The Love Laws (39 page)

Epilogue

Five
months later…

With
the exception of Clay, their house on the hill in White Rock was filled to
overflowing with chattering women. Baby blue decorations covered practically every
surface and whatever space remained was filled with platters of baby-shaped
food. This seemed somewhat cannibalistic to Jamie, but Clay had insisted it was
adorable. Privately, the Martin twins agreed that being appointed the Party
Planner for Jessica’s baby shower had created a monster – the power had clearly
gone to Clay’s well-groomed head.  

This
was illustrated further when Clay revealed the entertainment for the event. Much
to Jessica`s horror Clay had actually hired a beefy male stripper to strut his
stuff between games and cake. The party was winding down now so Sexy Rexy and
his pink boom box were finally gone. Clay, however, was in the corner being
chastised severely by Evelyn, Duncan`s conservative grandmother, for his error
in judgment.

Clay
caught Jamie`s eye over Evelyn`s shoulder and winked. Obviously he wasn`t sorry
in the least for his choice in entertainment. Of course, watching his latest
flame grind his blue sequined banana-hammock against Jessica’s swollen belly
had been the highlight of the party.  Everyone had laughed uproariously
watching Jessica’s reaction to Rex’s pornographic version of dancing. Her face
had stayed an alarming shade of bright pink throughout the endless performance.
Jamie smiled to herself just thinking about her twin’s embarrassment.

Despite
the stress of throwing a large party Jamie felt remarkably happy. Her home was
full of friends and family. She was deeply in love with Mr. Kevin Hall and
Hidden Treasures was finally thriving. It was hard to believe that just six
months ago she had been miserable. The Love Laws had altered her life so
dramatically. Who knew a few printed words could make such an impact?

One
of the biggest changes she’d made was her new address. Despite his enthusiasm
for the idea Jamie had declined Kevin’s generous offer to buy her childhood
home. As tempting as it was she hadn’t wanted to feel indebted to him. She
needed them to be on equal terms in all things and buying her house had felt
like a betrayal of their partnership agreement. So she had kept the house. With
one notable exception – Kevin had moved in.

Having
him here was the best change she could have imagined. Her nights and weekends
were now filled with laughter and pleasure. He had turned her mother’s loft
into a writing space where he spent long hours doing research and working on
the book. On the days that she was forced to go into the city she couldn’t wait
to get upstairs and see what he’d accomplished in her absence. These moments of
sharing were usually followed by some rather heated and inventive love-making.

The
sex remained incredible but their relationship had also deepened into something
unexpectedly sweet and meaningful to both of them. They were lovers and
partners but they were so much more than that. He was everything to her. She
couldn’t bear it when he was anything but happy. On those rare nights when his
nightmares woke him and he was driven from their king-sized bed to pace the
floor, she stayed awake and listened as he worked through his worst fears.
Eventually, the power of the nightmare subsided as did his need for alcohol to
deaden his emotions.

Her
job had also changed dramatically. As expected, the publicity from The Love
Laws had faded quickly and her store had resumed its dismal sales. She knew she
couldn’t continue without the influx of cash from the house so she’d
reluctantly approached Jessica about consolidating their stores in a last ditch
effort to save Hidden Treasures. It had been difficult to ask for help
considering her twin was usually skeptical of her ideas but she’d somehow
managed to swallow her pride and present her idea.

To
her shock, Jessica hadn’t even hesitated. She’d agreed to combine their stores
on paper and had even suggested that Clay take over and become Manager of both
stores. Jamie strongly suspected that Jess had done this strictly as a favor to
her but her twin insisted this was not the case. She was confident that Jamie’s
designs would someday be a huge success and she was looking forward to sharing
in those profits.

Clay
had been happy to take over the day-to-day running of both stores. His fashion
background actually made him the ideal person to work at Hidden Treasures. Some
female customers were initially hesitant to take lingerie advice from a man but
Clay usually managed to win them over with his outrageous wit and excellent eye
for fashion.

