The Love Laws (9 page)

In
the spirit of friendship, Kevin got a grip on his own temper and allowed
himself to review what had just happened: The look of mild disgust on Jamie’s
face and her dismissive attitude towards him. Then he thought about the news
he’d overheard as he’d approached their table. His best friend and his lady
were about to become parents and he hadn’t even acknowledged it. He was too
busy focusing on Jamie and the possibility of getting into her very fancy
panties to congratulate his friend. And let’s not forget about the fact that he
had willingly slept with Duncan’s maleficent ex-wife recently. Despite his
protests and denials it was obvious that none of these actions belonged to a
mentally stable individual.

Was
he out of control? How long had it been since he’d written anything exactly? It
didn’t take long to recall. The nightmare hit him like a freight train and he
found himself leaning against the side of the closest building, breathing
heavily and letting the rain wash over his heated face. Images of frightened women,
blood, pain and death overwhelmed him and he wished fervently for a drink and a
warm, friendly, female body to dull the terror and fascination that gripped him
and refused to fade.

But
he didn’t have a woman or a drink to distract himself with right now so he did
the next best thing. He turned and punched the cinder block wall he’d been
leaning against. Searing pain flowed through his knuckles and up his arm in a rush
of sickening sensation.

Duncan
shouted his name, but he ignored his friend and looked down at his hand. The
shock of seeing his own blood there seemed to snap him out of his fog for a
moment and he was able to focus.

Three
weeks. It had been three long, blurry weeks since he’d written a word. He
couldn’t seem to force himself to even sit down at his generic hotel desk and
do anything more than stare at his Mac’s blank, accusing screen. He couldn’t
even check his email without feeling a prickle of unease trickle down his
spine.

Rawlings,
the subject of his latest true crime biography, had very simply ruined writing
for him. The act that had once given him so much pleasure and confidence now
filled him with terror. He wasn’t actually scared of Rawling himself. The
infamous serial killer was in jail where he belonged and would never see the
light of freedom again. No, it wasn’t that. It was something far, far worse
that crept through Kevin’s mind when he sat down to write about Rawlings and the
many, many women he had stalked, used, tortured and then strangled.

Duncan
was right. He was in denial. About so many things. It didn’t seem to matter
that he was on the brink of alienating his best friend, losing his current book
contract, and developing some serious addiction problems. He still desperately
wanted a drink to kill his momentary awareness and a woman to dull his senses.
He wanted these things more than his next breath. He knew all of this and yet
was unable to move away from the edge of disaster.

A
week ago Kevin had escaped Kerry’s bed and resolved to take control of his life
again, but it hadn’t worked. If anything, he was more lost than ever. And he
had no idea how to pull himself together again.

One
thing he did know was this: He owed Jamie an apology. He clung to that one
thought. It wasn’t much, but perhaps rectifying this one mistake was a step
towards getting himself back on track. He only hoped she wouldn’t make him feel
like a bigger tool than he felt like right this second.

Knowing
Jamie, she wouldn’t make this easy for him. For some reason, that thought made
him smile.

Chapter
Five

Love Law #2 – Men are Hunters.

I know this is going to sound very
anti-feminist, but it needs to be said. Please leave the chasing to the penis
brigade. Don't get me wrong. I am all about female empowerment. I encourage all
women to go after what they want in life. Be aggressive. Be a bitch when the
situation merits it. Work hard and get ahead in your chosen field. Stand up for
yourselves and inspire the next generation to do the same. Demand the respect
you deserve if it’s not handed to you. But please, when it comes to romance, do
not pursue men. It's just not natural. Years and years of evolution have
conditioned them to chase their prey. As a result, they are mistrustful when
the prey just lies down like a sick antelope. And that's exactly what we're
doing if we are willing to do all the work. They don't value women who make it
too easy for them. And it doesn't make sense. We have what they so desperately want.
It's as simple as that. Why give it away when you can make them work for it?
So, stop calling and leaving cutesy messages for that guy who never calls back.
Don't answer those late night texts asking, "Hey, what are you doing now?
Can I come over?" And above all else, do NOT show up at his home/work/gym
uninvited unless you’re in an established relationship. This is not
spontaneous, sexy behavior. It's stalking. And if you do it, you look like a
complete bunny-boiler. Let them figure out how to win you. That's their job.

