Parker laughed. “Don’t forget I’m injured.”
“Don’t you worry about that. I can do things that would make your head spin, and you wouldn’t have to move a muscle.” Bryant kissed her deeply, unable to do anything else.
Their friends forgotten, he fully intended to make good on his boast. A throat clearing behind them broke through the heightening lust. They both turned to look at the same time. Ace, Paul, and Lucy were all standing there awaiting further instruction. Ace was blushing, Paul was smirking, and Lucy was trying to back out gracefully, but Paul kept standing on her foot, trapping her in. Parker elbowed Bryant.
“Why don’t you go tell Ace and Paul what you need them to do now, and I’ll start talking to Lucy about her new job.”
Lucy’s face lit up. “A job. You’re really going to give me a job?”
“Absolutely. After I explain all the different things I need you to do for me, if you still want the job, then it’s yours.”
A sad look passed over Lucy’s face before she answered. “Trust me there is nothing you can ask of me that could be worse than my last boss.”
Parker made a mental note to find out the details on that one, but for right now, she had something important she needed Lucy to do for her. Looking to make sure the men were out of ear shot, she said, “This is what I need you to do, and you can’t tell anyone else about it. Not even Bryant.”
Lucy was her woman. She was already agreeing before Parker had even finished.
CHAPTER SIX
Five weeks later, Parker was thankfully healed enough to resume teaching her classes. She still needed Paul’s help, since her wrist was a little slower to heal than her ribs were. The new class of women was awesome and the registration was up so high that they had started a waiting list. The fact that she loved it so much combined with how much money she was making at it had her considering teaching full time. She had never had any real love of investigation; she had sort of fallen into it. She told Bryant, holding her breath, silently praying he would support her decision. Without him, her idea was dead in the water since he was the club's owner.
Bryant leaned both elbows on the kitchen table, thinking over her words. Finally, he said, “Why can’t you do both?” Without waiting for her answer, he continued. “Lucy seems to be working out, right?” At her nod, he pressed on. “Then let her run the agency as your office manager, while you spend your time teaching classes. Since we’re getting married, the club will be half yours anyways, or at least half of my half will be yours. Just pick which room you want to use and go at it.”
Parker’s excitement soared but she still felt the need to say, “You never asked me to marry you.”
“I didn’t?” he asked with mock confusion.
“No,” she said using her most serious voice.
Smiling unrepentantly, he told her, “Don’t worry, I will.”
The ringing of Parker’s cell phone drew her attention. Glancing at the display, she told Bryant, “It’s Lucy.” Then, flipping the phone open, she said, “Hello.”
Bryant moved around the table, mouthing, “I got to go.” She tugged him forward, kissing him goodbye.
Once he was gone, she told Lucy, “Let me get a pen so I can write that down.”
She scribbled a quick note to Bryant letting him know where she was going. Address in hand, she headed out. This was something she needed to do alone.
She found him sitting on the roof in a lawn chair.
“I can’t go to jail,” he told her without turning to look at her.
“You won’t. No one knows about the money.”
Malcolm turned to face her, his surprise evident. “Why?” was his only question.
“Because you need help.” Malcolm’s shoulders slumped and Parker continued. “There’s a treatment facility outside of Raleigh.”
“And if I won’t go?” he asked, sounding more curious than defiant.
Parker knew she could bully or blackmail him, but instead she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, hugging him close “Please,” she whispered, “do this for me.”
Malcolm buried his face into the crook of her neck and she added, “I’ll go with you and see that you get settled.”
He nodded against her shoulder, his tears dampening her shirt. It was in that moment that she knew she had completely forgiven him.
Parker had her speech prepared. Even though she had left Bryant a note, letting him know where she was going, there was no doubt in her mind that he was going to go haywire when she got home. She knew she had taken the coward's way out by not telling him in person. She could have swung by the club on her way, but she knew he would’ve tried to stop her. He was waiting for her when she came through the door. She tried reading his expression but it was closed to her. Speech forgotten, she said, “I know you’re mad.”
Bryant exploded from his chair, “Wrong, Parker, I’m fucking furious. He could’ve killed you. What were you thinking?”
Parker shrugged helplessly. “That he wouldn’t have gone if you were with me. His pride wouldn’t have let him admit to another man that he couldn’t do it alone.”
Bryant seemed to deflate before her eyes. He looked down at the floor. After a minute, he looked back up, meeting her gaze. His eyes said more than words ever could about how scared he had been for her. “Don’t ever do that to me again. There are no words to describe how important you are to me.” Closing the distance between them, he pulled her tightly up against him. Speaking into her hair, he said, “You know I’m not as young as I used to be.”
Parker let out a watery giggle. “Yep, you’re a regular grandpa.”
“You laugh, but I’ve aged twenty years since meeting you. You must hold some kind of world record in being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
“Probably,” she admitted.
Blowing out a breath, Bryant asked, “How did it go?”
Parker released a shaky breath, some of her fear leaking through. “It was hard. He’s a mess. I think he really is sorry. He has a lot of respect for you and he feels like shit over everything that has happened.”
“I don’t give a shit about him right now. How are you feeling after seeing him again?”