Within
his first week as Treasures Manager he stole three lovely salesgirls from a
local high-end department store to work at both stores. They took turns manning
the counters while he flitted back and forth between, giving orders and
generally ensuring everything ran smoothly. His second order of business after
hiring new staff was moving Raoul the Mannequin into his new private office.
All staff members were very careful to knock before going in there.

So
instead of working twelve hour days on her feet, Jamie was free to do what she
loved - design. With all the extra time she was able to oversee the
manufacturing of enough stock to make Hidden Treasures designs available for
online direct ordering. The best part was that business was picking up every
single month. She was finally a success, with the help of the people she loved
most in the world.

A
commotion at the front door drew her attention from her happy thoughts. She
watched, amused, as Kevin, Duncan, and Dylan made a truly grand entrance. It
was July now and the men had been paddle-boarding down at West Beach to avoid
the estrogen-rich atmosphere of the baby shower. They were barely dressed in wet
board shorts and tank tops and the sight of them caused all shower conversation
to grind to a halt as every eye in the room turned to admire these three
gorgeous men.

Jessica
waddled over and perched on the arm of Jamie’s chair. “God. Aren’t they
something?” She whispered in awe. “The testosterone in the room just reached
maximum density, don’t you think?”

“They
are impressive. Look at Clay. He’s practically salivating.” Jamie pointed at
her friend and giggled as he approached Dylan and offered to help him towel
off. Dylan politely declined and quickly made a beeline for Theresa to avoid
any further uncomfortable conversation with Clay. Duncan looked appalled at
this development and quickly stepped between his sister and Kevin’s flirtatious
brother.

Jamie
shook her head at Clay’s antics. He would never learn that not everyone
appreciated his flirtatious manner. Turning her attention back to Jessica she
gave her sister a fond look. “How does it feel to have two of those inside of
you?” She asked her sister, waving in Duncan’s general direction.

“I
really hope you’re referring to the babies.” Jessica said with a mischievous
grin.

“Jess!”
Jamie gasped. “You are turning into a dirty old married lady. Yes, I was talking
about your little guys and not a threesome. Jeez.”

Jessica
lovingly rubbed her giant belly. “It feels strange. As for being a dirty old
married lady, pregnancy hormones have definitely had an effect on my libido.
Duncan loves it. And these.” She cupped her giant breasts.

Jamie
gave her sister’s melon-sized boobs an once-over. “Yeah. Those are scary big.
Quite the transformation. Speaking of which, how do you like the changes Kev
made to the house?”

The
two Hall brothers had done some recent renovations to their former home so now
Jamie’s childhood bedroom on the bottom floor had been combined with Jessica’s
to create a truly grand studio space for her to create and store some of her
designs.

Kevin,
of course, had an ulterior motive in renovating the house. Her small bedroom
with its double bed and boy band posters on the ceiling hadn’t exactly made him
comfortable. He’d used every dirty trick up his sleeve to get Jamie to move to
her parents’ room on the second floor but she had adamantly refused. For the
most part she’d put the past behind her but doing nasty things with Kevin in
her parents’ modest room just seemed wrong.

Kevin,
desperate for a good night’s sleep but unwilling to be parted from Jamie, had
taken some time off from working on the book to do some research on home
renovations. Initially that plan hadn’t gone well – he’d put a nail through his
hand and nearly crushed one of his toes with a chunk of granite. So he’d hired
some contractors. He’d watched and learned for the first few days and then he’d
actually joined in and helped. Halfway through the project he’d announced that
he was a master craftsman. Proud of his accomplishment he’d spent several days
wearing his tool belt at all times, even while naked.

