by Julie Cannon
Parker searched Elisa’s face for meaning. Was there something more than a friendly offer there? Or did she simply want there to be? “I’d be forever in your debt.”
Elisa smirked. “That could come in handy.”
Again, it felt like there might be a double meaning to her words. Even with her fuzzy brain, Parker was picking up all sorts of unspoken signals. She fished her keys out of her pocket and handed them to Elisa. “I place myself in your hands.”
They walked to Parker’s car and climbed in. Elisa spent a moment adjusting the mirrors and they were off. Parker took advantage of not having to focus on the road and studied Elisa’s profile. “Thanks for tonight.”
“Thanks for coming.”
Parker swallowed. “And thank you for driving me home. I’m still used to New York, where I never drove anywhere. It was irresponsible of me to get tipsy.”
Elisa’s smile was soft. “It’s okay. You didn’t have that much, really.”
“Yeah. Despite having my first daiquiri at fourteen, my tolerance was never all that high. And since I lost weight, it’s even less.”
Elisa glanced at her with what looked like surprise. “When did you lose weight?”
“Junior year of college. I was a chubby kid. Then, in high school, being heavy was a way to avoid male attention and an excuse to wear the clothes I wanted.”
“I’m sorry. That sounds hard.”
Parker shrugged. She hated it when people acted like losing the weight was her biggest life accomplishment. “It was my coping mechanism. I’ve had a lot of therapy since then.”
Elisa didn’t respond and Parker wondered why she’d answered so honestly. Maybe she was drunker than she realized. Or maybe Elisa had that effect on her.
As they made their way back across the river, Parker realized she was supposed to drop Elisa off. “If you want to take my car home, I can come get it tomorrow. You just have to let me into my apartment first.”
Elisa nodded. “Sounds good.”
At Parker’s building, she directed Elisa to her assigned spot. “I can run up to let myself in and come back, if you want.”
“It’s okay. I’ll walk you up.”
They entered the building and Parker pressed the button for the elevator. She glanced over and caught Elisa staring at her. It wasn’t the first time, either. Combined with the flirty comments, it made her think maybe Elisa felt the chemistry between them, too. And Elisa was coming up to her apartment, had offered to. A flutter of anticipation filled her chest.
When the elevator pinged, she led the way to her apartment. Elisa handed her the keys and she unlocked the door. “After you.”
Elisa didn’t decline. She walked ahead and Parker followed, flipping on a couple of strategic lights. “Can I get you something to drink?”
“I’m good, thanks.” Elisa turned to face her. Parker couldn’t read her expression—it fell somewhere between amused and intrigued. For Parker, it was enough encouragement for her to take the lead.
“Same.” Parker closed the short distance between them. She could just make out a hint of Elisa’s perfume. Parker breathed it in, thinking how odd it was that it felt familiar. She looked into Elisa’s eyes, then at her lips. She’d not expected the night to end this way, but she couldn’t imagine anything better.
Chapter Eight
Elisa sensed it coming, but she was powerless to stop it. The press of Parker’s mouth was gentle but confident. Even as her brain screamed no, the rest of her body responded with enthusiasm. The kiss felt at once familiar and new, throwing her back to the last time, so many years ago. It was even better than she remembered.
It took far more effort than she cared to admit to plant her palms on Parker’s chest and push her back. “Stop.”
Parker opened her eyes, blinked a few times. “I’m sorry. I thought you…I must have read your signals wrong.”
Elisa took a deep breath and tried to slow her racing pulse. “Not entirely wrong.”
Parker gave her a look that seemed more confused than angry. “What does that mean?”
“It means I may have sent you signals that I shouldn’t have.”
“Wait. Does that mean you are attracted to me or you aren’t?”
How could she have made such a colossal mess of things? “It means I’m attracted to you, but I know better than to indulge it.”
Parker offered her a smile. “I don’t know. If I’m remembering correctly, we had pretty good chemistry.”
