by Cass Sellars
Sydney sighed. “Yes. I think it’s for the best. I suspect I’ll have to review the conditions of your incarceration.”
She steered Parker toward the bathroom. Parker was fiercely independent, often a source of tension in their relationship, but Syd felt Parker lean against her, indicating she could use a little caretaking this time. She was grateful for the opportunity rarely granted.
Chapter Eight
“So, I did a routine check on Becky but, Syd, right now, it’s just a weird note and some flowers. Don’t overreact. In fact, don’t react at all until you have to. This may be the end of it.”
Syd knew Mack’s placating tone was meant to stanch Syd’s tendency to overplay her protective role where Parker was concerned. “Not planning on reacting, but I just need to know that it wasn’t her.”
“Good. Now you do. You can go to your cushy home office and stare at her through the window in case the air-conditioning gives her goose bumps or something.”
“Bite me, Foster.” Syd smirked, knowing she would likely do just that since Parker was now home for the balance of the week.
“Hey, one more thing. I have a homicide investigators conference in Richmond next week. I wondered if it would be okay if Jen and the baby stayed with you guys starting Tuesday. Just in case something happens.”
“Well, I don’t know…goose bumps?” Syd toyed with the pen on her desk. She could always count on Mack to get her to take things less seriously. This time, however, she felt a heaviness she couldn’t quantify. Something told her that a simple note and an unattributed gift of flowers were more than they appeared to be.
“I deserved that,” Mack replied.
“Yes, you did. And of course she can. Park will love it, and with Mia across the hall, I can begin to establish my harem.”
“Well, it’s up to you what you do on your last day on earth if you ever touch my wife, Hyatt.” Mack’s warning tone was meant to sound ominous, but Sydney laughed.
“We’ll see her Tuesday night, then. Let’s all do dinner when you’re back.” Sydney shoved project files into a desk tray and stretched her legs under the desk.
“Be good. Call me if something else happens.”
“You’ll be the first, but you probably already knew that.” Syd placed her phone face down on the counter and glanced at Parker through the window of her office. She watched her tap data into her laptop, attempting to embark on a normal day, but she wondered if she was replaying yesterday’s events as much as she was. Syd wanted to believe she was just being overprotective, but her instincts told her something was off. She’d be on edge until she figured out what it was.
After two hours of work, Sydney went downstairs and heard Parker talking emphatically.
“No, really, I’m fine. Just a scratch and a bruise, and it’s a good day to work from home.”
Sydney climbed onto the low back of the sofa behind Parker and stretched her legs on either side of her, surreptitiously checking the state of Parker’s shoulder injury while she was occupied. Parker reclined contentedly into the V of Syd’s thighs and closed her eyes when Sydney massaged her temples.
“Call me if you hear from the inspectors, okay? Yeah, you can tell him I’m fine. Thanks.” Parker chucked the phone on the cushion and looked behind her.
“Shall I assume your protective little friend was asking about you for the next installment of his fantasies?” Syd looked down at her, dropping a lazy kiss on her forehead.
“You’re very committed to your dim view of the world, Ms. Hyatt,” Parker teased as they indulged in the midafternoon moment they rarely experienced together.
“So, I’m wrong, then?” She leaned slightly over Parker and rubbed unhurried circles over her arms.
“No, not wrong. Just a presumptuous eavesdropper. I thought you were working, anyway.” Parker closed her eyes as Syd continued the massage.
“I was. But with you at home? That’s like trying to be on a diet in a chocolate factory. Temptation’s everywhere.” Syd tried to stay playful, but touching Parker was building a fire.
“Do you practice that, or are you really that charming?” She laid her head on Sydney’s knee.
“Actually, neither. But I came down to tell you that Jenny’s coming to stay with us next week, if that’s okay, of course. Mack’s going to Richmond, and she thought it would be good for her to stay here.”
“Has she asked Jenny?” Concern crossed Parker’s face.
Syd shrugged. “No idea. She hasn’t mentioned anything to you, I take it?”
