The Rules Of Attraction

by Khardine Gray

  “If you don’t think you can settle don’t bother with the settlement meeting, just move to get a date set for court.”

  “I would. In fact I feel like I should in this case because he’s just going to give a refund. They won’t accept that.” I pulled in a breath.

  Preston raised his brows. “From what dad said the case should be a straight win for us. It’s odd Devon doesn’t want it in court.”

  “I don’t get why and I don’t want to jump to conclusions.”

  “Publicity, maybe it’s that. There’s a lot going on in the investment world and maybe he just wants his company outside all that.”

  “He mentioned the press, but I feel like he has other reasons.”

  “Like what?” He squinted.

  “I don’t know. Why would you want to stay away from court?”

  “To keep things private. A deeper investigation is always needed and you’d have to show more evidence to support your case.”

  I considered that already, but hearing it made me think again and I couldn’t get past the feeling that there had to be something more.

  What if he was hiding something? Something he wouldn’t want revealed if he had to provide evidence.

  “It’s going to be difficult to keep my personal feelings out of this. I don’t trust him and it’s wrong for me to represent someone I think is shady.”

  “I get it, I do but you need to reign in how you feel and stick to the basics. Go with process.”

  If I were going with process I would have done a number of checks on Devon before taking him on as a client.

  But maybe I needed to indeed go back to basics and process, so that meant doing what I normally did. My own vetting, for my own peace of mind.

  “Okay. Basics and process.” I agreed.

  “Good.” Preston nodded. “Just stick to that.”

  The little tap on the door I’d grown accustomed to sounded. My eyes darted straight for it as it opened and Summer came in.

  She stopped when she saw Preston, and damn him he gave her that look I’d seen him give the women he was interested in.

  “I’m so sorry I didn’t realize you were busy.” She apologized.

  “It’s fine, I wasn’t busy.” I replied eyeing Preston with a crude stare.

  “I don’t believe we’ve met properly. I’m Preston. Preston Sullivan.” He spoke before I could so he could do that thing he did when he introduced himself and place emphasis on his name. It was his James Bond impression that he said grabbed the ladies from hello.

  Not my girl though – okay she wasn’t mine yet – but, I was working on it.

  Summer didn’t look grabbed. She looked at Preston the way she looked at everyone else, and not the way she looked at me.

  When he put out his hand to shake hers she took it and smiled.

  “I’m Summer, Alex’s PA. Nice to meet you.”

  The asshole kept hold of her hand for a moment longer than what was expected from a normal handshake.

  “I hope Alex is treating you good. You let me know if he steps out of line.” He was still holding her hand.

  “I will.”

  Finally, he let go, and I felt the annoyance that seeped into me fade.

  This Summer Daniels had me acting like a teenager. A jealous teenager, and with my own brother. And I was still jealous from the way that he was still looking at her.

  I was grateful for the one to one pep talk we just had but it didn’t move me to look beyond the fact that Preston was doing his best to impress Summer, and he looked at her like he wanted her.

  I cleared my throat, grabbing his attention and Summer’s too.

  “Preston, are we done here?” I couldn’t hold back on the sharpness in my tone, which showed the way I felt.

  Being my brother, he knew straightaway –just from that –that my interests in Summer ran deeper than our business relationship. Mischief flickered in his blue gaze when he looked from me to her.

  “We’re done. Remember what I said.” He answered, focus now on me. “So you might want to keep your extra-curricular activities under control.”

  Narrowing my eyes at him, I plastered a tightlipped smile on my face. The asshole couldn’t leave well enough alone. He had to say something and the manner in which he said it too, although ambiguous, spoke droves what he meant.

  “Certainly.” I nodded.

  He had to look at Summer one last time before he left. The look to my annoyance made her blush.

  I kept my eye on him until he went through the door and it closed. When I looked back to Summer I saw that she was already looking at me.

  “I saw you first,” I declared.

  She smirked. “What?”

  “Don’t what me, he was flirting with you and doing that I’m senior partner Preston, Preston Sullivan mojo to impress you.”

  “Are you kidding? He was simply introducing himself.”

  “Right and I’m going to visit the pope tomorrow for tea.”

  She laughed and once again I relished the sound. “Okay Alex, I hope you have fun with the pope.”

  “I’m actually serious, and make no mistake about it he’ll make a move on you if he can. I’m the better brother. I don’t show off, I look better, smell better, not full of myself.”

  “You don’t think you’re full of yourself?” She gave me a soft smile.

  I straightened up and grimaced. “No, not always. But he’s like that all the time.”

  “Okay, noted. You’re the better brother.”

  I looked her over and noted that something seemed off with her.

  “You okay, angel?”

  The minute I asked the look became more pronounced. Her cheeks flushed and that pained look engulfed the beautiful green of her eyes.

  “I am.” She pulled in a breath. “I was wondering if maybe I could take you up on the offer to work from home for the rest of the day.”

  “Of course you can, but how about you just take the rest of the day off.”