She had an overwhelming need for him to know her even at her weakest point “Vulnerable,” she admitted. Blowing out a breath, she added, “I really need you to make love to me now.”
Bryant’s eyes closed in relief at her words. When he had arrived home from work, he had been primed to have a wonderful night. He had ordered a nice take-out dinner and then stopped to get her some of her favorite flowers, lilies. He was picturing her reaction to such a girlie gift. He figured it would be hilarious indeed. But instead of having that night, he received a note telling him that she had gone to collect Malcolm. A fury had set in, blinding him to what move to make next. He paced the floor, broke a few dishes. Then an idea struck. He called Lucy, which only served to blacken his mood further when she informed him that she did not work for him. She worked for Parker, and Parker’s instructions were that she could tell no one else. Hanging up on her mid-speech, he’d paced a little while longer before realizing all he could do was wait. So finding his favorite chair and positioning it to face the door, he’d done just that. He’d sat down to wait.
Now that she was safe and he was holding her in his arms again, he knew without a doubt that he could not live without her. This new knowledge combined with the fear he’d been dealing with caused him to be rougher with her than usual. Snatching her off of her feet, he headed straight for their bed. At the foot of the bed, he allowed her to slide down the front of his body until her feet touched the floor. Wasting no time, Parker grabbed his shirt, ripping it off him in record time. He had planned to take control but as she licked a path over his chest, he gladly relinquished the power to her. While nipping lightly at one nipple, she undid the button and zipper of his jeans. As soon as the jeans were loose, she shoved hard, taking pants and underwear in one swoop. Not giving him a chanc
e to guess at her intentions, she dropped to her knees, taking his erection into her mouth. She sucked him in deeply. Bryant sucked in a breath at the shock, then let out a moan at the pleasure. He dropped his chin to his chest and brushed her hair away from her face so he could watch her as she pleasured him. When it became more than he could handle, he lifted her from her position on the floor and positioned her to his liking on the bed. The taste of her skin on his tongue was as addictive as any drug and the love he felt for her touched a place in him no one had ever come close to touching before. No one would do after her. She had ruined him for any other life. He made love to her slowly, whispering his love against her skin until there could be no doubt that she was his whole world.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Parker was excited. She had never been to an MMA fight before. Bryant had left that morning since he was expected to arrive early. She decided to ride up later with Walt and Paul. Waiting for Bryant’s match to start, she was all but bouncing in her seat on the way, causing Paul to laugh.
“How much longer?” she asked Walt for the second time.
“Not much,” he answered patiently.
Seeing that Paul was watching a girl who seemed to have forgotten half her clothes, she placed a restraining hand on his arm. “Stay put, man whore,” she told him sternly.
Paul looked over at her smiling unrepentantly. Unable to stop herself, she asked, “Do you know what I think?”
“This, I got to hear,” Paul said with a smirk.
“I think,” she pressed on, ignoring his sarcasm, “that someday some woman is going to come along and knock you on your ass.”
Paul lost his smile. “Maybe some woman already did and that’s why I’m so jaded.” As if realizing he’d shown her too much, he smiled again adding, “Besides, Bryant already has the best one, so there’s no point in being good.”
Parker allowed him to keep his secrets. Changing the subject, she said, “Give me a quick run down of the rules so I don’t get lost.”
Leaning over he told her, “First off, you have to behave. Interference from the corner is considered a foul and they’ll deduct points from him if you taunt his opponent.”
Disappointed, she slumped in her seat. “Fine,” she said petulantly.
Walt laughed at her crestfallen expression. “Don’t worry, honey. You can taunt him before they set up. Trash talking is allowed before the match starts.”
She perked up. “Oh good. What else?”
Paul continued. “This is the Light Heavyweight class. Bryant’s defending his strap so he has to win to hold onto the title. There are five rounds at five minutes each. You have to score ten points to win each round and under nine to lose.”
His explanation was interrupted by the fighter’s arrival to the ring. Parker shot to her feet, rushing to his corner. He nodded in her direction, looking pumped. He touched a hand to his heart before pointing over at her.
Parker yelled, “Stomp his ass, baby!”
The referee laughed, asking Bryant, “Yours?”
At Bryant’s nod, he said, “Sweet.”
He mouthed in her direction, “Behave.”
Favoring him with a luminous smile, she retreated to her seat.
Parker watched the fight from the edge of her seat, poised to spring each time Bryant’s opponent landed a blow. Paul was forced to hold the back of her shirt. Bryant won the first two rounds with the third round ending in a draw. By the fourth round, Parker was holding a hand over her mouth to keep from hurting his score. Bryant’s opponent staggered, falling to one knee, causing Walt and Paul both to come to their feet. The referee made a hand gesture towards the judges' table and a bell rang. Walt and Paul both shouted in excitement, leaving Parker blinking in confusion. “What happened?”
Walt hugged her to his waist. “The referee has called for a TKO. Bryant won.”
Parker began jumping up and down as the referee raised one of Bryant’s arms, declaring him the winner.
