Murphy's Law Read Online Free

you.”
    Composure restored, she said, “You’ll probably regret this.”
    He just smiled. “You won’t. I promise.”
    With one last stroke of her silky hair, he made his escape before he lost sight of the prize. But before he got too far away to hear, the prize started mumbling to herself.
    And she didn’t sound happy.
    Too bad. The laws of nature, of man and woman, dictated he was bound to win. And that made him very, very happy.

Chapter 2
    Whatever could go wrong, did.
    Murphy’s Law.
    In her case it was more like Quinton Murphy’s Law because when she got near him, she made mistakes left and right. One look at the man and she forgot common sense, self-restraint, and her touted goals for the future.
    She knew how important goals were because her parents had never had any. They’d been more than content to scrape by on the generosity of others.
    Being the charity case of the neighborhood didn’t make life easy for a gangly, shy kid with overly strict parents. In fact, her life had bordered on hellish until she and May became best friends. Thanks to May, she’d learned to conquer insecurities, stand up to bullies, and separate herself from her parents’ way of life.
    At seventeen she’d escaped their suffocating environment of rigidity and poverty by disowning them and moving out on her own. For years it had been all she could do to make ends meet, and sometimes they hadn’t. She’d done without food, without adequate clothes, occasionally without shelter—but she’d never taken charity.
    She was nothing like her parents, who still took advantage of good people with big hearts.
    Now, finally, she had enough money to attend college, to set herself up to be fully self-sufficient and plan for a proper future.
    She prided herself on making it on her own. Someday she’d have everything she wanted—her dream home, a new car, money in the bank, a retirement fund…She’d have it all.
    Involvement with Quinton would only distract her from her long-term goals.
    But…she couldn’t help thinking about it, about him. She wasn’t an unhappy person, but around Quinton she felt almost…bubbly. So stupid. She had to stick to the plan of work, school, and savings.
    Unfortunately Murphy’s Law wasn’t content with blowing her state of mind. She also had to contend with the air-conditioning going on the fritz, leaving the building stuffy and her body sheened with sweat. From that point, she broke both the industrial-sized vacuum and a foyer lamp after accidentally sucking up an extension cord. Then she dropped a bottle of cleaner, spilling it everywhere. She spent more time cleaning up her own messes than the building, when usually she prided herself on a job well done.
    She blamed Quinton for her clumsiness. After that consuming kiss, no one could expect her to function properly. Her knees still shook, her heart still thumped, and a strange tingling in her midsection made concentration iffy at best.
    A single glimpse of Quinton and she wanted to drag him off for some hanky-panky. He personified the term stud with his dark blond hair and fierce green eyes and that confident smile that proclaimed enough experience for ten men. For a corporate type he had an incredible body, tall and strong and roped with lean muscles.
    Suits had never appealed to her. But the way Quinton wore a suit, with such relaxed ease, only amplified his masculinity.
    Maybe if she’d expected to see him tonight, she might have been prepared. But after catching him with Zara Trilby in what had appeared to be a very intimate discussion, she’d overreacted big time. Luckily, not in front of Quinton, but she’d been eaten up with jealousy, proving she was in over her head. Even though she later discovered that Zara was a very nice lady and no more than a client for Quinton, she’d thought to avoid him.
    She’d already resolved to ensure he’d