Chapter 15
DELANEY
“Ummm…” Pia closed the door behind her, sitting on my bed. “What’s happening?”
Apparently she got my “SOS” text.
“I’m going in the hot tub. With Parker.”
“Okay,” she said, clearly not seeing the problem.
“Alone. Apparently no one else wants to join us.”
“Don’t look at me like that. I just got out of the shower.” Pia cocked her head to the side. “But do you really want company, anyway?”
“No. Yes. I don’t know.”
“Talk to me.”
My head was a jumbled mess. “He’s incredible.” That wasn’t what I’d expected to blurt out, but there it was. “I could talk to him all night. We sort of both agreed to stay back, and after a few drinks… I dunno. If you guys hadn’t come home that very second, I think he may have kissed me.”
“Is that so bad? You just said he’s incredible. Which, I agree. Parker is one of the nicest guys I know.”
My heart raced. “I know he’s not Makis. But honest to God, I really don’t want to go through what I did with him again. A broken heart is no joke.”
“Let’s think about this. First of all, you haven’t even kissed the guy yet. That’s a far cry from full-on relationship status. Second, you said yourself, Parker is not Makis. I would never encourage you if he was.”
“You think I should go for it?”
“I think you’d be a fool not to. I also know for a fact Parker is more than a little hesitant in the ‘getting serious’ department too, so in a warped way, you guys are perfect for each other. Just have fun, and live in the moment. Don’t worry about the future. You know?”
I nodded. “I do. You’re right.”
Pia laughed. “That’s what they all say.”
We stood up. I hadn’t brought a robe so I’d wrapped a towel around me. Thankfully I had thought to bring flip-flops. Putting those on and grabbing a hair tie, I said, “Ready.”
Pia opened my bedroom door and gave me a final “you got this” look as we headed downstairs.
All three guys were in the kitchen, drinks in hand, and they turned to look at me as I walked toward them, pretending to act casual.
“He’s out there already,” Cole said, his measured voice almost soothing.
“Thanks.” I headed toward one of the sliding glass doors.
It was dark now, but a string of white lights across the deck’s roof gave off enough light to see easily.
I sucked in my breath as a blast of cold hit me when I opened the door.
Scurrying to the hot tub and trying not to notice Parker’s state of undress, I tossed my towel onto a nearby rack and followed up with a less than graceful climb into the hot tub.
I was immersed by the time I noticed Parker watching me. I’d brought my favorite bikini, a bright boho-print that looked better with a tan, but was still cute.
Speaking of cute…
Parker’s arms rested on the edge of the tub on each side of him. As I’d imagined, he was in great shape. Shoulders, chest, biceps… muscles everywhere, but not overdone. His was a naturally toned look, like a guy might get from chopping wood or something.
“Nice suit,” he said, his tone as flirty as it had been in the kitchen earlier.
“Thanks,” I said, glad to be warm again. From here, soft lights from inside glowed, highlighting how truly large the house was. “This place is so incredible.”
“It is,” Parker agreed. “It’s making me think about how much I enjoyed the log cabin projects.”
“You can’t do more of them?”
“If I had my own company, maybe. Even so, they aren’t all that common.”
He trailed off. Trying not to focus on the fact that Parker had no shirt on, and looked damn good without one, I stayed on a topic that seemed safe. “So what’s stopping you from starting your own company? You mentioned it briefly, but there has to be more to it.”
He sighed. “A few things, but mostly that my boss wouldn’t take it well.
Cedar Falls is a small town, and I’m not sure it could support another home builder.
I could branch out into other projects, but new homes is what I enjoy most. Having someone come to us with an idea, or inkling, of their future home and then watching the whole project come to fruition.
Giving them the keys and seeing the look on a new homeowner’s face the first time it all comes together. It’s priceless.”
“Alright,” I said, unable to resist. “They call you ‘the nice one’ which is clearly accurate. You’re funny. Not terrible looking. And now I learn you’re a romantic too? What’s the catch?”
“Not terrible looking, huh?”
“Not my point.”
“I know.”
“So what is it? Terrible temper? Stubbornness? Perfectionism?”
“That’s quite a list,” he said. “Collect those from past experiences?”
“Nah,” I said, teasing him. “Those are just a few of my own areas of weakness.”
He had the best laugh in the world. “Try again, cupcake.”
Cupcake.
It was the silliest nickname ever, but I instantly loved it. “Cupcake?” I said with a smile, telling him as much.
“Yeah, cupcake. Which is my weakness, by the way.”
“Cupcakes are your weakness?”
“Yep. Can’t stay away from them.”
“Stop. You’re totally teasing.”
“Not teasing,” he said.
I gave him a look.
“Fine. One flaw. I have a real fear of commitment. Daddy issues, as they say.”
“Is that a flaw, though?”
“Some would say it is.”
“Then I guess I have the same flaw.”