Jamie
stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror at Steamworks and didn’t like
what she saw one bit. The pretty face with the delicately upturned nose and
smooth, pale skin was the same, but the eyes were hard and the full lips were
drawn thin in disapproval. She looked old, tired and more than a little
unpleasant.

When
had she turned into a shrew exactly? But that’s exactly what she was. Why else
would she be so rude to Kevin? He was a complete horn dog, but she had loads of
experience dealing with drunks on the make. She could have rejected him
politely and avoided the whole Duncan dragging him out by the scruff of the
neck scene. But no, she had to over react, causing her brother-in-law’s
protective instincts to kick in and create a completely awkward rift in the two
men’s friendship. Not cool. Not cool at all.

The
worst part was that she had no idea why she hadn’t stepped in and prevented
Duncan from treating Kevin like a puppy who’d piddled on the rug. She could
have easily intervened and smoothed things over between the two men, but she
had just sat there, mesmerized by the sight of Kevin being thrown out of the
pub by his best friend. 

The
truth was that a very small, petty part of her was glad Duncan had taken Kevin
to task for his behavior. She’d liked that the gorgeous blonde stud had been
humiliated just a little bit. Not because he was too arrogant by half or
thought he could seduce anyone with breasts. No. It was more personal than
that. She had sat there and watched Kevin’s humiliation with a cruel little
smile on her lips because he had dared to touch her after kissing another
woman. She was jealous. Pure and simple.

That’s
why she was here in the bathroom trying to figure out how to put her green-eyed
monster back in its cage and rectify the situation between the two men. She’d
been here for a good ten minutes and knew that her sister would be in to check
on her if she didn’t get back to their booth soon. But she couldn’t quite leave
yet. She had some other ugly issues to deal with first.

Her
sister. Pregnant. It was hard to believe. Before meeting Duncan it had looked
like Jessica was going to take her virginity to her grave, but now she was
married to one of the hottest, kindest, most virile men either Martin sister
had ever had the pleasure to encounter. And now a perfect little baby was on
the way to complete Jessica’s perfect little life. 

The
last thing Jamie wanted at this point in her life was a living, breathing,
poop-machine totally dependent on her for every single little thing. She
couldn’t even handle her own life, so wasn’t close to being prepared to take on
a baby. But she could admit to herself that her sister’s news had revved up the
volume on her biological clock by a couple of decibels.

A
baby. Yes. She wanted that. Someday. When her life was settled and she was no
longer struggling to keep her business alive. Her imaginary future baby
deserved a mother who wasn’t so stressed out all the time.

Not
that she wasn’t happy for Jess and Duncan. She was totally overjoyed for them,
but it still stung.  Everything seemed to work out for Jessica, but her own
life, by comparison, seemed like an endless battle for survival. She couldn’t
even keep her business afloat and yet the good news just kept rolling in for
her twin.

What
was wrong with her exactly?
Jamie wondered.
Was she an awful person? Was
this Karma at work? Was she being punished for not being a saint like Jessica?
It almost seemed like her wild past would haunt her forever.

She
reveled in her own selfish bitterness for a few more moments. Then she mentally
gave herself a shake. She would not be the type of person who begrudged her
sister’s happiness. And she refused to cause a permanent rift between Duncan
and Kevin even though she would be thrilled to never see Kevin’s incredible
shoulders and dazzling smile ever again.

