Chapter Seventeen

“Okay, Tamsen, you’re good to go.”

Prisha nodded to her when Tamsen dropped off her receipts to be counted. She was so glad her manager hadn’t held the microwave incident against her. She’d been worried a misstep like that would have cost her any chance at the day-shift manager promotion or, even worse, her entire job, but Prisha didn’t blame her. The older woman claimed it could have happened to anyone and then joked about how at least it brought some sexy firefighters to the restaurant.

And speaking of sexy firefighters…

Tamsen nodded to her boss and went to the small break room, where she dropped off her apron and grabbed her purse.

“You out?” Jade asked, coming into the room.

“Yup.”

“That’s good, because Hottie Hero is here, and he looks awfully excited about something.” Jade tapped a finger to her smiling red lips. “I wonder what it could be.”

Tamsen chose to remain silent but couldn’t keep the excited smile off her own face. She’d just been with him last night, but her body was already craving another round.

“Bye, Jade.” She waved to her friend.

“Have fun tonight!”

Oh, she planned to.

She made her way out into the restaurant to see Parker was in fact just beyond the host stand waiting for her. Her thighs clenched in anticipation, butterflies taking flight in her stomach as all the delicious memories from last night flooded her brain.

“Hi there,” he said as she approached him.

“Hi.”

He moved to open the front door, motioning with his hand for her to precede him. “Shall we?”

Yes please.

Once outside, she tucked her arm into his and allowed him to steer her toward his car. He opened the passenger door for her, and she slid inside. Parker rounded the car and slipped into the driver’s seat.

“I know this is totally cliché, but your place or mine?”

She giggled, unable to keep the glee inside. “Hmm, well, my roommate has the overnight shift, and my place is five minutes away, so—”

“Your place it is.” He grinned, starting up the car.

They made it to her place in record time, probably thanks to the hand she’d placed on Parker’s thigh and kept slowly inching upward. Each inch earned her a low, sexy growl. She should be exhausted after last night’s activities and a full day of work, but she wasn’t. Parker sparked something in her. An energy, a high she’d only experienced when creating art.

Technically, we did create art.

She smiled at the memory of their painting. Tonight would be a lot less messy, but she had no doubt it would be just as fun.

Parker pulled into her apartment’s parking lot. She navigated him to guest parking, grateful there were spots available, but then was out of the car before he even turned off the engine. No chance for him to play chivalrous knight and open her door. She was aching for him. Chivalry could wait until after her first orgasm.

She grabbed his hand and rushed up the stairs, unable to wait for the elevator. With the way Parker kept sensually stroking the back of her hand with his thumb, she doubted they would be able to keep their hands off each other in such an enclosed space. Since she didn’t want to get kicked out of her place for indecent exposure in the elevators, stairs it was.

She was breathing hard by the time they reached her apartment door, but it wasn’t from the climb. No. It was all due to the man currently standing behind her, crowding her with his heady presence. His large hands gripped her hips as he pressed the thick ridge of his erection against her ass. She fumbled with her keys, almost dropping them as she attempted to slide them into the lock, distracted by the way Parker’s mouth was working magic on her throat.

Finally, she got the damn key in the lock and turned. They practically fell inside. Parker slammed the door behind him, turning them so her back was against the door and lifting. She gladly complied, wrapping her legs around his waist so every intimate inch was pressed together.

“Dammit,” he growled between drugging kisses. “We have too many clothes on.”

She agreed.

Her hands moved down his broad shoulders, gripping his shirt, but before she could try and tug the thing off, he pulled them away from the door and started to move.

“Parker!” Her arms went back around his neck as she held on.

“Bedroom. Now.”

He’d forgotten verbs. She tried not to delight in the knowledge that she’d reduced him to grunting monosyllabic phrases, but…eh, who was she kidding? She loved it.

He moved them into her room, gently laying her down on the bed.

“Naked. Now.”

There went those monosyllables again. But she was feeling rather playful tonight. Something about this man just made her so…free. Free to be herself, free to open up. It was a feeling she wasn’t all that used to in her relationships. A lot of her past lovers had complained about her constant mishaps and accidents. Not Parker. He didn’t think she was a walking disaster, even after witnessing more than a few of them.

He accepted her just as she was.

