All Fired Up (DreamMakers) (22 page)

“And the Romeo piece in today’s paper will probably help, too,” Dean added.

Parker rolled his eyes when both his partners turned to smirk at him. They’d been needling him mercilessly since the second he’d shown up at the office, taking turns quoting the entertainment article, but he had to admit, the ragging didn’t bother him. He didn’t care if the whole state—hell, even the whole country—knew he had it bad for Lynn Davidson.

After all, it was the truth.

“But seriously,” Jack said. “What are we going to do with all this extra cash?”

Parker leaned against the edge of the desk and ran a hand over the stubble on his cheek. “First and foremost, Didi deserves a raise. That woman works her ass off for us.”

“And maybe we can hire a few extra guys,” Jack suggested. “We could definitely use help, and I know some soldiers who just wrapped up their tours who would be interested in a gig like this.”

Parker nodded. “Something to consider.”

A sharp knock sounded on the door, making him frown. It wasn’t Didi’s trademark
tap-tap-tap
, and besides, he’d sent their receptionist to the Starbucks across the street to grab them some coffee.

Wary, Parker headed for the door and was startled to find Lynn standing behind it.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” He wrinkled his brow. “Shouldn’t you be at work?”

“Yeah. I should.”

The cool note in her voice had him on edge, and when he peered into her eyes, there was no mistaking the flicker of unhappiness there.

“What’s wrong?” he said immediately.

She gazed past his shoulders at his two partners, then turned back to him. “Can we talk alone?”

His confusion was only heightened as he quickly ushered Dean and Jack out of the office. Both men stopped to greet Lynn, who murmured a brief hello. No smile, no warmth. Nothing.

Something was wrong. Parker could tell from her body language, the serious expression on her pretty face, but he didn’t know what.

“What’s going on?” he asked quietly. “Why are you upset?”

Lynn set her purse on the couch and crossed her arms. “I need to ask you something.”

He took a step toward her but stopped when he saw her cautious expression. “All right.”

“Did Phil hire DreamMakers to plan a date for me and him?”

All the air left Parker’s lungs in one swift swoosh. Shit.

For a beat he considered denying it, but lying to Lynn was something he’d promised himself never to do. He’d met her under false pretenses, but aside from that one omission, he’d been nothing but honest with her since they’d started seeing each other.

“He tried to hire us, yes,” Parker admitted.

Those beautiful blue eyes filled with disappointment. “So Phil wasn’t lying.”

“No. Phil wasn’t lying.” He swallowed. “I was going to tell you. I promise, I had every intention of telling you about it, but once we started dating, I got…distracted.”

“You said he
tried
to hire you—does that mean you didn’t get to the recon stage, or did you follow me around before we met?” Her posture had stiffened, shoulders squared in a tense line, matching the hard set of her jaw.

Parker let out a breath. “We did some recon. Not a lot, though. I signed up for the yoga class because I knew you’d be there—that’s when you told me your favorite flower. And Dean was with you at the grocery store so we could figure out what you like to eat…” Another puff blew out. “The night at the bar wasn’t a coincidence either, but we decided to terminate our agreement with Phil the moment you announced you weren’t together anymore.”

Lynn fell silent, and her expressionless eyes made his heart ache.

“I should have told you, I know that, and I’m so sorry.” Desperation clung to his throat when she still didn’t say a word. “After the bar, I never saw you again without your permission, and—”

“That’s not what I care about!” she cut in. Hurt and anger flared in her eyes. “I don’t care about the recon. That’s not why I’m mad. I was there when you followed Immi Duncan, and I saw for myself you guys don’t do anything awful or illegal to gather information.” Her breathing grew labored. “I’m mad because you weren’t honest with me.”

“I know.” He stared at her in sheer misery. “I really was planning on telling you. I just wanted you to get to know me first. I liked you from the moment I met you, and I knew you were special. I knew we could
have
something special. I wanted the chance to show you that before I confessed I’d been watching you before we met.”

“You’ve had plenty of time to tell me, Parker. And you’re not allowed to use ‘I got distracted’ as an excuse. We haven’t been having sex twenty-four seven.” Her mouth tightened. “We’ve talked for hours.
Hours
. And you couldn’t find a single second to slip in the truth?”

