But thinking about dating brought back everything Brooke had done to me. I’d believed she was genuine when we’d gotten married. And God, I’d loved her. But when it had turned out it had only been for my money ...
Emily wasn’t like Brooke. For one, she’d started her own company, and she knew what she was doing. She wanted to stand on her own two feet.
It made her hot as fuck.
Emily wasn’t Brooke.
And she wasn’t every other woman I’d had a one-night stand with either. Everyone wanted a shot to sleep with Parker Conrad. And some of them got their way—sometimes, I let off steam. I didn’t like fucking around all the time, but sometimes, I needed to take the edge off.
I never kept them around. Because they wanted the name, the bragging rights that they’d slept with Parker Conrad. And they always wanted more.
I just never gave it to them.
But Emily wasn’t like that. It hadn’t been planned that we’d ended up sleeping together. And when we had, it had been incredible. The connection we'd had was different than anything I had experienced before.
Maybe it was because we’d been friends first.
Well, that was all down the fucking drain now, wasn’t it? She wanted nothing to do with me.
My phone rang, Lucy’s extension flashing.
“Yeah?”
“You have a walk-in, sir. A Miss Jenkins.”
What?
“Send her in,” I said.
“Are you sure? You have a meeting in about ten minutes.”
“I’m sure,” I said.
I didn’t know why Emily had decided to come see me when she’d made it clear she didn’t want to see me again, and I wasn’t going to tempt fate by postponing her. What if she had changed her mind?
When Emily walked into my office, she looked uncomfortable.
“Hi,” I said, standing. I walked around the desk and over to her. She stopped a short distance away from me and I didn’t close the gap, giving her space. It took a lot not to wrap her in my arms and hold her body against me. Her body was incredible, and now that I’d seen her naked, I could picture it even though she was dressed in office attire, a button-up shirt and a pencil skirt that made me want to sit up and beg.
“Sorry to barge in like this,” she said. “I know you’re busy. But I didn’t want to wait—”
“I have time for you, Emily,” I said.
She blushed lightly, and God, she was beautiful. I would postpone my meeting if I had to.
“I won’t be long. I thought about your contract, about the way we started, and the way we left it off ...”
“Yeah?” I asked when her voice trailed off, and she glanced at me, unsure of herself.
“Do you still want me to decorate your apartment?”
I nodded. “Definitely. I told you I don’t want to hand it off to someone else.”
“Okay,” she said. “I’ll do it. But we can’t dothis, okay? Us. It has to be strictly business.”
She looked at me with large hazel eyes, a mixture of emotions on her face. She seemed uncomfortable. Was it because we’d slept together? She was so confident usually. It was her confidence and her independence that made me want her so much.
Her uncertainty made me want to protect her, to fight off whatever the fuck was bothering her.