The mention of their past hookup felt like a slap to the face, or perhaps a bucket of cold water. “Yes. You were drunk then, too. And the next morning, you made it clear I was nothing but a mild distraction.”
“I never said that to you.”
Elisa’s indignation was in full force now. “No, you said it to George. George fucking Fitzhugh, of all people, and I heard you.”
Parker’s face fell. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I’m not sure how else to interpret ‘She’s hot, but who’s got time for that? Maybe after I make partner.’”
Parker scrubbed her hands over her face. She vaguely remembered the conversation. Part of it had been playing it cool. The other part was her singular focus on passing the bar and getting the hell out of Louisiana. She’d never meant Elisa to hear it. And since Elisa had brushed her off the next time she saw her, Parker figured the feeling was mutual. “I’m sorry.”
Elisa’s face registered disdain. “Sorry you said it or sorry I heard it?”
“Both. I was an ass.”
“Well, we can agree on one thing, it seems.”
“I hope you know it didn’t have anything to do with you. I had a great time that night, but I wasn’t looking for any sort of relationship.”
Elisa sniffed in disgust. “Eyes on the prize, right?”
“Yes.”
“I hate that competitive bullshit. I hated it about law school and I hate it about lawyers. Why don’t you all just whip out your dicks to see whose is biggest? It amounts to the same thing.”
Parker shook her head and wished she was completely sober. “It’s not like that. I’m not like that.”
“Could have fooled me.”
“I mean, I get how it came across, but my motivations were different.”
Elisa didn’t say anything. She simply folded her arms and waited.
For the first time in as long as she could remember, Parker wanted to talk about what led her down her chosen career path. She wondered if it was the result of her fuzzy brain or the woman in front of her. “My father was an asshole.”
Elisa’s face softened. “You mentioned that.”
“He hated that I was gay and hated even more that I refused to dress like a girl.”
“I’m sorry. I’m sure that made things hard.”
“It was hard because my mother tried to run interference, to her own detriment. I hated her being in the middle.” She hated even more not being brave enough to stand up to her father.
“Sure.” Elisa’s shoulders relaxed and she no longer looked angry.
Parker sighed. “I thought being successful would settle the waters.”
“But it didn’t?”
“It helped, but only a little. I knew I needed to leave, but running away for any reason other than an amazing job would have broken my mother’s heart.”
“So you got the amazing job.”
Parker chuckled, realizing how juvenile it sounded now. “Yeah.”
“Did it work?”
Parker thought for a moment. No one had ever asked her that, at least not point-blank. She’d done it well enough that people had taken her choices—and her aspirations—at face value. “Mostly.”
Elisa offered a wry smile. “She missed you.”
The familiar guilt crept through Parker’s chest. Her mother never so much as hinted that she should move home. Still, Parker knew it was hard for her, even when Parker’s presence created tension. “She did. I missed her, too. Sometimes I can convince m
yself that I was making things easier for her by not being around. Other times, I know I was a huge coward.”
“It sounds like you made the best of a bad situation.”
Parker shrugged. “I don’t know if it was the best thing or not. It doesn’t matter now, I guess.”
“I’d say what matters is that you’re home now.” Elisa smiled. She had a way of looking at Parker that seemed sympathetic without feeling sorry for her. Parker nodded, feeling better about her choices than she had in a while.
“Hey, do you want to sit for a spell? I feel like an idiot having this conversation standing in the kitchen.” She felt like an idiot no matter what. But even with Elisa’s rebuff of her physical advances, Parker didn’t want her to leave.
“I don’t know. It’s getting late.”
Parker gave Elisa her most sincere smile. “Come on. I just bared my soul. I promise I won’t try to kiss you again.”
Elisa hesitated long enough that Parker thought she’d decline for sure. “Okay. A few minutes.”
“Something to drink? I have bourbon.”
“Fine. I know how you Southerners feel about your hospitality.”
