Somehow, we manage to make it through the Thomas and Johnson meeting, and somehow, we manage to land the contract. I don’t know how. Parker looks like shit and I feel like it, but we’re a good team and we’ve perfected our sales pitch. Years of working together will do that to do. We work beautifully together. Our relationship at work is like a well-oiled machine. Anything the clients throw at us, we’re ready for. We can handle any question, any complaint, any concern. We can conquer anything together.
We’re a perfect fucking team.
And I’m supposed to seduce him within the week.
Because of the dare.
Because of Stephanie.
Because I promised.
Only, now I feel guilty about it. We leave the conference room where the meeting was held and go back to Parker’s office. We need to talk about the details of the paperwork and set up the initial payment from the company. Then we have to plan out the orders and exactly how many parts Thomas and Johnson want.
We have our work cut out for us.
By the time we leave the office, business hours are long over. The rest of the staff left by six and now it’s nearly ten. Parker and I are both used to pulling long hours at work, but today we’re completely exhausted.
He walks me to my car and hugs me goodbye.
“Thanks for all of your hard work today,” he says, holding me tightly. “You really made it happen.”
“It was nothing,” I say, wrapping my arms right back around him. It’s so comforting, so perfect. We’ve shared hundreds of hugs over the years, but somehow, this one feels especially sweet, especially important.
We spent the entire day working together and, from what I can tell, it really helped get Parker’s mind off Janine. Part of me can’t believe it happened. Hell, most of me can’t believe it. I don’t think about her often and when I do, it’s almost always negative. I’m sure she had a perfectly good reason for doing what she did.
Maybe.
Probably not.
Still, no one deserves to die like that. No one deserves to die young, no matter how they might have lived.
“I’m sorry it was a long day,” I tell Parker.
“It didn’t seem so bad because you were there,” he says, but his voice is almost a whisper. I wonder if I just imagined him saying it because that’s borderline romantic and Parker and I are not romantic.
But I want to be.
My mind chooses that moment to remind me of Stephanie’s dare. I have until the end of the week to seduce Parker or I’m going to owe her. I don’t want to pussy out. I don’t want to be that girl. Only, after the day he’s had, is it really fair for me to try to seduce him now?
Should I plant an idea in his head?
Maybe I could flirt a little to make him think about me. Then, later in the week when I make my move for real, things won’t seem so strange.
I hold Parker tighter, pulling him against my chest. I know he can feel every part of me. This is one long fucking hug but he doesn’t make a move to leave and neither do I. His breath catches and yeah, I can tell he feels all of me.
“I’m glad we spent the day together,” I whisper. My dirty talk sucks. Fuck. This isn’t romantic or sweet or sexy.
“Yeah,” he says, and I feel something against my belly.
It can’t be.
Is that his…?
Parker practically leaps out of my arms and turns around. He takes long strides toward his own car.
“Goodnight, Rose,” he calls out, and he gets inside his vehicle. I watch him for a second before I get into my own car. Yeah, that was his cock and it was fucking hard.
For me?
Definitely for me.
I’m totally shocked as I sink into my seat, but I shouldn’t be. I’m pretty enough. I’m funny. I’m sweet. I’m interesting, right? None of my other boyfriends have ever complained that I’m boring. A bit bitchy, maybe, and a bit intense, but never boring.
Does Parker like me?
The idea that he might feel the same way as I do honestly hasn’t crossed my mind. I figured trying to seduce him would be like pulling teeth, but now I wonder if that’s true. That was a good fucking hug and I think he liked it just as much as I did.
So what do I do now?
I peek out my window and see that he’s still in his car. He’s staring straight ahead and his hands are gripping the steering wheel, like he can’t quite focus. He can’t quite convince himself to drive home yet, and I have an idea.
It’s probably a bad idea.
Still, I’m tired of playing it safe. Stephanie is right: I’ve liked Parker for three years and nothing has ever happened. I’ve been waiting around for him to realize I could be the girl of his dreams, but he never has. Maybe it’s time for me to push fate aside and take control of my own destiny. Maybe it’s time for me to put on my big-girl panties and make it happen.
I grab my cell phone and call Parker.
I see him look at his phone, then over at my car, then back at his phone. Finally, he picks up.
“Rose?”
“Hey, Parker,” I say.
“Is everything okay?” He’s looking at me now. We’re parked about five spaces apart and even though it’s dark, I can see his face because of the streetlights in the parking lot. He looks a little worried, a little confused.
“It was a long day,” I say quickly. I want to break eye contact, want to twirl my hair and close my eyes and pretend no one can see me. I want to pretend I’m invisible because that makes me feel brave. Ever since I was a little kid, closing my eyes has gotten me through my darkest moments. I don’t know why.
I guess that somehow, I never grew out of the idea that if I can’t see them, they can’t see me.
“Do you want to get a drink with me?” I ask Parker quickly. A look of surprise crosses over his face, then another emotion replaces it and I realize he’s going to say “no.”
Fuck.
My face flushes with embarrassment as he hesitates for a moment, then he runs a hand through his hair and over his beard.
How many nights have I dreamt of touching that beard?
How many times have I fantasized about running my hands through that hair?
“Rose,” he says. “It’s late. I should go home. You should, too.”
“Sorry,” I say. “It was a stupid idea.” Quickly, I hang up the phone and start my engine, then pull out of the parking lot. I try to forget about how embarrassing this feels, about how rejected I feel. I try to forget everything but getting as far away from the AeroKing office as possible.
And I’m certainly not fucking going home.
Parker doesn’t have to come with me, but now I need a drink more than ever and I’ll be damned if I let him tell me to go home because it’s “late.”
Fuck.