by Susan Stoker, Cristin Harber, Cora Seton, Lynn Raye Harris, Kaylea Cross, Katie Reus, Tessa Layne
“This is so embarrassing,” she whispered.
Her scratchy voice was broken, and it dug into his chest. Steam billowed around the room, but still, he couldn’t move from her. He wanted desperately to make this right. Carefully, he touched her cheek. Well, almost. He didn’t touch her, but he could practically feel her skin. “I’m sorry I let this happen to you.”
“You didn’t.” She shook her head, letting her hair tangle with his fingers.
“Oh, sweetheart.” Slowly, he rubbed a few wet strands between his thumb and forefinger then tucked it behind her ear. He pulled back, found some towels, and rubbed her dog dry while she watched. “I’ll throw some clothes in here.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“Both of you are cold. Shower for you. Towels for him.”
“Her,” she corrected. “That’s Bacon Byte.”
Parker rolled his lips into his mouth to keep from smiling. Much cuter name than Fatso.
“No, it’s okay. You can laugh.” She shrugged. “She’s pudgy.”
“Alright, Bacon. Dry enough?” He tossed the wet dog towels into the corner as Bacon tentatively sniffed his knuckles then licked his hand. When Bacon had been with him and Matt at GUNS, the dog acted semi-uninterested in him though she had avoided Matt. But different environment, different dog. “I think she likes me.”
“She’s smart. I rescued her. She needed some looking out for—so I couldn’t leave her with him. The going back thing… I know it sounds stupid, but she’s helped me. I couldn’t leave her.”
Parker pushed off the ground and studied her. She had bruises on her cheeks and forehead, yet she was still the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. “There were other ways to help your dog.”
“I know.” She bit her lip. “I panicked. Matt said if I ever left, he’d kill Bacon.”
“What the fuck,” Parker grumbled.
Bacon barked.
“Thanks, Parker.” The warm room had faded the blueish tint on her skin. “I’m sorry I came here. I just…”
“I’m glad you did.”
Her eyes locked on his. It was the absolute wrong time to feel his heartbeat, but when she cast those icy blue eyes at him, the ground fell away. He cleared his throat and turned, not allowing himself a glance back. Anger and guilt warred for prominence, along with a fierce need to hold her and physically warm her body. Shit. He rubbed his face as he slipped out the door.
Standing in his bedroom, listening to the shower run, he thought back to Mia’s words. Coloring outside the lines. Everything he did had order, but the woman making his heart pound? She was messy and complicated. She was broken, and he didn’t know the first thing about mending hurts. Work was the only thing he knew. But Lexi, who was likely stripping at that very moment, made him want something he was incapable of. Suddenly Mia’s word made sense in a way that confused him. He wanted what he couldn’t, shouldn’t, and absolutely wouldn’t have. A broken woman needed more love and attention than he knew how to give.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
That second Lexi was probably crawling under the hot spray of his shower. Emotionally, he didn’t have that component that made him swoon and stutter over women. Maybe a blessing, not necessarily a curse, but Parker saw the world analytically. That equated to sex being sex and dates being something to do, but none of it had ever given him “the feels.” If logic couldn’t be applied to a situation, he likely wasn’t interested. Relationships weren’t logical, which was why, until that point, he’d been more than happy for simple and no-strings.
“Shit,” he blew out as he paced at the foot of his bed.
Out of every person in the world, Lexi had reached to him, and now he needed to find her clothes to change into while she lathered in his soap and shampoo. Okay. Clothes first, then he needed a drink. Anything to calm his shit down. Quickly, he ran through his drawers and pulled out a T-shirt, sweatshirt, and sweatpants.
Those in hand, he knocked and called through the closed bathroom door, “Can I throw these in?”
“Sure. Thanks.” Her quiet voice was muffled by the shower, as though she’d spoken through the streams of water.
“Incoming.” He cracked opened the door and tossed the clothes.