She had to admit, that acceptance was a high. One she was riding right now. One that gave her the courage to rise to her knees, look him straight in the eye and say, “No.”

One eyebrow quirked. His smile dipped a bit, but he didn’t seem angry. “Change your mind, sweetheart? That’s okay; we don’t have to—”

“I didn’t change my mind.” Sweet guy had the complete wrong idea. “I just want to taste first.”

“What do you—”

His question broke off in a very creative swear as she unzipped his pants and reached in to grab the hard shaft of his erection.

“Fuck me, Tamsen.”

“Mmmmm,” she hummed, enjoying the warm, velvety feel of him in her hand as she stroked him from base to tip. “I intend to.”

She leaned forward, glancing up at him through her lashes before saying, “After.”

Then she took him in her mouth. He shouted another curse, his hands slipping into her hair, not grabbing or pulling but stroking, massaging her scalp as she worked him. She moaned deep in her throat at the prickly sensations his fingertips created. Who knew the scalp could be such an erogenous zone? Parker swore again at her moan.

“Sweetheart, you gotta stop or I’m not going to last long.”

Since she wasn’t nearly done with him, she sat back, releasing him. His grin was wicked as he quickly shucked off his clothing and stood at the edge of her bed.

“Now get naked. Please.”

So polite. She really should reward such good manners.

With a devilish smile of her own, Tamsen removed her shirt and shimmied out of her work slacks. Her bra and panties soon followed.

“Please tell me you have condoms in here,” Parker said, his eyes glazed over with lust as he stared at her.

She tilted her chin. “Bedside table.”

Without breaking his focus on her, Parker reached out and pulled the drawer open, his hand shifting around until he encountered something and pulled out a strip of foil packages.

She chuckled as she noticed what he’d grabbed.

“What?” he asked. “What’s so…”

She watched as he glanced to the items he held in his hand, his eyebrows raising.

“What are these?”

“They’re paint samples from an online supplier I use. They send me new colors in small quantities so I can test them out to see if I want to buy full-size tubes.”

He blinked. “Thank God I didn’t put one on my dick. I’m guessing these aren’t the body paint kind?”

She shook with laughter. “Nope.”

She really should find a better spot for those, but her place was so small, all her art supplies were smashed in wherever she could fit them. Reaching into the open drawer, she grabbed a condom and held it up triumphantly.

“I think this was what you were looking for.”

He grinned, coming down over her on the bed. “It is indeed.”

His lips pressed against her in a soft kiss, but she was too amped for soft. Grabbing the back of his head, she pulled him closer, nipping at his bottom lip. He opened for her and she thrust her tongue against his, tasting the sweetness that was unique to Parker.

His hands cupped her face, thumb stroking her chin as his left hand moved down her body, pausing to pay special attention to her breasts before continuing its journey down her stomach, over her hips, leaving a wake of fiery need along every bit of skin he touched. His mouth devoured her while his hand mapped her every inch, finally coming to rest between her thighs.

She tore her mouth away from his, crying out as he slipped two fingers inside, his thumb working her as he pumped his fingers in and out.

“Parker!” She whimpered, the sensations too strong. “I want you.”

“You want me what, sweetheart?”

“I want you inside me, now.”

She was on a razor’s edge here. Luckily, he seemed to be as desperate as she was. He pulled away, ripping the condom open and rolling it down his length. Then she felt the blunt head of his cock at her entrance.

“Ready?”

She nodded. “Yes please.”

He entered her in one thrust that had her crying out from the sheer ecstasy of it. It was even better than she remembered. How could it be better? She figured she’d built it up in her mind over the day, exaggerated their night together because of the canvas and uniqueness of their first time. But this second time was even better, and they were in a plain old bed.

How was that possible?

She wrapped her legs around him, arching her hips for a deeper connection. His mouth found hers again, and she lost herself in the very essence that was Parker. He was like a living, breathing expression of art. Beauty and strength, hard edges and soft caresses. All the contradictions that made life beautiful.

All too soon, she felt that low tightening in her core. The wave rising over her. She didn’t want this to be over so quickly, but her body wasn’t giving her a choice. It was a good thing they had the entire apartment all to themselves tonight. She planned to use every last minute of it to sate her thirst for this man.

“Parker,” she cried out. “I’m close.”

“Me too, sweetheart.”

