The Home Court Advantage

The Home Court Advantage

by

Mendelssohn Levy Publishing Philadelphia

“Between the characters’ banter, the preposterous “fixes” that Gabrielle manages to coax her best friend Jess into, and the underlying theme of a blossoming romance that I was completely and utterly pulling for, my verdict is that there is clear and convincing evidence that “The Law of Attraction” is THE stand-out romantic comedy of 2013! I cannot wait for the sequel.”

~ Cindy Meyer of The Book Enthusiast

“This book is laugh out loud funny. Fans of Janet Evanovich will get a kick out of this book. There is sweetness and steam and a whole lot of I Love Lucy moments. I cannot wait for the conclusion in The Home Court Advantage.”

~Donna Antonio of In My Humble Opinion

“The banter in and out of the court room was hilarious and the sexual tension was just there. The only part that I didn’t like was “it ended”. I wanted MORE.”

~Mayas of Reading by the Book

“The Law of Attraction’ has it all — romance, hot sexxx, humor, a sex ring scandal, and great friends! A great read and a must add to your to read list. We can’t wait to read Part II. N.M. Silber has definitely been added to our Must Read Authors List! Absolutely loved the book!”

~556 Book Chicks

“The characters were loveable and you just want to see them get what they want. Once I started reading I could not stop and ended up reading it in one sitting.”

~Joy Whiteside of Book 2 Book

“If you like to read a book that has a fun love story with lots of humor (who doesn’t?) then you NEED to read this book!”

~Angela’s Smexy Book Reviews

“The Law of Attraction has more to it than just humor and sex, it also has some mystery to it as well. Even now thinking back while typing this has me snorting at parts of the book.”

~My Secret Romance Book Reviews

“I am pretty impressed by what I have seen so far and I can’t wait until the second book is available. The Law of Attraction has some great lol moments and stars a very sweet and fun couple.”

~Fiction Vixen

“I LOVED this book. Hardcore, super duper, would recommend it to anyone, marking it as a favorite kind of love. It’s cute, adorable, lovely, sexy, panty-melting, heart-warming, laugh-out-loud goodness.”

~Angie Lynch of Smut Book Club

“Gabrielle is the type of heroine I like to read; she’s funny, sweet, devoted to her friends and her crazy family. Braden is charming, hot and boy when they tear up the sheets I needed a fan to cool me off. They were H-O-T!!”

~Rachel from We Love Kink

“This book was laugh-out-loud funny, sexy, and there was even some mystery and suspense. With a book with all of these qualities, you know it’s going to be good!”

~Rotten Apple Reads

“This book seriously made me OMG and LOL from page 1. I could not stop laughing. I love it.”

~Two Brain Book Reviewers

THE HOME COURT ADVANTAGE, COPYRIGHT © 2013 BY N.M. SILBER

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher.

Mendelssohn Levy Publishing

Philadelphia

http://mendlevypub.com/

First Mendelssohn Levy eBook Edition November 2013

First Mendelssohn Levy trade paperback edition, November 2013

Edited by:

Julie Roberts

[email protected]

NOTICE: This is an adult contemporary romance novel and contains explicit descriptions of sexual acts and mature language. It is intended for readers over the age of eighteen.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Silber, N.M.

The Home Court Advantage / N.M. Silber – 1st edition

ISBN 978-0-9895984-2-2 eBook edition

ISBN 978-0-9895984-3-9 Print edition

Cover Design by Carrie Spencer

Formatting, back cover and interior design by Donnie Light

This book is dedicated to the fans who loved The Law of Attraction, and made me believe that I could really be an author, and to all the reviewers who helped me to connect with them. Thank you for that.

After leaving the police station we headed back to Braden’s place. As he turned the key in the door to his apartment, I heard rapid click click click sounds followed by a whoosh and then a thud and a scrambling scratching, sounding not unlike a small dog trying to peel himself off a wall. Bruno still hadn’t mastered those hardwood floors. When Braden swung the door open, Bruno was waiting there to greet us as if nothing had happened. He gave us a happy yip and wagged his tail so hard that it almost shook his little Chihuahua butt off.

