Happy Ever After Read online

  back.”

  “That’s one way to put it.”

  She nibbled more pizza, eyeing him. Then shook her head. “Okay, dish it out. All I heard was you told her she couldn’t have the car until she paid the towing and storage fee, and she went on one of her rants.”

  “That’s about it. She’s got a hell of a rant. She tried to dump it all on Mac, but that didn’t play for me, especially since I had some of the background from Ma.”

  “Your mother knows Linda?”

  “Knew plenty about her, and my mother’s a solid data source. Even without it, I’d’ve gotten the picture pretty quick. Still, bottom line, I towed the car, I get paid.” He gestured with his Coke. “She moved from rant to wheedle.You know, couldn’t I please help her out, do her this little favor. But the best part of the show was when she offered to pay the charges with personal services.”

  “She . . . Oh God.”

  “First time I’ve been offered a blow job for a towing fee.”

  Stunned speechless, Parker only stared at him.

  “You asked.”

  “Yeah, I did. Even if Mac ever does, don’t tell her that part.”

  “She already asked, and I didn’t. Why would I? Her mother embarrassed herself.That’s got nothing to do with Mac.”

  “No, it doesn’t, but a lot of people don’t see it that clearly.” He did, she realized. For whatever reason, he saw it with absolute clarity. “She’s taken a lot of hits over the years for Linda’s actions. Linda will ruin or at least take some shine off Mac’s wedding if she can.”

  “She won’t.” He shrugged and ate.“What Mac doesn’t handle, Carter will.What they don’t, you will.”

  “I’m going to remember that the next time I wake up from a Linda nightmare. Did you tell Del about . . . Linda’s offer?”

  “Sure. A guy gets that kind of offer, he’s got a right to brag about it to his friends.”

  “You’re a very strange species.”

  “Back at you, Legs.”

  The entire experience—the word helped her put the evening in perspective—turned out to be a great deal easier and more enjoyable than she’d expected. But then, she admitted, her expectations had been dead low.

  It would, certainly, be more pleasant having a friendly relationship with him, as a friend of Del’s. Like she had with Jack.

  Then again, she didn’t have this underlying and stubborn spark of attraction to Jack.

  Still, a spark could be managed until it flickered out. Especially since the spark was very likely a reflexive response to a very attractive man who clearly showed interest, when she hadn’t had the time or inclination for male company in quite a while.

  She worked out the practicalities in her head as they walked back to his bike.

  She strapped on the helmet and straddled the bike behind him.

  And discovered, the moment they’d woven their way out of town, riding at night was a whole different thrill.

  A whole new sense of freedom washed over her. The single headlight slicing down the dark road, the canopy of stars and moon overhead, and the sparkle of them on the black plate of water.

  Side by side with the thrill rode a sense of ease, of clearing out all those details that crowded her mind. She liked the crowd, she thought, even fed off it. But it had been too long since she’d just emptied out and recharged.

  Who knew that an evening with Malcolm would push that lever?

  Reality waited, and she valued her reality, but he’d given her a respite, a little adventure, and a very pleasant break from routine.

  When they zipped down the long, curving drive to her house, she felt refreshed, content, and very friendly toward Malcolm Kavanaugh.

  And when he cut the engine, silence rushed in, another lovely sensation. She swung off, pleased with how natural the move had become, and unstrapped her helmet.

  She handed it to him, then laughed. “I have to say, that’s the easiest hundred I’ve ever won.”

  “Same goes.” He walked her to the entrance portico. “So you enjoyed yourself.”

  “I did.Thank you for—”

  With her back against the door and his mouth feasting on hers, the rest of the words tumbled out of her brain.That hard, compelling body pressed to hers as he took her hands, held them in his at her sides, as his teeth incited wild thrills with hungry nips and bites.

  Trapped, she should have objected, refused, but the sensation of helplessness, a touch of panicked excitement, of being carried off, simply dropped the ground away from under her feet.

  She fell, without any attempt to catch herself, and answered the assault with equal fervor and a reckless greed.

  The kick of her own heart shocked her back—or nearly.

  “Wait,” she managed.

  “Just give me another minute.”