 Despite
the undeniable tension that existed between her and her brother-in-law she liked
and respected Duncan and knew how much he valued his friendship with Kevin. She
personally couldn’t see why the two men were such buddies. Duncan was a total
boy scout while Kevin probably would have been thrown out of that particular
organization for compromising a girl scout or possibly leading a panty raid. He
seemed like a complete douchebag to her, a superhot douchebag, but one without
a lot of other redeeming qualities.

But
she trusted Duncan’s judgement enough to suspect that there was more to Kevin
than what she was seeing. Despite his questionable behavior there was also
something in his eyes that suggested there might actually be a decent guy
underneath the womanizing exterior. Not that she cared.

 Besides,
she refused to be responsible for ending a twenty-five year friendship. Even if
Kevin totally deserved it. So, she would make nice and try to bring the two men
together again. Whatever it took.

Pasting
on a huge, fake smile she checked out her reflection in the mirror again. She
looked a bit like a crazed beauty pageant contestant, but at least she no
longer resembled a pinch-faced DMV employee.

With
a shake of her hair she exited the rest room, tugging down on the hem of her
too-tight skirt to ensure she wasn’t flashing anymore thigh than absolutely
necessary. She was so preoccupied with her primping that she nearly smashed
into the large, familiar body parked in the middle of the corridor leading back
to the pub’s main room.

Her
heart took a rather sharp leap and then she felt an enthusiastic flutter
between her legs when she saw the object of her lust smiling down at her with
undisguised admiration. With some difficulty she managed to firmly ignore her
body’s ill-advised elation at seeing him again so soon.

“Kevin,”
she cried, pushing away from his wide chest with both hands. She was surprised
to note that he removed his hands from her waist immediately without even
attempting a half-hearted grope. “What are you doing here? I thought Duncan
escorted you from the building.”

Kevin
ducked his head, looking more than a little embarrassed. “He escorted me back
in after I sobered up a bit and got my shit together.”

“It’s
been, what? Forty-five minutes since you were pounding down tequila.” She
glanced down at her watch. “And you’re now miraculously sober? And
well-behaved?” She challenged, trying to dodge around him, but he stubbornly refused
to move out of her path. His large frame almost entirely blocked the exit, but
in the most delicious way imaginable. To get past him there was no escaping the
fact that her curves would be forced to come into contact with the hard angles
of his body.

The
possibility of rubbing herself against him gave her an involuntary thrill. She couldn’t
deny that she was wildly attracted to him which was exactly why she needed to
keep her distance. If she touched him she couldn’t see how she’d be able to hide
how completely undone she was by his irresistible physical presence.

“Not
entirely. But probably as close as I get lately,” he said with a disarming
grin.

“Great.
I’m happy you can see straight again. Now, can I kindly get by?” She asked,
raising her eyebrow in a gesture that was supposed to intimidate him but only
seemed to make his grin widen.

“Nope,”
he said, crossing his arms over his mouth-watering torso.

Despite
herself, she felt her lips quirk up in an answering grin. He was just so
ridiculous. Sober or not, did he actually think he could trap her in the
bathroom? He’d closed the long, velvet curtain separating the bathrooms from the
main pub, but did he really expect that flimsy barrier to discourage bar
patrons from intruding on this little scene?

Trying
to sound annoyed, she flipped her hair over her shoulder and glared at him. “Nope?
What do you mean? Nope? Are planning on keeping me prisoner here in the
hallway? Nice plan. This is a drinking establishment. Eventually someone is
going to have to relieve themselves.  And they’ll probably notice that you’ve
commandeered this space and come to my rescue. So maybe it would be better if
you just let me out now. Unless, of course, you want Duncan to kick you to the
curb again.” She gave him a smug grin.

Kevin
uncrossed his arms and leaned down towards her with a wicked glint in his topaz
eyes. He strongly resembled a tawny housecat preparing to pounce on a juicy mouse.
“Sorry, Angel. But you`re on your own. Duncan and your sister are gone. They
sent me in here to let you know. Among other things.”