The Rules (3 page)

“I hope he’s strong.”

“Why does he have to be strong?” Terri asked.

Gavin rested an arm on the open door. “Because.” His voice dropped low, and looking up into those hypnotizing light brown eyes, she felt dangerously close to swooning. “He’s going to have to be a soldier to deal with me.”

“Are you saying you want to be one of my non-boyfriends?” Terri asked in a syrupy voice, equally low.

“Sure do. And I want all the benefits that come with the title.”

She pursed her lips again and watched his gaze drift down to her mouth. “I don’t know. I’m not the kind to jump when you say jump because you’re rich. You might want to stick to those high society girls you’re used to. You can’t handle a woman like me.”

He chuckled, and his entire body shook. He had the most delicious smile. All white teeth and mahogany lips that hinted at untold pleasures. He was definitely a pretty man. Pretty eyes. Pretty teeth. And last but not least, pretty lips. So full and pretty they made her want to sit on his face.

“You’re something else, you know that? You talk a lot of shit.”

“I can back it up, too.” She rubbed her bare arms against the chilled air.

“Oh yeah?”

“Mhmm. Ask any of my previous lovers. But like I said, you might not be the right man for the job.” She took unprecedented pleasure in needling him.

Gavin narrowed his eyes as he watched her. “You’re wrong.”

“I doubt it.”

“I’ll win you over eventually.”

“You’re so sure?”

He shrugged, smiling a little. “What can I say? I’m rich and I’m spoiled, and I never take no for an answer.”

“Are you saying you always get what you want?” she asked.

This time, the smile was an all-teeth,
hell yeah
smile. “Always.”

“Hmm. Nice meeting you, Gavin.” Terri slid into the car and reached for the door, but Gavin held it open.

He ducked his head to look in at her, his face holding a seriousness that hadn’t been there before. “What can I do to become a non-boyfriend?”

“Nothing.” She grasped the door handle and tugged, but he didn’t release it.

“I don’t like that answer.”

“It’s the only answer you’re going to get.”

“What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing. I’m sure there’s a nice debutante out there who would love to hook up with you.”

“So getting your number is out of the question?”

“That’s correct. Were you listening?”

He was quiet for a while, and they both stared at each other, neither willing to break eye contact. “I have to tell you, I don’t usually find it this difficult to get a woman’s number.”

“I’m sure you don’t find it this difficult to get anything you want. After all, you’re rich and spoiled and don’t take no for an answer.”

He flashed milky white teeth in another one of his captivating smiles. “I can see I’m going to have my hands full with you.”

“You’re assuming you can get me,” Terri tossed back.

“Oh, I can get you.”

“You think so? You don’t have much time. Alannah said you’re leaving soon. Isn’t that right?”

“Nah.”

“Nah?” She tilted her head at the unexpected answer.

“I’m in no rush to leave Seattle.” His gaze swept her body again, and when his eyes came back to hers, her breath suspended at the heat in their depths. By the determined set to his mouth and intensity in his eyes, she knew without a doubt she had become a goal he intended to accomplish—like climbing Mount Kilimanjaro or successfully surfing dangerous waves. “I think I’ll stick around for a while.”

He straightened and half-closed the door before swinging it wide again. “Oh, and do me a favor, would you?”

“What’s that?”

He leaned in closer, as if what he had to say was of utmost importance. Every part of her tensed under his stare.

“Tell Derwin his days are numbered.”

With one last self-confident smile, he shut the door and strutted off.

Thank goodness, the night was almost over.

The elevator doors opened and Gavin stepped out with his date, Blake McConnell. As her escort for the evening, he felt obligated to see her to the penthouse apartment, but dreaded the stop at the door. They had parted ways a long time ago and he shouldn’t even have escorted her to the benefit tonight, but their mothers were friends from college back in Texas and his mother, Constance Johnson, had approached him with that sweet-as-honey Texas twang and more or less insisted he attend the event as Blake’s date.

They stopped at the door and Blake looked over her shoulder at him, smiling a secret smile and lowering her lashes in the way she did when she thought she’d get what she wanted. Gavin groaned inwardly but didn’t betray any emotion on the outside.

Blake was a stunning woman. Great figure, long deep-gold hair worn in an intricate upswept style, and near flawless alabaster skin. Tonight she wore a sleeveless black Michael Kors dress with a dramatic white taffeta train. Problem was, all that beauty, style, and charm disguised a whole lot of crazy. After only a few months of dating, he saw the writing on the wall and stopped seeing her.

Considering they hadn’t been exclusive, her behavior had been exceedingly worrisome. She followed his social media accounts and used them to track him across globe, showing up in random locations and screaming, “Surprise! I was just in the neighborhood.” She mean-mugged any woman who approached him, even if she was only a friend, and went through his phone—an absolute no-no.

Blake opened the door and turned with a flourish, keeping one hand on the knob and placing the other on her hip. Her blue eyes held an invitation no man could resist—if he didn’t know any better.

“Are you coming in?” she asked in a sex-kitten voice.

Now the awkward part.

Gavin stuffed his hands in the pockets of his black tuxedo pants. “Not tonight,” he said, inflecting the right amount of regret into his voice. “It’s been a long week and I’m bushed. I’m going to head home and get some rest.” He covered a fake yawn with his hand.

She didn’t blink, looking at him as if she knew better, which she probably thought she did. Despite ending their hookups over a year ago, she held onto the mistaken belief that he had feelings for her and found her irresistible.