For a split second, his mind questioned taking a glance, an accidental slip of the eye, just to see the water and suds pouring down the swell of her breasts, the slide of her flat stomach, and endless slope of her legs. Then his deviant mind made him feel like a pervert, and he cringed. He beelined for the kitchen, mumbling at himself to get it together. Sporting wood over a battered girl who’d asked for help was about as responsible as it was intelligent.
He pulled out a bottle of bourbon and a shot glass and made quick work of throwing down a drink. The burn in his throat alleviated some of the pressure, but Parker still let out a curse. He didn’t need liquid courage. What he needed was an impenetrable shield.
His phone rang, and Parker glanced at the screen. Not Jared as he would’ve expected. Winters. Maybe he should’ve expected that more than Boss Man. Running out of the office as though he knew where the promised land was would likely raise some eyebrows.
He swiped the screen to answer. “Hey.”
“What was all that earlier?” Winters asked. “Your ass ran out of the office like it was two-for-one day at Spy Depot.”
Parker rubbed his hair. He couldn’t put into words what he assumed had happened to Lexi—Matt had hurt her because Parker had interfered in their lives. Remorse for not fighting for her flooded his system. “I’m at home. I had to”—protect, save, find—“help Lexi with a couple things.”
“Lexi Dare?”
“Yeah. She needed me.”
“I bet.” Winters laughed, but it quickly died down. “This have something to do with you spouting shit about Matt being persona non grata at my place?”
“Yeah—” The shower shut off. Despite the shot of bourbon and the call from Winters, Parker couldn’t have been more aware that she was naked and nearby. “You calling for work?”
“No.” Winters chuckled again.
“Alright. Get you back later then.” He didn’t wait for him to respond. Parker pocketed the phone and hung onto the counter. Literally, he clung to it as though he needed an anchor. His fingers flexed into the granite as he ordered himself to pull his shit together. He was furious. Wanted to find Matt and end him. Tear him apart limb by limb. God, he wanted to rant at Lexi for going back, then he was struck by a worry that she’d run home again. “Fuck.”
Her footsteps, followed by the click of the dog collar, came toward him. He was no more ready to see her than he was five minutes earlier. Hell, he was worse off.
“Hi.”
Parker pivoted to see Lex swallowed by his sweats, and that did something to him. All his anger at Matt paused as Parker’s mind jumped to what was underneath his clothes. Or not underneath. Her clothing-covered breasts swayed as she came to a stop, their peaks making him dizzy with thoughts of sliding his hands over her just-dried stomach and roaming north. He gripped the edge of the counter even tighter as the pinch in his chest and the rush of blood to his cock made him equal parts asshole and aroused.
“You can’t go back to him, Lex.”
She nodded. “I know.”
“You did before.” And his mind wanted to explode over that.
“Yeah. That was a mistake.”
“I’m going to kill him, you know that? It’s taking everything I have just to stay here.”
“Please don’t. I want to forget all of that ever happened.” Her towel-dried hair hung around her face, torturing his fingers. “I never wanted to make you mad. Apparently that’s what I do really well though.”
“What?”
“Make men mad.” Her head turned down.
Shit. “No, sweetheart.” He stepped toward her and instinctively pulled her to his chest, dying inside at how good it felt to hold her. “I’m not mad like that, like him. I… hated that you went back to a bad sit
uation.”
He gave her a light squeeze then released her, realizing that he couldn’t cling to her for no reason. They were barely friends and whatever comforting excuse he had to hug her didn’t give him permission to just hold her. His arms wanted to stay around her body though. Parker swallowed away that addictive feeling. He even tried to tamper his desire to obliterate her asshole ex, though he was curious why Matt would have left her on his door step or even given her Parker’s number. Maybe it was Matt’s way of saying Parker was to blame for the bruises? All over again, he wanted to avenge every mark on her beautiful body. Instead, he moved back to the counter and clamped his hands on that.
She tugged at a strand of damp hair. “Thanks for the clothes.” A quiet laugh spilled from her lips. “Hot, ugh. I’m such a mess.”
