It would be easy to sit around and feel sorry for myself, but I’m done with that life. I’m not interested in that anymore. I’m not up for that.
No, I’m going to be better than the scared, weak woman I was before.
I’m going to be stronger.
Parker is pissed at me. I get it. He has every right to be. If he likes me as much as I think he does, he’s probably hurting and a little embarrassed. Hell, after everything he went through with Janine, maybe he feels betrayed. Maybe he feels like I betrayed him the way she did.
And I am not her.
The truth is that I should have told him about the dare. I should have been up-front with him, honest. People always talk about how much it hurts to be betrayed, but what they really mean is that it hurts to be lied to.
When I was a kid, my parents had this policy where they didn’t punish me for being honest. If I broke a vase or a glass or got a bad grade at school, I wouldn’t get in trouble if I was open with them about it. I only got in trouble for lying, which meant I quickly learned not to do it.
“Everyone makes mistakes,” my dad told me. “If you’re honest about it, we can work through the problem together, but if you lie, how will I ever know I can trust you?”
That’s really what it comes down to, isn’t it?
Trust.
I betrayed Parker King’s trust. We’ve worked together for so long, been friends for so long, and until now, he’s never felt like I would betray him or lie to him.
Well, guess I proved him wrong.
I can lie.
I can deceive.
I can betray.
Only, I want a relationship with him and I don’t want it to be based on any of those negative things, so I need to get moving. After a restless night’s sleep, I wake up before my alarm and dress for the day. Parker might expect me to skip work or to avoid him, but I’m not that girl. I’d rather have a confrontation today and get everything out in the open then sulk around for weeks until we both forget about “the incident.”
I head inside and Heather’s jaw drops when she sees me. Apparently I dressed well this morning.
“Damn, Rose,” she says. “Big meeting today?”
“The biggest,” I say.
Heather holds out a lollipop, which I take. Diane appears beside her, also sucking on a lollipop, and gives me an approving look.
“You clean up nice, kid,” she says.
“I’m two years older than you,” I point out.
Diane just smiles and heads back to her office. She walks with a little bounce and even though she’s a brilliant engineer, I think it’s her playful attitude that makes her fun to work with and be around.
“Good luck today,” Heather says as I walk to the elevator.
“Thanks. I’m going to need it.”
I repeat the “What’s happening today?” conversation with Christina, then go to my office to drop off my purse and keys. Parker’s door is closed, but I can hear him moving around in there, and I know he probably arrived hours ago.
He’s like me that way. When he’s stressed, he needs to be at work. When he’s tired or anxious, he needs to do things with his hands. Depending on just how tense Parker is feeling, he’s probably finished all of our work for the rest of the week.
I take a deep breath, and then I go knock on Parker’s door.
Then I wait.
This is the moment of truth, isn’t it?
I know he knows it’s me.
He knows who’s at the door without anyone needing to announce themselves because he’s that good at telling our knocks apart. It’s a little creepy, to be honest, but it’s Parker.
“Come in, Rose.”
I push the door open and step inside. I close it behind myself. I don’t make eye contact right away because suddenly, my heart is pounding out of my chest. It’s beating so loudly that I’m sure the whole office can hear me.
“Look at me,” his voice is clear and sharp.
When I look at Parker, though, he doesn’t seem angry or even hurt. He just looks relieved. Can that be right? I thought I was going to have to beg, going to have to convince him that I’m not a liar who wants to hurt him. I’m not Janine. I’ll never be her. I’m different. I’m me.
“I’m sorry,” I tell him. I clasp my hands in front of myself and look at him. In his suit, he looks every bit the CEO. His beard is perfectly trimmed and his face is a mask. He’s great at negotiating because people can’t get a read on him.
But I’ve seen what’s beneath the suit.
I’ve seen the tattoos that mark his body in remembrance of the friends he’s lost. I’ve seen the way he looks when he takes off the mask of self-control. I’ve seen the way he moves when he’s not just the boss, but a lion ready to pounce.
I’ve seen all of that and I want to see it again.
I want more.
I want Parker King.
He starts walking across the room toward me and I open my mouth and start talking. I’m not even sure what the point of talking is or what I’m trying to say, but I’m going to try anyway.
“I fucked up. I should have told you about the dare. It’s just that I’m a huge wimp and kind of a dork and I’m awkward around men and I thought Stephanie was giving me the push I needed and I-”
He silences me with the kiss of a lifetime.
He silences me with his mouth and his tongue and his hands in my hair.
He silences me because in this moment, all we need is the silence.
All we need is each other.
And I know in this moment that Parker King is a bigger man than I thought.
He’s not going to let hurt feelings stop us from exploring this thing between us. He’s not going to give up just because we had a misunderstanding. He’s not going to give up just because the thing that brought us together was a little dare.
He’s still Parker.
He’s still the man I admire more than anyone else in the world.
He dominates the business world and now, judging by the look in his eye, he’s going to dominate me.