Page 30 of Heartless
Poor Melany. The devastation that would bring her. I grinned at the thought.
“Nice to meet you,” I said and offered my hand. She took it but said nothing. She just eyed me curiously.
“We should go to our table.” Parker placed his hand on Jessica’s upper back. “It was nice seeing you again, Mrs. Hartley. You look amazing, as always.”
“Thank you, Parker. Have a nice evening.”
The moment my boss and his date walked away, I turned to my mother. “Since when do you call him Parker?”
And why did he make it sound like they had seen each other after Clem’s wedding?
“Since he started to hang out with your brother.”
“What? Tyler and Parker hang out?”
“Yes.”
Fantastic. I couldn’t help but wonder what my brother had divulged to Parker about me. Not that I cared about Parker Wilson’sopinion. However, my brother was privy to a lot of personal and potentially embarrassing information, and I was already skilled at embarrassing myself in front of Parker with no outside help.
I glanced at the direction he and his date walked off to and saw them sitting at a table in the corner. Parker sat facing me. His gaze flicked over to mine almost immediately. I averted my eyes, focusing back on the menu in front of me.
“Well, I really have to go,” my mother said and stood up. “Have fun, you two.” On her way out, she leaned in to kiss me. “I‘ll call you tomorrow.”
I waited until I couldn’t hear her heels clicking on the floor and addressed George. “I assume you’re aware I didn’t know you would be here.”
He made the ultimate mistake of defending my mother. “Sylvia thought it would be a pleasant surprise.”
I scoffed. “More like an intrusion.”
“We meant no harm. Maybe you and I could still have dinner? Get to know each other?” His voice dripped with optimism.
I sighed, realizing that George was just caught in the middle of all of this. It wasn’t his fault my mother had meddled in my personal affairs and probably led him on. I also couldn’t be forward with him and inform him I wasn’t looking for a commitment, because he would probably tell my mother.
“Of course,” I agreed. “Let’s just have dinner.”
For the next hour, the man told me about every house he was currently selling in detail as if I was a potential buyer. I felt bored and trapped. Not just by this date, but by my mother’s expectations. Nothing new there, she had always been demanding. But I wanted the choice of whether I would dodge relationships forever to be mine. Not hers.
That was easier when I lived in New York, but now that I was back, I had to deal with her in a way I haven’t in ages. There had to be some permanent solution to my problem. I just haven’t thought of it yet.
My eyes traveled to Parker’s table. And not for the first time. Call it boredom. Call it curiosity. Would he be intimate with his best friend’s mother in public? I didn’t catch any touching. Instead, I caught him eyeing me the entire time.
He was probably annoyed that I observed them, but there was something in his gaze that made me uncomfortable. A blush crept up my cheeks and stayed there.
After one particularly intense glare from him, I excused myself and walked over to the bathroom. I needed to get rid of the burning sensation in my face.
While I splashed cold water on my heated face, I decided I was going to give George one more hour, inform him that there was no spark from my end, and leave. Ready to go back to my boring date, I swung the bathroom door open and bumped into a wall of hard muscle, dressed in what looked like the same navy blue suit Parker wore.
Like every other tall woman that wore heels, I often towered over men, but that wasn’t the case with Parker, unfortunately. My eyes were at the level of his Adam's apple. I stared at his neck and felt the blush return. Full force.
I was no wallflower though, so I tore my gaze away from his neck and glanced up. Taking a step back, I deliberately didn’t apologize for bulldozing into him and waited for him to speak first. I didn’t wait long.
“Enjoying your date?”
There was a mockery in his tone that I just couldn’t stand. “Yes. Are you enjoying yours?”
A bitter chuckle escaped his lips. “I bet I’m enjoying mine more than you are enjoying yours.”
I wasn’t sure about that, giving the amount of staring we exchanged in the past hour.