Several people tried stopping Bryant for interviews but he only had eyes Parker. Pushing his way through the crowd, he finally reached her. She flung herself at him, nearly knocking him over. He kissed her deeply, uncaring of who was watching.
Bryant moved his mouth close to her ear, “Pay attention, this is me staking my claim.”
Dropping to his knees at her feet, he took both her hands into his. He shouted over the crowd, “Will you marry me?” Bryant held his breath, praying she would say "yes." He thought he knew her mind until this moment, but being on his knees in front of the world left him feeling more vulnerable than he had expected.
Parker, being Parker, she was, of course, uncaring of the number of people pressing forward to get a better look. “Duh,” she answered. Then to the crowd, she yelled, “This is going to be my husband!” Laughing, she threw herself against him, wrapping her arms around his neck, clinging like a monkey, as he stood and carried her out of the building and into a very bright future.
EPILOGUE
“Why is my son wrapped in a pink blanket?” Bryant asked, mostly curious.
“Your son?" Paul asked, sounding confused. At Bryant’s nod, Paul shrugged. “You can’t really tell at this age and with a name like Shannon, how was I supposed to know?”
Paul managed to maintain a look of complete innocence until Bryant caught him winking at Parker.
Turning his attention to his wife Bryant asked, “Are you going to let him get away with this?”
Paul sat perched on the edge of Parker’s hospital bed. Parker had given birth the day before, and Paul mistakenly believed that would keep him safe. Parker leaned over smacking him across the back of the head “Don’t be an ass,” she chastised. Then her face softened. “But, thank you for the blanket just the same. It’s so soft.” She lovingly brushed it against her cheek. Bryant gave her a speaking look and Parker asked defiantly, “What? It is soft, and Shannon’s not old enough to know better.”
Bryant sighed like the doomed man that he was. He was happily wrapped around her little finger.
BOOK 2: Ace
CHAPTER ONE
She was watching him again. He was used to other people’s curiosity, after all, a guy with a green Mohawk, several piercings, and quite a few tattoos tended to draw attention. Those people, however, tried to sneak glances at him when they thought he wasn’t looking. Not her, she was openly staring. He tried for several moments to pretend he didn’t notice. When he couldn’t stand anymore, he snapped, “What?’
Lucy smiled as if satisfied that she had managed to rattle him. “I was just wondering what your real name is,” she told him.
Ace looked around, confused. “Umm, Ace,” he answered slowly.
Lucy gave him a look of disbelief. “Your real God-given name is 'Ace'?” she asked.
“Yes,” he answered tersely.
“What kind of name is 'Ace'?”
“A good American one,” he ground out between clenched teeth.
“Were your parents hippies or gamblers?”
“What kind of name is 'Lucy'?” he shot back.
“It’s short for Lucinda actually, but I think it’s ugly either way. Ace, on the other hand, is a good name it kind of rolls off the tongue. Ace.” She drew out his name as if she were testing the word.
Drawing his brows together in thought, he asked, “Have you been drinking?”
“Nope. Just bored.”
“Okay,” he drawled slowly. Shrugging, he went back to his workout. He bounced lightly on his toes, making two short jabs then one quick kick to the bag before she started again.
“Why is your hair green?”
“I dyed it. Why is your hair brown?” he asked, landing a hard left hook.
“I was born this way. Well, not really. I was born bald and stayed that way until I was two. My mom swore I’d never get hair, but obviously I did.”
“Do you ever shut up?” he grunted out on a spin kick.
“No, not really,” she answered unrepentantly before asking, “How
many tattoos do you have?”
Ace growled. He couldn’t help it; the sound escaped his chest before he could stop it.
Lucy knew she was pushing him but she couldn’t stop herself. It was becoming her new favorite past time to see how far she could push him before he would snap. He looked like such a bad boy but he was well disciplined. Every once in a while, she would catch a flash of fire, but he would bury it back down. He had a hawk-like appearance with a straight line nose and slashing eyebrows. He had green eyes and full lips that were almost too pretty to belong to a man, but his muscular body would discourage anyone from saying it. He appealed to her on every level. She wanted to stay away and she had made it a point to try, but every time she saw him, she was sucked back in. It had been a full two years since she had looked at a man and pictured her body pressing against his. More importantly, she had never met a man who was able to make her want to own him. When she had begun taking self-defense classes at the Smith Brothers Fight Club, he had stepped up to help her when she needed it. Since then she had taken a job working for the club owner’s wife, Parker. She had started out managing Parker’s detective agency, but had ended up more of an all around assistant helping Parker out at the agency and at the club. She didn’t mind the extra work since she needed the money, and Parker was a good boss.
However, it left her hanging around the club a lot and the only person she felt comfortable talking to was Ace. His friend Paul was nice too, but he was a bad boy and she knew better.
“So? How many tattoos?” she asked again since he was ignoring her.
“Nine” he answered, sounding out of breath now.
She stared at one of those tattoos. A snake wrapped around his calf muscle and under her watchful gaze, a bead of sweat rolled down it. She was mesmerized by the sight. That’s why, when he turned on her suddenly, she jumped slightly. He linked his fingers through the cage as he leaned against it, asking, “Why are you here?”
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