Sara sank into the hot bath and her entire body tingled. Her fingers shook, her toes were numb, and she still couldn’t stop her teeth from chattering.

Parker sat next to the tub and watched her. Instead of passion in his eyes, worry flooded them.

“I still think we should call your parents,” he said for the third time.

“N-no. I’m okay. Really.” She smiled. “I’m sure it was just a mistake.”

“One that could have cost you your life.” He frowned down at her and handed her a clean washcloth.

She wiped her face and when the warmth hit her eyes, she was shocked and a little ashamed that tears started flowing. She buried her entire face in the cloth, pulled her knees up to her chin, and cried. All the while, Parker watched and ran his hand over her back softly.

When she was done, she leaned back and let him wash her hair. He was so gentle, she hadn’t realized she’d fallen asleep until he drained the water and picked her up, wrapping her in a towel and carrying her to the bed.

When he laid her under the thick comforter, she tried to pull him down next to her.

“I’m going to make you some soup,” he said, sitting next to her. “It’ll help.” He placed a kiss on her forehead.

“Okay.” She started to get up.

“No, stay put. I think I can manage it.”

She nodded and relaxed back. After he left the room, she was no longer tired and her mind played over what had happened.

She’d locked the back door behind Candace, the last of the employees to leave. She was sure she’d locked the front behind the last customer hours before. Clean up usually took two hours, but she had wanted to go over the paperwork to make sure everything was perfect.

She couldn’t even remember what had sent her to the freezer. She thought back and then remembered she had wanted to bring home some of the chocolate desserts that Rene, the pastry chef, had made earlier that night.

She had imagined enjoying them with Parker.

She’d entered the freezer and located the sweets near the back, but when she turned back around, the door had shut. She’d tried the handle, but it hadn’t budged.

She had banged on the frozen door for a few minutes before trying her phone. Seeing no bars, she had walked around the walk-in for a few minutes, trying to get a signal. When that hadn’t worked, she had kicked the door and cussed for a few more minutes. That was when the tears and fear had settled in.

She had just given up hope and had closed her eyes when the door had jerked open and Parker had grabbed her. She didn’t know what she would have done if he hadn’t come along.

“Here we are.” Parker’s voice broke her out of the dark thoughts. He carried a tray across the room towards her. “Soup and more hot chocolate.” He set them down on the nightstand. Instead of handing them to her, he waited. “They need to cool,” he said as his eyes ran over her. He brushed her damp hair away from her face. He had helped her dry it with a towel and had even run a comb through it for her.

“Do you think you should tell your uncle what happened?” he asked.

She stiffened as she thought of explaining to Iian how she’d been stupid enough to lock herself in the freezer.

“No,” she said quickly.

“Okay. But first thing in the morning, I’m looking at making sure this doesn’t happen to someone else.” He leaned down and brushed a kiss across her lips. He handed her the bowl. “Make sure to blow on it if it’s too hot.”

By the time she’d finished the soup and hot drink, Parker was sitting beside her on the bed, relaxed, talking, and watching her closely.

She set the empty bowl down and snuggled against his chest. The hot food in her stomach made her sleepy and she quickly fell asleep with Parker’s arms wrapped around her.

She’d figured she might have nightmares, but nothing had prepared her for them. Jerking in her sleep, she fought against the frozen door, screaming and kicking out. In her dream, her fists bled as she beat against the unmovable object.

Warm, strong arms pulled her closer, and she heard Parker’s voice next to her ear, softly waking her.

Her hands touched bare skin and when her eyes fluttered open, she looked into his dark eyes.

“I’ve got you,” he said softly. His entire body was pressed against hers and she realized that she was still completely naked. Her arms wrapped around him and she noticed that he’d removed his shirt sometime during the night. “Sara.”

Her name was like silk coming from his lips. Leaning up, she covered his mouth with hers before he could say anything more.

She couldn’t explain it, but she needed him. Now.

Rolling, she climbed over his hips until she’d pinned him to the bed, her mouth moving over him.

“I need you,” she said between kisses. “Now.” She slowly ran her fingers down his chest, enjoying the play of muscles as she went. When she reached his boxers and her hand brushed over his hardness, she moaned and felt her desire grow. In one quick move, she yanked his shorts down and slid onto him while his fingers dug into her hips.

Tossing her head back, she leaned into him and stilled as a low moan escaped her lips.

“My god,” he groaned.

When she looked down at him, his eyes were closed, as if he was deep in concentration.

“Parker.” When his eyes slid open, she smiled. “Watch me.” She needed his eyes on her as she ran her hands over her own body. She began to slowly rock as she lost herself completely.