Hot in a way that made him hang tighter to the countertop. If he wasn’t careful, his bones would shatter from the force. “Nothing wrong with how you look, sweetheart.”
She blinked. He stared.
This was wrong. So very wrong.
She needed space and a therapist. She needed Mia. There shouldn’t have been any tension between them. But the thick air and the sparks pounding at his pulse points hit him strongly. He didn’t feel as though she needed counseling and a change of scenery. He felt as if she needed him in a way that was much more than a place to hide.
Which was why he had to go. He pushed back from the granite, heading to the fridge for no other reason than it was something to do.
“I know I owe you more of an explanation for showing up like I did, for dragging you into this twice.” She scrunched the hanging hem of his sweatshirt and nervously played with it. As she did, a line of creamy skin showed on her stomach, where his sweatpants hung, rolled on her slender hips, reminding him how bare she was underneath and how those pants were a touch away from sliding down.
Parker sucked down a breath. “I have questions.” That was putting it mildly. “I know people who can help you. I can help you. I… want…”—you—“to help you.” Bacon rolled over at his feet, and he realized how deep his voice had gone, how much he felt in those words. “Tell me anything you need. It’s yours.”
She licked her lips then looked down the hall. “Can I throw my clothes in your dryer?”
“As long as you don’t get redressed in them and leave without a word.”
“I won’t. Do you maybe have a hair brush or something? A girlfriend’s? Or…”
He shook his head. “No girlfriend. No brush. But there’s a comb in the top drawer by the sink.”
She bit her lip and ducked her head. “Thanks.”
As she turned, he couldn’t help himself. “Lex.”
She stopped, raising her eyebrows. Her porcelain skin was marred by bruises and a pink hint on her cheeks.
“I’m glad you called me.”
They stayed staring at each other as though there was so much more to say. “Glad you answered.”
Lexi padded out of the room, leaving him to drink in a long breath and watch the clock on the microwave. One minute passed, and it felt like an eternity. Anxiety barreled through him. He paced then took out his phone and dialed Winters.
Winters answered on the first ring as though he’d been expecting the call. “Hey, buddy. Calling back so soon?”
Parker had no idea what to say or where to start. All he knew was that Winters, more or less, got shit like this and probably already knew Parker was neck-deep in Lex. “It’s wrong, right, man?”
Winters chuckled. “That woman’s good-looking. But she’s also engaged, right?”
“I hope like fuck not.”
“Then why are you calling me like I’m your AA sponsor?”
“I have no idea. She needs something I have no idea how to give.”
More laughter. “Man, you are in over your head, aren’t you?”
“I’m never in over my head, jackass,” Parker snapped. “Except, maybe.”
“You gonna enlighten me about all that persona non grata shit?”
“Not my place to share.” He leaned against the wall, pressing his forehead against it and wanting to slam his head, but waited for Winters.
“Do you have a woman in your life that you’d hurt if you hung out with Lexi?”
“You already know that answer.”
“Right,” Winters grumbled. “I’m playing you right now, you get that? I’m running through your stupid-ass checklists and trying to figure out what your risks are.”
Shit… he thumped his forehead against the wall. The situation was literally driving him to beat his head against the wall.
“Your boy Matt?” Winters’s voice dropped low and sounded angry. “From what I saw between them, I don’t think she mattered to the guy. He was out for fun; she was his trophy. Like a possession. He never looked at her the way I’ve seen you—”
“I didn’t—”
“Just shut up and listen, Parker. I don’t have the details, but going by my few interactions with him and her, I’m guessing he crossed a line. He’s a dick. He would.”
“A line was definitely crossed.”
“And if you’re worried about some kind of code when he didn’t respect his woman? That’d be enough for me to say you have nothing to worry about.”
Parker mulled over all the truth that Winters had just thrown down. “Probably right. But that’s not my hesitation. She’s… been hurt.”
