The Laws of Attraction by Sherryl Woods Read Free Book Online

you having a good time? Are you getting all that deep thinking done?”
    “Some of it,” he said.
    “I wish you’d let me come with you. Maybe I could have helped. You’ve always liked bouncing ideas off of me in the past.”
    “Normally that’s true,” he said, “but not this time. I had to work this out on my own.”
    “You’re thinking about us, aren’t you?” she asked, sounding resigned but not surprised.
    Josh had always known that Stephanie was smart and intuitive, but he hadn’t expected her to cut right to the chase on this one. “Yes,” he admitted. “I think we need to talk about where we’re headed.”
    “Okay,” she said.
    “I owe you better than a conversation on the phone, but I didn’t want to wait till I get back.”
    “Come on, Josh, just say it and get it over with,” she chided.
    “I know your father is counting on us announcing our engagement soon and that we’ve been talking about it for a long time now,” he began. “But I think you and I both know that he’s more enthusiastic about the idea than either of us are.”
    His words were greeted with silence.
    “Stephanie?”
    “What are you saying, Josh?” she asked.
    He sucked in a deep breath and forced himself to be brutally honest. “That we’re all wrong for each other, Steph. We both know it. We’ve been trying to make the pieces fit, but they don’t. This isn’t your fault, Stephanie. You’re amazing. It’s me. I want something else. I wish I could explain it better than that, but I can’t. I only know this isn’t fair to either one of us. I need to let you go, and I feel sure you’ll be far happier with someone else.”
    “I see,” she said softly.
    She didn’t sound half as brokenhearted as he’d feared she might. “I’m sorry,” he apologized.
    “No need to be,” she said, sounding oddly relieved.
    Josh was astounded that she was taking his announcement so well. He’d expected tears or histrionics. In fact, he’d been dreading a messy emotional scene, if only because he was throwing a monkey wrench into her father’s plans for the two of them, and Stephanie was, first and foremost, a dutiful daughter who understood what was expected of her.
    “Do you mean that?” he asked, still not quite believing that the breakup could go so smoothly.
    “To be honest, I’ve seen this coming,” she confessed. “It’s something I should have done myself, but I’ve never had the courage to defy my father. I guess I owe you for making it easy.”
    “You’re really okay with this?” he asked.
    “Were you hoping I’d fight you?” she asked, sounding amused.
    “No, of course not, but—”
    She laughed. “No buts, darling. You’re off the hook. I’m weak, not stupid. To be perfectly honest, I’ve known for months now that we’re not a good match, not for the long term. I guess I was hoping that Daddy was right, because you are so damn nice.”
    Josh was getting a little tired of being nice tonight. Nice guys usually finished last. Sometimes he wondered if that wasn’t why he was so uncomfortable in a courtroom. He hated going for the jugular. He preferred mediation to confrontation.
    “You’re probably letting me off too easy,” he told her. “I doubt your father will be half as understanding. Would you like me to explain all this to him?”
    “Forget about Daddy. I’ll talk to him,” Stephanie assured him. “I won’t let him kick you out of the firm over this.”
    “You don’t need to go to bat for me,” Josh said. “I’ll handle your father if I decide I want to stay on.”
    “ If? You’re thinking about quitting your job?” she asked, clearly far more shocked by that than by his decision to break up with her.
    “Actually I am,” he admitted. “But I’m trying not to do anything hasty.” He was a plodder, after all. He liked knowing that all his ducks were in a row before doing anything too drastic. It had taken his immediate and intense attraction to Ashley to get him to