Somebody to Love (12 page)

She opened the door and jumped. There he was, right in the doorway.

“Sneaking out?” he said.

“Oh, no, no,” she stammered. “Nope. No. Just…freshening. Freshening up, that is.”

He had his pants on, and his shirt, though it was unbuttoned. Oh,
Mommy.

“Are you going back to the reception, or making a run for the border?” he asked, giving her a quick once-over.

Border.
“The reception. Esme’s my cousin. I’m a bridesmaid.”

“And will you acknowledge me down there?”

The question caught her off guard. Parker found she was pinching her pinkie. Hard. “Um, of course.”

“Really?”

There was something a little…dubious in his eyes. “Yes, James.”

He grinned, and once again, it hit her, the force of that incredible smile. “Is there any chance you’ll sit with me during dinner? Because as much as I love the Welles family…”

“They’re piranhas,” she said.

“They’re piranhas,” he agreed. “So?”

Wow. When she’d imagined the reception, she’d pictured a few painful hours with the Coven; James of the beautiful smile was much, much more appealing. “Sure. I’d love to.” Her ears felt hot. This was almost like a date.

“Great.” He was looking at her mouth again, and Parker felt her knees wobble. “Any chance I can drive you home?”

“There’s always a chance,” she murmured.

“I’ll take it,” he said. God, he was
darling!
How had she missed this? “Want me to go out first? So your evil cousins don’t bust you?”

“That would be great. Thank you.”

Five minutes later, James was once again impeccably dressed. He stood in front of her, looked at her for a long minute. “See you down there,” he said, and there it was again, that smile.

“Okay.” She bit her lip, then, on impulse, gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

His smile grew. Then he winked at her and left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

Parker sank down on the bed and let out a long breath.

So. Okay, it wasn’t as if this was her first time, obviously, not with a three-year-old son. But the whole earth-moving experience…she hadn’t had a whole lot of that. Sex had always been nice. Very nice. Fun. And sure, it had been a while. She hadn’t had a—oh, hell, a
lover,
though her mind cringed away from the word—since Ethan.

That had been four years ago.

Holy halos.

So maybe it was just a long abstinence with only the pulsating showerhead for company on nights she couldn’t sleep, but holy heck, sex with James Francis Xavier Cahill had been unbe
liev
able. Heck yeah!

Parker realized she was smiling. Apparently, the best sex of a woman’s life did that to her. James the Cutie-Pie, Purveyor of Said Experience, did that to her, and the thought of that smile, that slightly crooked tooth, the way his eyes looked so happy when he smiled…her knees were feeling wriggly again.

She sighed. Dreamily, for heaven’s sake.

But for one second, she let herself feel dreamy. Moony. Dopey. Meltish. It was kind of wonderful.

Guess she’d misjudged Thing One. Strike that. James. James was
nice.
Wasn’t he? He was hot, sure, but he also seemed kind of… And he’d made sure she’d… Maybe they’d…well. She didn’t want to get ahead of herself.

“Okay, team,” she said aloud. “Time to rejoin the masses.”

She took another look at herself, hoped that while she definitely had a certain glow, no one would be able to tell she’d been
done—
the inhabitants of Lady Land gave a hot squeeze—and left the bedroom. There were the stairs—
hello, stairs, thank you so much—
and she started down.

And there, in the foyer, was her father, laughing with James.

Parker stopped, squeezing her pinkie hard. Harder, even, till the tip was numb. For some reason, her heart was sinking, and fast.

“Harry,” she said, her voice pleasant. “Didn’t think you were going to make it.”

“Parker,” he said. “Hello.”

James glanced at her with a little smile, then murmured something to her father, and for one horrible second, she thought he was telling Harry that they’d done the deed, and Harry would clap James on the back and congratulate him or something.

“Happy birthday, by the way,” Harry said.

Oh. Maybe that was worse, having James need to tell her father when she was born.

“Thank you.” She lifted an eyebrow, something she’d mastered at age seven after watching her father stare a minion into tears.

“James, there’s someone I want you to meet,” Harry said. “Parker, we’ll see you in there.”

“Okay,” she said, watching as Harry put his arm around James. The two men walked away, but James looked back. Held up his hand and mouthed,
Five minutes.

The thing was, she knew how long five minutes could last.

“Parker, where have you been?” It was Aunt Vivian, and she was pissed. “Dinner is being served! Would you please come in here? It’s Esme’s special day. Would it kill you to remember that? Honestly.”

And so she ended up with the Coven, after all. The only person at the table with an empty chair next to her.

Five minutes became ten. Ten became twenty. Salad was served. “Isn’t Uncle Harry ever going to come over?” Esme whined. He was halfway across the room, glad-handing someone and roaring with laughter.

“Look at that lawyer of his,” Juliet said. “He’s such a social climber. I’m surprised he hasn’t tried sleeping with you, Parker.” The cousins burst into laughter, and Parker, who hadn’t cried for a long, long time, felt suddenly terrified that she was about to burst into tears.

“Would you please pass the butter, Regan?” she asked.

“Do you really think you need it?” Aunt Louise said, and Parker was actually grateful for the change in subject.

The five minutes had stretched into thirty-three.

She was an idiot.

Don’t say that, Parker,
the Holy Rollers chimed.
We think you’re really smart!

Not smart enough, apparently, to realize that she’d skipped happily into yet another cliché, even worse than
Wedding Guest Picks Up Guy
or
Poor Little Rich Girl Feels So Alone.
No, this one was worse. Juliet was absolutely right. This one was
Guy Sleeps with Boss’s Daughter as Part of Plan to Move Up Corporate Ladder.

