Chapter 2
Chapter Two
P arker dropped down into one of the guest chairs. Considering he had walked in there confident about his decision to leave Atlanta, now he wasn’t so sure. If he was honest with himself, he didn’t want to leave. He just thought it was the best decision to make sure he kept his family safe.
He rubbed his chin and glanced out the window that was behind the desk. Maybe there was nothing to worry about. Maybe he was freaking out for no reason. He had carried the burden of his past around for years, and it hadn’t stopped him from living the life he desired. He had moved around the country for a while before settling on Chicago. He loved the city, and he had enjoyed being a SWAT officer.
Now that he resided in Atlanta, he felt like he was finally home. Even still, he was always alert, careful, and on guard. Yet, somehow, he’d managed to end up in a photo. Granted, he’d been on a high-profile case and they’d been ambushed by the media, but still, he should’ve been aware of the cameras.
Parker shook his head. Continuing to stay in Atlanta would be a risk, but it wouldn’t be the first risk he’d ever taken. Hell, he usually lived his life on the edge. This would be no different.
But what about Chelsey?
If he was staying, Parker had to make things right with her. His stupid ass shouldn’t have broken things off in the first place. At least not without telling her why. At the time, he honestly thought he’d been doing the right thing. The less she knew about his past, the better. He also thought he would’ve left town by now, but no matter what he told himself, he wouldn’t have been able to leave without her.
So if he did end up staying, he needed to come clean with her, and the guys he worked with. The guys who were more like brothers than co-workers.
Noise outside the office had Parker turning toward the closed door.
“Chelsey, I know what I said, and you did an excellent job on that assignment we gave you last weekend, but you still need more experience,” he heard Mason say.
“Come on, Mase. The best way for me to get experience is by joining the security team and you giving me more field work. If I did such a good job at that party last week, why not hire me as a security specialist instead of an office assistant? Besides, you said yourself that you could use more women on the team.”
Parker stiffened at hearing Chelsey’s melodic, breathy voice. It was as if his thoughts had conjured her up.
A moment later, the door opened, and Mason strolled in, giving Parker a head nod as he continued to his desk.
Chelsey stomped into the room behind him. “You know I’m right. I…” Her words trailed off and she pulled up short just inside the doorway.
It was as if everything around them faded to black and they were the only ones left in the space. Parker had seen her from a distance, but this was the first time in weeks that he was close enough to breathe the same air as her.
His gaze slid slowly over her, and his body responded immediately. Increased heart rate. Pulse pounding in his ears. Sweaty palms. She was the most beautiful woman he knew. Her naturally curly hair was pulled back from her gorgeous face with a bedazzled headband, and the rest of her puffy curls hung free to her shoulders.
He liked when she wore her hair like that. It gave him a clear view of her smooth mocha skin, high cheekbones, and her bow-shaped lips.
Parker skimmed the rest of her body, from her low-cut red blouse to her dark pants that hugged her hips and covered her long legs. At five-feet-eight, she was the tallest woman he’d dated, and dated was being used loosely. Actually, she was the only woman he’d ever gotten serious with. The others were just women he hung out with.
Parker’s eyes met her dark ones, and his heart kicked inside his chest at the vulnerability he saw in them.
Then she nibbled on her lower lip, and damned if his dick didn’t twitch. He wanted to be the one nibbling on her gorgeous lips and other parts of her. In that moment, he wanted her more than his next breath. Of course, his body was on full alert and energized by every move she made.
All he could do was stare at Chelsey Bailey—the woman who held his heart in the palm of her hands and probably didn’t even know it. But he was fairly sure she hated him, and rightfully so.
Crap! I knew I should’ve gone straight to work , Chelsey thought as she stared at the stupid bastard who had dumped her a few months ago. She could call Parker a bastard now, but she’d once thought he’d be the man she would spend the rest of her life with.
Wrong .
Instead, he was the man who had broken her heart; not once, but twice. Actually, bastard was too good of a name for him. Asshole was much better.
But man…asshole or not, he still made her heart flutter at the sight of him.
How was that even possible? How could her body spark to life just by sharing the same airspace with him, especially when she was so pissed?
Her gaze swept the length of him, and though he looked fine as hell, Chelsey could tell that he had lost some weight. His face was thinner, and his strong jaw was more pronounced. It also looked as if he hadn’t been sleeping well, if the bags under his eyes were any indication.
Nonetheless, that didn’t detract from his good looks. His penetrating, whiskey-colored eyes bored into her as if he could see deep inside her soul.
God, she’d missed him. Missed their easy conversations. Not only was he easy to talk to, but he was a great listener. He also made her laugh, something they used to do all the time. More than anything, though, she missed his sweet kisses and being in his arms. What she wouldn’t give for one of his bear hugs right now. They always made her feel as if all was well in the world.
Six feet tall with a muscular runner’s build, he looked like a wet dream in the black Harley-Davidson T-shirt that molded over his chiseled chest and torso. And the medium wash jeans that weren’t tight, but tight enough to show off his firm thighs and long legs, made her body stir with need.
She hadn’t been with a man intimately since she and Parker had broken up. Well, except for that slipup she’d had with him six weeks ago, but Chelsey was trying to forget that huge mistake. Still, seeing him had her horny. Which only pissed her off more. She didn’t want to like Parker Wilcox, and she sure as hell didn’t want to still be attracted to him.
Chelsey didn’t know how long they stood there staring at each other without speaking, but it wasn’t until Mason cleared his throat did she snap out of whatever trance she’d been under.