* * *

Parker walked into the restaurant the next morning, hand in hand with Sara. He knew there were others already there since the parking lot had a few cars in it already.

“I’m coming to the back with you,” he said, following her instead of stopping by his men. “Go ahead and get started without me,” he told Donny, his foremen. “I have some things I have to take care of in the back first.”

“Sure thing, boss. We’ve got things covered,” Donny replied.

He followed Sara to the back. Since they didn’t open until three, the place was still dark.

Sara pulled out the keys and turned on the lights.

“Okay, why haven’t those been replaced with regular light switches?” he asked, looking at the stupid switches.

She shrugged. “It’s what was put in when my grandfather built the place.

“I’ll be replacing those today.” He walked over to the freezer and thought about how to fix it so no one could lock the door behind someone else.

Sara had disappeared into the office, and he was thankful. He didn’t want to bring up that someone had locked her in, again. She was having a hard enough time as it was. He planned to stop by her brother’s office to talk to him once he was done for the day.

He worked on the freezer for half an hour, grinding down the two small hooks the bar had been hooked through. When he was done, the freezer couldn’t be locked from the outside ever again.

He stopped and looked in on Sara in the office before heading back outside to start his work.

She was sitting behind the massive desk with piles of receipts and paperwork in front of her.

He knocked on the door, and she glanced up at him, smiling when she saw him.

“I’ll get Donny to replace those light switches today. He’s our certified electrician.” She nodded as he moved further into the office. “What’s all this?” he asked, looking at the stacks of reports she was glued to.

“I think I’ve found a way to save my uncle close to a thousand dollars a month.” She smiled.

“Wow.” He glanced over her shoulder at the computer screen.

“See?” She pointed to the report she was looking at.

To him, it was a row of numbers, nothing more, but he nodded. “I’m sure he’s going to be proud.”

Her shoulders straightened with pride. “I hope so.” She sighed and looked back at him.

“Let me know if you need someone to go over your books. I’m finding that I really enjoy it.”

He tilted his head and looked at her. “Ever think about taking some classes and doing it full time?”

She bit her bottom lip. “For as long as I can remember, I wanted to manage this place.” Her eyes moved around the office.

“You still could. They have online classes.” He ran a hand over her shoulder lightly.

She glanced up at him and he could tell she was thinking about it. Leaning down, he placed a soft kiss on her lips as his mind flashed to what she had done to him earlier that morning.

“We’ll need to talk about… things.” He felt his heart kick up.

“Things?”

“You were… let’s say… very eager this morning. I didn’t have a chance to use protection.” He leaned his hip against the desk as she smiled.

“I’m covered.” She ran her hands over the denim covering his knees.

He nodded. “I’m clean. I was tested after my last breakup.”

“Over a year ago,” she added with a smile.

“Yes.” He sighed. “You?”

“Same, but for me it wasn’t that long ago.”

If he didn’t know better, he’d swear she was teasing him. “I pick up Toby this afternoon.”

Her fingers were moving higher on his leg and he felt his body react to the closeness of her fingertips.

“Okay,” she said, her eyes moving to the spot where his jeans had grown too tight for comfort. Her smile increased.

“Sara, you’re not playing fair,” he warned.

“Maybe I don’t want to.” Her fingertips brushed against the outside of his jeans, making his cock jump in response. “Did you know that my uncle installed a lock on that door?” She nodded to the office door.

He jerked his hips when she ran her palm over him this time. His eyes closed as he dreamed of what he wanted to do to her.

Then, he was up and sliding the lock into place on the door. When he turned back towards her, she was laughing at him.

“You’re going to get it,” he growled as he crossed the room.

Hooking his hands under her armpits, he pulled her up until she sat on the edge of the desk. Her neatly stacked paperwork fluttered to the floor.

He jerked her legs apart and hiked up the little black skirt she was wearing. Tearing the silk panties down in one quick movement, he bent down and covered her pussy with his mouth.

She cried out, her fingers digging into his hair. She held him to her and made sexy noises as he used his tongue to lash her. Her thighs tightened when he took her nub into his mouth and used his teeth gently on her. She cried out and arched back to give him better access.

Sliding a finger into her, he continued his torture until he felt her convulse in his mouth. Only then did he unzip his jeans. Before she could recover, he jerked his hips, fully embedding himself into her.

He covered her cries as he pumped relentlessly into her until he felt her build up again. This time, he couldn’t hold back and followed her.

Needless to say, it was hard for him to concentrate the rest of the day. So instead of swinging the sledgehammer, he helped haul out the rubble and dump it into the massive dumpster outside.

It was backbreaking work, but it kept him from thinking about going back into the office and locking the door once more.

