21. Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-One
Madison
I had an afternoon meeting with the impatient Sheila the day The Gem reopened. We were walking around the gardens, talking about lights and decorations, when a courier approached us with a huge bouquet of pink roses.
Sub rosa , I thought immediately.
But Parker had been giving me white ones only and these were pink. Besides, he had been ignoring me for a week. Why would he send me flowers when he obviously was done with our dinners and conversations?
Yet, the bouquet was for me. I knew it in my gut. And I couldn’t think of anyone else who would send me flowers.
“Miss Hartley?” The guy looked between me and Sheila.
“Hello,” I waved at him .
“Someone has an admirer,” Sheila squealed next to me. “Who is he?”
I flipped the card and glanced at the words written on it, my heart thudding in my chest and ears.
“Just a friend.”
“Bullshit,” she laughed in my face. “Friends don’t send you,” she eyed the bouquet with a squint, then continued, “three dozen pink roses.”
They really didn’t, did they?
“It’s not like that,” I offered with a smile. “I did something for him and that’s just his way of saying thank you.”
“Yeah, sure. Keep telling yourself that.”
After our meeting came to an end and Sheila left, I hurried to The Pink Diamond like someone was after me. The roses in my arms felt heavy, not just physically but emotionally. I needed to place them in a vase and forget about them.
It turned out that didn’t work. My eyes were constantly drifting to the roses. So I decided to distract myself by going outside to the hot tub.
Two minutes after I got in, I heard footsteps approaching from the Blue Diamond back door. Turning around, I saw Parker walking over to me in his black suit. No tie, the collar of his gray shirt unbuttoned.
I had always thought he was an attractive man but the sight of him had never before hit me with that much intensity.
The damn roses.
As he came closer he glanced down to the water surface and I felt like he was imagining my almost naked body underneath. And the fact that he was fully dressed while Daphne’s bib had a few inches of fabric more than the bottom half of my bikini didn’t escape me. But the more troubling thing was that it didn’t bother me. On the contrary. I found it extremely sexy.
Could I get away with sleeping with my boss? He was a temporary one after all.
Parker approached the edge of the hot tub, his gaze returned to mine. “I hope I’m not interrupting.”
His deep voice sent shivers down my spine. I shook my head, trying to ignore the way his presence made my heart race.
“Did you get the flowers?”
Swallowing hard, I nodded. He probably thought I was giving him the silent treatment because I was mad at him, and not because I was afraid that if I opened my mouth to speak he would somehow tell from the sound of my voice that I was thinking about having sex with him.
“I’m sorry for ignoring you,” he began, his expression conflicted. “I needed time to… sort things out.”
“I understand,” I finally managed to say, trying to keep my tone neutral despite the swirl of emotions inside me.
His eyes searched mine as if trying to decipher my thoughts. Scared that he might somehow read my mind, I asked. “How’s the dog?”
Parker sat at the edge of the hot tub and graced me with a smile. “You missed him, didn’t you?”
“Of course not.” My voice showed disgust at the thought of it and Parker laughed.
“Did you miss me too?” He taunted.
“You wish.”
“I do actually,” he looked down at the water. “I don’t think there is a person who cares enough for me to actually miss my presence.”
“Poor little thing,” I faked empathy. “I’m sure you’ll feel better when you wipe your tears with hundred dollar bills on a private island. ”
Parker smiled a genuine smile, not at all offended. “What am I doing at a private island?”
I shrugged. “Spending your millions.”
Parker leaned forward, dipping his hand in the water. I sucked in a breath. His hand was inches away from my breasts. Did he want to touch me? Would I let him touch me here? In the dark backyard? Under the hot water?
“Am I alone on that private island in this fantasy of yours?”
Fantasy? Was he flirting with me?
My chest started rising faster with every breath and dropped a little lower into the water in an attempt to hide the effect he had on me.
“I don’t fantasize about you,” I bit out.
“No?” He asked in a hushed voice. “And what do you fantasize about?”
“That’s none of your business.”
Parker leaned back a little as if he was giving me the opportunity to take a good look at him. Which I did.
“Hello? Your boyfriend would know. I’m just trying to play my role in a believable way.”
“I don’t think my mother would ask you about my fantasies.”
“Come on,” he splashed water on my face and I gasped in surprise. “Tell me. Sex in public? Bondage? Threesomes?” He paused for a second then raised a brow. “Hot tubs?”
I snorted but after that conversation I might start fantasizing about hot tubs for real.
“That’s your topic of conversation after you ignored me for a week?”
“Is there a better ice breaker than sharing something intimate?” My gaze dropped to his mouth just for a moment and his eyes did the same. “I’ll start then. One fantasy I play around in my mind a lot lately is coming back from work and finding a woman waiting for me. Completely naked. She’s wet and ready and I don’t even bother to take my suit off. I just unzip my pants and fuck her with my clothes still on. Her juices soaking into the fabric. I might even make her lick the stains clean afterwards.”
Oh.
My.
God.
I clenched my thighs together under the water but it did nothing to ease the tension I felt there.
“Keep your hands where I can see them, Madison,” Parker teased when I didn’t react to his speech and my head snapped up to look at him. He had a smug look on his face that I wanted to erase.
“You’re messing with me.”
“Maybe I am. Maybe I’m not. Who knows?”
“Two can play that game.”
“That’s what I’m hoping for.”
I smiled as innocently as I could and started talking. “I have always imagined a scenario with a guy that I wanted to…” I stumbled at the word.
“Fuck,” Parker said for me.
“Yes. I want to but I can’t. He is like a forbidden fruit.” I straightened up a bit, enough for my breasts to be visible over the surface of the water.
“Yeah?” He breathed out, his gaze moving over my chest.
“Yeah,” I whispered. “It would be inappropriate. So wrong. Which only makes me want it even more. So much that I can’t control myself anymore.”
I tilted my head up and Parker leaned over me. I had him exactly where I wanted him so I continued.
“And then because I can’t control myself anymore, I get up and walk over to where he is sitting. I lift my dress and straddle him. He’s hard and I start to grind myself into him, soaking the fabric of his pants …”
Parker’s cheeks were pink at that point, his breathing ragged, and he completely missed the fact that I repeated his words from two minutes ago. He looked at me through hooded eyes and asked. “And then what?”
“And then,” I whispered close to his mouth and jumped from the water with two handfuls of water that I deliberately spilled over his crotch. “Then I dragged him into the bathroom and he had me against the sink. At Clementine’s bachelorette party. It was my high school boyfriend. Hottest guy I had ever seen.”
The lust in Parker’s eyes morphed into a mix of hurt and anger I could live with. He had ignored me for a week when I hadn’t done anything wrong. He deserved this.
I got out of the tub and put on my robe. “Let me know if you need help with the dog.”