“Am I missing something here?” Mason asked. Chelsey jerked her attention to him as he looked from her to Parker and back again. “Do you two need me to leave so you can—”
“No!” They both said in unison, and Mason quirked an eyebrow.
“O-kay,” he said slowly. “Then what the hell is going on?”
“Nothing, I was just leaving,” Chelsey said and turned for the door, but glanced at Mason over her shoulder. “This isn’t over, Mase. I’m not done pleading my case. You need more security specialists, and you and Egypt are wasting my talents by hiring me to work in the office. I’m just sayin’.”
His chuckle followed her out of the office.
Chelsey unintentionally slammed the door behind her and hurried to the hallway that would lead her to the elevator. Damn Parker for looking so good.
Why’d he have to be there, today of all days? She’d been planning her visits to Supreme perfectly in an effort to not see him. Today was supposed to be his day off, and yes, she had checked. If her body betrayed her every time she saw him, what the heck was she going to do when she started working there full-time?
She shook her head. That was a question for another day, but one she’d have to think about.
When her sister-in-law, Egypt, suggested Chelsey apply for the office assistant position, she’d said no. But when Egypt mentioned that it might be a good way for Chelsey to get her foot in the door of Supreme, she reconsidered.
For years, after finishing her degree in criminal justice, she had been trying to get on at Supreme. Not only because the pay was outstanding, but also because she wanted the challenge. However, Mason was hard to impress. Supreme was known for hiring the best, and she considered herself the best. No, she didn’t have experience with the FBI, CIA, DEA and any of the other agencies like most of the people on their team, but she’d been a cop for years, and now a parole officer. She knew she could do the job.
“Chelsey!”
She cursed under her breath at the sound of Parker’s voice and kept walking. She’d take the stairs instead. No way would she get on an elevator and risk being in close quarters with his sexy ass.
“Chels, come on. Wait up.”
“Go away, Parker,” she said, but he caught her before she reached the doors to the stairs.
“I need to talk to you,” he said quietly while glancing around. They had both agreed to keep their relationship a secret until they were ready, and when they were finally ready to go public, Parker dumped her.
Remembering that was like adding gasoline to a fire. Her anger sparked, and a barely contained growl rumbled inside of her chest.
“We don’t have anything to talk about,” she said through gritted teeth. “Now get out of my way unless you want to be walking funny for the rest of the day.”
He flinched and took a step back, knowing that her ability to knee him in the balls came from practice. She had taken several self-defense classes over the years, some led by her brother, Kenton Bailey, a former FBI agent, and she could easily take down a man twice her size.
“Chelsey, please, baby. Let’s go somewhere and talk. There’s something I need to tell you.”
She stepped forward, decreasing the distance between them. “The last time you wanted to talk to me, you talked me into your bed. Wait, no, that’s not right. You talked me into a bed in one of the crash rooms.”
Saying it out loud made her feel even stupider than she’d felt after their steaming rendezvous. She had stopped by Supreme one night when she knew Parker was on duty. Most of the guys didn’t think much of seeing her since her brother and sister-in-law worked for the company. But Chelsey had been glad that she hadn’t really known the new guy who was on duty with him, and Parker had been getting ready to take a break.
After their breakup, she had struggled to move on. She thought that if they talked, and he made her understand why he had broken things off with her so abruptly, that she could move on. The breakup hadn’t made sense. No matter how she looked at it, no matter what he said, she couldn’t come to terms with it.
Which was why she had needed to talk to him that night. But one thing led to another, and before she realized what she was doing, they were going hot and heavy in one of the crash rooms. Those rooms were usually for the guys who had back-to-back assignments and no time to go home. The small suites were located on one of the top floors and contained a bed, sitting area, and attached bathroom. And she and Parker had used one that night for a quick tryst.
Parker extended his hand to her. “Just come with me so we can talk.”
Chelsey glanced down at his long, tapered fingers attached to a strong hand that had brought her more pleasure than she could’ve imagined. But she couldn’t go backward. She couldn’t get caught up with this man only to have her heart broken yet again.
Twice was enough.
After their little tryst six weeks ago, she foolishly thought that meant they were going to give their relationship another try. Wrong . While they’d been pulling their clothes back on, Parker had told her that what they’d done had been a mistake. That it shouldn’t have happened. Granted, he had looked contrite, as if saying the words were ripping him apart.
Still, that hadn’t stopped her from slapping him, then punching him in the stomach before she ran out of the building.
Fueled by a renewed anger, Chelsey shoved his hand away, and then he made the mistake of blocking her path to the stairs. She needed to make a few things clear once and for all, because soon she’d be working for Supreme full-time. That meant they’d see each other daily.
They were standing inches apart, close enough for her to get a whiff of his intoxicating cologne. She had to be firm. She had to be strong. No way could she show weakness.
In a low, lethal voice, she said, “You blew any chance you had with me. So you can stand there and risk me kicking your ass, or you can get out of my way. I suggest you stay the hell away from me before you see how I deal with jerks.”
Her threat was almost laughable. The guy had the ability to kill a man with his bare hands. Her threat to him was akin to throwing a water balloon on a forest fire—useless and pointless.
Parker huffed out a ragged sigh. “Dammit, Chelsey. We need to talk. It’s important,” he said, but still backed up. “At some point, you’re going to have to—”
“You’re dead to me, Parker,” she said with more bravado than she felt before shoving the door opened and running down the back stairs like her butt was on fire.
She was proud of herself. She didn’t fall for his handsome face, pretty eyes, and that irresistible body that could make a grown woman beg for just a taste of him.
Nope, she was over him.
Never again. I will never let him get near my heart again.