28. Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Madison
W e spent the entire weekend in my villa, and by Monday morning I was sore everywhere. As Parker got dressed at five a.m. to sneak up into The Blue Diamond before the staff started to walk around, I stretched in bed and sighed happily.
Parker cleared his throat and I found him staring at me with amusement.
“What?” I asked.
“At least act like you’ll miss me when I leave.”
“I haven’t had a good night of sleep since Thursday, so excuse me if I’m happy I’ll have this bed all to myself again.”
Him leaving didn’t bother me. It was fine. Over the weekend I couldn’t help but notice he kept me firmly on the outside of The Blue Diamond. Which was also fine. He would probably hate me being there surrounded by pictures of his dead wife as much as I would. The message was clear. The sex, despite being amazing, wasn’t leading to anything more, so why would I care that he was leaving.
Parker didn’t answer but stalked over to what had become my side of the bed. His movements slow and measured, he stopped right next to me. Memories from the naked weekend we had shared flashed through my mind. My heart started beating a little bit faster. I squeezed my thighs together under the sheets and he didn’t miss it. When he leaned over me, his mouth hovering above mine, my entire body heated anticipating the kiss. A kiss that never came.
His lips curled into a sly grin, and he leaned back, smoothing his shirt with one hand. “I'll see you around, Madison.”
Then he turned his back on me and walked away. And that was not fine but I kind of got irritated more by my own feelings than his actions.
How could I be turned on after all that sex we had these past few days just by watching him watch me? That was some insane chemistry that had nothing to do with common sense. Which was just one more reason to stop the madness.
We were wrong for each other, I reminded myself. I repeated the main reasons while I took a shower and got ready for the day.
One. He was still in love with his wife.
Two. He was still in mourning.
Three and the most important one. Parker Wilson was one of those loyal men who wanted a family while the idea of a long-term relationship had zero appeal to me.
So even if he managed to come to terms with his wife’s death and move on, I could never be the woman he would move on with .
Soon I would be out of here, back to my city life in New York and my time at The Gem would be just a distant memory. And the chemistry that fueled the past weekend would be forgotten.
My phone pinged with a new message.
Parker: I had an amazing time this weekend.
I smiled, feeling a warmth in my chest. Warmth that shouldn’t be there. Warmth that would turn to hurt eventually. So why wait for that to happen when I could save us both time and get it over with?
Me: Yeah, casual sex is often underrated.
He didn’t reply. I caught a glimpse of him twice during the day and he made sure to ignore me thoroughly. His coldness stung, but I had made my decision. We were just a weekend fling, and that was it. I just needed the right circumstances to actually be able to stick to it. And since I was the type of woman that created the circumstances, I called my sister.
“Madison? Hi.” Clem’s surprise was evident in her tone.
“I need a night out. Do you want to join?”
After a moment of not-so-brief silence, Clem said, “Um…Yeah. Friday?”
“Tonight.”
“Tonight?”
“Yes.”
“Okay…Where do you want to go?”
“I don’t know. You pick. Just text me the address.”
“Is everything okay?” Clem asked warily.
“Yes. Why wouldn’t it be?”
“You’ve been here two months, we haven’t gone out together even once, and now you want to go out but can’t wait four days? Seems like something is up. ”
I took a deep breath and released it with a loud puff. “There is something but I don’t want to talk about it.”
Clem sighed. “Fair enough.”
***
Later that evening I found Hannah waiting alone at the bar at the Poppy’s. The owner, aka my brother, looked at her from the other side of the counter, eyes shining with adoration that made my stomach turn.
That was the same look Parker had on his face when we watched his wedding video. And yes, his was mixed with pain and sadness, but the love for Franny was still there. There was no missing it.
I approached Tyler and Hannah and dropped my purse on the counter. “Where’s Clem?”
My brother tilted his head to the side. “Good evening to you too, big sis.”
“She’ll be a bit late,” Hannah said. “She’s having a hard time leaving Daphne with the sitter.”
“Oh, right,” I mumbled. “I forgot about the baby.”
Hannah sent me a disapproving glare, which I ignored.
“Is Parker coming?” Tyler asked.
“No.”
The two of them shared a look. I had thought about that disaster of a Christmas party we had quite a lot these past few weeks. They all knew about Franny, I was sure of it. Everyone except my mother who acted like a jerk with all her questions. And no one bothered to give me a heads up.
“A drink?” Tyler asked .
I was usually a one glass of wine kind of girl. I hated the idea of being drunk and not fully in control, but I was so not my usual self lately, so I decided to go with the flow and follow my needs for once. And if that meant I would be leaving on all fours, so be it.
“I’m getting drunk tonight. Surprise me.”
“Okay,” Tyler mouthed and shot a pointed look in Hannah’s direction, then turned his back to us.
I heard my future sister-in-law clear her throat and looked at her.
“Do you want to talk about it?” She asked.
“Do you want to talk about it? I was under the impression you all knew a very important piece of information and kept it from me.”
It wasn’t fair to keep the pregnant woman who had zero obligations towards me responsible, but I had done worse in my life. Another reason I was the wrong person for Parker. What had he said about Franny?
“She had this energy that just drew people in. Everyone loved her.”
That was pretty much the last thing that someone could say about me.
Hannah took a sip of her water. “It wasn’t our business to say anything. It’s Parker’s story and it’s soul crushing. I’m sure that even you could agree that telling you behind his back would be a dick move.”
“So you just let me walk into that mess and find out on my own?”
“Yeah. That’s how dating works, Madison. You meet someone and if you like them enough, you start to peel off the layers. Some of them might be in perfect condition, others rotten.”
Oh, God. I was going to be sick. That was what happened with me and Parker, wasn’t it? We grew closer while we pretended to date and gradually transformed from fake to real .
Hannah placed her hand on top of mine and squeezed. “Don’t give up on him. The baggage he brings to the table? It’s a lot. But the fact that you’re in pain over it shows you care.”
I shook my head. “It's only a matter of time before I'll have to leave.”
Tyler silently placed my drink in front of me and left me and Hannah alone again.
“Nothing’s set in stone. Love is the greatest motivation for change.”
No matter how much I wanted to laugh in her face for using the L word, I couldn’t quite deny it. First of all, I compared myself to a dead woman. Hell, I competed with her in my own twisted mind. Second of all, on Friday night I deliberately went to the hot tub, hoping to provoke him to come out and find me.
The realization hit me hard and it probably showed on my face, because Hannah and Tyler let me drink in silence until Clementine and Lucas finally arrived.
“Sorry we’re so late. What did we miss?” My sister asked while she climbed on the high chair on my other side. I slowly turned to face her and her expression morphed from calm to worried in a second.
“What’s wrong?” She asked on high alert.
“I’m in love with Parker Wilson,” I blurted out in a morbid tone. “What the hell am I going to do now?”