Within
a few weeks Jamie’s parents’ room and the small den beside it on the second
floor were combined into a master suite of epic proportions. It was gorgeous
but more importantly, the room was unrecognizable with its walk-in closet and
massive spa-like master bathroom. Then Kevin had roped Dylan into assisting him
with her studio. They’d done a remarkable job, with only the occasional trip to
the emergency room to deter from the experience.

“It’s
amazing.” Jessica said, widening her eyes in amazement. “I can’t believe it’s
the same place. Mom and dad would definitely approve. Thanks for agreeing to
have the shower here.” She reached down and squeezed Jamie’s hand in gratitude
for a moment. “Being here almost made it feel like they were part of all this.”
She gestured at the decorations and food.

Today
was the first time Jessica had been in their childhood home since the death of
their parents. Jamie had given her sister the tour before the guests started to
arrive and there had been tears and laughter as they’d taken a trip down memory
lane.

Now
that Jamie was more content with her life she found that she could let go of most
of her resentment towards her parents. She’d been so blinded by her grief she’d
been unable to see the Martins for the flawed but genuinely well-meaning people
they’d actually been. Being angry at them had been easier than facing the fact
that she’d lost them, so she’d embraced her rage to avoid the pain of her loss.
Living in this house with all its positive memories mixed in with the bad had
allowed her to heal and move on.

Only
one thing really marred her new life and she was looking at it right now. Kevin
was approaching her with a smile on his face and that spark in his tawny eyes
which usually indicated he wanted to get her alone as soon as possible. Even
after five months together Jamie’s pulse leapt as he stood directly in front of
her with his hands on his narrow hips. His gaze traveled over her body hungrily
like he hadn’t made love to her in months rather than just a few hours.

 His
desire for her only seemed to grow but something was missing between them. He
had never said, “I love you.” He showed her his love every single day. It was
there in everything he did. In every look and gesture. He spoke of their future
together often and had even referred to them as being partners in love that one
day, but those three important little words had never passed his lips.

She
had been so tempted to confront him and ask him if he loved her but didn’t want
him to say it under duress. She wanted them to come naturally and
spontaneously. But they never came. Even when she nearly shouted them at him
during sex he never said them in return. He just re-doubled his efforts to make
her scream with pleasure.

Jamie
knew it shouldn’t matter. He loved her and she knew it. The words shouldn’t
make a difference. But they did. They mattered a lot. She needed them and she
didn’t know how much longer she could wait to hear them without going crazy.

She
stared up at him and all the noise and commotion around them disappeared as he
leaned down and spoke into her ear. “Can you come upstairs for a minute? I have
something to show you?” Pulling back he gave her another scorching look.

Jamie
nodded mutely and allowed Kevin to tug her to her feet.

“Jess.
Do you mind?” She asked huskily as Kevin pulled her against his damp body. She
should have been appalled. He was ruining the lovely blue silk dress she’d worn
in honor of Jessica`s upcoming twin boys, but she didn’t give a damn. Being
close to him made her so excited she would have torn the dress off if it meant
feeling more of his warm skin and hard muscular frame.

Jessica
gave them a knowing look and stood up with some effort. Kevin held out a hand
to help her but she slapped it away impatiently. “No worries. Clay has this
party under control. So you guys can duck out for a few minutes. Try not to
make too much noise though. Evelyn already thinks Duncan and I are a couple of
degenerates because we keep taking ‘naps’ when he comes home from work. If she
overhears you two ‘napping’ she’ll spend the rest of her visit lecturing us on decorum
and appropriate behavior.” They laughed at this as she leaned up and gave Kevin
a smacking kiss on the cheek. With a warm smile for her sister she waddled away
to join her beaming husband across the room.

Two
minutes later Kevin and Jamie were climbing the stairs to the loft like cat
burglars. When they reached the landing Kevin carefully closed and locked the
door behind them and then pulled Jamie into his arms. He kissed her soundly
while stepping backwards towards the window seat. When the back of his knees
hit the cushions he released her lips, turned and gently pushed on her
shoulders until she was seated in front of him.