by Lyra Parish
“I’ve got rules, Parker. Rules that go against this very thing.” A strip of sternness lined my voice.
“And I’m here to break them, every single one of them, one at a time.”
“Somehow, I knew you were going to say that.”
With a few steps, Parker erased the space between us that I had purposely created. Our faces were inches apart and as easy as it would be in this very moment, I couldn’t lose control.
“Parker,” I whispered and glanced up into his eyes. He placed his index finger over my mouth and shushed me. Nobody, in my adult life, had ever shushed me.
“Do you want this?” He moved in and his lips swept across mine, so softly, so gently that my eyes instinctively fluttered closed. His warm breath met my cheeks and I became flustered. I leaned forward slightly and tilted my head, but Parker moved back, not allowing my lips to fully touch his. He was in control of this, but I was supposed to be. His warm tongue traced the plumpness of my bottom lip and my body begged for his kiss. I patiently waited, wanting his tongue to tangle with mine. When it didn’t happen immediately, I opened my eyes, only to be met with his burning gaze. He was watching me, calculating his moves, and trying to solve me like a Rubik’s Cube, matching colors one twist and turn at a time. I took a step back and stared at him more closely. How frustrating was he?
“You never answered me,” he said. His voice was dripping with sex appeal and charisma.
My voice had run away, banishing itself to another continent.
Who was Parker Williams?
Oh, Parker was the man who so easily destroyed my golden rules—and I had allowed it. Damn.
He smirked while I blushed. I was halfway tempted to pull the bottle of whiskey from the freezer and down two huge gulps to loosen the emotional overload. My body wanted Parker to be summer, the season that could melt away the coldness, but my brain knew better. He couldn’t be the one to liquefy the solid that blocked entry into my heart. It took years to build up those walls, and no six-foot, sexy, blue-eyed, messy-haired man would stroll into my life and destroy everything I had worked so hard to protect. Love and I weren’t compatible; we’d broken up a long time ago. Like and I had recently become nemeses, while sex continued to be the friend that lived in a different state and came to visit every so often. I was happy with my life the way it was, wasn’t I? I wish I knew the answer.
“I love that look,” Parker said as he grabbed my hand and led me to the door so we could leave.
“What look?”
Before he turned the knob, he stopped and turned to me. “The one that tells me you’re intensely thinking about something. Your jaw tightens from here to here, and I can see it in your temples. It’s sexy. I love a woman who thinks deeply about things.” His fingertips outlined my jawline and stopped on my chin. He gently pulled my face and dipped down to kiss me, completely stealing away every thought that had been streaming through me seconds prior. The kiss ended with his smile against my lips, then as if nothing had happened, he opened the door and pulled me out into the hallway.
As I punched in the code to lock the door, he spoke: “Do you have a neighbor?” He pointed at the door across the hallway to the condo that took up the opposite side of the building. It had been empty since I’d moved in. I looked over at the door with the golden 32-B and shook my head.
“Some old woman purchased it fifteen years ago and refuses to sell. The rumor is her dead husband’s things are still in there, along with his ghost.”
Parker burst out laughing and wrapped his arm around my shoulders as we walked to the elevator. Oddly, being close felt comfortable.
We rode down in silence. Mr. Marcy, the Hugh Hefner, stepped in and blew kisses at me. The first few buttons of his shirt were undone and revealed grey chest hair—so suave. I rolled my eyes at him and held back my laughter. He had been trying to get in these pants for the past four years. Not happening, buddy.
When we stepped out of the elevator, Parker walked with his hand placed gently on the small of my back. Though it was a small gesture, there was protectiveness and care behind it. The double glass doors slid open and the cold air swept around me. The temperature had dramatically dropped, and I shivered. Parker went to take off his coat, and I shook my head at him.
I tucked my hands in my pockets and heard the silver Porsche’s doors unlock. My mouth dropped open, and I turned to see him holding the key.