Parker shook her head. “No. Not yet, anyway. I just don’t want to be part of making her feel like a child. If she wants to be here, I’d love to have her, but Mack needs to let that be her decision. She can be a little overbearing.”
“Understood. You call it. I’m just an innocent bystander.” Sydney raised her hands in mock surrender.
“My love, you haven’t been an innocent anything in a very long time.” Parker twisted up to kneel in front of Syd. “But I happen to love that about you.”
“Does that mean you can take a naughty break and meet me in the bedroom?” Syd captured Parker’s tongue in her mouth and kissed her languidly until her lips burned hotly against Parker’s skin.
“I guess it’s lunchtime somewhere.” Parker pulled Sydney onto her and compelled her to stretch out over the sofa. “Welcome to my home office.”
“Thank you. I think I’d like to order all the services you offer here.”
Parker snaked her legs around Syd’s waist and began grinding her pelvis against her.
“Damn, baby.” Syd shook her head in mock warning. “You’re in so much trouble now.”
She pulled Parker’s shirt away from her body, revealing the soft skin she wanted to devour. Parker pushed Sydney’s top toward her neck, and Syd ripped it away. She shivered at the burning contact with Parker’s skin. Ravenously, she sucked a hard nipple against her teeth, and Parker again tilted her hips into Syd’s body.
When she heard Parker moan for her, Syd slid down and tugged her pants off. She glided her lips and tongue over Parker’s taut flesh, bending to course her teeth over her sensitive inner thighs and, finding her target, lapping her tongue over her.
“What did I do to deserve this?” Parker growled seductively, arching against her. “What do you want, Hyatt?”
Sydney grabbed her hips, smirking confidently as she pulled Parker toward her waiting mouth. “Baby, I just want to make you scream.” Sydney designed her teasing and lazy strokes to push Parker to her edge, but she planned to control when she allowed her to crash over. Syd would get Parker to beg for release but deliver it when she commanded. They both thrived on the mutual game.
Parker glanced her nails along the corded muscles in Syd’s arms, “Please, Sydney, now, please.”
Sydney smiled as she decreased the intensity and stroked more slowly inside her. She adored the broken moans and the halting breaths she could prompt from Parker.
Syd found the sensitive place within Parker that she craved and watched her face, her eyes fluttering against the colliding sensations.
“You want to come, baby?” Syd asked after a few minutes of making Parker writhe.
“God, yes.”
Sydney fought a greedy smile before continuing her manipulations. Her eyes, though, lingered on Parker’s face. Parker screamed Syd’s name as her punishing drop from the edge consumed her.
Sydney snaked up Parker’s side and continued to bite against the hypersensitive skin and tight muscles in her neck. She clawed her fingers into Parker’s hair and captured her mouth, bruising a kiss over her lips.
“Oh my God, Sydney. Are you buttering me up for something? What do you want?” She breathed raggedly as her eyes returned to focus on Syd’s face, and she pressed her hand between Syd’s legs.
“I already got it.” She delivered a satisfied smile. “I told you…I just wanted to make you scream.” She felt the satisfaction that came with connecting with Parker on a physi
cal level, but she would admit, only to herself, that she breathed a little easier knowing she was safe at home instead of out of her protective reach.
Chapter Nine
Syd watched as Jenny pulled into the parking lot beside Parker’s convertible. She couldn’t help but smile at the slightly frazzled look in Jenny’s expression. “Boy, am I glad to see you.” Jen traded a quick kiss with Sydney and handed her Olivia and a diaper bag. “I never imagined that I’d need this much stuff for four nights away from home until I had a baby.”
“See, O.G.? High maintenance already.” Sydney laughed as Olivia plucked at Syd’s T-shirt. “Leave it for now, and I’ll come get the rest in a bit.”
Jenny gratefully nodded and heaved a duffel bag over her shoulder. “It’s nice of you to have me stay, Syd. I want you to know that I’m perfectly capable of taking care of my child on my own, but Mack thinks I need a chaperone.”
