by Lexy Timms
“You're insufferable, you know that?”
Parker tipped his head up enough to see her glaring at him, heat-like sparks in her blue eyes. He shrugged. “You're not the first to tell me so. A lot of uptight people get really annoyed with me, because I'm not interested in their crap.”
Her jaw tightened until he saw the muscle jump. Parker watched her hands curl into fists at her sides. “I am not uptight.”
“You know, I just had this discussion with Jackson the other day, but it was a lot less violent with him. Maybe you should go have a sauna afternoon or something. Isn't exercise supposed to make people happy?”
She spun on her heel and stalked out, and Parker watched the door shut behind her with a distinct sense of satisfaction. Score one for him. He wasn't going to let her push him around anymore during this thing. If Jennifer Leandra wanted to dish it out, she was going to have to learn to take it, because he wasn't going to sit by and be her punching bag.
Whistling, Parker grabbed his gym bag and headed over to the other side of the building to teach his class.
Chapter 11
Jennifer Leandra didn't show up in his office again. Or at any of the places where he ate. It was a relief not to be watching over his shoulder for her. Although, Parker thought as he set up the equipment for Lydia’s session, she had added a certain kind of spice to his life.
The idea made him chuckle. That kind of spice he could do without.
Besides, he had the contest to worry about. They were now four weeks in, and he was making really good progress with Lydia. Every week, doctors did a checkup, and Jackson sent the film crew to do another video on their progress. Every time he worked with her, Parker saw Lydia come a little further out of her shell, and grow a little more into the person he was trying to help her be. It was exhilarating in a way his regular classes weren't.
This was why he did what he did: the look of satisfaction on Lydia's face as she lifted 80 lbs. for the first time. The laugh that rang through the private section of the gym whenever she was particularly pleased. Parker hoped, honestly, that Jennifer was getting the same satisfaction from her work with Tom. She could use something that would soften all those spiky edges she was hauling around.
She looked less spiky in the interviews he’d watched, but that was media. You could never trust that anyone involved was telling the truth.
That was the worst part of the contest: all the interest it had sparked and the reaction from the news channels and paparazzi. Before, he’d been a personal trainer to the rich and famous, but he’d still just been the trainer, and that was enough to let him slip under a lot of radar. Now, though, he was a celebrity in his own right, because everyone wanted to know the outcome of the contest. Could he really make anyone fit? It was exhausting in a way that work never had been. The only upside was the constant flow of business. Jackson had been right about the publicity being good regardless of whether he won or not. They’d had to hire three new trainers.
He cupped his hands under the bathroom faucet and splashed some cool water on his face, enjoying the chill. When he straightened up, he met his own eyes in the mirror. He looked a little tired. Maybe after this contest he would take some vacation time. Drag Jackson along, because he knew his workaholic business partner hadn’t taken a vacation in years. They’d go somewhere sunny, with lots of bronze beach babes in tiny bikinis, and forget all about contests and reporters and Jennifer Leandra.
It was a nice fantasy. Parker was feeling good again when he swung open the door to his office and stepped in to find Jackson waiting for their meeting.
“You’re not going to like what I have to say,” Jackson warned him.
Parker sighed, and dropped down into his chair. Jackson really couldn’t have given him ten more minutes to just enjoy the vacation idea? “Just say it, then.”
“I want you and Lydia to have dinner with Jennifer and Tom.”
Parker stared across the desk at Jackson. “That had better be a joke.”
“Not a joke. Sorry. It’s a publicity thing.” Jackson smiled apologetically. “You’re four weeks into the contest now, and you haven’t interacted in person for the public eye. We need to get you all together in the same place.”
“Jackson, she hates me. Getting us together in the same place is just going to create drama.”
“Exactly,” Jackson said. “Just the kind of drama the public wants to see. That’s why we’re doing it in the first place.”
On second thought, when Parker took his vacation he was going to leave Jackson in New York and make him run the company for two weeks alone. And bring him back nothing but pictures of all the fun he wasn’t having. He sighed. “Fine. When do you want to do it?”
“We’ve already spoken with Jennifer’s people, and the best day for her is Friday night. I already know that works for you, unless you’ve added something to your schedule that I don’t know about.”
A whole three days away. Parker sighed. “No. Nothing added to my schedule. Text me a time and a place when you have it and I’ll show up.”
At least Lydia would probably enjoy it.
***
Jackson, Parker decided as he pulled up to the restaurant, did not get to pick venues anymore. Their company had better not be footing the bill for this place. It was one of those restaurants where you really only went to on occasions like someone's 50th birthday, or if you were taking rich investors out to impress them. And it wasn't, honestly, that he couldn't afford it if they were footing the bill, but Parker hated places that were frequented by the kind of people who were so wealthy they thought hardship was having one less yacht. He sighed and turned the keys in the ignition, stopping the engine.
“You ready for this?” He forced a relaxed smile at the fidgeting girl beside him.
Lydia turned to look at him from the passenger seat, her eyes bright, but her expression a little nervous. “I'm... If there are cameras, and we're eating...”