“Porsche 911 GT3. I like my cars to represent me as an individual. This one pushes rules to their limits.”
He opened my door with a cute little smile on his lips. Of course he liked to push rules to their limits. I slipped inside and watched as he took off his coat, revealing a stark white button-up shirt that hugged him in all the right places. After he pressed in the clutch and turned the integrated key, the engine roared to life. Or maybe that was my heart.
Parker owned the five-lane freeway and made it his bitch. We passed between diesel trucks and cars driving too slowly. Crossing several lanes was done with such ease that I never once felt unsafe. He had full control, and I actually liked it.
“Where did you learn to drive like this?” I asked. Of course growing up in Houston, I was surrounded by people driving like they were the lead cast members in The Fast and the Furious, but this was different. His speed and passing were precise. Each move was calculated, as though he had been driving like a badass since he got his license.
“I did a lot of things I shouldn’t have when I was young, stupid, and invincible,” he said.
I shot him a look, and he knew he had to continue with this story. Curiosity was an evil mistress, and I wasn’t going to let this one slide. Intrigue coated me like a warm blanket.
“Sophomore year at the University of Texas, I realized that I needed to stop the childish games. I couldn’t keep Tokyo drifting or playing Fight Club if I was serious about attending law school. I needed good grades. I had to study. Being at the top of my graduating class wasn’t easy. I worked hard and refused to play hard. I put everything I was into a career that allowed me to purchase fast cars and fight with logic. I think I made the right choice.”
My mind wandered. What had Parker done in his past? Most lawyers had a perfect record, but after hearing him speak about fight clubs and racing, I wasn’t so sure that was the case.
“Did you ever get into any trouble?” I straightened my body and turned to him.
He watched the road like a hawk, only removing his eyes from the lanes and cars he passed to glance at me. Rearview mirror, road, side mirrors, repeat.
“No. I was lucky. Though I tested the limits, I knew when to stop. I had friends who stole and chopped cars, fought in underground clubs … you name it, we probably did it. We made our own rules. But then realization set in that it really wasn’t a game. The things we were doing were real, and someone could get hurt, or killed even. I got my act together, and the boys I ran with dropped me like a bad habit. We were good kids, just took too many risks and did stupid things. Some of them never broke out of the vicious vigilante cycle. I wanted a better life than that.”
“So you’re telling me you know when to stop?”
His eyebrow slightly rose and he smiled. “When I want to.”
We sat in silence for a moment.
To hide my grin, I turned my head and looked out the window. The miniature downtown skyline was in the distance. I loved those towers of glimmering lights and windows and the pavement that led to any place I wanted to go in the city. Some people were born to live in the country, but I bled city girl. I had walked those streets and looked at those buildings so much that they had become a part of who I was. It was nice being able to really appreciate them from a distance.
Before I got too lost in my thoughts, Parker spoke. “So what about you?”
I had nothing. My slate was clean. I went to college, fell in love, was set to get married, then my fiancé died so I put everything I was into my career, which was already laid out. Sometimes I felt like I was living a p
re-destined life, that everything that happened to me was supposed to happen, that I couldn’t change the cycle. I was the cookie cutter of what my father had wanted. I didn’t look for trouble and played by the rules while I made perfect grades. I had never even gotten a speeding ticket. Other than a few parties and drunken nights, I had no skeletons hiding in my past. My father had been too strict to allow me to mess up my future. I understood my actions always had consequences, so I didn’t take too many risks and when I did, they were calculated using logic. Realization set in that I was the exact definition of boring.
“I’m straight-edge,” I said.
He tilted his head then burst into hearty laughter. “No, you’re not,” he said.
I wasn’t sure if I should be offended or take it as a compliment. It seemed like a double-edged sword.
“Seriously. Total straight-edge.”
“Straight-edges don’t go to Orleans or private parties. You can tell that lie all you want, but you, Rox, are far from that, and I’m not buying it.”