  He wanted more; he took more. And so did she.

  It was that simmering, smoldering heat inside the cool package that had caught him from the jump. Now, as it hit boil, he was happy to have it burn him down to the bone.

  He held her hands to prevent his own from streaking over that gorgeous body, to make sure he didn’t lose control and use them to pull off those classy clothes and get to skin.

  When he felt that control begin to fray he lifted his head, but he didn’t let her go, didn’t step back.

  “That ought to demonstrate I won’t be backing off.”

  “I never said—”

  “We made a deal.”

  “That doesn’t mean you can . . .” She paused, and he watched her gather herself, steady herself.

  Jesus, he admired that.

  “That doesn’t mean you can just grab me anytime you want, or put your hands all over me when the urge hits.”

  “Didn’t grab you,” he pointed out. “And didn’t put my hands all over you.” He gave the hands he still held a squeeze to remind her. “Thought about it though.”

  “Regardless, I’m not going to—Would you please give me some room?”

  “Sure.” Now he let go of her hands, stepped back.

  “I’m not going to tolerate this kind of behavior.You can’t just push yourself on me whenever you like.”

  “I might’ve pushed a little. So guilty.” In the dark his eyes gleamed like a cat—one on the hunt.“But, honey, you were right in there with me, and I figure you’ve got the spine to admit it.”

  She said nothing for a moment. “All right, that part may be true. But just because I have a physical reaction to you doesn’t mean . . . What are you smiling at?”

  “You. I just really like the way you talk, especially when you’re riding the high horse.”

  “Damn it, you’re frustrating.”

  “I probably am. I was going to say I have some kind of thing for you, and want to figure out how it works. But we can go with physical reaction if you like that better.”

  “You better understand I take relationships seriously, so if you think I’m just going to jump into bed because—”

  “I didn’t ask you to bed.”

  He watched her eyes smolder and had to order himself not to press her right back against the door again.

  “You’re going to stand there and tell me that’s not what you want, not what you intend?”

  “Sure, I want you in bed—or any place that’s handy—and I intend to have you. But I’m not in a hurry.You jump in? It takes off the edge, and I like the edge. Plus, it’s hard to figure out how something works if you’re busy just banging.”

  It was completely honest, and so damn logical she faltered. “This is a ridiculous conversation.”

  “It seems sensible and civilized to me. That’s right up your alley. Do you want me to say I think about peeling you out of one of those fancy suits of yours, finding out what’s under it? Getting my hands on what is? About feeling you move under me and over me, and being inside you, watching your face when you let go? When I make you let go?

  “I do, Parker. But I’m not in a hurry.”

 
“I’m not looking for this—you—this.”

  “Everybody looks for this.You’re not looking, or you weren’t looking for this with me. I get that loud and clear. But I’m not backing off. Because it’s a solid fact we’ve got a thing, sorry, a physical reaction. And if you didn’t want me to make any moves on it, you’d have shut me down, taken me down. Maybe even enjoyed doing it.”

  “You don’t know me as well as you seem to think.”

  He shook his head. “Legs, I’ve only scratched the surface, and I’m coming back for more.”

  The argument was—not really an argument, she realized, and whatever it was, she was losing it. “I’m going in.”

  “Then I’ll see you around.”

  She turned her back, half expecting him to move in again. But when she opened the door, he simply stood back in what she’d have called a gentlemanly manner if she hadn’t known better, until she stepped inside, closed the door.

  She stood there a moment, trying to regain the equilibrium he’d managed to shatter. She heard the engine kick on, rip through the quiet.

  Which was, she realized, exactly what he’d done. He’d ripped through her quiet.

  Everything he’d said was true.

  More, he understood her pretty damn well with that scratch of the surface of his. That was . . . frightening and gratifying at the same time.

  Nobody, she admitted as she started upstairs, nobody she didn’t consider family knew her all the way through.

  She wasn’t at all sure how she felt about Malcolm getting all the way through, and wasn’t at all sure she’d be able to stop him.

