She wanted that and so much more, and it wasn’t fair that she couldn’t have it. But she of all people knew that life was not often fair. She also realized that neither of them had said a word about Janey. Not that it surprised her. It was all just a ruse to get her alone. And she’d fallen for it. Willingly. She looked at her phone to check the time. “It’s late. I should go home. I want to get up early tomorrow and go jogging.”
Her very obvious brush-off didn’t seem to faze him. “You don’t strike me as the jogging type.”
“I like it. There’s a cute little park behind my house.”
“Are you one of those die-hard joggers who’s on the road before the sun’s up?”
“God, no. If I’m on the track at seven thirty it’s a good day.”
He just grinned and said, “Could you be more intriguing?”
She didn’t even know how to respond to that. She led a pretty unexciting life. What did he see that was so special? So interesting? If he was just looking to get laid, he was seriously overplaying his hand.
Parker motioned Emily for the check, and refused to let Clare pay her portion.
“You can buy next time,” he said, but she didn’t think there was going to be a next time. It was stupid to think that she could ever be friends with Parker without wanting more. So. Much. More. So she figured, why tempt herself? Out of sight, out of mind. Wasn’t that the way it was supposed to work?
“Where to?” he asked when they got into the car. He blasted the heat and switched the seat warmers on.
“We’re just outside of town. Turn left.” Thankfully this time he followed her directions.
“Didn’t that area get hit pretty hard by the tornado?” he asked as he pulled out of the parking lot.
“Our house was leveled,” she said, realizing that she could look at his mouth all she wanted now; he was focused on the road.
“Tell me you and your aunt weren’t in the house,” he said.
“My aunt was away on a trip and I was at the hospital.”
“Were you able to salvage anything?”
“We lost everything. Clothes, furniture, keepsakes. My aunt travels extensively and she had things from all over the world. Things she’d been collecting for decades. By the time it was over, they were scattered all over the city. Wet and broken. My aunt’s file cabinet, with the papers still in it, was found over a mile away. The tornado picked her car up and launched it through the house across the street. It was utter devastation.”
“I can’t even imagine,” he said. “I’ve seen some major hurricane damage on the East Coast, but nothing that bad. And you saw it? The tornado, I mean.”
She nodded. “It was surreal at first. I kept thinking that it couldn’t happen to Royal, that at the last second it would change course or blow itself out, then the debris started to hit things. Windows started breaking and cars in the hospital lot were getting pummeled with softball-sized hail and we knew we were going to be right in the middle of it. You feel like a sitting duck. All you can do is take shelter, hang on tight and hope for the best.”
“The hospital has a shelter, right?”
“Yes, but I wasn’t in it. It happened so fast, there was no time to move the patients, so, along with the rest of the staff I stayed on the ward.”
“That was very brave.”
“No.” She shook her head. “I was terrified. It was the longest five minutes of my life.”
“You were terrified but you did it anyway. You put the lives of those kids before your own. That’s the definition of bravery.”
The compliment, coming from him, made her heart go pitter-pat. Why did he have to be so nice? And so ridiculously handsome? Did the man have a single negative attribute? Other than being extremely stubborn. But to be fair she was guilty of that, too. He turned into her subdivision and took a right onto her street.
“It’s the third house on the left.”
“You know, I’ve learned more about you tonight than in the past three months,” Parker said.
“There isn’t much to know. The tornado aside, I don’t lead a very exciting life.”
“Excitement is highly overrated. And believe me, I’m speaking from experience. I love the slower pace here. The people are so different, so much more laid-back. For the most part. It’s exactly what I needed.”
It was all about perception, she supposed, because for her this was just normal. But she was sure that moving from Royal to somewhere like Dallas, or even New York City, would be a jarring change of pace. But she never would. She was a country girl at heart and that would never change.
He pulled into the driveway and the automatic outdoor lights switched on, illuminating the exterior of her aunt’s sprawling colonial. “This is nice.”
“Thanks. It’s pretty much identical to the old one, just a little more modern.”
“It’s a lot of house for two people.”
“My aunt has out-of-town guests frequently, so she likes the extra space.” She gathered her purse and gloves and said, “Thanks for the ride. And dinner.”
“I’ll help you with your body,” he said, shutting off the car.
She blinked. Oh, man, if he only knew the things she wanted him to do to her body. Sexy, tantalizing things...
Uh-oh, was she drooling a little again...?
She must have looked confused, because he said, “In the trunk. The body bags.”
Oh, right, she would have completely forgotten and left them there. “I can get them,” she said.
“Nonsense, I’ll help.” He popped the trunk open and got out of the car. She met him around back.
“Did you really just say nonsense?”
“Isn’t that how people talk in Texas?”
“If you’re eighty. And a woman.”
“My bad,” he said, but he was grinning. Did the man ever stop smiling? No one should be that happy that much of the time.
She reached for the bags but he snatched them up first. Darn it, the last thing she wanted was to let him into her house. She had the feeling that once she did, it would be near impossible to get him back out the door.
“I’ve got it,” she said, but he was already heading up the walk. Her exasperated breath crystalized in the air as she jogged to catch up. She had no choice but to go along with it. And of course there was a small part of her that wanted him in her house. Or maybe not so small.
“I think you have a hearing problem,” she told him as they walked up the porch steps.
“No, I hear you just fine,” he said, waiting for her to unlock the front door. “I think what you mean is that I have a listening problem.”
She laughed; she couldn’t help it. “If I say I’ve got it from here, and it’s been a long day and I’m tired, is there any way I’m going to stop you from coming in?”
He considered that for several seconds then shook his head. “Probably not. I’ll just make up some lame excuse like needing to use the bathroom and we both know that you’re too polite to say no.”
He was right. Damn those pesky Southern manners her parents had drilled into her. She couldn’t decide if it was more disturbing or pathetic that she had little to no ability to deny him anything. Like the tornado, he’d blown into her life and had the potential to make a huge mess of things.
“You could have the decency to look a little