I reached down to pick him up and give him some attention, walking over to the large windows overlooking Rittenhouse Square. I loved the way that those windows made the place feel warm and open during the day and at night provided a breathtaking view of the twinkling city lights. It was a hot, clear sunny day in Philadelphia and the Square was filled with people walking, playing, reading … and what was that guy doing? Okay, I
didn’t
see that and it was
not
going to be stuck in my head all night. I moved away from the windows. Braden had tossed his keys on the kitchen counter and gone into the bedroom to change into more comfortable clothes.

“So, Bruno, did you guard the place for Mommy and Daddy?” He looked up at me and panted with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. I took that as a “yes.” Actually, I took it more as a “do you
really
need to ask?” I knew that while the world may have seen him as an itty bitty ankle biter dog, Bruno saw himself as a ferocious killer.

I wandered around the apartment that would eventually become my place too, stopping to look again at the pictures hanging on Braden’s wall, the Harvard Crew he rowed with, Braden with Adam and Mark at Georgetown Law, Braden with his family in Martha’s Vineyard, and finally, the most recent addition, Braden looking debonair in his tux and me not looking too shabby in my gown at his family’s fundraiser last month. I smiled and felt all warm and fuzzy. I had made “the wall.”

I went over and sat down on the soft leather couch and settled Bruno on my lap, where he promptly flipped over with a not terribly subtle hint that he wanted a belly rub. I obliged. What could I say? The dog had grown on me.

Braden came out of the bedroom looking as good as always. Just to let you know, that was pretty damned good. You know how Phoenix was hot but the tropics were hotter? Well, Braden was like the planet Mercury. Not everybody could rock khaki shorts and an old Phillies T-shirt like he could. He was like a big, blonde, blue-eyed, Norse god. Notice I didn’t say Greek God by the way. Have you ever seen a statue of a Greek God? Well, trust me, there was nothing on Braden that a fig leaf could cover.

He sat down next to Bruno and me and took out his cell. First he called Adam, who as it turned out, was with Mark, who as it turned out, was with Cameron. They were watching baseball and drinking beer together at a local sports bar. I guess they were warming up. We had decided that despite some pretty wacky events the night before, Sunday Game Night was officially on.

We still didn’t know who had sent me a couple of anonymous notes that seemed aimed at getting me to leave Braden, but we had decided that even though we would be cautious, we were going to go on with our lives as usual anyway. Of course that meant I was probably going to have to talk my father out of borrowing some Navy SEALS to guard me and hiring someone from the Louvre to install a burglar alarm in my apartment. Dad could be a little protective. After hanging up with Adam, Braden checked his voicemail and found a message from his own parents.

“My mom said that she and my dad are going to be in D.C. this weekend. They’ll be home Sunday at noon. And Beth is visiting friends until Sunday morning. Drew will be here all weekend though. She suggested that we spend time at their place with him. We can hang out by the pool and there’s a music festival in town on Saturday.”

“That sounds fun. Are we going to tell them about our plans when they get home?”

“Probably not yet,” he said, getting up and heading toward the kitchen.

I started to get a little nervous. I hadn’t even completely gotten used to the idea of dating Braden, let alone marrying him. Not only was he gorgeous, he was
so
sexy. He had this way of looking at me that always gave me the proverbial butterflies in my tummy. His eyes would get darker and he would get this cocky grin on his face like he knew a hundred and one ways to make me see God. I called it his “hot Braden sex look” and it made my panties melt because I knew what he was thinking about when he looked at me like that. Actually being in bed with him was almost like an out-of-body experience except, believe me, you didn’t want to leave your body if you were in bed with Braden.

Even more important than all that gorgeous sexy, though, he was also strong, well-grounded, confident, compassionate and intelligent. Best of all we were amazingly compatible. From the very beginning we just clicked and it was like we belonged together. We spent our evenings talking about books, history, politics, law, and a million other things. Then we would cuddle up and watch shows on PBS that would make us popular with the geriatric crowd down at the senior center. Even though we argued passionately in court sometimes, we rarely argued privately. We discussed things and we usually saw eye to eye. The only tense point between us was the potential risk that was inherent in our respective jobs. We loved each other so much that the thought of anyone threatening the other was devastating.