Locking eyes with him, she reached back and unzipped her dress, letting it slide to the floor in a puddle of silk and taffeta around her ankles. “Are you sure?” she asked, raising an eyebrow in what she must consider to be a seductive look.

Gavin’s eyes wandered from the rosy nipples to the itty-bitty string thong barely covering her shaved privates. Considering all the wild, crazy sex they’d had, his soldier didn’t have much of a reaction, hardly noticing an almost naked, willing woman stood within reach. She turned so he could see her bare bottom and the tattoo etched in cursive right above the waistband of the thong:
Property of Gavin Johnson
.

He cringed. The tattoo shocked him when she texted him a picture, and the bold declaration against the flawless skin shocked him even more in person. He couldn’t figure out why she thought marking her body with his name would convince him to get back involved with her. If anything, the desperate act convinced him he’d made the right decision in the first place.

“I’m really, really tired, Blake,” he said, for lack of anything better to say.

He should be able to come up with a better response, but he was simply at a loss and wished he hadn’t been coerced into this date in the first place. He needed to get better at resisting his mother’s overtures, but who was he kidding? No one in his family dared say no to Constance Johnson.

The sultry smile wavered on Blake’s face. Facing him squarely, she placed both hands on her hips, shoulders back and head held high. “You’re kidding, right? You’re not going to leave all this”—she swept a hand down the length of her lithe body—“are you?”

Nothing. Nada. His top head definitely ruled tonight.

“Blake, you know as well as I do we’re no good together.”
Because one of us is sane and the other is
in
sane
.

“Gavin,” she cooed, voice dripping with sugar as she tried another tactic. “I’m not looking for anything more than you want to give. Come in and let’s have a little fun. We can use the paddle tonight, because I need a good spanking, Big Daddy.” She pouted prettily and shook her tush at him.

Gavin rubbed a hand down the back of his head. “You need to find another daddy, Blake. Move on. You’re a beautiful woman and there’s a man out there waiting for someone special like you.” He hoped he sounded sincere. He felt sorry for the next fool caught in her web.

A tint of rose bloomed in her cheeks, and Blake’s face contorted into an ugly image of anger and embarrassment. “Last chance,” she bit out.

He refrained from sighing at the ridiculousness of her comment. That would only inflame her more. “I’m going to have to pass.”

With the angry mutter of a four-letter word he distinctly remembered her using in a more appealing, sexual connotation during times past, Blake slammed the door, leaving him staring at her apartment number inches from his face. This time he did sigh and proceeded down the hallway.

On the way to the elevator, the phone in his pocket rang. He fished it out and Trenton’s face filled the screen. Gavin almost didn’t answer but gritted his teeth in anticipation of the forthcoming conversation.

“What?” He stabbed the down button.

Trenton chuckled. “How’d it go?”

“I’m not in the mood for your jokes, Trent.”

“Jokes? What jokes? I called to see how the benefit went and if you and
your property
had a good time.”

“That’s why I don’t like to tell you anything. You’re trifling.” Gavin stepped onto the elevator.

“Come on, who else are you going to tell? And you have to admit that’s funny. I’m surprised you agreed to escort her.”

“If you were me, could you have said no to Mother?”

The other end went silent for several seconds. “No, I guess you’re right, but I hated it for you.” He chuckled again. Apparently his sympathy was no match for the desire to laugh at Gavin’s awkward predicament. “Did you ever tell Mother why you broke up with her?”

“No, but after tonight, I really should. I know Mother will be mortified by her behavior and no way am I being talked into escorting her anywhere again.”

The elevator doors opened and Gavin walked out.

“Hey, Lana and I are going to The Underground tonight. You coming?”

The Underground was a club known for its hip-hop and indie rock music. Up and coming artists used it as a testing ground and launch pad for their music careers.

“You kids go ahead. I’m done for the night.” He strolled out of the building to the valet, who handed him the key to his vehicle. “By the way, I need a manicure. Where did you say Alannah’s friend…ah, what’s her name…Terri, worked again?”

The halting question had been completely phony. He remembered her first and last name, the exact shade of her dark brown eyes, the shape of her soft-looking lips, and from visual inspection alone had a pretty good idea of her measurements.

“I didn’t.”

Gavin handed the young man another fifty. When he’d arrived at the building with Blake, he’d handed him fifty dollars and whispered the request to leave the car parked nearby. “Just tell me where she works.”

“You can have a manicurist go out to your house.”

“I want to try someone new.” Gavin slid into the interior of the black Porsche Spyder, a two-seater convertible with black interior and one of only five models available in the world.

“You need to talk to Lana on this one. Hold on.”

Gavin waited, tapping his thumb on the steering wheel and watching a drunk couple lean on each other, staggering toward the entrance of the building where the doorman swung open the door and let them in.

“Hi, Gavin.”

“Hi, beautiful.”

“You’re not going to hurt my friend, are you?”

“What? I’m wounded right down to my soul. You’ve known me for over twenty years.”

“That’s why I’m asking.”

Gavin shook his head and laughed. “You might have a point. I promise not to hurt your friend. Does that satisfy you?”

“I guess it’ll have to do. Terri didn’t say anything to me, but I have the impression she
might
be interested in you. She works at Beauty Studio Salon & Spa.”

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Gavin started the car and connected the Bluetooth. “Thank you, beautiful. Is your husband going to be up for squash tomorrow morning after the two of you get through partying tonight?”

Alannah repeated the question and Trenton came back on the phone.

“I’ll be there and ready to beat your ass.”

“
I’m
tired of beating
your
ass.” Gavin pulled into the Seattle nighttime traffic.