although our marriage caught many of you by surprise, including ourselves—” Jason looked at Amber.

Some people surrounding them laughed. He continued speaking, “—we are glad that you took time out to come help us celebrate love. I didn't know what love was until the day I met Amber. Since knowing her, my life has changed.”

“You can say that again,” Amber said and chuckled.

Jason tuned out the people around him and placed his attention on Amber as he talked. “Amber's filled my world with gladness and joy that's immeasurable. Having her as my wife has been one of my biggest accomplishments. Thank you all again for coming.”

Jason looked at Amber. “Do you want to say anything?”

Amber shook her head no.

Her mom took the microphone from Jason and handed it to Amber. Amber tried to resist, but her mother insisted.

Amber cleared her throat. “I wasn't going to say anything, but as you can tell, I have no choice.”

More chuckles could be heard around them.

“I'm not one for many words unless they're on the pages of a script. Nevertheless, tonight I want to say that I'm happy to see all of your smiling faces staring back at me to help celebrate this wonderful occasion. As you all know, I've written countless romantic comedies, but never thought I would be living out one of my own romantic tales—that is, not until I met this dude here. Jason Lewis has come into my life like a whirlwind, and it's been an enjoyable ride. A ride I don't ever want to end.”

Jason listened to Amber's speech. For someone who didn't have much to say, she was saying a lot. The passion in her voice when she spoke of him seemed real. Jason felt like there was hope for them after all. Their marriage didn't have to end after tonight. It could truly be a new beginning for the both of them.

“To
echo what my husband said—let me say that again—
husband
. We thank you for coming. I see my parents went way out on the food and drinks so let's get this party started.”

As if on cue, the deejay started playing some music.

Amber and Jason were then swamped by some of Amber's relatives.

“Jason, this is my Aunt Shirley, one of my mom's sisters.”

Jason took her hand and kissed the back of it. “Beauty is a common theme in your family, I see.”

“Amber, he's charming. I like him already.”

They all laughed.

“These are my cousins Blythe, Shannon, and Kelly and their husbands.”

Jason shook their hands.

“It's about time you got married,” Blythe blurted.

Her sisters gave her mean looks. “What?” Blythe asked. “You know y'all were thinking the same thing.”

Amber nudged Jason. “Come on. Blythe's always putting her nose in someone else's business. Her sisters will deal with her.”

Amber led Jason away. Jason looked back and saw Shannon and Kelly lecturing Blythe about her lack of etiquette.

“Uncle Buck,” Amber stopped and said. She gave the elderly man a tight hug. “I'm so glad you made the trip from Louisiana.”

“You know I wouldn't miss my favorite niece's reception. I would have liked to have been at the wedding, but I know you young folks like to do things differently than us old folks.”

“Uncle Buck, our elopement was just as big a surprise to me as it was to you.” Amber turned her attention toward Jason. “Jason, this is my great-uncle from Shreveport, Louisiana. He cooks the best barbecue in the South.”

“The South?” Uncle Buck winked.

“I mean the world. The best barbecue in the world.”

Uncle Buck shook Jason's hand. For a man in his seventies, he had a tight grip. “You treat my niece right or you'll have to answer to me. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Jason responded.

“Uncle Buck, are you terrorizing my new son-in-law?” Amber's mom walked over and said.

“No, sweetie. I was just telling my second-favorite niece, because you're my favorite, how happy I am for them.”

Amber looked at Jason. “You see how he is. He is something else, isn't he?” They all laughed.

Max walked near them and said, “Amber, let me borrow your husband. There are a few people I want to introduce him to.

Jason looked at Amber, and she shrugged her shoulders. Jason felt like he was walking into the deep unknown.

Amber watched Jason being led away by her father.

“Dear, don't worry. Your beau is going to be all right.”

Amber made sure no one was nearby. “Mom, you know he's not going to be my beau for long.”

“Something tells me you can change that if you want.” She looped her arm through Amber's. “Come. Let's go say hello to the rest of the family.”

Amber wished she had the confidence her mom had.

Amber chatted with her family and friends until Jason returned to her side.

After they took their seats at the long table, Max stood up. “Bishop Franks will say the grace and then we can eat.”

Amber held Jason's hand, bent her head, and closed her eyes as her pastor prayed over the food.

She prayed that a miracle happened. She prayed that Jason fell in love with her and they could live happily ever after.