Oh, there was that. Okay, other than my random sexscapades, I was straight edge, but that didn’t stop the heat from rushing to my face. We’d not discussed the parties, the club, or even his opinion of the wildness that I, Katie, had secretly chased over the past few weeks. I swallowed and released a deep breath in hopes of calming down.
Parker reached his hand out and placed it on my leg. “I’m not judging you.”
“I wouldn’t care if you were,” I said, but I knew that was a lie as soon as I’d said it.
Why should I care? I did what I wanted to do, within reason. Not that it was the right choice to go to those places with Stacey, or have one-night stands, or even hookup with Jake, but I made the decision and owned it.
He slowly rubbed his thumb on my leg and would only take it off to shift the car down a gear when traffic slowed around us. I rested my hand on top of his and looked over at him. His blue eyes met mine and he smiled. My heart fluttered, and I glanced out the window in an attempt to hide the butterflies that were rushing through my body. Warmth flooded me, and I couldn’t hide the smile that had taken over my face.
I could smell his cologne in the car, and the light hints of his ocean breeze soap. Though I had learned so much about him in the past thirty minutes, I knew there was so much more that I didn’t know. This was just supposed to be a friendly dinner but somehow, now that he was here, I knew it was more than that.
My life goal was to solve the puzzle that was Parker Williams, and I hoped he wouldn’t disentangle me in the process.
It wasn’t just dinner, and he wasn’t just a person. He made me feel things that I had been afraid to explore for years, and that alone was frightening as fuck.
We pulled into a warehouse parking lot. It almost seemed abandoned, given the low lighting and the paint peeling from the side of the wooden planks on the building.
I glanced over at Parker, confused. “Please tell me you’ve been here before? I can’t say I visit abandoned warehouses often.”
“You mean to tell me you grew up in Houston and you’ve never been to one of the best sushi bars in the world?”
I tucked my lips into my mouth as I stared at his. Blue eyes met mine, and I shook my head. “Never.”
Parker shook his head back at me, then opened his door and ran around to the other side to open mine. I stepped out and pulled my arms into my chest. Parker was too excited about this. He opened the tinted door to The Great Wall II, and I was amazed by what I saw. It was like we had stepped straight into a wormhole and landed in Tokyo. Dragon decorations hung from the ceiling and Japanese samurai swords lined the walls. Koi fish chased each other in the large aquarium behind the marble-topped bar that ran the length of the warehouse. My mouth dropped open, but I quickly shut it.
A woman with black hair that ran the length of her back greeted us with a smile and two paper menus.
“We’d like the bar,” Parker said, then glanced at me and asked with his eyes if that was okay.
“Perfect,” I said. We walked side by side to the wooden stools.
We sat¸ and Parker turned to me.
“What?” I tucked my hair behind my ears.
“Nothing.”
The bartender interrupted us, stealing the moment away. Parker ordered sake and water for the two of us while I studied the paper menu. Sushi, sashimi, and maki were the main categories, with several choices in each. Parker grabbed a little pencil, handed me one, and then began checking the little boxes next to different items. I leaned over, my arm barely brushing his, and glanced at his paper.
He covered it with his hands. “No cheating, Rox.”
“Cheat and Roxane don’t go in the same sentence.” I looked at my menu and hesitated. I knew confusion covered my face. I didn’t know what half of the stuff was.
He leaned over and glanced at my blank page. “Need some help, babe?” His voice conjured little tingles that almost seemed like magic. He had no idea what kind of help I needed or wanted.
“Are you sure about this?” His voice was dangerously low.
“If you’re sure, then I am.”
“Do you trust me?”
We were still talking about sushi, weren’t we?
My lips parted slightly, and Parker glanced at me, then checked the same two boxes: anago and white king salmon. Thick clouds floated into my thoughts, along with images of Parker’s lips trailing down my stomach. I crossed my legs and tried to calm my breathing. It was like he was controlling me with his mind. Our bodies were dangerously close, close enough for us to kiss again, and damn his lips were so enticing, with that perfect little pout in the center. I placed the end of the pencil to my mouth as the waiter pulled the menus from the bar top.