Guilt trickled through him. He wanted to reach out and touch her, but he was scared she’d slap him away.

“I’m an ass,” he said gruffly. “A selfish ass. And I’ve never lied to you about anything else. Every second we spent together, I was completely and totally honest with you. I never lied about the way I feel for you. Ever.” His throat closed up, making it hard to go on. “But I understand if you want to end it. I guess I deserve that.”

Lynn released a shaky sigh. “I’m not ending it.”

Hope erupted inside him. “You’re not?”

“No. But I’m not too happy with you at the moment, either.” She pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, frazzled. “I need some time to think.”

The panic promptly returned. “To think about whether you still want to be with me?” he said roughly.

“To think about whether or not I
trust
you.”

The quiet words were like a bullet straight to the heart. He almost keeled over from the pain, but at the same time, he couldn’t fault her. He’d fucked up, plain and simple. He’d had plenty of opportunities to tell her the truth. Two months’ worth of opportunities. But he’d been so happy to be with her, so addicted to the way she made him feel, he’d put it off, not wanting to spoil things.

“I understand.” He swallowed again. “Take all the time you need. But…just know…I…” God, it fucking hurt to talk. The lump in his throat was too big. “I’m sorry, and if you give me the chance, I’ll prove to you that you
can
trust me.”

Lynn slowly reached for the strap of her purse. “I need to go back to work. I shouldn’t have even left, but I had to talk to you. I had to make sure Phil wasn’t just trying to cause trouble.”

Parker’s fists curled at the mention of Shotelle. He wanted to throttle the bastard for telling Lynn. She should have heard the truth from
him
, not her slimy ex-boyfriend. But Parker’s anger didn’t last, because as much as he loathed Shotelle, he knew damn well that he, and nobody else, was to blame for this situation.

“I know we had plans tonight, but under the circumstances, I’m canceling.” Lynn’s face was sad as she clutched her purse.

“I understand.” He walked her to the door, then paused, gazing earnestly into her eyes. “I’m serious—take all the time you need. Days, weeks, months—I’ll wait as long as it takes, Lynn.”

Her breath hitched slightly as she studied his face. “You really mean that.”

“Of course I do.” Deciding to risk it, Parker quickly dipped his head and brushed his lips over hers in the softest of kisses. He pulled back before she could push him away. “I’ll be right here. Waiting for you to forgive me.”

Lynn nodded. Took a hesitant step, halted for a beat to meet his eyes again. Then she walked out of the office.

Taking his heart right along with her.

Chapter Fourteen

The trip back to the office felt icy cold, in spite of the sunshine that insisted on painting everything with cheery yellow beams.

Inside was where everything had changed.

She pulled into her parking stall and sat there for a moment. Hurting, and not sure what to do about it.

She really didn’t care the guys had been doing the job on her. Their line of work helped other people a lot, she got that. And it wasn’t like she tried to keep her list of likes and dislikes a secret from the world. But to not
tell
her?

Argh. She didn’t want to think about it, not for a while.

But of course her BFF had other ideas. Suz must have had radar, because the instant Lynn plopped her butt down in her chair, her phone rang.

“Go away, I’m busy.”

“Of course you’re busy. You’re busy talking to your best friend about the secret meeting. So? What gives?”

“Go away,” Lynn repeated. She stared at her computer screen. “I am not dishing all the details here and now, for so many reasons. But suffice it to say I’m not happy, and I will tell you the rest when you take me out tonight for Chinese.”

“Tonight?” Suz paused a beat. “What happened to your regularly scheduled Friday night sex-fest with Parker?”

“Leave it alone.”

“Just getting my facts straight, ma’am. You want to indulge in Chinese gluttony with me and not your main squeeze? Now I know something big and nasty went down. But how did this start with a trip to Phil’s office and end with you and Parker on the rocks—?” Suz rumbled like an upset mama lion. “I need to kill him, don’t I?”

“Parker, or Phil?”

“You pick. Or I can give you a two-for-one special, since you’re my bestie and all.”