He quickened his thrusts, going harder, deeper with each one until she screamed, her orgasm rushing over her, enveloping her body with tiny pinpricks of warm electrical sparks. He pressed deeper, crying out his own release, whispering her name like a prayer before collapsing on top of her.

He rolled them so he wasn’t crushing her. That chivalry again. A woman could get used to it.

“Shower?” she asked, stroking his hair.

“In a minute,” he muttered. “I think you might have killed me, and I need a minute to recover.”

She giggled. She might have killed him, but he’d done just the opposite. Tamsen felt invigored, renewed. Being with Parker was unlike anything she’d ever experienced, and she had no idea what to do with that except enjoy the ride.

…

“Mmm,” Tamsen moaned as the warm arm around her waist squeezed gently.

“Mornin’, sweetheart.”

Parker’s lips caressed her cheek. She turned her head, capturing his soft, full mouth with her own. “Morning,” she mumbled between kisses.

“Can I bring you some coffee?”

That got her eyes open. Coffee often did, even just the mention of it.

“You made coffee?”

He grinned down at her. The smile was so bright and happy, it nearly sucked all the air right out of her chest.

“No, but I can figure it out.”

“Then by all means.” She waved a hand in the air and snuggled further into the cozy blanket.

The mattress bounced as Parker rose. She glanced over her shoulder to sneak a peek, a small moan of disappointment escaping her when he slipped on his boxers.

“I’ll make you coffee, but I’m not doing it with my junk out,” he said with a chuckle.

“Why not? Cora’s probably not home yet; it’s just us here.”

He winced. “Let’s just say it’s a preventative measure after a particularly horrifying story Ward told about a guy he knew who made romantic gestures involving making naked breakfast that went south real fast.”

“You know, usually those ‘I have a friend who knew a guy’ stories are made up…” She laughed.

He pointed at her, a smile curling his lips. “No naked coffee making.”

“Spoilsport.” She stuck her tongue out at him.

“After coffee, we can have more naked time.”

Sounded good to her. She blew him a kiss, which he caught because he was adorable like that, and flopped back into bed. She could stay here and wait for him or—a naughty thought entered her mind—she could go out there and ask him to see how sturdy her kitchen table was.

Delicious images filling her brain, Tamsen threw back the covers and tugged her robe on over her naked body. The soft, fuzzy material rubbing against her hypersensitive skin ratcheted up her anticipation.

Leaving her bedroom, she made her way down the hall to the kitchen, but before she could pinch Parker’s scrumptious-looking butt, a knock on the door interrupted her. Parker turned from his position at the coffee maker, his eyes widening at the sight of her before he glanced at the door, his brow furrowed in question.

She shrugged. She had no idea who it was. Cora would just use her key. It could be a salesperson; they didn’t get many in the building, but sometimes those newspaper people would drop by to try and get her to sign up. Who the hell read the newspaper these days anyway?

Didn’t matter. Whoever it was, she was going to tell them to go away.

Politely, because it wasn’t their fault they were interrupting morning sexy time.

She moved to the door, opening it slowly to peek out and see who it was.

“Dad! Victoria!” She nearly slammed the door in horrified shock. Nearly, but didn’t.

“Pumpkin.” Her dad’s smile was a mile wide.

“What are you doing here?” Her gaze shifted to Victoria. “Both of you?”

She did her best to keep the door open barely more than a crack, positioning her body in a way so they couldn’t see into the kitchen area—where Victoria’s nearly naked son was.

Her heart raced, palms sweating as she hoped to everything in the universe that they couldn’t see Parker. She wanted to turn around and make sure he wasn’t visible, but that would just draw their attention. What the hell was she going to do?

“We were just in the neighborhood,” her dad said. “And Victoria wanted to drop by and get your opinion on the wedding colors.”

“As an artist, you know these things so much better than I do, dear.” Victoria smiled. “I would love your professional opinion.”

While she was flattered Victoria considered her worthy of such a task, right now the woman could pick hot pink and pea-soup green and Tamsen would smile and nod, because the only thing her brain could focus on was the half-naked future stepbrother in Tamsen’s kitchen.

A half-naked future stepbrother who a few moments ago was fully naked because we had sex last night.