“Thanks for humoring me,” Parker said. Elisa walked over to the sofa. Parker opened a cabinet and pulled out two highball glasses. She poured a couple fingers for Elisa, a bit more for herself. Since she didn’t have to drive anywhere, and any chance of moving things to the bedroom had gone out the window, she figured it couldn’t hurt. And she’d meant what she said. She had just bared her soul.
They sat on the sofa and Parker steered the conversation toward Elisa. She learned about Elisa’s family, growing up in a traditional Cuban household. She asked about Elisa’s ex, the one who brought her to New Orleans in the first place. Whether it was the drink or the fact that Parker opened up first, Elisa seemed less guarded. She shared personal details, a few embarrassing moments. Parker had always considered her beautiful, but she found herself drawn to Elisa on so many more levels.
After a while, Elisa turned the attention back to Parker. She asked about first kisses and college girlfriends. When she hinted at Parker’s reputation in law school, it seemed to be without judgment or hard feelings. They talked and talked. It reminded her of college, where the intimacy and intensity of late night conversations made relationships, but also fueled self-discovery.
When there was an eventual lull in the conversation, Parker’s mind went back to what started it in the first place. “I shouldn’t have said what I said.” Parker’s lids felt heavy, but it seemed suddenly urgent that Elisa understand.
“I know.” Elisa offered her a tender smile. “But I won’t hold it against you anymore.”
Parker felt a weight she didn’t know she’d been carrying lift. “I wanted to talk to you, you know? I wanted to explain.”
Elisa shook her head. “You don’t have to say that now.”
“It’s true. But the next time I saw you, you were so cool and aloof. I thought you didn’t care.”
Elisa sighed. “I didn’t want you to see that I did. After hearing what you said to George, I wasn’t about to own having a crush on you.”
Parker straightened. “Wait. You had a crush on me? You never said that.”
She laughed. Parker loved the sound of her laugh. “I’m pretty sure that’s how crushes work.”
“You have a point.” Parker thought back to that time. She wondered if knowing Elisa’s feelings would have made a difference. Sure, she’d have been less of an ass, but would it have been more than that? “I think, had I allowed myself crushes, you would have been one of them.”
Elisa looked at her with skepticism. “Let’s not get carried away.”
Parker smiled. “I think you underestimate how attractive you were. Are. Were and are.”
She laughed again and Parker realized how much she didn’t want the night to end. “Would you stay? I promise I’ll be a gentleman.”
Elisa studied Parker. Her hair was askew, shirt wrinkled. Other than yoga class, she wasn’t sure she’d ever seen Parker anything but put together. Seeing her like this had an unsettling effect on Elisa, and she didn’t like it. “I’m not sure—”
“How about a movie, then? Just a friendly, relaxing movie.”
Almost more than the disheveled look, the way Parker asked her to stay—not at all aggressive, vulnerable almost—caught Elisa off guard. Part of her brain screamed at her to run. The same part that knew it was after midnight. But she felt a draw that she hadn’t experienced before. More than physical attraction, she wanted to be near Parker. And she couldn’t help but think Parker wanted her close, needed her almost. “Nothing too serious, or bloody.”
“Deal.” Parker picked up the remote and turned on the television. She navigated to the menu. “I’ll even let you pick.”
She considered a few newly released comedies, but they all seemed loud and boorish. She definitely didn’t want anything sentimental. Elisa scrolled through the classics section and settled on one she hadn’t seen before, an art heist comedy starring Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole. “How’s this?”
Parker smiled. “I love old movies. And Audrey Hepburn.”
Elisa pressed play and Parker leaned over to dim the lamp. Even without cuddling, it felt intimate, romantic. Elisa hoped she wouldn’t regret giving in to Parker’s request. She pulled her feet up and picked up one of the throw pillows to hug against her. She hadn’t realized the movie was set in Paris.
