Page 8 of Lovers at Seaside
She pulled into the gated community of Ocean Edge Resort and Golf Club, magnifying the difference between the circles in which they traveled. Parker sat up straighter, drew her shoulders back, and inhaled deeply, blowing it out slowly. All of the worry and teasing he’d seen in her eyes slipped away, replaced with a mask of pleasant calm as she morphed into the confident Parker Collins the world knew and loved right before his eyes.
He wondered if she ever got lost between who she really was and the woman she was expected to be.
Chapter Three
PARKER TOSSED HER hat into the backseat and grabbed her bag, trying to ignore the perplexed look in Grayson’s dark eyes. At least that look made it easier for her to climb back into her actress armor, unlike the warm, caring look he’d been giving her that made her think it was okay to let her guard down and feel like a normal, grieving, twenty-eight-year-old. Not that any of his looks in between caring and perplexed made anything about being near him easy. He was kind, caring, tough, and stubborn, and she needed a will of steel to battle her mounting attraction to him.
As she stepped from the car she stole another glance. His black shirt stretched tight across his broad chest. His low-slung jeans looked like old favorites, worn in the knees and frayed at the edges. Everything about him said he was comfortable in his own skin. She’d been that way once. Even when she’d been moving from house to house in foster care, she’d been comfortable with who she was as a person. But that was before she’d found fame. She no longer had the luxury of being herself, and she wasn’t sure she knew who the famous Parker Collins really was. But she’d been blessed with a life others would kill for, and she needed to get out of her selfish head and get on with what she came here to do.
She met Grayson’s assessing gaze, which felt hot and sexy and made her feel a little dangerous. Who was she kidding? She wasn’t a dangerous type of girl. She was a play-by-the-rules, do-what-she-was-told kind of girl, as evident by everything in her life…besides last night.
She should probably warn Grayson, or at least offer an explanation about running hot and cold and the way she’d have to act while she was out in public, but what could she say?I can’t risk bad press, and I’m trying to hold myself together long enough to get through this terrible, awful meeting?That would make her look like a fake. She already felt that way most of the time. She didn’t need him to know it.
The impressive resort, expensive cars, and the smartly dressed valet heading their way were reminders of why she’d climbed out of her grief-induced horror-movie-watching, junk-food-eating stupor this morning. Parker knew how to play this game well, so she did what she did best and shifted her eyes away from Grayson, focusing on the valet.
Sometimes she hated being a celebrity.
Most of the time.
Almost always.
Especially right now.
“Thank you,” she said, handing the valet her key fob, along with a few large bills.
Grayson stepped closer, warmth returning to his dark eyes as he searched hers. “Are you okay?”
No. I’m in serious need of a hug, and a drink, and a mountain of chocolate. I need Bert, too.Her heart squeezed at the thought.Can you please bring him back? Just long enough for me to say goodbye and hug him one last time?
Pushing all those truths aside, she said, “Yes. Thank you,” too curtly for his kindness, and she hated herself for it. But being Parker under these circumstances took effort.
He held her stare for a few silent beats and placed his hand on her hip. “You sure?”
She was used to being pawed at and hit on, but no one touched her like this—as if they cared and didn’t need permission to do so. She realized that after last night, he’d seen more of therealher than anyone else ever had, other than Bert. Grayson had gotten a glimpse of Polly.
Fighting the urge to step into his arms, she said, “Yes. Thank you.”
He glanced over his shoulder at the resort, his hand slipping from her hip. She felt better when he was touching her, but she held her head up high, ready to take on her most torturous role yet.
Parker had access to private beaches, elite clubs, daily spa treatments, and just about anything she could ever want, in any city she visited. But she’d never felt comfortable in them, and no amount of money or celebrity could give her what she truly craved: the love and security of family. Bert had been her family, but now…
She pushed those thoughts aside, feeling like she’d spent her life pushing things aside, as they crossed the marble floor on the way to the elevators. She felt the eyes of several people on her. She’d never get used to the icy chill those first seconds of recognition brought with them, reminders to be on alert, ready for anything from people seeking autographs and pictures to handsy men and jealous women.
Relief came when the elevator arrived and the doors closed behind them. Short-lived relief. Grayson’s big body made the confined space seem even smaller. He smelled like sand and surf and sinful pleasures, and his scent was permeating her skin, bedding down in her nasal cavities. And he was standing too close, making it harder to remember a single reason why she should fight her attraction to him.
As if she wasn’t nervous enough about meeting Abe?
He touched her hip again, sending sparks through her veins and holding her transfixed with his penetrating gaze. He was clean-shaven, which made her thoughts travel to places they shouldn’t, like wondering about how those soft cheeks would feel against her face…and her body.
“Hey,” he said with a voice as enticing as melted chocolate. “You sure you’re okay? It’s just us in here. You can relax.”
Right. With your sexy voice making me want you and my brain telling me it’s wrong for no apparent reason at all and an awful man waiting a few floors up?
“Just don’t judge me, okay? Just us or not, I can’t risk bad press, which sucks, but it’s part of my life.” Why was she snapping at him? It wasn’t his fault she wanted him.
His brow wrinkled. “I don’t give a rat’s behind about who you have to be, or how you have to act for anyone else. I respect your career, and I’ll do what I can to protect your image or whatever it is you’re worried about. But I onlycarethatyou’reokay with how you feel inside,for yourself, not for anyone else’s sake.”
How can I be okay? I’m nowhere near okay. Especially when you say something so caring and sweet and romantic it makes me want to climb into your arms and stay there for a month.She swallowed that confession and said, “I’m fine, and Iamrelaxed.”
