Page 5 of Lovers at Seaside
“You have nothing to be sorry about. I didn’t realize you were in town. Otherwise I wouldn’t have used my key.”
She didn’t respond. He’d obviously been mistaken last night when he’d thought the heat between them was more than just drunken lust. He should give her the designs to review and leave. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that behind those sunglasses she was hurting, and if what she’d said last night was true, she was suffering alone. Plus, she’d said something about meeting ajerktoday, and that wasn’t sitting well with him.
“Parker, about last night…”
She clicked the remote to the garage, revealing a shiny silver Lexus. He hadn’t thought to check the garage last night. The house had been pitch-dark when he’d arrived to recheck the measurements for the railing, and then he’d heard a noise downstairs and he’d thought someone had broken in.
This no-eye-contact thing she had going on was beginning to annoy him. He’d gone ten months without eye contact, which had made the design process more difficult. But he’d resisted the urge to ask her to Skype or FaceTime, because he had a feeling if they did, all those emotions he was feeling would come tumbling out. He’d proven he sucked at reading her without eye contact, and he wasn’t about to take a chance of being wrong about anything else where Parker was concerned. Without a word, he lifted the sunglasses from her face.
“Grayson. What…?” She put her hand in front of her face and turned away.
He gently turned her toward him. There wasn’t enough makeup in the world to hide the worry and sadness swimming in her eyes. It didn’t matter if she wanted him around or not. He wasn’t leaving.
“Parker, I didn’t come to go over the drawings. I was concerned about you.”
Her lips parted, as if she was going to respond, but she lowered her eyes in silence.
“I know you’re sad about Bert, but you can talk to me. I’ve dealt with loss like this before.”
She finally met his gaze. “You have?”
“Yes, when I lost my mother. I know how hard this is, and if you’re embarrassed about drinking or the candy, or whatever, don’t be.”
“Thank you.” Her eyes went glassy. “I’m sorry about your mom.”
“Me too. I really do understand, so if you need a friend, I’m here.”
“I appreciate that,” she said softly. Her cheeks flushed. “And thank you for cleaning up last night. You really didn’t have to do that.”
“Well, it was either that or pick more candy out of Christmas’s paws.”
She smiled, and it loosened the knot in his gut.
“I think I found taffy in his paw this morning.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Sure did. And, um…Christmas?” He cocked a brow, relieved to see her tension easing. “We’ve been emailing for almost a year. How did I not know about your big lovable dog?”
“Sorry. I don’t talk about my life much, and he wasn’t on location with me. He always stays—stayed—with Bert when I was filming.” Her eyes warmed. “Bert gave him to me for Chanukah.”
“You’re Jewish and you named your dog Christmas?”
“I’m not Jewish, but Bert was, so we celebrated Chanukah. One year I said it might be nice to have Christmas. The next day he gave me my boy and said, ‘Now you can have Christmas every day.’” She blinked away the dampness in her eyes.
“I think I would have liked Bert.”
“I…I think he would have liked you, too. Can I ask you something?”
“Anything.”Just keep talking.
Her lips twisted in an adorable, confused expression. “Did we…?”
“Did we…?”
She rolled her eyes. “Last night. Did we…you know?”
A laugh escaped before he could stop it. “No, we didn’t. Come on, Parker. Don’t you think you’d remember that?”
