Leave the Lights On

  Watching her turn and run out the door, Parker felt as if his head might explode. “Fuck.”

  He scrambled off the couch and ran after Sophie, catching her just as she got to her car.

  “Soph, it’s not what it looked like.”

  “It looked like you were sitting on the couch kissing Chrissie.”

  Okay, so it is what it looked like. Fuck. “That’s not what I meant.”

  “Jesus, Parker, you could have at least waited until I was out of town. Your bed’s still warm from us.”

  The horrified look on her face made Parker feel like throwing up. “She just showed up. I had no idea she was coming over.”

  “Whatever. Better I found out now than—” Her voice caught, and he could tell she was fighting off tears.

  “There’s nothing going on. I swear to you.”

  “I know what I saw.” She scrambled inside her car and yanked the door shut.

  “Sophie, stop. Don’t leave like this.”

  Through the window he could see tears streaming down her face. She grabbed the gearshift, threw the car into reverse and pulled out of the driveway at warp speed. Watching her take off down the street, all Parker could remember was the night of his accident. Driving. Upset. Distracted. Oh God.

  He raced into the house and grabbed his keys off the hall table and jammed his feet into a pair of sneakers. “Lock up when you leave,” he yelled to Chrissie.

  “I’ll wait here. Or I’ll come back…”

  Parker stared at her for a second. “You don’t get it, do you? This isn’t going to happen. We’re over, Chrissie. We’ve been over for a long time. It took me a long time to get over what you did, but I did. And I’m happy now. With Sophie. I love her. And you don’t get to ruin my life a second time. Lock up when you leave. Or don’t. I don’t care. Just don’t be here anymore. And don’t come back.”

  Speeding off after Sophie, Parker found it impossible to keep the bad thoughts at bay. He kept seeing the look on her face. So hurt. So shocked. Bewildered. And all for nothing. The kiss with Chrissie meant nothing to him. Please let her be okay. His accident replayed over and over in his mind as he zipped through the streets.

  Shit. What airline did she say she was flying? Praying that he remembered correctly, he pulled into short-term parking and ran through the terminal, scanning the check-in lines. Where is she? As he spun around he saw her riding the escalator up to the security checkpoint. Fuck. If she made it through security before he got to her, he wouldn’t be able to get to her.

  He took the escalator steps two at a time, catching up to her just before she showed her ticket to the TSA guard.

  “Sophie, please, talk to me.”

  She pulled away from him. “No. I’m gonna miss my flight. I can’t believe you followed me here.”

  “I’ll go downstairs and buy a fucking ticket if I have to and follow you all the way to Cleveland if you don’t let me explain what happened before you get on that plane.”

  People were staring. The transit cop by the security entrance eyed them both. Sophie glanced around, her face flushed. “Fine. But just for a minute.”

  “Thank you.” Thank you.

  He led her to a quiet alcove near the courtesy phone. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry you walked in when you did, but it wasn’t what you thought. Chrissie rang the doorbell right after you left. She was acting all weird and talking about the past and she leaned over and kissed me. It lasted for a nanosecond before I pushed her away and you were standing there. That’s all that happened.”

  “That’s all? You were on the couch making out with your old fiancée and that’s all that happened? Sorry, Parker. Been down this road before. I walked in on Nate and told myself never again.”

  Parker cursed Chrissie and himself for being such an ass that he didn’t see what was happening in time to stop her. “Listen to me. Chrissie means nothing to me. Nothing. I’ve known that for a long time but today really underscored it. I didn’t know you were standing in the doorway. For all I knew, you were already on your way out of town. I didn’t even kiss her back. I pushed her off me. I felt nothing.”

  As he said it, he realized it was true. He’d have thought old feelings would have made him more curious. That old habits would have kicked in and he’d have at least kissed her back. But he didn’t. It all felt totally foreign to him. It felt wrong.

  Sophie’s face remained tense, her brow furrowed, lips tight, eyes dark and angry.

  “Do you really not know how I feel about you?” he asked, reaching out, running his hands up and down her arms.

  She didn’t pull away. Please let that be a good sign.

  “I thought I did,” she said. “Now I don’t…I’m not…”

  “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  Her mouth fell open. “Don’t…”

  “Don’t what? Don’t tell you how much I love you? Don’t tell you that I wake up every day happy to know you’re in my life and go to sleep every night thanking God that we found our way back to each other?”

  “Parker…”

  “Marry me.” He hadn’t planned to say it. Not like that. Not with security guards eyeing them from five feet away and Sophie holding a carry-on bag and about to get on a plane. He didn’t even have the ring.

  “What did you say?” She looked so shocked he wondered if it had been a mistake but he’d said it and he meant it.

  “I’m asking you to marry me.”

  The loudspeaker announced the boarding call for Sophie’s flight. Shit. Answer me. Please say yes.

  “This is crazy, Parker. You can’t just propose to me and expect everything to be okay. I just saw you kissing Chrissie.”

  “And the other week you came home and told me you kissed Joey. You told me nothing else happened, and I took you at your word. Can’t you do the same for me?”

  Sophie flinched. “That’s different.”