“This is the thing. You have to get over your right-wrong, nothing-in-between mindset. Let that computer brain of yours take a vacation.” Winters waited a two-count before continuing. “And no matter what situation you’re in, you won’t hurt her.”
“I think she’s in a bad place.”
“Alright then. People get in bad spots. They also get out of them with the help of people they trust.”
“Right.” Maybe. Was he that guy? More than that, he wanted to be that guy for Lex.
“Matt wasn’t a winner to begin with—though the asshole could put on a good show—and he has done nothing but gone downhill. But her? She’s a good one.”
“She is.” Parker pulled his forehead off the wall a half inch then dropped it back.
“She is what?” whispered from behind him.
Lexi.
His eyes pinched tight. “Catch you later.” He hung up on Winters without another word and pocketed the phone before slowly turning to take her in.
Her arms were crossed, and her hair was twisted into a messy knot on top of her head. Strands of nearly dry blond hair framed her face. The woman looked like a broken angel.
“Hey,” he said.
An angel who was pissed, hurt, and confused all at once. “She is what?”
He said nothing as he mapped out the words he wanted to say and weighed them against what she might want to hear. Not that he would make up a lie for her benefit, but maybe there was a filter he could use. Damn it, he had no idea which direction to go.
She is… here. Sweet. Scared. Beaten and engaged?
“Parker?”
She is the single most distracting thing I’ve ever experienced.
Her eyes flashed to frightened, and her pink lips pulled into a frown. “If you just told Matt I was here…”
“Are you kidding me?” But that was his confirmation that Matt hadn’t dropped her there with Parker’s number. So how did she end up on his steps? “I didn’t call Matt. What kind of dick do you think I am?”
“I can leave. I didn’t need to bother you, burden you—Bacon, where are you? We need to go.” Her hands went over her face then she dropped them hard. “I shouldn’t have—”
“Stop.” The walls were closing in. He needed to shout that she was safe, make a case that she shouldn’t leave. Damn, what he really needed was to crush her body to his and kiss her mouth to shut down the wild distrust. But instead, Parker crossed his arms, trying to get a hold of his reactions. “Lex—”
“She is what?” Lexi yelled, exasperated and distrusting.
And t
hat was it. Her begging, pleading for something that she already should know.
“She is fuckin’ gorgeous.”
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
There it was. The God’s honest truth, and the more Parker looked at her—those sweet lips parting and a blush hitting her fair skin—the more he wouldn’t back away from the statement. But just because he’d said the words didn’t change the circumstances. She was in a bad place, and he was consumed by the possessive need flaring in his chest.
Lexi didn’t say a word.
She didn’t step away.
Nothing that needed to happen was happening. Instead, her gaze locked on his, and a hunger he couldn’t get a grip on beat in his blood. He worked his jaw, feeling the tendons flex in his neck.
“So there it is, sweetheart, and now I have to go… do something.” Because saying he needed to back away from her was just rude, and he couldn’t stay in this staring contest. The stakes were too high. If she ran from him, it’d be a gut-shot, hurting more than it should. If he stayed, every part of his body would want to press against hers, to walk her across the room and take her against the wall.
“You think I’m gorgeous?” Her icy blue eyes darkened, as though her body was silently begging for more.
He silently laughed, shaking his head in disbelief. “Lex, the whole world thinks you’re gorgeous.”
Her lips rounded into an unsure O.
Parker lifted his chin, a quiet gesture to say good-bye, and turned. Leaving was the right thing to do even if it was the only thing he didn’t want to do. “You can have the whole run of the place. I’ll be in—”
“Two years,” she said to his back, “I spent with Matt.”
He dropped his head and ran a hand over the back of his neck. He had no idea what she was going to say, and he wished to hell the sound of her voice wasn’t quickly becoming an addiction.
“I didn’t have a family, and I bounced from foster house to foster house. When we met, he just… took over, almost parenting me, telling me what to do… I thought he was assertive, but he really wasn’t. He was weak and narcissistic. Matt was an asshole who didn’t want me to be me, and I let that happen.”
