Page 69 of Heartless

We spent the rest of the drive in silence and when we arrived all traces of sulkiness evaporated from him. It reminded me again that he really was a skillful liar.

Tyler waited for us outside and took the dog from my hands.

“I can’t wait to see her face,” he said, referring to Hannah.

“I can’t wait to see Mom’s face,” I teased. “She’s going to kill you for bringing a dog into her house.”

Tyler shrugged me off with a smile, shook Parker’s hand and walked back inside. Parker took my hand in his and I didn’t pull away. He was right the last time we were here. I should look like I enjoyed being in a relationship with him. What was the point in any of it otherwise?

“No pulling away, cupcake?”

“I told you not to call me cupcake.”

Just as I was about to cross the threshold and follow Tyler inside the house, Parker tugged on my hand and pulled me against him. “You also told me that this nickname gives you a rash. Maybe I want to see it.” Then he took a long and slow look up and down my body, making it perfectly clear that he would enjoy looking for any skin condition known to mankind under my designer clothes.

“You want to see a rash?” I tilted my head up a little, looking at his gorgeous heart stopping smile on his beautiful face. “Go do Mel. I’m sure that will give you a rash to look at for a while.”

He reached and removed my hair from my shoulder, pushing it back. “It drives you crazy, isn’t it? The thought of me and Mel together.”

“So disappointing,” I shook my head.

“What is?”

“You. Thinking that I’m jealous.”

He pressed his mouth to my ear and I shuddered. “That’s the thing I hate and love about you the most, Mad. You refuse to lose. But so do I.”

Then he leaned back a little, watching me intently. The pull between us got stronger with every second we spent together. We both felt it. The undeniable spark, the electricity crackling in the air whenever we were close. But as much as we danced around each other, neither of us was willing to take that final step and risk everything.

I turned around and went inside the house, Parker right behind me, still not releasing my hand. We found everyone crouched down in the living room, petting the dog. Everyone except my mother. She had her hands crossed over her chest, clearly displeased with the dog being in there.

She shot me a death glare. “You could have told me about this,” she pointed at the dog, who was currently licking Lucas’s face. Daphne seemed to enjoy that a lot, because she giggled the most adorable baby giggle I had ever heard.

“I thought you were the one I could count on not to bring those types of unpleasant surprises,” my mother continued with the usual reminder that I was supposed to be the perfect one. The one to behave and play the bad cop right along with her.

No one paid her any attention except me and judging by the tension in Parker’s body, my fake boyfriend.

“Well, it’s not my dog, so you’re addressing the wrong person here.”

I tried to untangle myself from Parker without causing a scene, but he didn’t let me. Instead he leaned in and whispered. “Don’t run away. You haven’t done anything wrong.”

Oh, God. Did that feel good? To have someone on your side for a change.

I relaxed against him and he wrapped his warm palm around my neck, squeezing gently, reminding me he had my back.

The dog eventually got tired from all the attention and we moved to the kitchen to finish up the dinner preparations. My mother talked about a friend of hers, but I had zero interest in her story, so I eavesdropped on Parker’s conversation with Hannah and Tyler.

“Feeling better?” He asked my future sister in law.

“Yes. Much better.”

“Glad to hear it,” he said and she sent him a sympathetic smile, then patted his hand.

There was something I was missing here and apparently Hannah and my brother weren’t.

They continued talking in hushed voices and when Hannah stole a glance my way, I was sure they were trying to keep it quiet because of me.

I was cutting tomatoes, because that was pretty much where my expertise in the kitchen ended, at the salad level, when Parker walked over to the island where I was standing. He came behind me and snaked his hands around my waste, then pressed his front to my back.

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