  “How is it different? Apparently we both have people from our pasts who wish they’d paid more attention to us when they had the chance. That’s their loss. And their problem. Not ours. You and I are the smart ones.”

  “I don’t feel very smart right now.”

  Parker swept her hair behind her ear, rubbing his thumb against her cheek. “We’re goddamned geniuses. We figured out we’re good together. Really, really good together. I expect everything to be better than okay for us. I expect us to have a long, happy life together. Just say yes.”

  Parker held his breath. He could see it in her eyes that she was coming around, that she wanted to say yes. Come on, baby. Trust me. Trust us.

  She shook her head. “I can’t think straight. And I’m really going to miss my plane.”

  As much as he wanted an answer he didn’t want to push too hard. “Okay. Go ahead. Get on the plane. Have a safe trip. And know that when you get home I’m going to be waiting for you.”

  Sophie’s eyes remained wide. “Okay.”

  “I love you.”

  She nodded, but didn’t say it back. His stomach clenched tight as a fist. Shit.

  He watched as she went through the scanner and put her shoes and jacket back on. She turned and gave him a brief wave then disappeared into the sea of people as she headed for her gate. Two days. She’s got two days to think this over and I’ve got two days to make sure that when she gets back she knows exactly how I feel about her.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Sophie drove home exhausted from her trip. The weekend had been nonstop bridal events. Rehearsal dinner, bridesmaid luncheon, wedding, send-off brunch. She’d barely had time to change clothes and brush her teeth. The few phone calls she’d had with Parker were brief, and she knew she’d made them awkward by ignoring the fact that he’d proposed to her in the airport.

  He didn’t mean it. He panicked. She was sure of it. They had managed to talk enough that she felt confident that nothing was going on with him and Chrissie. Once she’d had time to think more clearly, she’d realized he was right. He’d truste
d her with the Joey situation. She owed him the same.

  Realizing that she actually did trust him came as quite a surprise. It wasn’t that she hadn’t thought him to be trustworthy, she just honestly hadn’t thought that she’d ever have that kind of faith in anyone ever again. Not after what Nate had put her through. The fact that she felt safe with Parker meant more to her than she could possibly tell him. She only hoped that too much hadn’t happened between them. So many doubts. So much turmoil. What if he decided it wasn’t worth all this drama? She regretted giving him such a hard time.

  She pulled into her driveway, noticing how purple the sky was as the sun made its way behind the treetops. A perfect late-summer night. As she headed up her front walk she saw a trail of flower petals leading from her slate walkway around the side of the house.

  She followed them, her heart beating faster. The path stopped at the gate to the backyard. As she opened it her breath caught in her throat. The yard had been transformed. Rose bushes, hydrangeas, a white wooden trellis covered in flowering vines. Twinkling white lights adorned the branches of half a dozen trees that now lined the fence behind the pool. It was exactly how she’d described her dream backyard to Parker. Down to the last detail. She’d told him if she ever got married again she wanted it to be at home, a small group of friends and all her favorite things.

  Parker stepped out from under the porch awning and walked toward her, eyes locked on hers. “Did I get it right?” he asked.

  Not trusting her voice, Sophie nodded. “It’s perfect,” she managed to whisper.

  “Good. You deserve perfection. You deserve everything you want, Sophie, and that’s what I want to give you. Everything. All of me. I wasn’t sure I’d ever be able to offer that to anyone. I thought I was too broken. That between Chrissie and the accident I had nothing left to give. But you made me realize that’s not true. Chrissie’s like the baseball trophies. She’s what I used to want. She’s my past. All of that is nothing but the past. You’re my future. My whole future.”

  Sophie’s heart beat a fierce rhythm in her ears. Her eyes welled with tears. “Are you sure?”

  He reached out and tucked her hair behind her ear then slid his hand down her arm, dropping to one knee.

  Oh my God.

  He pulled a small black box out of his pants pocket. He opened it, and she saw the diamond ring sparkling against the dark velvet.

  “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my entire life. I want to grow old with you. I want to have kids with you. I want to move into a house where our kids have friends who live next door and I want us to spy on them as they sneak out to hang out together late at night. I want the entire world to know you’re my wife. I want to share everything with you, the good stuff and the bad stuff. I love you, Sophie. In some ways I always have but it’s stronger now. I’m stronger now. You make me a better person. You’re what I’ve been waiting for my entire life. Say yes. Marry me.”

  The look in his eyes, so intense, so sincere, melted her heart. “Yes.” The word came out as a breath.

  The smile that spread across Parker’s face sent tingles through every inch of her body.

  “Yes?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she said. “Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes.”

  Parker slid the ring onto her finger and stood, pulling her into his arms and kissing her. She breathed him in, wrapping her arms around him as he held her close. His voice was soft as he whispered against her lips. “I’m aiming for way more than a thousand times.”

  The End

  About the Author

  Karen Stivali is a prolific writer, compulsive baker and chocoholic with a penchant for books, movies and fictional British men. When she’s not writing, she can be found cooking extravagant meals and serving them to family and friends. Prior to deciding to write full-time Karen worked as a hand-drawn animator, a clinical therapist, and held various food-related jobs ranging from waitress to specialty cake maker. Planning elaborate parties and fundraisers takes up what’s left of her time and sanity.

