Rules of Love (4 page)

Chapter Seven

Jason took a quick shower. He went through his bag and became frustrated. Why hadn't he packed something more casual, like a pair of jeans or sweatpants? Maybe because he barely wore casual clothes. Casual to him was forgetting the jacket and not putting on a tie. He made a mental note to update his wardrobe.

For now, he had more important things to deal with. What he thought was a one-nighter had ended up being more serious. Marriage had never been on his to-do list. “Date and be happy and live life carefree” was his way of life. He knew what he needed to do to get things resolved, but it would require him to talk to the one person who he didn't want to talk to right now.

He found his phone. The battery was dead. He plugged it in, and as soon as he got enough juice, he turned it on. His phone vibrated continuously, alerting him to many messages. He didn't bother to listen to his voicemail or read any text messages. He dialed Charlotte's number.

“It's about time you called me back. I've been trying to reach you since early this morning.”

“It's only ten,” Jason noted.

“Well, I started getting phone calls around seven. Dude, you've got some explaining to do.”

“What are you talking about? Has one of our clients gotten into some trouble that I don't know anything about? It isn't Bob, is it? Because I just saw him last night at this club.”

“Are you serious? Jason, I'm talking about you. I'm talking about America's favorite celebrity daughter now all grown up and married.” Charlotte went on to tell him that news of his nuptials with Amber was posted online and had made some of the newspapers, including the
LA Times
.

“Charlotte, I promise you, this was nothing I set out to do. We were having a good time.”

“Obviously.”

“And the next thing you know, I'm waking up next to her and we're married,” Jason responded.

“Hmm,” was all Charlotte said.

“Is that all you have to say? I was expecting more than hmm,” Jason blurted.

“I can't say that I didn't see this coming. I'm surprised it took this long.”

“You know my rule. Never sleep with a client. And—”

“Well, I'm the last person to talk about rules. You know Sean started off as one of our clients, and you see what happened there. We're married and about to have our first child.”

“Charlotte, you're not helping me with this situation.”

“Fine. I'll stop being your best friend and be your business partner. So tell me, Ja-son.” She stretched his name. “How should we handle this?”

“We can do a press release and tell them the information is false. In the meantime, Amber and I will get an annulment, and then life can go back to being the way it was.” Jason sat on the edge of the bed and put his shoes on.

“Life for you, mister, will never be the same.”

“We're not staying married. The marriage is getting annulled,” Jason responded.

“You and Amber should remain married.”

“What! Why?”

“Who knows. You might just like it.” Charlotte chuckled.

“What are you saying?” Jason asked.

“It's obvious you both are attracted to each other. Maybe this happened for a reason. Why not give it a try? What's the worst that can happen? If things don't work out, you can go forward with the annulment. Besides, I want you to experience the joy I've had with Sean.”

“You know my track record with women. I've been batting zero. Love's never been in the cards for me.”

“Maybe your luck is changing. Like I said, things happen for a reason,” Charlotte stated before having to rush off the phone, leaving Jason to ponder her last comment.

Jason accessed the Internet and did a Google search. Staring back at him was a picture of Amber and him coming out of the wedding chapel. They looked really happy. Too bad he couldn't remember posing for the picture. However, his body sure did remember how it felt to enter paradise.

* * * * *

Amber paced the living room floor, waiting on Jason to return. She'd heard him on the phone. He was probably explaining himself to some woman he'd left behind in Los Angeles. Amber stared at the gold band around her finger. Her cell phone chirped again. She'd avoided looking at it, but since she needed something to take her mind off Jason, she looked at the phone display.

She'd received several text messages from her father, and they were all marked urgent.

She hoped nothing was wrong with him or her mom. She dialed his number.

“Baby girl, when I told you to go to Vegas and let your hair down, I didn't mean for you to literally do it,” her dad spurted out immediately upon answering.

“What are you talking about?” Amber asked.

She suddenly heard her mom's voice say, “Amber Marie, how could you get married without letting us know?”

“The Vegas trip was Dad's idea.”

“Max, what is she talking about?” she heard her mom ask.

“Dear, she's stretching the truth a little here. I planned the trip, not the elopement.” Amber listened to her father try to explain himself to her mother.

Amber interrupted them both and said, “Mom, what I'm saying is, Dad gave me this weekend trip to Vegas. He invited my manager to come along with me. Jason and I ended up married. End of story.”

“Do you love this Jason?” her mom asked.

Her dad added, “I knew you two were a match, but I never thought something like this would happen. I just wanted you to live a little.”

“Well, if it's any consolation to either of you, Jason and I will be getting the marriage annulled as soon as possible.”

“You will do no such thing,” her father said. “Your mother and I will be throwing you a wedding reception. It will take a lot of work on your mother's part, but we're scheduling it for next weekend.”

“But Dad. This marriage isn't real.”

“Did you sign a marriage license?”

“Yes.”

“Are you wearing a wedding band?”

“Yes.”

“Then, baby girl, you are married. Don't make plans for next Saturday. I expect you and my new son-in-law to be here no later than six o'clock. Although I'm sure I will see you both long before Saturday. Call me when you get back to town.”

“But Dad…” Amber's voice trailed off as she was greeted with silence because her father had disconnected the call.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Jason walking behind her.

She turned and faced him. “So, are we going to stay married or what?”

Chapter Eight

Jason took a seat on the couch and motioned for Amber to sit next to him. “You don't sound too thrilled to be married to me,” Jason noted.

“It's not that,” Amber responded. “I know you don't want to be married, so the sooner we get this annulment done, the quicker you can get back to your exciting life.”

His life wasn't as exciting as she thought. Yes, it was filled with countless parties and events, but when he came home, he was home alone. There was no one there to greet him with a hug and a kiss every night. He'd gotten a dog once, but the dog had run away because Jason spent so much time away from home.