“So we’re just two not-terrible-looking people, afraid of commitment, who like cupcakes.”
“How do you know I like cupcakes?”
“Because you smiled when I said it. And also because anyone who doesn’t is a real monster, and I typically don’t languish in a hot tub with monsters.”
Of all Parker’s qualities, his silliness was my favorite. “I do like cupcakes,” I admitted.
“Of course you do.”
For the first time all day, we both went quiet. It wasn’t because I didn’t have anything to say. There were a million other questions I wanted to ask him. But as I watched Parker look at me the way he did, all of them seemed unimportant.
Except one.
Do you want to kiss me?
It looked like he did. But Parker didn’t move. Was it because I’d made it clear we were just friends?
“You know how, at lunch, I made it clear we weren’t on a date? And that we were just friends?”
“I do. Very well,” he said dryly.
“That was the fear talking.”
“What are you afraid of, Delaney?”
Easy question to answer. “Of getting hurt again.”
He frowned. “I wish I could promise you never will. Only thing I can say is that I would never willfully hurt you.”
I believed him. “I know.”
“Do you?”
One second, we sat on opposite ends of the hot tub.
The next, he was sitting right beside me.
Pushing away a strand of wet hair that had fallen on my cheek, Parker tucked it behind my ear.
This was the closest we’d been since the kitchen.
I could smell him. Feel him, even though we weren’t actually touching.
I looked into his eyes.
“I do,” I said, finally answering his question.
Parker’s hand moved behind my neck, and he pulled me toward him. Heart hammering, I looked into his kind eyes, which had a glint to them now. A mischievous, sultry, “you are about to be kissed” glint.
I closed my eyes as his lips touched mine.
It began slowly, our lips melding together.
But when Parker’s mouth opened, when his tongue sought my own, the kiss turned quickly.
From soft and sensual to something much more urgent.
His hand at the back of my neck pulled me closer as the kiss became more insistent.
How trite it was to think that this kiss surpassed all others, but honest to God, it was the truth.
Our legs pressed together as warm water bubbled around us, the hum of the hot tub the only other sound besides my own murmur of pleasure.
If I could talk to Parker for days, I could kiss him for weeks.
Months. Years.
That particular thought had me pulling away. He didn’t release the grip on the back of my head, though. Instead, Parker’s thumb massaged the soft spot at the top of my spine.
Pure heaven.
“That feels good,” I said, meaning it.
He looked directly into my eyes. “Kissing you feels good, Delaney.”
The hot tub shut off. Dammit.
“What do you want to do?”
What I wanted to do and what I should do were two different things.
“Should we join the others?” I asked, knowing even as I attempted to preserve my heart that it might be too late. The seal had been broken, so to speak, and I wanted more.
Much more.
“Sure. Don’t want the buzz to completely wear off.”
“Exactly,” I said.
Neither of us moved. I imagined his thumb that continued to rub circles on my neck was somewhere else entirely.
“Keep looking at me like that, cupcake, and we won’t be going inside anytime soon.”
I smiled, feeling flirty. “And what would you do with me, precisely, if we stayed in here?”
“Hmmm, let’s see. I’d probably slip my hand a bit lower and untie that bikini top, for starters. I might fill my hands with those gorgeous breasts of yours, after I moved you to my lap, of course.”
Dear lord. You got what you asked for, Delaney.
“I wouldn’t have taken you for a dirty talker, Parker. Nice guy and all.”
His thumb stopped. Parker’s hand moved upward, and before I knew what he was about, it was wrapped around my ponytail.
He tugged on it, pulling my head back, lowering his own to my neck.
Trailing kisses upward, his teeth nipping ever so slightly, he finished at my ear, my body shivering despite the warmth of the water.
“Looks like you found another of my faults,” he whispered. “I do like control.”
Holy shit. The pressure of his pull on my hair, combined with his words, was almost too much. And the fact that they came from Parker, someone I’d never predict this side from? My breath caught as his mouth nipped at my ear lobe just before kissing behind it.
I could not breathe. Literally. My chest visibly rose and fell as I attempted to get a hold of myself.
“Overly… controlling?” I squeaked out.
“Just in the bedroom.”
“We’re in a hot tub,” I reminded him.
Parker let go of my hair and shifted just far enough away that our legs were no longer touching. “You’re right,” he teased, looking around as if just realizing his surroundings. “We are.”
I almost said, “A shame.”
Because it was. I would very much like to know exactly how controlling Parker could be, and while I wasn’t one to be overly submissive, in any way, we may have just discovered an exception. The idea of him taking control of my mind and body was more than a little appealing.
“Should we go get a drink with the others?”
He stood, Parker’s body even more perfect in its entirety than what I’d been able to see so far.
“Sure,” I said, making no move to stand just yet. I wasn’t sure if I could.
I wasn’t sure of anything, actually.