I walked to the door and flicked off the lights.
“What are you doing?” she asked.
“It’s my turn.” I walked back to where she stood and put my hands on her arms. I let her take a few steps forward and turned her to face the full-length windows.
LA lay at our feet, a thousand sparkling lights below, stretched like a vast sea of gems. And above, almost as if reflecting the city below, the inky night sky, littered with pinpricks of lights.
“Oh, my God,” she breathed, getting lost in the wonder.
“This is why I bought the apartment,” I said.
“It’s breathtaking.”
She stared at the lights. I could only see her outline in the dark. But everything about her was perfect. And I couldn’t help myself. I needed more.
Maybe it was the wine. Maybe it was because I was a son of a bitch who broke the rules.
I leaned in and kissed her.
She stiffened for a second, but then she melted against me, and I slid my tongue into her mouth. She tasted like red wine—and something distinctlyEmily—and I drank her in. I slid my hand down her arm, placed it on her hip, and pulled her closer.
She moaned softly at the back of her throat.
And then she stepped back, breaking the spell.
“We shouldn’t do this, Parker.”
I swallowed hard and nodded.
“Okay.” I knew I’d overstepped. I just hadn’t been able to help myself.
Her eyes were black in the night as she looked at me. Her lips parted slightly, and her breathing came quickly.
Her eyes slid to my lips and she squeezed them shut as if she was closing them to jump.
Then she grabbed me and kissed me, her hands around my neck.
And I kissed her back.
Because fuck, what else was I going to do?
7
EMILY
Thiswaswrong.Itwas all wrong. Parker was Ryan’s best friend, the one guy in my life that was totally and completely off-limits.
I wasn’t supposed to do this.
But God, for something so wrong, it felt so right.
When he kissed me, fireworks went off in my head. Everything else fell away, and it was just the two of us, connected in a way I’d never felt with another guy before.
The wine helped. It had pushed my inhibitions aside. If I’d been sober, I might not have allowed this.
Although, I might have. Because Parker was a magnetic force of a man, and I wanted this. I’d wanted exactly this for a while. I’d just never allowed myself to even think about it because of who he was.
Ryan’s best friend. And a Conrad brother. If Ryan wasn’t going to lose his mind over this, the press was definitely going to have a field day. They loved getting all up in the Conrad business, following the brothers’ every move like they were a part of a reality show or something.