“Maybe Mack wants everything to be easier for you, just in case you need a break.” Syd pulled Jenny against her in a comforting embrace.
“Perhaps you’re just trying to stick up for her, like always.” Jenny laughed and leaned against Syd.
“Perhaps I am, or maybe, we like having you and Olivia over here. Ever think of that?” Sydney moved her arm from around Jenny and reached over her to hold the foyer door where Parker stood with her arms open for Olivia.
“Hi, my girl,” Parker sang, and Olivia leaned over to be swept into Parker’s arms.
Syd deposited the bags on the guest bed and returned to find Olivia scooting along the rug in the living room and Jenny examining Parker’s shoulder.
“Nice, huh?” Syd grimaced. The black and blue patch had flowered into a much larger bloom across Parker’s upper back, but the cut itself looked as if it was already healing.
“Park, you were really lucky it wasn’t any closer to your face. Quint freaked when he heard about it. He ran into my office while I was meeting with Frank and the new schedulers; he practically knocked me over. I stumbled into poor Ben trying to stay upright.” Jenny chuckled when she recounted his shell-shocked reaction.
Syd stared at the injury. “She wasn’t lucky enough for me. Did she mention she was banned from leaving the house from now on? It’s a fairly new thing, so she might not have told you yet.” Syd winked at Jenny when Parker shot her a warning look. Syd ducked quickly out the door to Jen’s car to avoid the pillow Parker was aiming in her direction.
“Why were you meeting with them?” Parker inquired as she knelt to roll a ball with Olivia. She was already out of the loop, and she hated that feeling.
“Seems someone in accounting entered their salaries wrong, and Frank caught it when he was reviewing the data during their orientation week. I handled it, so no big deal.” Jenny motioned as if she was swatting an annoying insect.
“I needed to be in the office today instead of sitting here on my butt. We’re going to get very behind with the delay at CTI.” Parker frowned as she began making notes on a legal pad while Olivia crawled over to take colorful blocks from a canvas bag.
“We are not behind. Besides, I brought a ton of work for us to do tomorrow. We have no meetings, so we can get a lot done from right here, Park. We’ll be fine.”
Parker knew she was a chronic workaholic, and she drove herself hard. She tried not to focus on the work potentially piling up on her desk. However, she had to admit that the stiffness in her entire body made working from her couch a welcome relief and a nice respite. And it gave Syd a little time to hover and feel needed. She knew that had been a relationship complaint from more than just Syd. She had a hard time needing anyone.
***
Sydney met Parker and Jenny in the lobby as they were strapping Olivia into her stroller. “Jen has convinced me that she handled everything urgent from today, so we’re going to try and tire Olivia out on a walk. Want to come?” Parker wrapped her arms around Syd’s waist and stood on her toes to kiss her.
“Why don’t I take the stuff in, set up the crib, and order us Chinese food so we can all relax when you get back?”
“You’re a genius.” Jenny smiled gratefully.
“You keep telling her that, will you?” She turned to Parker and spoke sternly. “Please, don’t walk near anything, over anything, under anything, or talk to strangers.” Syd was only half kidding, and she went back into the loft amidst the duet of groans and “Yes, Dad” comments lobbed in her direction. She dialed the Chinese restaurant from memory and began to attack the engineering marvel of the portable crib.
Syd heard the heavy front door slide open from her spot on the bedroom floor just a few minutes later. “Back already?” she called toward the living room.
“It’s Mia. Anyone home?”
Syd leaned out of the door to the spare room and watched Mia tentatively step inside.
“Just me. I’m back here, Mia. Come on in.” Syd continued to fuss with the small rubber feet designed to prevent the light crib from sliding across the floor.
“Planning something I don’t know about?” Mia smiled.
Syd was contorted on the concrete floor, bracing the crib with her thighs.
“That would be a huge no. You know better than that.” Syd unfolded her body and stood to offer a greeting hug. She felt Mia hold on to her a little tighter than usual.
Syd stepped back to face her. “Do you want to talk about it?”