  Look for these titles by Karen Stivali

  Now Available:

  Then, Again

  Sometimes you have to lose it all to find what you really need.

  Then, Again

  © 2013 Karen Stivali

  Photographer Kay Turner is dealt a double whammy when she flies home for her grandmother’s funeral to find her boyfriend with another woman. Now with two losses to mourn, she retreats to her newly inherited beach house to clear her head.

  Everything at the beach is familiar: the sounds of the ocean, the scent of her grandmother’s perfume—and the irresistible smile of James Margolis. The man Kay spent her adolescence pining for is every bit as charming as she remembers.

  James always thought of Kay as “a nice kid”, but he feels something very different for the woman she’s become. Especially when he asks if she’d be willing to part with some of her grandmother’s recipes for his new restaurant—and they wind up sharing much more than culinary secrets.

  But as their relationship deepens, Kay finds herself caught between the demands of her dream career as a travel photographer, and a chance for happiness with the one man she’s wanted for a lifetime.

  Warning: This foodie romance contains sensual scone baking, a heroine who discovers one bad apple hasn’t spoiled her appetite, and a delicious hero you can’t help but crave. Blend well, serve hot.

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Then, Again:

  James had been hoping Kimmy would come by the store. He knew she’d be back in town, at least for the funeral, and he’d been scanning the crowd of customers for her all day. He hadn’t expected her to look quite so fantastic. Her long wavy hair was the exact color of honey, innocent but sexy in two simple ponytails. Even in jeans and a T-shirt she was a knockout. Her once oversized features now perfectly accented her heart-shaped face, the gangly legs had grown shapely. There was no hint of the awkward girl she’d been years ago when they’d first met. She was all woman now, and it took his breath away.

  When he told her the restaurant was his, her already round eyes widened, glistening like molten dark chocolate flecked with gold. “Really?” Her voice was low, crooning. “You’re in the restaurant business? I thought you’d gone into finance.”

  “I did, but I kept getting sucked back into the family business with the fish market and I’ve always loved food. I did some restaurant management courses and spent some time at culinary schools in Italy, Montepulciano and Palermo, but I wasn’t sure I’d ever go for it. Then this place went on the market and I decided to just do it.”

  “That’s awesome.” She made her way around the kitchen, her delicate hands running along the smooth stainless steel surfaces, her hips swaying as she moved around the center counter. “When do you open?”

  “I wish I could answer that. A couple of months, I hope. We’ve hit a few snags with the contractors. It’s okay, though. Gives me more time to perfect the menu. Starting with the chowders.”

  “Plural? How many chowders will there be?” She leaned against the counter, tilting forward just enough to make her breasts swell against the fabric of her T-shirt. His stomach knotted as he tried not to be too obvious about noticing.

  “You want to see the tentative menu?” He reached up and pulled a folder off the top shelf.

  She traced her finger down the paper as she read. He eyed the invisible trail with envy. Jesus. Settle down. She probably thinks you’re an old man.

  “This sounds amazing,” she said. “Clam and sausage chowder. My grandmother used to make that.”

  “I know. It’s her recipe.”

  Her plump pink lips fell open. “Seriously?”

  “She used to bring it into the fish market for us at the holidays, and one year I talked her into teaching me how to make it. It’s one of my favorite soups, there’s no way it wasn’t going on the menu. I’ll name it after her, I just haven’t gotten around to naming the dishes yet.”

  “She’d love t
hat.” Kay’s eyes misted and she glanced away. Kay. A grown-up name to go with the rest of her look.

  “You want to try a bowl? See if I got it right?”

  “What, now?”

  “Sure.” He pulled open one door of the double fridge. “I made a pot last night. I was going to have it for dinner with some of these oysters. The rest will become oyster and corn chowder, a recipe I don’t have perfected. Yet.”

  Kay stared at him with an expression he couldn’t read. Gratitude? Fascination? Maybe she just thought he was crazy to be opening a restaurant in the current economy. Whatever it meant he was glad to have an excuse to make eye contact with her. He held her gaze until she flushed and looked away. She handed him back the menu. “I haven’t had a real meal in days, I’ll try anything you like.”

  Her words stirred endless possibilities in his mind, but he tried to push them all aside and concentrate on getting her some food. He scooped crushed ice out of the ice machine and went to work shucking the oysters while the soup heated on the stove.

  She sat perched on one of the barstools he’d brought in from the dining room.

  “If you want a beer there are some in the fridge, bottom shelf.” He couldn’t help but sneak a look at her ass as she bent down.

  “You want one?” she asked, catching him watching her.

  “Sure.”

  “You’ve got an awful lot of food in here for a restaurant that’s not open.”

  “Barter. I’ve been feeding the workers and training the kitchen staff. They grumble about the heat less when they’ve got full stomachs. Plus I get to try out new recipes. Can you grab that small silver bowl from the fridge?”

  “This one?”

  “That’s it.” He set the platter of oysters between them and quartered a lemon. “How do you take your oysters? Straight? Lemon? Or you want to try the sauce?”