“Seriously. It’s okay. I’m fin—Oh, hey.”
I follow her eyes and my heart stops before chugging out three erratic beats. Yep, that’s arrythmia. I take a step closer, wondering why Parker is in the office. Is she here to see me? Has something changed with the way she feels? Would an apology and promise to give me what I so desperately need from her make a difference at this point?
“I just wanted to see how you were. I was a jerk this morning.”
I open my mouth to tell her we can talk somewhere else, but then it hits me that Parker isn’t here for me. She’s here for Hayden. That makes much more sense, considering they’re best friends. But then again, maybe Parker keeps everyone at a distance because it was clear she was shocked this morning when I gave her the news about Hayden’s harrowing ordeal.
She doesn’t look at me, doesn’t even acknowledge that anyone else is in the room, and I have to look away from both of them. It physically hurts to see her, and when I told her to leave this morning, I had prayed that I’d never see her again. The woman makes me weak, makes me want to either run away or grab her by the shoulders and shake her until she realizes that I’m one hell of a catch.
“What are you doing here?” Hayden asks her friend.
“I wanted to apologize for acting weird this morning,” Parker explains.
I jolt when I feel an arm brush mine.
“She ran into Quinten and Hayden in the parking garage this morning,” Wren begins. “After she left your condo.”
I grind my teeth. Of course, the eye in the sky knows everything.
“Is there some place we can talk?” Parker asks, her eyes trained on her friend and it’s clear she’s uncomfortable. She doesn’t bother to look at anyone or introduce herself. Ignacio, Kit, Wren, and Brooks are all standing around with grins on their faces, but Parker doesn’t even seem to notice.
Then I realize, I’m getting the cold shoulder. She’s ignoring me. She had to have seen me. I was standing with Hayden when she walked in.
“Come on,” Flynn says, approaching the two women. “You ladies can use my office.”
“Holy shit,” Kit says, his head tilting to the side, clearly watching Parker’s ass as she and Hayden follow Flynn from the room.
I feel Wren stiffen beside me, but what can I say? There’s no point in telling Kit to back off. I have nothing with Parker. It’s over. Hell, it was over before it began. Talking about it now, putting some sort of claim on her is pointless.
“Damn it, she’s pretty. Don’t you think, Brooks?” I look up to see Brooks shrug at Kit, already distracted by something on his phone.
“A little skinny for my taste.”
“Since when?” Kit argues.
Brooks shrugs and walks away. If my head wasn’t spinning with knowing that Parker was in the office, I’d find that extremely weird. The man never turns down the opportunity to appreciate a gorgeous woman, and despite his most recent claim, Parker is exactly his type.
“Trouble in paradise?” Wren asks with a clap on my shoulder.
I have to walk away from him before I punch that smirk off his damn face.
Parker and Hayden aren’t gone long, and I sit on the sofa waiting and listening for Flynn’s office door to open before walking in that direction. The move is a little strategic, and yeah, I’m a masochist apparently, because I need her to look at me, to acknowledge my existence.
We’re not going to work out. There’s nothing to work on but acting as if she doesn’t see me hurts a little more than I’d like to admit.
I smile at them, pretending that it’s pure coincidence to be in the hall at the same time.
“Jude, you remember my friend Parker.”
Without making direct eye contact, Parker holds her hand out for me to shake. It seems silly. I’ve tasted this woman, licked nearly every inch of her amazing body, but in front of her friend, I’m no one. Is it shame? Does she feel remorse?
“Parker Maxwell,” she says as if she’s never orgasmed on my dick.
I begin to narrow my eyes, but catch myself, replacing that irritation with a devious smirk. “Jude Morris.”
I don’t take her hand. That would be giving her exactly what she wants, and I’ve made enough of those sacrifices. A glutton for punishment, I take a step closer.
“But we hug around here.” Instead of taking her hand, I wrap my arms around her, taking a moment to breathe her in as I lean my mouth close to her ear to whisper, “Pretending you don’t know me, as if I haven’t flooded your throat with cum makes me want to fuck you until all you know is my name.”
Parker stiffens in my arms, and I press my growing erection against her for good measure before releasing her.