Tears started in earnest where they had only hinted before. “I just miss Sandy some days more than others, I guess.”
Syd wrapped her arms around Mia’s shoulders and stroked her back.
Mia reached around Sydney’s waist and squeezed. “Sorry to be a drip. I guess some days it’s easier not to be alone.”
“Mia, please, don’t apologize, I’m glad I was here. One of us is always around, or at least most of the time. You can come over and just hang out. It’s okay. Parker loves having you here and so do I.” Syd released her hold on Mia, who looked embarrassed. She drew her thumbs gently under Mia’s watery green eyes and studied her carefully. “Want to stay for dinner? You know I always over-order on the Chinese.”
Mia smiled back and nodded as they finished building the crib together.
Within an hour, Olivia was set for the night thanks to the sleep-inducing stroll down Meridian Street and a warm bath. Syd sipped a scotch from a cut-crystal rocks glass and watched out the window. She hoped to intercept the delivery driver before he rang the buzzer, possibly disturbing the baby. When she saw a sweep of headlights over the grass, she rushed to the door, leaving Jen, Mia, and Parker watching the news from the sofa.
Syd handed over the cash and took the stuffed brown bag from his arms. She looked at him strangely as he handed her a white envelope as well.
“Found it by the cars, figured it was yours…probably blew off the windshield or something.” He shrugged and thanked her for the tip before walking back to the lot.
Sydney set the bag on the floor and examined the envelope, which just said, “Unit A,” and tore the side seam open.
I see your heart, in your blue eyes
To feel you makes my pulse rate rise
Until the time we touch again
And I reveal my thoughts without this pen
She can’t feel you the way I do
Her sick ways are not for you
I’ll feed your soul and set it free
You’ll love your life, your place with me.
Sydney felt acid rise in her throat as she processed the third such move in a sick game she and Parker didn’t want to play. Parker poked her head out the door as Sydney slipped the note inside the bag.
“Are you making that stuff out here? We’re hungry.” Parker smiled as Sydney picked up the brown bag and walked inside.
“Just making sure it was all in there.” Syd followed Parker into the kitchen and slid the food onto the island. She turned and glided a hand under Parker’s hair, kissing her lightly. “Go sit, and I’ll bring it in.” Syd managed a smile as Parker t
urned for the living room. She shoved the envelope into a plastic bag in the kitchen drawer where she kept her Sig, reminding herself to move the gun into a higher cabinet since Olivia would be there for most of the week. Parker wasn’t likely to go into that drawer, so it would buy her some time.
“Dinner is served.” Syd carried a stack of plates and the heavy bag into the living room. Parker had cleared the coffee table where they gathered for the informal feast.
“Take our picture, Syd.” Jen shuffled nearer to Mia and Parker. “For Mack.”
Syd snapped the picture of the cozy trio, noting that Mia seemed a little lighter since their earlier conversation. She texted the picture to Mack.
Harem growing by the minute. Sorry you’re missing it, but I can handle things here. We need to talk.
Mack answered immediately:
At homicide seminar learning new ways to torture you, Hyatt. Tell Jen I’ll call later. I’ll call you soon.
Jenny was the first to roll back onto the sofa, groaning in resignation. “I’m done. I eat another grain of rice, and I will explode.”
Mia joined in and laid her plate on the table. “Yup, full, to say the least. I’m supposed to work early, but I might still be in a food coma.” She smiled at Sydney and used Parker’s shoulder to push herself off the couch. “Please, let me give you some money for dinner.”
Syd stood and stacked her plate on top of Mia’s. “Not a chance; we ordered this before you even stopped by, so you owe nothing.”
Mia took Jenny’s plate and reached for Parker’s.
“Thanks, Mia. You don’t have to go, you know.” Parker’s smile was gentle. “We would love to have you stay.”
“Rain check? I really do have an early meeting.” Mia moved toward the kitchen and set the plates on the island. “Thanks for dinner, Syd. I needed it.” She seemed far away for just a moment before looping her arms around Sydney’s neck.