The Rules Read online

  “Nothing.” Gavin lifted the glass weight and dropped it with unnecessary force onto the file.

  Trenton braced his hands on the back of a guest chair. “I already know things didn’t go well.”

  Gavin sat up. “How do you know that? Did Alannah tell you something?”

  Trenton chuckled. “Nothing like that. I just know because this is the second time this week you’ve randomly asked me about Terri.”

  Gavin relaxed and tilted back the chair. “Yeah, all right. Whatever.”

  “Are you going to tell me what happened between the two of you?”

  “We went out.”

  “And you haven’t heard from her since? She’s not taking your calls?”

  Disliking the line of questioning, Gavin shifted in the chair. “It’s not a big deal. She’s just another woman.”

  Trenton straightened and rubbed his chin. “You trying to convince me or yourself?”

  “I’m not trying to convince you or myself of anything.”

  “Oh my, my,” Trenton said, laughing. He folded his arms across his chest.

  “What’s so funny?” Gavin demanded.

  “You. She’s doing to you what you do to women all the time.”

  “Don’t you mean we?”

  “I’m a changed man.” Trenton stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Look, Terri’s Alannah’s friend, and I’m not going to pretend I know her well enough to have a good gauge of her personality, but I’ve seen enough to know she keeps men eating out of her hand and discards them when she’s done. There are very few women who treat men the way she does.”

  “Stop talking in parables. What’s your point?”

  “My point is, she’s not like Sharon or Blake or probably any other woman you’ve ever met. She’s the fuck ’em and leave ’em type. She’s not the kind looking for love. If you want my advice—”

  “I don’t recall asking for it.”

  “She’s the female version of you. Have your fun and move on. If you’re looking for anything deeper, you’re barking up the wrong tree.”

  “Thank you, Confucius, but I’m not looking to marry her. We barely know each other. We went on one date.” Two, if he counted the night he had her SUV detailed and bought her two slices of pizza. “As you pointed out, I’m the fuck ’em and leave ’em type, too. Just because I asked about the woman doesn’t mean I’m in love with her.”

  Trenton threw up his hands. “My mistake.” He strolled across the room but paused at the door. “Oh, I came by to tell you there’s a special set at The Underground on Sunday night. A group of female musicians by the name of Played Out. You probably remember them from your Stanford days.”

  “I do. Five women, if I’m not mistaken.”

  “That’s them. Seems they decided to abandon their careers and revive the band to see how far they can take it. They’re on a west coast tour, hitting clubs like The Underground. Alannah and I are going to hear them. You interested in coming out?”

  Gavin twisted the paperweight around and around on the file. “No, thanks. I might fly down to LA for the weekend and hit a club or two with the guys.”

  “All right, then.” Trenton opened the door and then snapped his fingers. “I almost forgot. Terri’s going to be there.”

  Gavin straightened in the chair.

  “Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Trenton said, smug grin in place. “See you Sunday,” he tossed over his shoulder on the way out.

  “Asshole,” Gavin said to himself, smiling.

  ****

  “Hi, honey!” Terri hopped into Alannah’s black Lexus LS. “Sorry I’m late.”

  “I’m used to it,” Alannah said, drily. She wore a cute, long-sleeved navy dress with burgundy polka dots, tights, and her hair pulled into a neat doughnut at the back of her head. “What kept you this time?”

  “I couldn’t decide what to wear.” She settled on dark jeans, boots, a denim jacket, and a purple blouse. She wore her hair in a neat topknot, her go-to style the past few days, and gold earrings the size of round coasters.

  Alannah rolled her eyes.

  Terri shoved her. “Stop. You know you love me.” She sighed. “Can’t wait to see Dorothy Koomson.”

  Seattle was a book lover’s paradise. In addition to the ubiquitous coffee shops on every street, the Emerald City claimed the title of having the most book stores per capita of any city in the country. One of Terri’s favorite things to do was attend author readings and literary events at the iconic Elliott Bay Book Company. And few pastimes delivered the same giddy excitement as browsing the shelves of a small bookstore, packed to capacity and filled with the distinctive, musky odor of aged books. In a place like that, she became lost, disappearing between the pages of tales spun for people who liked to escape the drudgery of life for several hours and live vicariously through characters within the pages turned sepia with age.