  Mostly, she thought, she didn’t know what the hell to do about him.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  ALTHOUGH IT HAD BECOME TRADITION, PARKER WOULD HAVE PREFERRED to skip the sexy breakfast story. But motorcycles had a distinct sound, one Mac had heard clearly while she and Carter had been enjoying some time on their new patio when Parker had ridden off on Malcolm’s bike.

  Mac may have dragged herself into the home gym when Parker was nearly finished and Laurel well on her way, but she had more than her biceps on her mind.

  And she’d dragged Emma along with her.

  “I asked Mrs. G for pancakes,” Mac announced. “I especially like pancakes with a sexy breakfast story.”

  “Who’s got one?” Laurel demanded.

  “Parker.”

  “Wait a minute.” Laurel whipped around to where Parker stayed a bit longer than necessary in forward fold position. “You have a SBS, and didn’t tell me?”

  “It’s nothing. Plus we’re jammed for the next several days.”

  “If it’s nothing, where did you and Malcolm go on his bike last night for almost three hours? No, don’t tell us now.” Mac only smiled, gave an exaggerated wave when Parker straightened. “We need the pancakes.”

  “I don’t monitor your comings and goings, Mackensie.”

  “Oh, don’t pull Mackensie on me.” Mac waved that off, too, and started biceps curls with the Bowflex. “Carter and I heard Mal drive in, and I saw you leave because I was outside. So yeah, I kept an ear out for you after.You’d have done exactly the same.”

  “Did you have a fight with him?” Emma asked. “Are you upset?”

  “No, I’m not upset.”After dabbing her damp face with a towel, Parker walked over to drop it in the hamper. “I just don’t have time for pancakes and gossip.”

  “Unless it’s one of us in the spotlight?” Laurel cocked her head. “We share, Parker. It’s what we do. If you’re pulling back from that about this, it tells me you’ve got concerns about where it’s heading.”

  “It’s not that at all.” Yes, it was, she admitted.Yes, it was exactly that.“Fine. Fine.We’ll have the pancakes and the rest, but I have a lot of work—we all do—so we’ll keep it short.”

  When she walked out of the room, annoyance in every stride, Emma looked at the others. “Should I go talk to her?”

  “You know she has to stew.” Laurel grabbed a towel, swiped her face, her throat. “She’s a little pissed, but she’ll get over it.”

  “You’re right about her being unsettled over this thing with Mal.” Mac moved from biceps curls to triceps kickbacks.“If it was no big, she’d have told us, or laughed it off when I brought it up. When’s the last time Parker was unsettled over a guy?”

  “That would be over nobody back in never,” Laurel stated.

  “That would be the who and when. Good thing or bad?”

  “Good, I think.” Since she was there, Emma ordered herself onto the elliptical. “He’s nothing like her usual, which would be part of the unsettled, and there’s nothing that would have gotten her to go out with him if she didn’t want to on some level. Plus, Mac said she was wearing jeans and that really cute chocolate brown leather jacket. So she changed her clothes to go with him.”

  “I wasn’t spying,” Mac said quickly. “I just saw. I mostly just saw.”

  “Who’s saying otherwise?” Laurel flicked it away. “If I’d heard her go off with him, I’d have done the same. Jesus, it’s a good thing Del doesn’t know. And let’s just keep it that way until we get a better sense of this. I don’t want him getting worked up over Mal and Parker the way he did Emma and Jack. Now I’ve got to go shower, and praise Jesus, he had an early breakfast meeting. See you downstairs.”

  “I thought she’d get a kick out of it,” Mac told Emma when they were alone. “I didn’t want to upset her.”

  “It’s not your fault. Laurel’s right, it’s what we do.”

  IT’S WHAT THEY DID, PARKER REMINDED HERSELF. BY THE TIME she’d showered and dressed for the day, annoyance had tipped over into guilt for snapping back at her friends.

  She’d made too much of it all.And she’d internalized the entire business, something she admitted she tended to do too easily and too often.

  So they’d have their tradition, just as they should. They’d have a few laughs, and that would be that.

  When she walked into the kitchen, Mrs. Grady stood at the counter mixing the batter.

  “Good morning, my girl Parker.”

  “’Morning, Mrs. G. I hear we’re having pancakes.”