Idiot.

She spent forty-seven minutes at dinner, hoping her expression was pleasant, glancing over occasionally as her father worked the crowd.

Thing One stayed obediently at his side.

Then she texted her driver, went home, took a very hot shower and practically scrubbed off her skin with the loofah.

She got a text a little while later.
You still around? Can’t seem to find you.

It was now one hundred and twenty-six minutes after the five he’d said. Well. Better to learn this now. She opted not to respond. Sat there and watched
Dexter
instead.

He called an hour later and left a message. “Hey, Parker, it’s James. Would you mind calling me? I think there’s been a misunderstanding. Talk to you later.”

Oh, yes, there’d been a misunderstanding. One hundred and twenty-six of them.

The next day, when Ethan dropped Nicky home, she asked him to stay for dinner before he had to head for the airport. No skipping the armor this time, because if Parker was right, Thing One was going to put in an appearance.

Ethan and Nicky were playing T-ball on the back lawn when James showed up. Parker watched through the window as he came up the long walk, flowers in hand. He ran a hand through his hair before ringing the doorbell.

She opened the door.

“Parker,” James said. “Always lovely to see you.” He paused. “Everything okay here?”

“Everything’s fine, Thing One. What brings you by?”

“Well, you disappeared before I could find you yesterday.” He held out the bouquet. Roses, irises, gerbera daisies and, smack in the middle, a package of Alka-Seltzer.

Damn. She’d been feeling a little polluted all day long.

“Listen, James,” she said, shooting for cool but not icy. Icy would imply that she was hurt. “I’m very sorry that I overindulged yesterday and, ah, jumped you. It won’t happen again.”

“Parker—”

“It won’t happen again. I’m actually embarrassed, and I apologize for my behavior.”

“You—”

“Unfortunately, we’re about to eat dinner. So. I guess I’ll see you the next time Harry tells you to come by.”

Thing One’s smile was gone. “Look, I’m sorry I didn’t get to—”

“It’s fine. I understand. You have certain duties. It was a business event for you.”

His eyes narrowed. “Do I get to say anything here?” he asked.

“I’d rather you got in your car and left, to be completely honest.”

“Because if I did get to say something,” he went on, “I’d say I’d like to see you again, take you to dinner, get to know you better.”

She could picture it. He’d woo her or whatever, smile his crinkly smile, make her fall for him, then, as soon as humanly possible, ask Harry if he’d give his blessing, which Harry would certainly give. Finally, a son. He and James would play golf together on the weekends and be masters of the universe during the week, because sure, James would get promoted—you don’t bag the boss’s daughter and not move up to Senior Vice President, after all. James would be an official prince in Harry’s kingdom, wouldn’t have to work so hard to impress her father, not as the son-in-law, no, sir. All James would have to do would be to shag her once in a while, father a kid or two, and he could kick back and relax, his future assured.

“What do you say?” he asked when she remained silent.

Much to her surprise, Parker felt the sting of tears in the back of her eyes. “No, thank you, James.”

“Why not?”

She shrugged and looked past him. “I’m your boss’s daughter.”

“Yes, I remember.”

She snapped her gaze back to him. “So, if you think you’re going to get closer to him by screwing me, you’re wrong.”

His eyebrows rose. “That’s
not
what I was thinking.”

“No, of course not.”

“If you recall, you kissed me first.”

“Yes, I recall, James. I also recall three very strong and delicious martinis, okay? I wish it hadn’t happened, and I’m promising you, it won’t happen again.”

James opened his mouth to say something, but at that moment, Nicky came careening into the foyer. “Mommy? Mommy? Mommy? Can I have some Goldfish? The eating kind?” Then he noticed James in the doorway, the flowers still in his hand. “Hewwo,” he said, not having mastered the
L
sound just yet.

Parker didn’t answer, just put her hand on Nicky’s head.

James dragged his gaze off her and looked at her son. “Hi, Nick.”

“You remember Grandpa Harry’s lawyer, right?” Parker said.
Because that’s all you’re ever going to be in this house, pal.

Ethan joined the little crowd. “Hey, how you doing, James?” he said. The men shook hands. Ethan looked at the flowers, still in Thing One’s hand, then at Parker’s face. “Nicky, let’s go throw rocks in the water, okay, buddy?”

Parker cleared her throat. “No, that’s okay, Ethan. He was just leaving. Drive safely, James.”

“Dwive safewy, James,” Nicky echoed.

James looked at her another second or two. “Okay. Enjoy your night.”

There was a lump in Parker’s throat as she closed the door. She was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

“Nicky, can you go get me a grape?” Ethan asked.

“Sure, Daddy!” Nicky said, racing off to the kitchen.

Parker looked at Ethan, forced a smile.

“Flowers, huh?” he said, leaning in the doorway.

“Yep. You know. Kissing up to the boss’s daughter. So is salmon okay? I thought I’d grill it, make a salad. Or we could have what the chef left on Friday. Just need to heat it up.”

“You want to talk?”

“About what?”

“About the fact that James brought you flowers and you pretty much set the dogs on him?”

“I don’t have dogs.”

“Come on, Parker.”

“There’s really nothing to talk about.”

“You sure?”

“Heck yeah.”

Ethan gave her a long look but said nothing more.

She spent the next week on edge, waiting for something that never came. James never called her. Never emailed, texted or dropped by. He followed instructions, in other words; proof that she was right—he wasn’t going to get anywhere by being with her. If he really wanted something different—not that he actually did, but if—he would’ve surely tried again.