Page 67 of To Hold and Protect

Parker:Huh. Good thing I didn’t know that

Her phone rang, Parker’s name on the screen. “Parker Church, you can’t buy me a car.”

“Too late. I already did. Besides, it’s used, not new, since they stopped making Beetles a few years ago. I was lucky to find one in great shape with low mileage and...yellow.”

“You saidyellowlike you had a bad taste in your mouth.”

“No comment.”

“Yellow’s a great color, but seriously, you can’t give me a car.”

He sighed. “Accept it so I’ll feel better. It’s my fault yours was burned up.”

“You’re not the one who poured gasoline on it and lit a match to it. Look, I appreciate the gesture. It was a really sweet thing to do, and I’m not going to return it to the dealer since I need a car, but when I get the insurance check for Sunshine, I’ll pay you back.”

“Why can’t I give you a gift?”

“An acceptable gift would be flowers or a box of cookies from Sweet Tooth, not a freaking car!”

“Fine.”

And in that “fine” she heard his message...he had no intention of letting her pay him back. Well, they’d just see about that.

Later that night, she was sitting up in bed, her laptop resting on her legs, but not getting much writing done. She blamed Parker for that. She missed him, missed sitting on his daybed and writing while he painted. Missed the way he’d lean his head around the side of his easel and give her heated looks.

In spite of her declared Man Hiatus, she was falling for one. It wasn’t what she wanted. She had a plan, and it didn’t include falling in love, especially with a man who claimed to fall in love at the drop of a hat. Even if he said he was falling in love with her, too, how could she trust he really was? She should probably consider leaving sooner than she’d planned.

Her phone chimed with a text.

Parker:Come to the studio

Not sure that’s a good idea

Parker:It’s a great idea. Please

She should refuse, but she couldn’t resist being with him again. It would be for the last time.Okay.

Parker:*heart emoji*

She’d put on a camisole and boy shorts after her shower, and she debated changing. “Nah.” Whatever she wore wasn’t going to stay on long, so why bother changing? She slipped her feet into flip-flops, grabbed her laptop, and went to him.

Parker was waiting at the door for her, and as soon as she stepped inside, he pulled her to him and kissed her. “I missed you,” he said when he let her go.

What happened tothey couldn’t be together? But she missed him, too, so she didn’t ask. “Are you painting?”

“I am.”

“Good. Go paint while I write.” When she reached the daybed, she stopped and stared at the vase of wildflowers and the box of cookies from Sweet Tooth. She laughed, then looked over her shoulder at him to see he was watching her. “How about I keep the flowers and cookies, and you keep the car.”

He smiled as he shook his head. “Nope, everything is all yours. Now go write so I can get this done.”

“Stubborn man,” she muttered.

“I heard that.”

“Just speaking the truth.” He disappeared behind his easel, and she settled down to write. A little later, she felt eyes on her and glanced up. Parker was peeking around the canvas, and he winked, then disappeared from view. She was going to miss these nights with him when she left.

Willow dreaded the talk that was about to happen. She’d left Parker at dawn to come home and sleep for a few hours. Even though she’d been up most of the night and her body ached in all the right places for the best of reasons, sleep eluded her, so she gave up and went down to her new kitchen to bake some cookies.

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