Total pages in book: 93
Estimated words: 86364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86364 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 345(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
I wanted him to be, though.
Before Joy and the fire, Parker had been my special secret. My weekly escape. A treasure I’d tucked away from the world, locked in a nice and neat box.
Then he’d started working at Courtland, spilling out of his box and into more of my life, and…I’d loved it. The secret had become more tantalizing and dangerous. I’d never been more excited or turned-on in my life.
Now he and Joy were living in my house, eating meals with me, spreading into every part of my day. They were constantly in my thoughts. While I would have expected to hate losing my life to what felt like chaos, I actually loved it. I wanted more of Parker and Joy in my life. Parker needed to be sleeping in my bed every night, not just having sex with me. He needed to share all his worries and thoughts with me, and I wanted to feel free to share my concerns with him. They needed to no longer be my secret but the thing I was most proud of. I wanted to share with the world that I had the best family of all.
But they weren’t mine. Parker and I weren’t technically dating, so I had no avenue for making this wonderful shift in my life permanent.
Tonight, he’d been introduced as my friend. Not boyfriend. My roommate. Yes, he’d said we fucked, but he’d never referred to me as his lover.
Not mine.
This needed to be fixed. Now. I had to make sure Parker stayed with me.
A low chuckle drew my eyes from the road to Parker. The glow of his phone pushed back some of the shadows, revealing his warm smile and laughing eyes.
“Franks sent me a video of Joy eating the carrots Donovan made for her while she was sleeping. I had no idea babies could eat and sleep at the same time until Joy. I’ve gotta forward this video on to my mom. She’s going to get a kick out of it.”
“Mn. I thought I saw a text saying she was an angel all evening.”
“Yep. No problems.” He sighed and lowered his phone to his lap. “It’s nice having someone I can trust to watch over her in an emergency, but I need to find a more regular babysitting service for Joy.”
“Why?”
“Seriously?” Parker shifted in his seat so that he was facing me. “While keeping up with the house and meals for the three of us might not be the most taxing job, I know for a fact that babysitting wasn’t part of their job description when you hired them.”
“That is true,” I conceded as I turned onto the quiet, meandering road off Sebastian’s driveway. “But have you considered that Franks and Donovan offered to babysit because they like Joy and not because they saw it as part of their jobs?”
“Maybe. I figured they were trying to make you happy.”
“No. They know my expectations are good, timely meals and a clean, organized home. Childcare does not come into that.”
Parker turned in his seat and faced forward again. “I’ll have a talk with Franks and Donovan before I try to find another sitter. I don’t want to hurt their feelings or take advantage of them.”
“Thank you.”
It wasn’t hard to see that Franks and Donovan cared for the little girl. She was adorable and lit up the room whenever she was present. How could anyone not want to be near her?
“I’m sorry about tonight,” I continued, shifting my mind to more pressing concerns. “Sebastian can be overbearing if you’re not accustomed to him. Rome and Pierce are assholes, but they don’t mean any harm. It’s just their way of being friendly.”
“Honestly, I was going to apologize for being rude to your friends.” Parker rubbed his hand across his chin. “I’m not usually so snarky around people I just met.”
“I didn’t think you were that snarky.”
Actually, I did, but I didn’t want Parker to feel bad. His usual playfulness had taken on a new, sharper bite with Rome and Pierce.
Parker’s cackle filled the car and danced out the windows to race alongside it. “You’re ridiculous. I was so bitchy. At least things mellowed out after we finished our pissing contest. They don’t seem to be so bad after all. Maybe just overprotective of you.”
“Not so bad? Even Rome?”
“Oh, my fuck! That guy!” Parker growled. “He’s okay, but he rubbed me the wrong way with the way he was trying to force you to smile and saying you don’t smile. Fuck that shit! Of course you smile! Maybe you don’t do those big, wide-ass grins like some people, but I can tell when you’re smiling. Your eyes get that little sparkle, and there’s this wrinkle that forms by your right eye each time you’re really happy. How the hell has he not noticed that?”