  “I couldn’t. There’s stuff to do.”

  She wouldn’t have been asking to work from home for no reason. It was clear from the first day that we entered the office that Summer worked hard. Maybe a little too hard.

  “Can it wait until tomorrow?”

  She thought for a few seconds. “I guess.”

  “Then leave it.”

  “Thanks, I appreciate it.”

  “Anytime, angel.”

  There it was again, the flicker of something in her eyes that told me she wasn’t as okay as she said.

  Seeing the pensive shimmer in the shadow of her eyes, I got up and walked around to her. I took her arm and pulled her closer so I could lean down and kiss the top of her head. She seemed to like that.

  “Thank you.” She whispered.

  With her long, graceful fingers, she reached up and touched my chin. I caught her hand just as she was about to withdraw it and held it to my chest.

  “What’s up with you?” I asked.

  Summer shook her head, opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. It was the gesture of someone who wanted to talk about what was wrong, but would rather not.

  “I’m okay.”

  “Do you want me to come home with you?”

  “No, I’m good.” She stepped away from me and backed away. “I’ll see you later.”

  Although she gave me a little smile, I knew it was forced because it didn’t reach her eyes the way it usually did.

  She left quickly too.

  I thought I’d get to work on Devon’s background checks now so that I could fit in everything around my afternoon meetings. If I could get home early enough I’d see if maybe she wanted to go out or make her dinner.

  I got the same off feeling about her as I did when I thought that something wasn’t quite right with Devon.

  It made me wonder what she must have gone through with her ex. It had to be him she was thinking about.

  If it was feeling bad about her father, I figured she woul
d tell me.

  It got to me that some other man could have this hold on her.

  The question was, could I do anything about it?

  Chapter 17

  Summer

  I didn’t want to cry in front of Alex, or show my feelings.

  I knew he could see that I wasn’t myself and I didn’t want to talk about what was bothering me.

  Tom had called me again.

  More than once yesterday, and just before I went in to see Alex. I didn’t answer the phone on any occasion.

  After that last time, I realized I couldn’t deal with the anxiety it gave me at work.

  I just couldn’t, and I didn’t want to speak to him.

  I really didn’t.

  Tom calling was messing things up in my head. This was something I didn’t expect.

  I’d just started to feel like myself again, or truthfully better.

  Alex made me feel better than the normal me.

  Tom, however, had thrown me off balance.

  He had been my boyfriend for over eleven years. I saw myself having a future with this man. I imagined the whole thing. We’d get married, have a house, have children and spend the rest of our lives together.

  That was the order that I saw things going.

  He saw something else with Becca and ruined that vision for me. I loved him with everything in me, and the question I was faced with now was: was that love strong enough to make me forgive him?

  Was it strong enough to make me gloss over all that had happened with Becca and take him back?

  Was it real?

  I thought that maybe those questions would be easier to deal with had I not met Alex.

  I had to be crazy for even thinking about him, because I didn’t have a relationship with Alex. I never had. What we had was fun.

  But, it was something new that I liked.

  Something that was so strong it scared me because I’d never met anyone who’d had such an intense effect on me.

  When Alex looked at me I felt like he was looking at all of me, inside and out.

  It was a look that told me he wanted me, and was just as effective as if he’d said the words.

  So, with that in mind, how was I supposed to give my ex-boyfriend of eleven years, who cheated on me with my best friend, and never looked at me like he even loved me a chance?

  How?

  Besides, I felt that there were some things in this world that could literally kill love. I couldn’t get passed the day that I found out Tom and Becca were together, and had been together behind my back.

  How was I supposed to trust someone like that again? Add the fact that I’d be an idiot to take him back so shouldn’t even be considering it.

  I went to see Eilesh, who was completely against Tom. She flat out told me no, and not to give him a chance. Then reigned in her anger and told me to think it all through, and not allow him to push his way back into my life.

  I got back home about half an hour ago. It was six o’clock so I didn’t expect Alex to be back.

  His schedule took him up to six thirty today.

  I did appreciate the sweetness he showed me back at the office.

  It was what I needed, different in comparison to the emotion overload I felt when I was with him.

  The phone started buzzing when I went into the kitchen to grab a snack. I froze before looking at it and rested my hands on the smooth surface of the island.

  It buzzed on until it stopped, but then it started again.

  “Shit.” It was him. It had to be.

  I took the phone out of my pocket and confirmed it was Tom.

  It was ridiculous to keep on like this in this anxious state with him practically traumatizing me.

  I left Ohio to get away from the shit, and didn’t come here to have it here too.

  I couldn’t move on if he was going to keep doing this. The thought of the hindrance kicked my sense of bravado in gear and I answered the phone.

  “Summer.” He spoke before I did. “Is that you?” He sounded drained out.

  Speaking to him in real time was a lot more effective than listening to a recording of his voice.

  “It’s me.” I replied, tone cold.

  “Oh God, I thought that I would never hear your voice again. Summer, baby please tell me you listened to my message.”

