lulled to sleep before we even hit the freeway.
The slowing of the car woke me and I blinked a few times, trying to figure out where I was. I’d reached that state of exhaustion where I was confused and it took me a good ten seconds to process where I was and get back up to speed.
Clouds had rolled in and a cold rain was falling, making it seem later than it was even though it was only midafternoon. Parker pulled into the parking garage and it didn’t take long for him to navigate to his designated spot. He grabbed my small suitcase from the back and took my elbow again as we headed for the elevator.
We didn’t speak, but I didn’t mind. I was too tired to talk and there was a lot rolling through my head. So much had happened in the past few days. I’d thought I was done with both Parker and Ryker and now they were back in my life, along with Natalie and whatever she was up to. I could vividly picture the way she’d looked at Parker and it made me deeply uneasy. Add to that someone trying to kill both my dad and me…well, a shot of scotch sounded like just the thing.
Parker must’ve read my mind, because once we’d entered his apartment, that’s the first thing he did. After pouring an inch of amber liquid into two cut-crystal glasses, he handed one to me.
“Cheers,” he said, clinking his glass against mine, then downed the scotch in one swallow.
I did the same, the liquid burning like fire. I coughed, trying to get air past the inferno inside my throat. Parker’s scotch made taking a shot of vodka look like sipping white zinfandel.
“You all right?” He slapped me on the back a few times as I finished choking on air. “Maybe should’ve gone a little slower on that.”
I couldn’t yet speak so I shot him a look. Ya think? He chuckled, the corner of his mouth twisting upward.
“So I have this theory,” he said, grabbing the bottle and refilling his own glass.
“About what?” I sounded three-pack-a-day and cleared my throat again, hoping the liquor hadn’t done permanent damage. Glancing behind me, I sank onto Parker’s soft leather couch with a sigh. My whole body thanked me.
“About us.”
Shit. Not a topic of conversation I wanted to address right now.
“Do you want to hear it?” he asked.
Not really. “Do I have a choice?”
“I think that you wanted me…so long as I didn’t want you.”
I stared at him, my mouth hanging open. He watched me, calmly sipping his scotch. Finally, I found my voice.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I growled. “Do you have any idea how insulting what you just said to me was?”
“I’m not trying to insult you,” he said. “I think you’re afraid. Wanting something unobtainable is safe, isn’t it? Then you don’t really have to face the choices and changes and commitments that come with loving someone and them loving you back.”
“How about it’s the fact that you never looked at me twice until Ryker came along? You tell me you love me, make love to me, all in the heat of thinking Ryker wanted me, too. Then you dumped me, then decided you’d made a mistake, then I thought you were dead. And now Natalie’s back.” I shook my head. “There’s nothing about our relationship that I trust right now.”
Parker’s face was a blank mask, but his eyes…his eyes burned.
“Do you trust that I’ll keep you safe?”
Keeping me alive was a point of honor for Parker and I knew him well enough to know he’d do everything in his power to make sure nothing happened to me. I gave him a slow nod.
“I do, yes.”
“What can I do to convince you what we have is real, Sage? That I’m not being fickle and like a child with a toy, only wanting you when Ryker did. I would’ve died for you last night.”
Ouch. The man had a point. He’d taken a bullet for me, after all. Hard to argue with that.
“I know, but I can’t snap my fingers and make my doubts disappear, Parker. They’re there, and I can’t tell you a magic formula to make
The slowing of the car woke me and I blinked a few times, trying to figure out where I was. I’d reached that state of exhaustion where I was confused and it took me a good ten seconds to process where I was and get back up to speed.
Clouds had rolled in and a cold rain was falling, making it seem later than it was even though it was only midafternoon. Parker pulled into the parking garage and it didn’t take long for him to navigate to his designated spot. He grabbed my small suitcase from the back and took my elbow again as we headed for the elevator.
We didn’t speak, but I didn’t mind. I was too tired to talk and there was a lot rolling through my head. So much had happened in the past few days. I’d thought I was done with both Parker and Ryker and now they were back in my life, along with Natalie and whatever she was up to. I could vividly picture the way she’d looked at Parker and it made me deeply uneasy. Add to that someone trying to kill both my dad and me…well, a shot of scotch sounded like just the thing.
Parker must’ve read my mind, because once we’d entered his apartment, that’s the first thing he did. After pouring an inch of amber liquid into two cut-crystal glasses, he handed one to me.
“Cheers,” he said, clinking his glass against mine, then downed the scotch in one swallow.
I did the same, the liquid burning like fire. I coughed, trying to get air past the inferno inside my throat. Parker’s scotch made taking a shot of vodka look like sipping white zinfandel.
“You all right?” He slapped me on the back a few times as I finished choking on air. “Maybe should’ve gone a little slower on that.”
I couldn’t yet speak so I shot him a look. Ya think? He chuckled, the corner of his mouth twisting upward.
“So I have this theory,” he said, grabbing the bottle and refilling his own glass.
“About what?” I sounded three-pack-a-day and cleared my throat again, hoping the liquor hadn’t done permanent damage. Glancing behind me, I sank onto Parker’s soft leather couch with a sigh. My whole body thanked me.
“About us.”
Shit. Not a topic of conversation I wanted to address right now.
“Do you want to hear it?” he asked.
Not really. “Do I have a choice?”
“I think that you wanted me…so long as I didn’t want you.”
I stared at him, my mouth hanging open. He watched me, calmly sipping his scotch. Finally, I found my voice.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I growled. “Do you have any idea how insulting what you just said to me was?”
“I’m not trying to insult you,” he said. “I think you’re afraid. Wanting something unobtainable is safe, isn’t it? Then you don’t really have to face the choices and changes and commitments that come with loving someone and them loving you back.”
“How about it’s the fact that you never looked at me twice until Ryker came along? You tell me you love me, make love to me, all in the heat of thinking Ryker wanted me, too. Then you dumped me, then decided you’d made a mistake, then I thought you were dead. And now Natalie’s back.” I shook my head. “There’s nothing about our relationship that I trust right now.”
Parker’s face was a blank mask, but his eyes…his eyes burned.
“Do you trust that I’ll keep you safe?”
Keeping me alive was a point of honor for Parker and I knew him well enough to know he’d do everything in his power to make sure nothing happened to me. I gave him a slow nod.
“I do, yes.”
“What can I do to convince you what we have is real, Sage? That I’m not being fickle and like a child with a toy, only wanting you when Ryker did. I would’ve died for you last night.”
Ouch. The man had a point. He’d taken a bullet for me, after all. Hard to argue with that.
“I know, but I can’t snap my fingers and make my doubts disappear, Parker. They’re there, and I can’t tell you a magic formula to make
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