  Lucky for her, Alannah enjoyed reading, too, and occasionally accompanied her to events. Terri had a copy of Koomson’s The Woman He Loved Before and Ice Cream Girl for the author to sign, and she intended to purchase and get her autograph on the new release she would be reading from at the bookstore.

  “Is Douglas still going to meet us there?” Alannah asked once they merged into traffic.

  “No, I ended it with him.”

  “Already? What happened?” Alannah shot a glance her way.

  “Nothing happened. It was just time to move on.”

  “You really don’t waste any time, do you? By the way, what happened between you and Gavin? You missed yoga and we haven’t talked since your date last week.”

  “We had a good time.” She told Alannah about dinner at SkyCity Restaurant, the conversation over dinner, and hinted at the sexual gymnastics they indulged in back at her place.

  “Soooo, are you going to see him again?” Alannah smiled from ear to ear.

  “No, my little matchmaker friend. Thank you for telling him where I work, and although he was…amazing, that night was just a one-time thing. He’s a great guy, but I won’t be seeing him again.”

  The two times he called, she had been sorely tempted to answer or call back, but chickened out. She liked Gavin a little too much.

  “Why won’t you see him again if he’s a great guy?” Alannah asked, a bemused expression on her face.

  “He reminds me too much of my ex.”

  “The one you never talk about?”

  “That’s the one.”

  Alannah didn’t know the whole story about Talon Cyrenci and the life she led as his live-in girlfriend. She shared the bare minimum, not even mentioning his name, but provided enough information to let her friend know that being with him had been a traumatic time she preferred to forget. Talon had been charming and rich, like Gavin, and she saw the danger of falling for a man just like her ex. He could easily take over her life.

  Terri threw herself into every relationship, which was why she enjoyed her freedom so much now. She dated how and when she wanted and intended to keep it that way. She was in a good place. A happy place. She didn’t want to threaten the equilibrium she had attained. Not even for Gavin and his devilish grin, succulent lips, and warm caresses.

  Recalling all the ways he used his hands and mouth, leading her down the path to leg-shaking orgasms, Terri pressed a hand to her forehead, momentarily closed her eyes, and sighed softly. She should forget him. There were plenty of other fish in the sea.

  “You shouldn’t let what happened in the past define your future,” Alannah said. She glanced over at Terri, eyes filled with sympathy. Her friend was such a sweetheart.

  “I’m not,” Terri promised. “Right now, I’m doing me. Terri Slade is dating and having fun. I don’t want any one man monopolizing my time, and I don’t want to get serious with anyone right now. Besides, guess how much money I have saved?”

  “How much?”

  “Six thousand, one hundred, and fifty dollars!”

  Alannah squealed and Terri threw up her hands and dance
d in the seat. Not bad for a woman who, at twenty-seven years old, drove cross country in an old SUV with only a few hundred dollars to her name.

  “In no time you’ll have the ten thousand dollars you want in place before you start looking for a condo,” Alannah said.

  “Yes. Homeownership, and all without a man. No offense,” Terri added hastily.

  “No offense taken,” Alannah said, laughing. “I like living with Trent.”

  “I can’t believe he convinced you to move in with him.”

  “He didn’t.”

  Terri glanced at her. “Um, yes he did. You’re living with him.”

  A mischievous smile crossed Alannah’s lips. “He thinks he talked me into it, but I wanted to move in with him all along.”

  Terri’s mouth fell open. “You sneaky little bitch.”

  Giggling, Alannah blushed. “Shh. I let him think it was his idea.”

  “Oh my, you’re not so sweet after all, are you?”

  They both had a good laugh, and when the giggling died down, Terri turned on the radio to an R&B station playing mellow tunes.