Lynn leaned back so far in her chair she was in danger of crashing to the floor. “It’s not
that
bad,” she insisted. “But it’s bad enough I’m ordering spring rolls and wonton wrappers, and you are picking up the tab and driving me.”

Suz swore softly. “Oh my God, you’re planning on drinking yourself senseless. I’ll bring my shotgun and put a shovel in my trunk. We can get rid of the body tonight without anyone being the wiser.”

“Parker or Phil?” Lynn tossed back at her.

“Alphabetical order suggests…”

It was damn near impossible to stay upset with a best friend like Suz around. “Pick me up at seven.”

“Are you sure you’ll be okay ’til then?”

“Fine and dandy. Now get back to work before both of us end up in trouble for getting nothing accomplished.”

The next umpteen hours passed quicker than Lynn had expected, rushing to meet her deadlines before wearily hauling herself to the elevator. She’d spent so much time putting out one final fire that most of her coworkers had already gone home for the day.

The frantic pace had stopped her from brooding too much about Parker. She rested her head on the car seat for a moment as she breathed out long and hard.

She missed him already, stupid, needy woman that she was.

Although, that wasn’t right either. She wasn’t stupid to want the man in her life to be trustworthy in the big things
and
little things. Everything tied together, and if Parker couldn’t understand that, as heartbreaking as it was to deal with right now, they would have been headed into a pile of trouble down the road.

The look of anguish in his eyes returned to mind, and her gut twisted. He knew how disappointed she was. He was willing to wait?

Now it was only a matter of how long.

Enough dilly-dallying. She turned the key in the car ignition, and nothing happened. Lynn tried again, and again, finally undoing her seatbelt and popping up the hood. Not because she knew what to look for, but because that’s what people did when their car wouldn’t start.

“Jeez. This is stupid.”

She pulled out her cell phone to call Parker, pausing as a sharp pain stabbed her heart again.

Nope. Not him. Maybe Suz—

“Lynn? What’s wrong?” Phil appeared from the shadows, briefcase in hand, dress coat thrown over his arm.

“I have no idea.” She peered at the engine in hopes little gremlins would jump up and down and point to something that was obviously unplugged. No such luck. “It won’t start, and it worked just before lunch.”

“Did you leave a door open or a light on? It could be your battery.”

She didn’t think she had, but it was possible. “Do you have jumper cables?”

He shook his head. “Sorry, I’m afraid car mechanics are another thing I’m not very good at.” He tossed her a self-deprecating smile. “But I can drive you home. Would that help?”

Suz was probably at home already getting changed. Lynn examined her would-be rescuer. Phil clutched his briefcase handle with both hands, an earnest light in his eyes. There seemed no good reason to turn him down.

She accepted with a smile, opening her door and grabbing her purse. “Thanks for the lift.”

“No problem. I’m glad I was still here.”

Lynn was grateful he didn’t offer his arm or anything that would have made the situation awkward. Instead they walked in companionable silence toward his parking stall.

She didn’t recognize the vehicle. “What happened to your Porsche?”

Phil opened the passenger door before offering a hand into the oversized beast. “Decided it was time for something a little more reliable.”

While Phil walked the long way around, she glanced over her shoulder into the back of the suburban minivan. It made no sense, but she supposed if the guy wanted to drive a van instead of a sports car, that was his decision.

It was like falling back into a familiar pattern. They didn’t say a word as Phil concentrated on driving, easing slowly from the underground parking and merging into rush-hour traffic.

Lynn stared out the window without seeing anything. She didn’t want to be moping about this forever. Putting it in perspective, while honesty was important to her, she understood why Parker might have hesitated to share. It wasn’t as if he’d cheated on her or turned out to have a secret attic family or a serial killer dungeon in his basement. It wasn’t life or death, and even now after a few hours to think it over, her temperature gauge was cooling.

After a couple of drinks and a solid heart-to-heart with Suz at Wu’s Kitchen, she’d consider giving Parker a phone call. Or sending a text. She pulled out her phone and checked it without thinking, but there were no new messages.

He had taken her suggestion to stay away seriously. Probably the first time the demanding man had ever caved and followed an order from a woman.