Jason admitted to having plenty of women saved in his contacts, but they were just names with body parts. After the sex was over, there was nothing else between him and any of the women. Sex without love had become senseless to him, and up until last night, he hadn't had sex in six months. Six months ago was when Amber had walked into the conference room at C & J Management, and he'd been having secret desires for her ever since. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't touched another woman since meeting Amber.

After his six-month drought, he hated that he couldn't remember his and Amber's entire experience. Well, he couldn't, but his manhood apparently definitely could, because it reacted whenever Amber was near. He normally could control his hormones, but there was something about Amber that kept his libido on overdrive.

Jason thought about what Charlotte had said. Maybe she was right. Maybe he shouldn't be in a rush to end things with Amber. He'd found an immediate attraction to her, and he wanted to find out where it could lead. Their attraction was more than just physical. In his mind, it was kismet.

“I'll do whatever you decide,” Jason stated.

Amber looked at him with a curious expression on her face. “I'm giving you an easy out. You're in no way obligated to stay married to me.”

Jason couldn't lie to Amber. “I wish it was that simple, but it's not.”

“What do you mean?” Amber tilted her head slightly.

“I know you don't like being in the spotlight, but we're the talk of Tinseltown right now. Well, at least, you are. I'm just along for the ride. Every outlet is talking about our Las Vegas nuptials.”

“I was wondering how my dad found out.”

“Yeah, I know,” Jason blurted.

“You talked to my dad?” Amber asked.

“No, but I'm sure it won't be long.” Jason wasn't looking forward to that conversation.

“I talked to him, and he wants to see you when we return to LA.”

Jason felt his hands getting sweaty. “Should I wear a bulletproof vest?”

“My dad said if he ever shot anybody, it wouldn't be in the chest, it would be in the head, so no need to.”

“Ouch. You're making this awfully painful to me.”

“I don't want you to go in without being prepared.” Amber bit her bottom lip, then burst out laughing. “Just kidding with you. He didn't say that. You should have seen the look on your face. Priceless.”

Jason loved to hear her laugh. Without thinking, Jason licked his lips because he wanted to cover her lips with his own. Amber went on to tell him about the conversation she'd had with her dad, but all he wanted to do was kiss her.

“Well, we can't disappoint your dad, now can we?” Jason asked.

“Of course not.” Amber leaned back and crossed her arms.

“Amber, I'm going to order breakfast and then run an errand. My errand shouldn't take long.”

“So you're just going to leave me here by myself to deal with this?” Amber jumped off the couch.

“No, it's not like that. Give me an hour. An hour and a half at the most and I'll be back. I promise.”

Amber sighed aloud. “Whatever. You can eat the food because I'm not even hungry.”

Amber walked into her bedroom and closed the door.

Jason had to fix this before Amber proceeded with the annulment. He had to convince her that being married wasn't such a bad thing.

Amber threw herself on top of the comforter. The last twenty-fours of her life had been one big roller-coaster ride. One minute she was alone with no love prospects, and now, unexpectedly, she was married.

Getting an annulment would be the easiest thing to do, so why was her heart tugging at her not to do it? For now, she would use the excuse that she didn't want to disappoint her father.

For the last few months, she'd fantasized about being married to Jason. Now her fantasy had become a reality, and she wasn't sure if she could handle it.

Jason hadn't seemed thrilled about remaining married until she mentioned her father. She'd hoped that he would be the one man who wasn't with her because of Max. But that was wishful thinking. She could never escape being known as Max's daughter. She loved her father, but hated not knowing if people were sincere about wanting to be in her life or if they were only trying to get close to her to get to her father.

Amber closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. She felt something touching her arm before hearing her name being called.

“Amber…Amber,” Jason said.

Opening her sleepy eyes, she yawned. “I didn't realize I had fallen asleep.”

“I started not to wake you, but I wanted to give you this.”

Jason held up a black box. She sat up in the bed. “What is this?”

“Open it.” Jason handed her the box.

She opened the black box, and her eyes widened as she looked at the one-carat, princess-cut diamond ring. “It's beautiful.”

Jason removed the ring from the box. “I'm not as rich as the men you're probably used to dating, but I wanted to give you something nice since you're now Mrs. Lewis.”

Amber's eyes watered. She hadn't expected a real ring. Their marriage wasn't even real. “Why, Jason? You don't even want this. You're just doing it because of my father.”

Jason placed the ring on her finger and kissed the back of her hand. “One thing you will learn about Jason Lewis is that I never do anything halfway. No, I wasn't ready to get married, but since we are, we might as well make the best of it. And if, by chance, we make it to one year, I promise to upgrade your ring.”

Amber laughed. “So in other words, enjoy this ring because, baby, this the only one you're getting.”

“And you're supposed to be the romantic one. Not,” Jason teased.

“I am, but only in my stories. Romance and me never worked out.”

“We're going to change that.” Jason shifted her chin so they were now making direct eye contact. “Let me be the one to show you what love feels like.”

Amber tried not to laugh, but couldn't help it. Jason sounded just as sappy as the character did in her latest romantic comedy. “Okay, Jason. Stop it. The ring is great for show, but you don't have to pretend. You're getting a little mushy on me.”

“There are some benefits to being married, you know.” Jason got so close that she could hear him breathing.

“It's the middle of the day. Who has sex in the middle of the day?” Amber asked.

“We do.” Jason planted kisses on each side of her lips.

“But this isn't a real marriage, remember?”

“Let's pretend that it is,” Jason said. Jason kissed her on the mouth, and it wasn't long before his tongue eased its way inside.

Amber closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensations running through her body. She truly hoped Jason could learn to love her.