  Her thoughts drifted to Gavin again. She saw him—hands on her hips, eyes squinting, concentrating, teeth sunk into his bottom lip as she rode him in the middle of the bed. Although she knew she’d made the right decision regarding their hookup, in the back of her mind, a niggling doubt took root.

  Rule number one, maintain control. She’d done her best to keep control of the relationship by kicking him out the next morning—the first rule of keeping her head on straight.

  But the more she thought about Gavin, his smile, and the way he made her feel, the more she wanted to break the rule.

  Chapter Eleven

  Gavin walked into The Underground and scanned the dark room, checking out the crowd. Being a Sunday night, a third of the tables remained empty and only a few patrons idled at the two bars positioned on either side of the venue.

  Played Out grooved onstage, strumming guitars, pounding drums, and dancing back and forth. All of the women—three black, one white, and a Filipino—wore Afro wigs and seventies-style clothing that included a mix of tie-dye blouses, bell bottoms, or mini-dresses. They played seventies funk, and most everyone present bounced their heads and shimmied in the seats.

  Trenton’s frat brother and owner of the venue, Devin, approached with his hand outstretched. “Gavin, long time no see.”

  “Good to see you.” Gavin slapped his hand against Devin’s and pumped hard. “Is my brother here?”

  “He and Alannah are at their reserved table,” Devin answered, pointing with his chin.

  “Thanks. We’ll have to catch up later.”

  “Sure thing.”

  On the way to the table, Gavin paused once to chat with a familiar face, a young woman by the name of Carrie Ann, with whom he had a brief fling a few years ago. She was with her man but still flirted with Gavin by batting her lashes and dragging her finger down the middle of his chest. Before she pulled back from their brief hug goodbye, she slipped something into his pocket.

  Striding toward Trenton and his girlfriend, Gavin extracted the business card. The front proclaimed her position as a real estate agent in embossed black and gold letters, but she must have seen him as soon as he entered the building, because the back contained the handwritten words Call me and a number, which he guessed must be her mobile. Under other circumstances, he would have been tempted to follow up, but his mind was elsewhere. Occupied by Terri.

  Gavin sat down across from Trenton, who had his arm resting on the back of Alannah’s chair. She was engaged in a conversation on the phone and had one finger plugging her ear to hear over the noise of the band.

  Trenton smiled smugly and Gavin shot him the finger.

  “Where is she?” he asked.

  Trenton leaned forward. “She ran to the restroom. She’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  Tapping his finger on the surface of the wooden table, Gavin looked around for a waitress. The minute he saw Terri, he planned to drag her off to a private area so they could talk. He understood the game of playing hard to get, but this was ridiculous.

  Alannah hung up the phone and handed it back to Trenton. “Gavin, I didn’t know you were coming tonight.” She sipped her Coke through a straw.

  “Your husband mentioned the Played Out performance and I wanted to see them. I went to school with those ladies.”

  “He’s not my husband,” Alannah said, although she smiled. For his part, Trenton reached up and brushed her neck with the back of his hand.

  He will be soon, Gavin guessed. It was only a matter of time.

  “Terri’s here.” Alannah glanced between him and Trenton, and a light of understanding filled her eyes. “But you knew that, didn’t you?”

  Before he could answer, he looked up and saw Terri coming their way. Immediately, his gut contracted as his eyes followed the way she sashayed past the tables, hair pulled into a topknot, and wearing a black long-sleeved dress whose neckline dipped all the way to her waist, exposing her silky flesh to the casual observer.

  A bunch of long necklaces lay nestled between her full breasts and sparkled against her brown skin. The rounded front hem of the dress draped to mid thigh and the back hem fell to the back of her knees. His eyes were drawn to where the material pulled a little at her broad hips, giving more emphasis to the left-right motion they made as she moved across the floor in a pair of black pumps.

  When a man sitting at a table with two other men grabbed her hand and drew her into conversation, Gavin shot to his feet and curled his hands into fists at his sides. Trenton and Alannah looked behind them to see what caused him to leap from the chair. If the guy didn’t let her go by the count of three, he was going over there.