She didn't have to say it out loud. Parker shook his head in understanding. “I won't let that happen. No one is going to film you eating, and if they try I'll have them thrown out.” He grinned. “Or I’ll do it myself.”
“Promise?” Lydia smiled.”
“Scout’s honor.” He was pretty sure that paparazzi weren't allowed in the restaurant anyway, considering that they were far from likely to be the only current news item dining there, but Lydia looked relieved by his promise all the same.
There were, however, photographers waiting outside the entrance. Parker stepped out of the car, and went around to Lydia's side to collect her, holding out his arm for her to set her hand on and then moving to the door.
“You look amazing,” he leaned down to whisper in her ear as they approached the media gauntlet.
And she did really look good. The dark blue dress she was wearing clung to her in all the right places, and gave her a little room in areas that she still wasn't quite comfortable showing. She'd improved so much since their first sessions together. Whatever the outcome of the contest, Parker was confident that their work had done what it was supposed to do, and that Lydia would be happy with the results for a long time to come. They still had eight more weeks to go. By the end of it, he wanted to make sure she felt like a goddess in her own skin.
Win or lose, that was the only outcome that he truly cared about.
Okay, he admitted to himself as they were led to their table, and found Jennifer and Tom already waiting. That isn’t the only thing I really care about. He did care about it, but he couldn't deny that he wanted to beat Jennifer. If only to put her in her place.
He pulled Lydia's chair out for her to take her seat, and then took the one beside her. “Jennifer,” he said crisply. “Nice to see you again.”
It really wasn't, but he wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of being anything less than polite.
“Likewise, Parker. This, as I'm sure you know, is Tom.” Jennifer gestured to the young man sitting beside her, who still had crutches le
aned up against his chair. He was looking better than he had the first time Parker had seen him, though, and there was a smile on his face as he reached his hand across the table to take Parker's.
“Nice to meet you.”
“And you,” Parker said, relaxing slightly but not letting his guard down with Jennifer in the room. “Jennifer, Tom, this is Lydia.”
Lydia reached out to shake Tom's hand and Jennifer's, and then they all picked up their menus, scanning over the available options.
“What are you getting, Lydia?” Tom asked, voice careful in a way that suggested he'd read about Lydia and why Parker was working with her.
“I'm not sure yet.” Lydia glanced down at her menu, running her finger along the text as she narrowed down her decisions. “I was thinking maybe something with fish. Vegetables.”
“Probably the same thing I'm getting,” Tom said, and Parker wondered if that was the boy's attempt at flirting.
Judging by the pink flush in Lydia’s cheeks, if it was flirting it was a successful technique, although that might have been more a function of Lydia’s own shyness than any real skill Tom had in the area.
“What about you, Jennifer?” Parker asked. “Anything interesting on the menu?”
She looked up from the menu and met his gaze, her eyebrows lifting. “I don't really see how that's your business, Parker. Unless you'd like to suggest a meal plan for me?”
Parker saw Lydia and Tom exchange glances. He shrugged, and looked back down at his own menu. “I think you're more than capable of making your own food choices, Jennifer. Just thought that since everyone else at the table was sharing their choice, you might like to share yours. It's not like we're not going to see what you're eating as soon as they bring it to the table.” He tapped a finger against the menu, and considered his own options. “I think I'll be going with the chicken breast, myself.”
Jennifer scoffed, but didn't say anything else about his question, and for a few minutes they were quiet, the murmur of conversation going on at tables around them.
“So,” Parker said, “Tom. How are you enjoying your training so far?”
Tom set his menu aside and gave Jennifer an uncertain look. When she didn't say anything, he turned a somewhat nervous smile on Parker, like he thought that discussing his feelings about the contest would somehow give Parker the upper hand.
“I'm enjoying it,” he said quietly. “It's really great to be able to move around again, honestly.”
“I can imagine,” Lydia said. “I think it's really great that you decided to be part of this.”
They smiled at each other across the table, and Parker glanced over at Jennifer, who was watching them expressionlessly. He wondered if she was really cold or just not sure what to make of the conversation. Maybe she envisioned the evening kicking off a different way, or just maybe, she was nervous.
The waiter appeared, and took their orders. Jennifer, it turned out, was getting chicken and asparagus, and Parker didn't know exactly why she'd felt the need to hide that from the rest of them until she'd ordered it. But then, he didn't understand Jennifer Leandra, and he was pretty sure he never would.
Their little group ate in near silence, occasionally broken by someone saying how good the food was, and how much they were enjoying the night. Plates were quickly and methodically cleaned, and soon the waiter was coming by asking if anyone was interested in dessert. Everyone turned him down, except for Parker, who ordered a slice of chocolate cake and four forks.
“Anyone who wants some, just take a bite,” he offered. “I know you two are trying to make goals, but I'm not going to eat it all myself, and I figure both of you deserved some kind of recognition for all of your hard work over the last four weeks. A little cake never hurt anyone.”
Lydia smiled and picked up a fork, sliding it into the slice of cake. “Thank you, Parker.”
Tom picked up one of the others.