  I found my hands shaking and tried to steady them.

  “I have.” My voice sounded so cold and emotionless it surprised me.

  There were a few seconds of silence then he spoke. “I really need to explain things Summer.”

  “I don’t think there’s anything left to explain.” Thank God, I was talking and saying the words I wanted to say. I could feel his surprise from here. When we were together I’d never sounded as defiant as I did just now.

  “There’s a lot. Summer, everything is complete shit. You have to understand what happened.”

  “Why? You and Becca not working out doesn’t give you some sort of access to come back to me, as if I’m the fail safe.” I felt proud of this me and welcomed her back.

  This was the version of me that took people on when they tried their nonsense with me. This was the Summer I was in court.

  Boy did I miss her.

  “You aren’t. I just realized what I lost, what I gave up and how I hurt you.”

  “And you didn’t before? Tom, my father was buried for two days when you came and told me about the two of you. Two days. And, I knew you were with her before that.”

  “Summer, I swear it wasn’t a continuous thing.”

  Hearing that confirmation gripped my insides and I started to welter like a rose that had stayed out in the sun for far too long. Parched from the beaming rays of the sun.

  Hearing him say that sapped my energy. It was one thing to have a feeling something had happened but to get the confirmation.

  Jesus, this was hell.

  “A continuous thing?” I didn’t know why but I felt I had to know the details. “When did it happen?”

  Silence filled the line to the point where I thought he’d hung up.

  “Tom,” I cried.

  “When you first went away to college. That was the first time we were together, and then …we…” his voice trailed off.

  “It was the whole time I was away. Wasn’t it?” I just went in for the kill, refuting his shit about it not being continuous.

  “Yes. We were on and off.”

  “God, you are such an asshole. How could you cheat on me with my best friend? Becca, of all the people. Someone close to me. Was it even just her?”

  I didn’t know how much more I could take. His silence said it all.

  “Summer, please.”

  I sucked in a sharp breath. “It wasn’t just her was it?”

  “No. It wasn’t. There were others.”

  I covered my mouth with my hand trying to hold the tears back in.

  The whole time I thought I had this long standing relationship with this man, it was all a joke. A joke inside my head.

  “Summer, I was a complete jerk and I didn’t know what I was doing. I was confused.”

  “You think that’s a good excuse? Were you confused when you were fucking Becca and God knows who else?” I snarled. “Didn’t you think it was wrong? Did it cross your mind that you had a girlfriend who loved you, and would have done anything for you.”

  “You were away all the time, and I didn’t see us working out. But then I realized that we did, but I was too late.”

  “Tom, if you were cheating on me the whole time, you were always too late. And then you asked Becca to marry you.”

  I didn’t realize I was crying until a tear dropped unto my elbow. Another followed, and another.

  “I asked her to marry me because she’s pregnant, Summer.”

  I gasped, stunned into deep astonishment.

  “What?”

  The bravado I’d taken on completely faded. Rose petals dried, body drained out in every sense.

  I had to sit
down on the chair around the breakfast table and hang my head down.

  “She’s three months pregnant. I proposed because I thought it was the right thing to do.”

  “Fuck.” I couldn’t do this.

  “Summer, please listen to me. I knew it was the wrong thing and I knew that I couldn’t marry her because I love you. It’s always been you.”

  “You bastard. Don’t patronize me. You slept with my best friend and got her pregnant. You cheated on me, and you think this is okay to tell me that it’s always been me. Damn you!” I cried, hot tears spilling down my cheeks.

  “Summer, please. We were together for eleven years.” He said with emphasis. “Something must have kept us together for so long. We loved each other with the kind of love that doesn’t just go away. I called the wedding off it wasn’t right. She wasn’t you. Please, Summer, can’t you just think about it. I swear to God I’ll never, ever hurt you again because I’ll never love anyone the way that I love you.”

  What a disaster.

  What a damn disaster.

  My whole body trembled to the point where I couldn’t think straight.

  When I thought I suffered emotion overload with Alex I was wrong.

  That didn’t feel like this. With him it was more the case of me trying to slow my feelings down and not jump in head first.

  With Tom it felt … wrong.

  It all felt wrong. All of it.

  That kind of emotional overload was the type that could give a person a nervous breakdown.

  “You loved me once,” he reminded. “And maybe you stopped when you found out what I did, but love like ours doesn’t just go away. A part of you must still love me.” He added.

  Those words broke into me. Broke me right down.

  I did love him once, but it meant nothing.

  I’d loved him so much that I tried my hardest to make us work, make everything work. Both what I wanted and what he wanted. I tried and that was just the thing. It was me who tried, and that spanned over a lot of years.

  So yes, sure, I would never deny loving him once.

  But, he killed it.

  He’d killed everything I’d ever felt, and this call was salt on my wounds that were starting to heal.

  He was toxic to me.

  “Tom, I really need you to leave me alone and stop calling me.” This was hurt. Heartbreak and hurt.