Page 40 of Lovers at Seaside
“It’s okay, baby. We’ll get through this.” Over her shoulder, he noticed a kid taking pictures of them with his cell phone. The same kid he’d seen standing outside the elevator when he and Parker were kissing.
“Get in the car, baby.” He guided her into her seat. His eyes remained on the kid, who was furiously typing on his phone. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” He closed the car door and headed for the kid. The last thing Parker needed was a picture of her grief.
Standing before the scrawny teenager, Grayson was breathing fire and working hard to douse the flames. He was just a kid after all, probably paid a hefty sum for the last photo and dreaming of all the video games he could buy with his loot. Grayson held out his hand.
The kid’s thumbs stopped moving over his phone. He lifted his eyes to Grayson’s hand and up his arm. Grayson took great pleasure in knowing his size alone should intimidate the kid into giving him what he wanted. The scruffy-haired kid shoved his phone in his pocket.
“How much?” Grayson had a hard time keeping his anger out of his voice.
“What?” His eyes darted away from Grayson.
Grayson stepped closer. He hated to intimidate the kid, and he’d never touch him, but a little fear went a long way. And for Parker, there was nothing he wouldn’t do. “How much do you want for that picture?”
The kid swallowed so hard his eyes squinted.
“How much?” Grayson repeated.
The teen took a step back. “They gave me five hundred for the last picture. Said they’d give me more if I got her with another guy. I figured they’d pay the same for another of you two.”
“Did you post this one anywhere yet?”
He shook his head.
“Fifteen hundred, here and now, to never take her picture again—but I get your SIM card.”
“But—”
“Take the deal, or I track down your parents and you deal with the consequences.” Grayson held out his hand, and the boy hesitated. His eyes shifted to the car, where Parker was watching, glasses still in place. He knew the boy was calculating how many more pictures he could take and sell—and probably also how fast he could run—so Grayson went for the kid’s heart.
“She’s a person, not just a celebrity, and every picture you sell makes her life ten times harder. Do you really want that on your conscience? Don’t you have better things to do with your time?”
The kid looked up at him, then down at his phone.
“Didn’t your parents ever tell you it’s not how much money you have, but how you earn it that counts?” Grayson must have heard that a million times from his father, and he’d taken it to heart. Cheating, lying, scamming—none of that was in his repertoire.
The boy looked up and said with an attitude annoyingly fitting for his age, “My dad’s a lawyer. Maybehisfather never taught him.” He took the SIM card out of his phone, smacked it into Grayson’s hand, and looked at Parker again. “Keep your stupid money.”
He took a step away, and Grayson grabbed his arm. The kid’s eyes widened with fear. Grayson pulled out his wallet and handed him five twenties. “For a new SIM card. Thank you. You’ve just made her life easier.”
The kid snagged the cash. “Whatever,” he said, and stalked away.
Grayson let out a heavy breath, feeling like he’d just helped Parker dodge a bullet, and returned to the car. How did she live like this?
“What was that about?” she asked.
He shook his head, reaching for her hand as he drove away from the resort. “Nothing. Are you okay?”
“Surprisingly, I think I am. Sad, you know, but I understand why Abe asked me not to come back. He’s right. I came there to try to put the feud between him and Bert to rest, and I got so much more. He’s cranky, and he’s probably been a jerk to a lot of people. But I don’t know. I guess I feel like he’s paid his dues. As he said, it was his cross to bear, but I could tell he feels bad about how his life unfolded. And that makes me really glad that I had a chance to connect with him. I feel like he’s in a better place emotionally than he was when we met him.”
She took off her sunglasses, and in her eyes Grayson saw it all—sadness, acceptance, and satisfaction.
“I think I’m in a better place, too,” she confessed. “Would you mind if we lived in your world for a while? Go see your dad as we’d planned and maybe stay at your place?”
“Whatever you’d like, sweetheart.” Grayson knew his simple cottage on a small private pond would pale in comparison to Parker’s bay-front home, but the thought of Parker there gave him a deep sense of pleasure. He wanted her in his life, and not just for a while.
LACROUX HARDWARE WAS located on a quiet side street, reminding Parker of a small-town film set. Trees sprouted up beside narrow sidewalks, their leafy branches reaching out like umbrellas, shading the glass storefronts from the hot sun. Planters overflowed with bright flowers, and wooden benches offered passersby a place to rest. A young family sat on one of those benches in front of a chocolate shop, dipping their hands into white bakery bags and popping goodies into their mouths. Across the street, a couple stood in front of a shoe store. The woman pointed inside while the man tried to pull her away. Parker had always loved spotting those types of shared moments. Moments that she imagined were forgettable for most but she’d always longed for.
“Ready to meet my old man?” Grayson leaned in for a kiss.