“Parker,” Jennifer said. “You're only training one of the people at this table.”
“And? I didn't tell anyone they were required to eat the cake. But if they want a bite, or you do, I don't see any harm in it.” He met her eyes across the table, and watched them narrow.
“Tom,” she said, quietly.
The young man paused with his fork halfway to his mouth, and Parker opened his own to speak. She knew as well as he did that a bite or two of cake wasn't going to do any damage to either of the other people at the table. If she was going to stop her client from eating just to spite him, he was going to have some serious words for her.
“Go ahead and eat some cake.”
Tom flashed a grin at Jennifer and took the bite he'd been in the middle of.
“What?” Jennifer said when she caught Parker still looking at her. “Did you really think I'm so invested in arguing with you that I would contradict a perfectly legitimate statement just because it came out of your mouth?”
That was actually exactly what he'd thought. Parker didn't say it, but he didn't need to. It was clear from her expression that she'd understood him perfectly.
Jennifer shook her head. “You know, that's really ridiculous.”
“Oh. I'm the ridiculous one. Maybe you should think about why I would have thought that in the first place.”
“Because you've never liked me,” Jennifer said.
“I've never liked you? You're the one who's been throwing insults around. Showing up in places you have no business being just to taunt me.” Parker's fingers curled tighter around the fork he was holding. “We’ve already had this discussion. I’m not going through it again.”
“It's just part of the competition,” Jennifer shot back. “Does it really upset you that much for me to show up and tease you on occasion?”
“If teasing was all you were doing, I wouldn't care.”
There was silence from Tom and Lydia, and Parker glanced over at them to find them both staring, forks paused above the slice of cake. They were going to have to rein themselves in before other people decided to see who was fighting, or their clients lost all respect for them… Whichever happened first.
“Look,” he said, because Jennifer hadn't said anything else. He turned to look at her again. “Let's not do this here. We're going to enjoy the rest of dinner, and then if you have something you want to say to me after, you can say it.”
Jennifer glared at him. “I realize you're used to telling people what to do and watching them jump, but I'm not one of your clients or your employees, Parker. Don't you tell me what I can and cannot do!”
She just had to be difficult. Parker sat down the fork. “It wasn't meant to be a command, Jennifer. It was a suggestion. If you keep on like this, you're going to start getting people's attention, and that's not really how I'd like this night to go, if you don't mind. Nor, am I guessing, would Lydia and Tom.”
One side of Jennifer’s mouth tipped up into an uneven smile. “What makes you think that I care what you want?”
Parker clamped down on his growing irritation, refusing to let it show on his face. He smiled instead, and pushed back his chair. “Be right back.”
The small porch off the side of the restaurant that overlooked the Hudson was empty of people, and Parker took a deep breath in the silence, feeling the brush of the wind against his skin. Behind him, he heard the door open and shut, but he didn’t turn. If someone else had decided to take advantage of the quiet, he wasn’t going to disturb them.
“Do I really make you that angry?”
It was Jennifer. Of course it was. Parker sighed and turned to face her. “You just can’t let me have a moment of peace, can you?”
“I really don’t see why you’re so worked up.” She took a step closer to him, her face turned up toward his, half in silhouette where her body blocked the wash of light from the restaurant’s windows. “It isn’t that big a deal.”
“It's a big deal because you won't leave me alone,” Parker snapped. “Are you so concerned about me potentially winning that you have to
constantly poke at me, like it will make some kind of difference? I'm telling you now that it won't.”
Her eyebrows lifted. “You think I'm afraid you're going to win?”
“I don't know what else to think when you're showing up at my gym and my favorite ’cafés and taunting me. I can only guess that you're trying to get inside my head.”
“And what if I am? That's what competition is about.”
Parker took a step forward, so close that he could almost feel the heat of her body against his own. “This competition doesn't have to be like that. We do our parts, focus on our clients, and be done with it.”
“What's the fun in that?”
The tight clench of his jaw almost hurt. Parker let out his breath on a sharp sigh and spun away from her. He didn't say anything. What was there to say when she wouldn't listen to a word that came out of his mouth?
A hand stroked down the length of his spine, and almost before he had thought about moving Parker had his fingers wrapped around Jennifer's wrist almost tight enough to bruise, holding her hand away from his body.
“What the fuck are you doing?” he hissed.
She didn't answer. Instead, she pressed forward suddenly, and he hadn't been holding anything but her arm. Her body was against his, one of her arms wrapping around the back of his neck. Her fingers tangled in his hair and pulled his head down, his lips meeting hers.
Parker slid his free arm around her waist, dragging her closer until there was hardly space for air between them. Her mouth opened under his, but she didn't give in. They fought for dominance, bodies shifting with the back-and-forth of the kiss, and Parker growled against Jennifer's lips.
They broke apart, both of them panting for air. He still had one hand wrapped around her wrist.
For a long moment, neither of them said anything. In the silence, Parker could hear his own heart beating, and the murmur of conversation from inside the restaurant.
“I thought you weren't trying to get into my pants,” he said finally, because he wasn't sure what else to say.