He avoided seeing her again after lunch and when they were all cleaned up for the day, he jumped into his truck and headed out to pick up Toby.

The dog, upon seeing him, jerked the leash out of the doctor’s hand, ran across the room, and jumped into his lap, shaking like a scared baby. He whined as Parker held him while the vet described what to watch out for in the coming days.

Helping the dog into the truck, he laughed when he tried to climb into his lap.

“Did that mean man cut your balls off?” he asked as he pushed the dog into his normal spot in the seat next to him. Toby whined as a reply.

He couldn’t help it, he laughed. “How about we go see Matt? You liked him, remember?”

He knew it was odd, but he talked to the dog like he was a human, instead of a pet. He was pretty sure the animal understood everything he said, because Toby let out an excited bark and sat down in his spot.

He parked in front of the brick building just down the street from the Golden Oar. The two family businesses were complete opposites.

When he walked into the lobby of Jordan Shipping, he felt underdressed. Especially with Toby at his side. Still, the receptionist smiled and waved him in.

“Is it okay that he’s here?” He glanced down at Toby, who was sniffing the woman’s shoes.

“Oh!” She started petting Toby and giving him all of her attention. “Yes, of course. We’re a pet-friendly environment. Mr. Jordan brings in his dogs every now and then.” Finally, she smiled up at him. “How can I help you, besides giving your dog love?” She giggled.

“Parker Clark to see Mr. Jordan. If he’s available.”

“Let me find out for you. Why don’t you have a seat and I’ll buzz him.” She motioned to the leather chairs.

Parker tugged Toby away from the woman and forced him to sit on the floor after he tried jumping up onto the chairs.

Within five minutes, a man with curly blond hair walked over to him.

“Hello, Parker?” The man held out his hand. “I’m Todd Jordan. Matt’s out of the office this afternoon.”

Sara’s father. His gut sank. What was it with her family? They must have all won the lottery when it came to genetics.

Parker stood suddenly, causing Toby to excitedly rush towards the man. Grabbing his leash, Parker held him at bay.

“Who’s this guy?” Todd leaned down and gave Toby his attention.

“Toby. He’s a little loopy,” he said after the dog fell over. “He just got fixed.”

“Oh, poor guy.” Todd smiled up at him. “Why don’t you come back to my office?” He motioned towards the elevators. “I hear you’ll be working on my son’s place after you’re done with the Oar.”

“I hope so. I’ll be swinging by the house later next month to start putting together a quote.” He followed the man into the elevator.

He was a little nervous, since Toby had never been in an elevator before, but the dog handled it like a pro and sat on his butt until the doors slid open.

Parker followed Sara’s dad down a long hallway and into a massive office on the top floor.

“Nice place,” Parker said. Then he noticed the old dog lying at the foot of the desk.

“That’s Raco. He comes with me when he doesn’t want to deal with the other two at home. He’s friendly.” He nodded towards Toby, who was sniffing his way across the room towards the old dog, who had yet to get up or move.

“What can I help you with?” Todd asked, motioning towards a chair.

After sitting, he debated telling Sara’s father about the freezer incident. It was one thing to tell Sara’s brother why he’d been there to pick her up at midnight, but a completely different thing to tell her father.

In the end, he opted to tell the man everything, since it was more than just her reputation on the line.

“Do you think it could have been Aiden?” he asked after he’d gotten the story out.

“Aiden?” Todd thought about it for a moment. “No, I doubt it. The boy was hurt, but he’s not someone I can see doing something like that.” He shook his head.

“What about a disgruntled employee?”

“Iian would know more about that than me. I can…”

“No,” Parker jumped in. “Sara would kill me if she knew I was talking to you, let alone if Iian found out. She’s trying to prove to her uncle that she’s capable of running the place.”

Todd shook his head. “Iian has known for years that she was ready. He was just waiting for the right opportunity to let her prove it to herself.” Todd leaned back. “You said you fixed the freezer so it can’t lock again?”

He nodded. “It took some work, but the two loops have been ground down.”

“Until we know more, we’ll just have to keep a closer eye on things.” Todd stood suddenly. “I’ve got a meeting in half an hour, but I think we’ll swing by for a late dinner.”

“I’m picking her up after work. I’ll continue to do so every night until I’m sure she’s safe.”

Todd reached out his hand and Parker easily took it. “Even under the circumstances, I’m happy to meet you.” He chuckled. “Of course, we’ll have to come up with some explanation for how we met.”

“Yeah.” He laughed himself. “I doubt she’d take too kindly to knowing that I came down here and tattled on her.”

“Still”—Todd bent down and scratched Toby’s head—“I’m happy you did.”