Oh no! This was a disaster. She had to get rid of her dad and Victoria before they discovered Parker. If he had clothes on, they might be able to come up with a plausible excuse for him being here so early in the morning. They could say they were party planning. But who the hell planned a party in their underwear?

“Tamsen…” Her dad tilted his head with a small frown. “Aren’t you going to invite us in?”

“No!”

She winced at the shocked expression on their faces, turning her outburst into a small groan.

“I would, totally, but…um…”

She searched her mind for a reason her dad and future stepmother couldn’t come into her home. A possible excuse that wouldn’t seem rude or suspicious.

As she thought, something caught her gaze. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Parker, army crawling on the ground in all his half-naked glory. Her pulse skyrocketed, and she moved her body even more into the open wedge of the door, doing her best to cover his escape back to the bedroom. She thought she spotted a small smirk on the man’s face as he passed.

The punk better not be enjoying this. She was seconds away from a freakin’ heart attack!

“Tamsen, pumpkin.” Her father’s voice held a note of suspicion. “What’s going—”

She opened her mouth and blurted out the first thing she could think of. “Cora’s sick.”

“Cora?” Victoria asked.

“Her roommate,” her dad answered, patting his fiancée’s hand.

“Oh dear, is there anything we can do? Should we call a doctor?”

“No, no, you don’t have to do that. Uh, Cora’s a nurse and it’s just some stomach bug, so no big deal. She must have eaten something bad at the hospital or picked something up from a patient or visitor. She was up all night blowing chunks, and then it started coming out the back end. She seems better this morning, but I don’t want to risk your health, so maybe we can do the color thing another time. I would hate to have you get sick, especially if it was my fault, and you know what they say about people who live in the same spaces—if one gets it, the other will, so I’m sure if it’s a viral bug, I’ll be kissing the porcelain throne tonight myself, so—”

“We get the idea, pumpkin,” her dad interrupted her rambling. “We can come back another time.”

They started to turn when Tamsen saw a figure heading down the building’s hallway that made her heart freeze.

“No!” Again, she winced as her dad and Victoria stared at her with shock. She really needed to cool it, but how did one stay cool in a situation like this? “Um, the elevator has been on the fritz lately. You better take the stairs.”

She pointed down the hallway to the left. As they glanced, she frantically and silently motioned to Cora, who was currently heading down the other end of the hallway. Cora noticed her wave and gave her a puzzled look, but thankfully her friend sensed something was up and turned back, disappearing around the corner.

“But we took the elevator up and it seemed fine.”

“Oh, you know how it can be.” She tried for a lighthearted chuckle, but it came out as more of a manic cackle. “Working fine one minute, stuck inside for hours the next. Plus, Dad, didn’t your doctor say you needed to get more exercise?”

“He did say that, Thomas, darling.”

Points to Victoria for agreeing with her.

“Well, all right, I suppose. We can take the stairs, but please give Cora our best and let me know if this bug gets you.”

“Yes, dear, I can have some soup delivered or send over my private doctor if you need.”

Private doctor? Wow, Parker’s family really was rich. She didn’t even know those were a thing.

“I’m pretty sure it’s something she ate, but just to be safe, you guys better go. Thanks for stopping by—see you later!”

She plastered a smile on her face, watching and waving as her dad and Victoria made their way to the stairwell door and disappeared behind it. Once they were gone, she let out a massive sigh of relief.

“Do I even want to know?” Cora asked once she made her way down the hall and came to stand in front of Tamsen.

“No. No, you do not.”

She opened the door for her roommate, who stepped into the apartment a few feet before stopping, her head swiveling to the hallway and back to Tamsen, a knowing grin curling her lips.

“Oh, I get it now.”

Tamsen shut the door and came to stand by Cora, seeing what her roommate was staring at. And what her roommate was staring at was Parker, in his boxers, doubled over, trying to hold in laughter.

“It’s not funny, Parker! We almost got caught by our parents!”

“It’s pretty funny,” Cora said, a chuckle escaping her lips.

She shook her head, the laughter bubbling up inside her. Okay, it was a little funny.

“You.” She pointed at Parker. “Go get dressed. And you.” She pulled Cora in for a hug. “Thank you for helping out, and sorry I told my dad you had explosive diarrhea.”

She let go of her friend, turning to grab Parker’s arm and hustle them into her bedroom to the cry of her roommate demanding, “You told him what?”