Page 35 of Lovers at Seaside
She laughed and shoved her hand beneath his leg to retrieve her phone. “It’s Luce.” She moved from his lap and answered. “Hi, Luce.”
“I thought you were lying low?”
“I am,” Parker said, confused by her comment. Grayson blew her a kiss and went back to the drawings. “I’m at the beach house reading the script Phillipa sent.”
“And who is the stunning creature kissing you in the elevator?”
Parker’s jaw gaped. “What?”Ohmygosh, the elevator!Her mind whizzed through the possibility of hidden cameras, and panic spread through her chest.
Grayson launched to his feet at her shriek and came to her side, eyes narrowed, worried.Possessive.She loved that.
“Seriously, woman,” Luce said. “We’refriends. If you’ve got that artist, or any other hot and hard man for that matter, holing up with you, the least you can do is give me the juicy details so I don’t have to see it on the front ofUs Weeklyfirst.”
Parker covered her face with her hand. “Oh no, Luce. How bad is it?”
“Bad?” Luce scoffed. “Are you kidding? It’s smokin’ hot. I’m surprised you didn’t short-circuit the elevator.”
“Are we…? Where are his hands?” She closed her eyes against the fierceness of Grayson’s stare, hoping Luce didn’t say,Beneath your dress.
“Wherewerethey is a better question,” Luce asked.
“Luce! Hands! Where are they in the picture?” She held up a finger to Grayson, who was practically breathing down her neck. She wanted to know what she was dealing with before saying anything. He sank down on the couch a few inches away, giving her a little more space to breathe. She needed to stand in the middle of a deserted island to have enough air right now.
Luce sighed the universal dreamy sigh that women used when something was overtly cute or romantic, and Parker breathed a little easier. She wouldn’t have sighed if his hand was somewhere they shouldn’t have been. Her public-relations damage-control claws would have sprung out.
“His hands, which are absolutely enormous, by the way, and which we’re definitely going to revisit, are on your neck. His thumbs are resting on your jaw, and the kiss is…intense. It’s perfect. It’s the kind of kiss that will have women yelling at their husbands fornotkissing them like that.”
Parker reached for Grayson’s hand. “I know that kiss well. So, give me the bad news. The caption?”
“How could they write anything bad? You look like a couple in love. The caption reads, ‘Parker Collins Comes Out of Hiding with Hot New Man,’ and then it goes on to talk about Grayson winning the award for the foundation, and they speculate about this and that.”
Parker was still stuck on looking like a couple in love, and Grayson was still watching her like a hawk. “Hold on, Luce.” She lowered the phone and said to Grayson, “Someone took a picture of us kissing in the elevator. It’s inUs Weekly.”
“Uh oh. I already messed things up for you?” He scrubbed a hand down his face.
“No. Not at all. Let me find out more from Luce, but don’t worry. It’s fine.” She was surprisingly not as worried as she had been initially. Itwasa perfect kiss, and she could kiss anyone she wanted to. It wasn’t like they’d caught her with her Mustache Rides shirt, her butt hanging out of her shorts, and looking like she’d just crawled out from under a night of boozing it up.
Grayson didn’t move. He stared straight ahead, a rigid statue of concern.Over me.An unfamiliar, safe feeling moved through her. Where had he been all her life?
She lifted the phone to her ear, smiling as she hashed out the situation with Luce.
“This isnota situation, Parker. This makes younormal.” Luce paused long enough for Parker to agree. “Now, let’s talk about where you thought his hands were. And is it true, the bigger the hands—”
“Luce!” Parker laughed, and Grayson lifted his eyes. She mouthed,It’s fine. I promise.He rested his head on the back of the couch and sighed, like she’d just told him he didn’t have cancer. And she fell even harder because of it.
She watched as he went back to the table and leaned over the drawings. A moment later she realized Luce was still talking.
She’d completely lost track of their conversation and caught up as Luce warned her to expect more pictures to pop up. Not that Luce thought she’d be hounded there on the Cape. Luce said it was too far from the real gossip and not controversial enough of a story to warrant the paparazzi’s travel expenses. But now that they had the scent of something, they’d want to blow it up to sell magazines. She told Parker to expect random photos of her with other guys to pop up, claiming to threaten her relationship with Grayson.
After the call, she joined Grayson at the table. He set his pencil down and opened his arms, and she settled onto his lap.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I never would have kissed you in the elevator if I’d thought it would cause trouble for you.”
She touched her forehead to his shoulder. “Yes, you would have.”
He smiled and framed her face with his hands.Oh yeah, Luce, it’s true. Big hands, big everything. Heart, mind, and body.
“Yeah, you’re probably right.” He pressed his warm lips to hers. “So what happens now?”