We drank sake until our glasses were empty and talked about New York.
“Central park is beautiful. Can’t wait to show you everything while we are there.” He smiled over the rim of the little ceramic cup as the square sushi plates slid in front of us.
“What’s anago exactly?” I asked, while looking at the rice with white meat that had a sauce drizzled on top.
“Take a bite first, then I’ll tell you.” Parker’s tongue grazed his bottom lip and for a moment, I was jealous of his tongue.
I needed to stop this.
My text tone dinged, and I pulled my phone from my pocket. “Perrrrfect timing Stacey” would be her new nickname.
Stacey: PIC!
I rolled my eyes. It was almost as if she had seen me do it.
Stacey: You better not be rolling your eyes. Send me a damn pic or it didn’t happen. And this Parker guy isn’t real!
Parker glanced over at me then smiled. He didn’t ask who it was, and I liked that about him. He didn’t pry into my business.
“Sooo … my best friend, Stacey, wants me to send her a pic of us.” I was embarrassed to ask but I knew that if I didn’t, I would never hear the end of it.
“Stacey? The blonde you were with at my brother’s house? The model?”
“Yup. That would be her.”
His lips curled into a smile, then he scooted in and placed his arm around my shoulder. His hand gently touched the outside of my arm, and I slightly turned my head to look at him.
“Are you going to take the pic?” Parker leaned in and whispered in my ear.
I shuddered inside when his breath hit the nape of my neck. I fumbled to open the camera app on my phone and held it up.
“On the count of three.”
Parker leaned his head in closer to mine. We both smiled, and I snapped the picture. I looked at it before I sent it to Stacey. The lighting cast a warm glow on our faces and in that moment, we looked like a happy couple. His eyes were mesmerizing. His teeth were so perfectly straight and white and surrounded by plump lips. I forwarded it to Stacey, only imagining her reply. I silenced my phone and placed it back into my pocket. The waiter brought another round of sake and poured it into our cups. We picked them up and clinked the little clay glasses toge
ther then drank.
Vibration after vibration buzzed in my pocket from the crazy amount of text messages I knew Stacey was sending.
“Are you going to check that?” Parker asked with slyness in his tone. He shot me a cute little smirk and poured sake into our little cups. I exhaled and sat mine down on the bar top, then scrolled through the messages. Jesus, there were a lot.
Stacey: Holy fucking shit!
Stacey: If you don’t snag him, I will.
Stacey: Wait, he’s an attorney?
Stacey: How are you keeping your hands off that sexy ass right now?
Stacey: Leave right now.
Stacey: Go home and practice making beautiful babies with his sexy ass.
Stacey: Now.
Stacey: I’m so jealous.
Me: I’m in the middle of dinner. SHH! TTYL!
Parker glanced over at my phone as I silently read each one. I rolled my eyes one last time and shoved it back into my pocket.
“Do I even want to know what her replies said?” The low rumble in his voice made my insides melt.
Stop it, Rox.
“No, you don’t want to know. Trust me.”
I picked up a pair of chopsticks, and so did he. Luckily, I was just as skilled as Parker with them. I mixed wasabi with my soy to make the perfect combination for my mystery roll. I picked up the rice with fish on top, took a bite, then swallowed. The texture of the meat was soft and it had a bold sweet taste, not like fish. I liked it. He plopped a roll in his mouth and chewed, then I did the same.
“Well?” he asked after he’d swallowed. “Do you really want to know, and does it really matter?”
“Yes I want to know, and no it doesn’t matter.”
“It’s eel,” he said, picking up another piece with his chopsticks.
I stopped chewing.
“Just swallow it. You seemed to like it until you knew what it was.”
I did, then chased it with sake. All I could think of were sea snakes and how my roll had been prepared from them. The bartender returned with a smile on his face and asked about the tabs. We spoke at the same time.