Page 105 of The Parkers' Handsome Holiday
"It's only you, love. Feel good about yourself."
"Great," I mumbled and walked toward the kitchenette, grateful that it was early enough in the morning that we were alone. Our staff wouldn't be in for another thirty minutes or so. It had been a long year of building up new accounts, but a good one. I played accountant and Parker played marketing guru, both of us fitting our roles perfectly.
I'd just started a pot of coffee, when his voice pulled me from my thoughts.
"You know you're extra grumpy when Jason is out of town. Why don't you just send someone else next time and keep him here? He's like a security blanket for us."
"Us?" I glanced over my shoulder, lifting my eyebrow to challenge my best friend and business partner.
"Yes. All of us here at work. You're much more pleasant when you're getting laid." He walked in and moved up beside me, pressing against me from the side. "If you would just give up on love and let him go, we could sulk together. Then I wouldn't be alone."
I snorted and looked up at him. "We've been together for nine months, and mostly thanks to you. I'm pretty sure we're going to move in together soon. You sulking alone is by choice, anyway."
"Is it?" He let out a long sigh before reaching up to run his fingers through his messy blond hair. "Maybe so, but I can't help that I'm a player by chance."
"It's been nine months, Park. Mina has found someone else and isn't looking back. Why are you?" I turned to face him before reaching out and squeezing his shoulder. "You're a great catch. Find someone under the mistletoe this year?"
"How did this turn from you to me?" He shook his head and reached up to grab two mugs from the counter in front of us. "And are you serious about you and Jason moving in together?"
"Yeah. I think." My thoughts moved through the last nine months of us building our relationship. It was fun, soft, sweet and yet filled with the kind of passion I didn't realize existed. "I'm just glad everything worked out as well as it did."
"Yep. I actually saw Kade in town the other day. At the grocery store."
I couldn't help that my heart constricted at Kade McMillian. He'd been my best friend in high school, and I thought he would be my husband, the father of my children. But he had different plans. Plans to head to Hollywood after school and never look back. And I'd spent those long sixteen years waiting for him, comparing every man I dated to him, only to find out that I'd been wrong. He wasn't the knight in shining armor that I'd made him to be in my head. He was just a regular guy, and not my guy after all.
"Was he with someone?" I reached up and pushed my thick, copper curls off my shoulder.
"Do you care?" Parker poured us each a cup of coffee as he wore a cocky smile. He was forever up to something. I had to find him another wife, wife number three to be exact. Being tied down to a relationship kept him out of trouble, or at least helped with the situation.
"Nope." I shrugged and accepted one of the mugs from him. "I mean, I hope he finds someone and has a good life, but other than that, no. After Kade finished up building the house for me, we were done. I haven't heard from him since."
"And that's a good thing. You starting a relationship with Jason meant letting go of all of that old shit." He reached over and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. "Promise me if things don't work out with you and Junior that you'll give me a week to ravage your body before you find another guy?"
I rolled my eyes. "No. Never. Not in a million years."
"Why? Because you wouldn't survive it?"
"Nope." I turned to face him as the sound of Christmas music started above our heads. One of the other staff must have arrived.
"Because you'd quickly turn into my sex slave?" He lifted an eyebrow and I couldn't help but smile. Parker was beyond cute and such a good man. How he hadn't found ten women at that point was beyond me.
Because he doesn't want to. That had to be it. He'd been married twice and both times, the women cheated on him. He most likely wouldn't look to getting married again, which was a shame. He was the type of man that would worship the right woman, and she would return the favor no doubt.
"No. I'm Jason's sex slave, remember?" I smirked.
"I don't want to hear about you and Jason rolling around in the sheets."
A knock on the open door caused me to turn. Stephanie, one of our newer accountants, was standing in the doorway, her cheeks pink. "Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt. I turned on the music. Is that-"
"Yeah, absolutely." I put my back to her as my cheeks burned. Of course someone had to walk up when I was talking about having sex with Jason with Parker. Of course. Typical office morning.
"That sweater looks great on you, Steph. Brings out the blue of your eyes." Parker's voice was warm and friendly.
"Oh thanks. Okay, well, morning."
He turned back to me, and I glanced up at him. "Let's not talk about sex in the office. I'm not looking to get slammed with a lawsuit. Got it?"
"Can we just have sex in the office?" His blue eyes filled with mischief and a soft sadness rolled through the center of my chest. He deserved better than loneliness at Christmas. Everyone did.