  “Mmm-hmm.” Mrs. Grady waited until Parker poured a cup of coffee. “So, will you be getting a tattoo next?”

  “What?”

  “Seems like the next step after riding the roads on a Harley.”

  Parker didn’t have to see Mrs. Grady’s tongue to know it was firmly in her cheek. “I thought, given what I do, maybe a small heart in a discreet location. Maybe with HEA inside it, for Happy Ever After.”

  “Very pretty, and appropriate.” She set the batter aside while she prepared a bowl of berries.“We may bump heads over the boy, as he’s brought me flowers and asked me out to go dancing.”

  “You’re enjoying this.”

  “Of course. He reminds me of someone.”

  “Oh?” Parker leaned on the counter. “Who?”

  “I knew a boy with some rough edges, altogether cocksure of himself, and a gilded tongue when he wanted to use it. Handsome as sin and twice as sexy. When he set his eye and his intentions toward a woman, by God, she knew it. I was lucky. I married him.”

  “Oh, Mrs. G, he’s not . . . Is he really like your Charlie?”

  “He’s of the type, which isn’t a type at all. Pulled himself out of hard times, dealt with the scars from it, pushed himself to make a mark. A little bit of the wild side there, always.With my Charlie, I told myself, oh no, I won’t get tangled up with this one. And I said it again, even when I was already tangled up.”

  The smile warmed her face and went deep into her eyes. “It’s hard to resist a bad boy who’s a good man.They’ll knock the legs right out from under you. I’m grateful every day, however short our time together was, that I didn’t resist very long.”

  “It’s not like that with me and Mal. It’s just . . .” And that, Parker admitted, was part of the problem. She didn’t know what it was.

  �
�Whatever it is, you deserve the attention, and to enjoy yourself more than you do. Aside from this.” Mrs. Grady laid her hands on Parker’s cheeks, patted them. “Which I know you enjoy every minute of. But aside from this.”

  “I don’t want to enjoy myself into making a mistake.”

  “Oh, I wish you would.” On that, she drew Parker closer and kissed her forehead. “I really wish you would. Go on, sit down and drink your coffee. What you need is a good breakfast and your friends.”

  Maybe she did, Parker admitted. But after she sat, she took a call from one of the weekend’s nervous brides. Since it was second nature to handle someone else’s worries or problems, dealing with it settled her.

  “Emma and Mac’ll be right down,” Laurel announced as she came in. “Need any help, Mrs. G?”

  “Under control.”

  “Hey, nice flowers.”

  “My boyfriend sent them to me.” She added a wink.“The one Parker’s trying to steal away from me.”

  “That slut.” Amused, Laurel got her coffee and walked to the breakfast nook to sit. “After our initial business, we can shift to event mode. We could have the meeting here, as I know damn well you have everything to do with tonight’s event on your BlackBerry. It’ll save the time you’re worried about.”

  “All right. I shouldn’t have slapped at Mac.”

  “Knee jerk. I probably would’ve done the same, only more so.”

  “But we expect bitchiness from you.”

  “Nice hit.” Laughing, she pointed at Parker.“I’m not going to say anything to Del for the moment, but—”

  “There’s nothing to tell. As you’ll soon see once everyone’s here.”

  “And here they come. Prepare to illuminate.”

  “I’m sorry,” Parker said even as Mac sat down.

  “Water. Bridge. Bygones.”

  “Eat some fruit,” Mrs. Grady insisted, and set the bowl on the table.

  “I made too big a deal about it.” Obediently Parker spooned berries into the small clear dish at her plate. “With all of you, and with myself. It’s just all so strange, and that’s why. And still, pretty straightforward.”

  “Why don’t you tell us, and we’ll decide the strange,” Laurel suggested. “Because by stalling, you’re making that big deal.”

  “All right, all right. He came by to bring Mrs. G flowers.”

  “Awww” was Emma’s instant reaction.

  “Since she wasn’t here, it seemed awkward not to ask him in while I arranged them, and he could leave her a note. Anyway, I wanted to make it clear I wasn’t interested.”

  “You asked him in to tell him you didn’t want to see him?” Mac put in.

  “Yes. He’s got this habit of . . . moving on me, and I wanted to make it