Page 104 of Heartless
I noticed someone approaching me with my periphery and I turned in his direction.
Parker.
I took a deep breath and held it in for a moment before I released it quietly. Would he finally tell me? I hoped so. Technically, I had fulfilled my part of the contract and it was time for me to leave The Gem.
He made his way over to me, his eyes locked on mine.
“Do you have a minute?”
I looked around to check if there was something that needed my attention and found nothing, so I nodded.
We walked away a little for some privacy. He stopped in front of one of the stone benches in the garden. I sat down and so did he.
When he turned to me, his face had a serious expression on it. “What’s your plan now?”
“My plan?” I asked, almost breathless.
“This is wedding number five. You don’t work for me anymore. You could go back to New York, if that’s what you want.”
“Is that what you want?”
He reached and took my hand in his. “No. I want you to stay.” His thumb caressed the back of my hand, sending tingles up my arm. “I can hire you again.” I tried to interrupt him and tell him about my idea of starting my own wedding agency here in California, but when I opened my mouth he raised his hand. “Before you refuse, let me finish.”
This was it. The moment he would tell me. I held my breath waiting for the words to come out of his mouth. But when they did, I wanted the earth to open up and swallow me.
“You could move out of The Pink Diamond. Find your own place, you know?”
“You want me to move out?”
“I want you to feel good. You could stay at The Pink Diamond, if that’s what you want, but I guessed you would feel better in a place of your own. Have your independence back.”
“Yeah,” I nodded and offered him a brief smile. “My own place makes sense.”
This conversation wasn’t about him telling me about his son. It wasn’t even about his feelings for me. It was about him distancing me from The Gem. Away from Franny and his memories of her.
“Maybe we should talk about the details tomorrow,” I stood up and he followed, my hand still in his. “I have to get back there.”
“Yes, of course. But… Are you willing to stay?”
“Yes,” I nodded because it wasn’t a lie. I really was willing to stay. Just not for what he was offering me.
I pulled my hand out of his but as I turned away from him, he grabbed my wrist and dragged me back closer to him. His hands circled my face and our lips met in a soft, hesitant kiss, filled with a mixture of longing, uncertainty, and unspoken words.
Then he pressed his forehead against mine. “Can I wait for you in the Pink Diamond?”
I took a step back. “Yeah. Don’t wait up though. Go to sleep. I’ll wake you.”
“Promise?” He asked and wiggled his eyebrows at me.
“I promise.”
At least that was what I thought I would do. As the night dragged out my promise started to seem less and less important, and another plan formed in my head. The next day Parker would have every right to call me a liar. A liar just like him.
Even if I stayed now, these mixed signals and push and pull dynamic between us, would only leave me heartbroken in the end.
So I decided to leave and break my own heart before he had the chance to do it.
Chapter Thirty-Five