She didn’t remember dozing off, but when Elisa opened her eyes, the screen saver was on the television and Parker was sound asleep. In her lap.
She should freak out. Everything about this moment should make her uneasy, uncomfortable, and probably several other un- words. But it didn’t. Elisa struggled to wrap her head around just how right it felt.
She’d never seen Parker’s face more relaxed. Maybe that was it, combined with the deeply personal conversation. She’d like to blame the whiskey, but she’d not had enough to affect her judgment. Not that she’d used good judgment. She just couldn’t blame the whiskey.
This had to be a bad idea. Although, as she studied Parker’s features, thought about running fingers through Parker’s hair, she had a hard time remembering why.
Unfortunately—or was it fortunately?—her left foot was asleep. As she became more awake, it did, too. It didn’t take long for the tingling to become unbearable. “Hey, Parker.” Parker moaned, but she didn’t stir. Elisa shifted, sending a rush of blood and pain down her leg. “Parker, wake up.”
“What?” Parker bolted upright, bringing the top of her head into crushing contact with Elisa’s nose.
“Fuck.” Elisa jerked back, pain radiating and blurring her vision. She lifted her hand to her nose, fully expecting it to be bleeding.
“Oh, God.” Parker turned to her, a look of horror on her face. “I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”
Elisa pulled her fingers away. No blood. The initial shock faded and she pinched the bridge of her nose gingerly. Everything seemed in place. “I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? You don’t look fine.”
She wiped at her watering eyes and chuckled. “I’m sure. Just caught off guard.”
“I didn’t mean to fall asleep like that.”
Elisa wondered whether “like that” referred to sleeping in general or the fact that Parker had fallen asleep on her. “It’s okay. I dozed, too.”
Parker looked at the television, then picked up her phone. “It’s after four.”
“Is it? Wow. We must have really conked out for a bit.”
Parker scrubbed her hands over her face. “Real smooth on my part, right?”
Elisa laughed and ran her fingers through her hair. “It’s fine. I, um, I had fun. It was fun.”
Parker shot her an incredulous look. “You don’t have to say that.”
She wasn’t about to admit how natural it felt to wake up cuddled together. “I mean it. Getting to know you, hanging out. That part was really nice.
”
“Yeah. It was.”
Elisa couldn’t be sure, but she thought for a second that Parker looked bashful. It was a disarmingly good look for her, especially in contrast to the confidence she typically radiated. She wondered if it might be a fluke or if, like their conversation earlier, she was seeing another side of Parker. “I should get home.”
Parker looked genuinely disappointed. “The sun will be up soon. Do you want to grab breakfast first? I know a great place open all night.”
She really shouldn’t. But she had yoga at nine, which meant going home and crawling into bed wasn’t an option. In spite of herself, Elisa found herself nodding. “Okay.”
The diner was a dive and the omelets were amazing. To Elisa’s surprise, they hadn’t run out of things to talk about. She made it home with just enough time to change and get to the studio. Despite being exhausted, both her mind and body were relaxed. She had a great class and let herself get talked into lunch with Laura, where she talked about anything and everything but Parker.
Something had definitely changed between them. But Elisa was far from deciding what that meant or what to do about it. At the very least, they seemed to have crossed the line into friendship. But Parker’s kiss—however brief or abruptly ended—told Elisa the attraction that had been nagging her was mutual. The temptation to indulge it was growing by the minute. If not a good idea, maybe it was no longer a terrible one. Especially once the case ended. And especially if she was the one calling the shots.
Chapter Nine
The flash of a notification on her phone caught Elisa’s peripheral vision. She glanced from her computer monitor to the screen.
Don calling a meeting in 10. Expect good news.
Elisa’s excitement was tempered only slightly by the fact that Parker had the news first. But since Parker was still lead counsel, it wasn’t like it could have gone any other way. How good?
She’d know soon enough, but part of her wanted to know how much Parker would share. Not like a test or anything.
Short of an admission of wrongdoing, everything.