  By the count of two, Terri was headed in their direction with the same eye-catching strut, but came to an abrupt halt when she saw him. Her eyes stretched wide. They both stared at each other from only a few feet away. Everyone and everything in the entire building receded from Gavin’s consciousness while he focused on the vision before him.

  Straightening her shoulders, Terri marched forward and came to stand at the table. “Hi, Gavin.”

  “Terri.”

  One would think much longer than a week and two days had passed since he last saw her— the reaction to her presence was so visceral. His heart thumped in his chest. His loins ached with the memory of her touch. And his hands itched with the need to touch her.

  “We need to talk,” Gavin said.

  “Maybe we can talk after—”

  “Nah, we need to talk now.”

  He grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her away.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Terri demanded.

  Gavin surveyed the audience and the two bars, searching for Devin. When he spotted his friend near the door, he headed in that direction, pulling Terri with him.

  “Do you mind telling me what this is about?” she hissed between her teeth.

  Gavin didn’t bother answering the question. She knew exactly what ‘this’ was about.

  “Devin, mind if I use your office for a minute?”

  Devin glanced at Terri, who glared at Gavin, her lips compressed into a flat line. “Sure, no problem.” He held up a key on the chain. “This one.”

  “Thanks.”

  Gavin took the keys and they walked to the back of the club, down a dimly lit hallway where the sound of the music had diminished considerably. He shoved the key inside the lock and let Terri precede him inside the small office. The décor comprised of wood panel walls, a messy desk and leather chair, two old file cabinets, and a navy futon against the wall.

  Terri swung around, anger flashing in her eyes. “Why did you have to bring me back here, Gavin?”

  “I want an explanation.”

  “For what?”

  “For why you won’t accept my calls.” He tossed the keys onto the futon.

  “Do you understand the concept of one night?” Terri asked sardoni
cally.

  Gavin gritted his teeth through a chuckle and shook his head. “You get a kick out of making men grovel for your attention, don’t you?”

  “That is untrue. I’m not some heartless bitch,” Terri spat back. “I made it very clear to you from the beginning that there was not going to be anything else between us after the date. But for some reason, you can’t get that through your head. The problem for you, Gavin, is that you think you’re so damn irresistible. Even though I told you the parameters of our night together, you can’t accept them. Whose fault is that? Yours or mine?”

  “So I’m in this alone, is that it? Whatever I feel is completely on my end and you don’t think about me or want me, correct?”

  Hesitation. Her eyes flickered with uncertainty. “Correct.”

  “Bull.” Sensing weakness, Gavin closed in, and Terri backed up toward the desk. “You expect me to believe that you don’t think about me? After I fucked you so good you not only screamed my name, you had tears in your eyes?”

  “That doesn’t change—”

  “Tell me something, Terri.” He continued to back her up until she hit the edge of the desk and grasped onto it. He stood over her, not touching but so close he heard the sharp inhale and exhale of her breaths. He saw the rapid rise and fall of her breasts and smelled the fragrance of roses and lavender that stayed in his skin after their night together, intermingled with her own personal scent that was one hundred percent Terri and two hundred percent aphrodisiac. “Are you wet right now? Because I’m so hard I could jackhammer through concrete. And that’s your fault.”

  Gavin waited, never losing eye contact. Terri’s throat worked a hard swallow and when she parted her lips, he knew the answer before she gave it. He knew because of the unmasked desire in her eyes.

  “Yes. I’m wet.”

  They lunged at each other.

  Gavin devoured her. That was the only way to describe the out of control way he fastened his mouth over hers in a hot demanding kiss. His groin felt heavy and weighted with need. He dragged his hands up and down her back, shaping the curve of her spine, and shoved a hand under the dress to squeeze her bare bottom and anchor her to him by the hips. The jut of his arousal pressed against his zipper, eager and anxious to have her again. Opening her moist mouth under his, she allowed him to drink the nectar of her sweet sensuality like a thirsty, dying man would.