Addicted to Mr. Parks (The Park #2) (22 page)

She seemed generally concerned and guilty, and I felt sorry for the way she was trying to apologise like it was all her fault. “Don’t apologise, Tabby. Something happened, and I’m glad you weren’t there. I tried to call you this morning, but your phone was switched off.”

“I’ve lost it,” she quickly explained.

“Honestly.” I chuckled lightly. “It’s not a problem. But Wade knew about the champagne you bought. He went crazy.”

“Shit.” She made a “yikes” expression. “I heard whatever you purchase on those multimillion card things gets sent straight to your phone. If you require it. In case of theft.”

My head recoiled sharply. “You knew that and you still bought the stuff?”

Her face paled quickly, and she pushed an invisible tress behind her ear. “It just came to me. If I realised last night, I wouldn’t have done it.”

“He also knew where I was because you hit the Call button on my phone.” My brow automatically arched, and she became a little flustered.

“Sorry. I feel shit. I wanted us to have a good night, and it was ruined.” Her glum expression suddenly turned to a bubbly one. “Why don’t we have a sleepover at my place?”

My laugh came out awkwardly. “I don’t do girly sleepovers.”

“A movie, then?” she pushed. “I could do with a friend right now. Truth is, I have nobody. The girls here think I’m weird. I was bullied at school, so I never made any friends there, either.”

I didn’t want to go to a bloody sleepover, but somehow she made me feel sorry for her every time she told me about how lonely she was. She was the only woman that ever made feel the way she wanted me to feel.

“Okay.” I sagged. I was even surprised at my own behaviour.

“Yay.” She bounced up and down. “Tonight?”

“Oh, not tonight. Maybe one day in the week? Or,” I offered a substitute, “you could come to ours. I’m sure Wade would—”

“No.” Her objection was hasty. “I’d rather my place.”

Her answer made me feel a little uneasy, but I put it down to her just feeling safer in her own space, which was understandable.

“I’ll call you in the week with the deets yes?”

“‘Deets’?” What the hell did that mean?

“Details,” she sang, like I was stupid for not understanding her slang.

“Right.” I smirked. “See you later.” Pushing the chair back, I rose to my feet and pulled my handbag onto my arm. Tabby got up and went to hug me good-bye, but I put an instant stop to that. “Tabby, I do not do hugs.”

“Sorry.” She giggled and skipped back to where she came from.

I made my way over the counter to check in with Mindy. “Hey, Evey.” She waved quickly, then finished serving a customer and came to greet me. Her gaze wandered over to Tabby, who was flirting with a male customer. “That’s all she does,” she complained. “She flirts with everyone and has constantly been on her phone today.”

A frown appeared on my forehead in an instant. “I thought she lost it?”

“I wish she did,” she scoffed.

“Hey.” I pulled her back before she left to tend to a customer. “How come you couldn’t make it last night?”

Her expression told me she hadn’t a clue what I was talking about. “Last night?”

“Yeah, Tabby said she asked you girls to come out with us.”

“She never asked me.” Mindy shrugged, then Keira pulled her away to help out. My frown remained etched on my forehead even when I’d left the coffee shop. Something seemed off. Why would Tabby lie?

Forget it, Evey
, I told myself.
Paranoia is not something I need right now.

***

Just like I asked, Cleaver was waiting outside the building for me at five thirty. He drove me to Brighton in silence, not because he didn’t know what to say, but because he hated working behind Parks’ back.
Tough.

“Cleaver, thank you. I do appreciate it,” I said when we arrived at my auntie’s house.

He opened the door for me and stiffly nodded at my statement. “No problem, Evey.”

Making my way up Cheryl’s drive with my overnight bag, I got overwhelmed with happiness and contentment. The house always made me feel that way, and the memories in Brighton that resurfaced when I visited were ones I cherished.

“Evey, where’s that handsome man of yours?” Cheryl kept bobbing her head past my shoulders when she opened the door for me. I dropped my bag off my shoulder as I entered the house, and I was glad to get rid of the weight.

“He was busy with work.”

“Oh.” I watched her disappointment brew, but she hid it well with a casual flap of her hand. “That’s all right. Means I get you all to myself. Come in.”

Stepping into my aunt’s up-with-the-trends, terraced house always felt like coming home to me. I was back and forth there as young adult, and I missed it sincerely.

“Where are the kids? It’s so quiet.” I followed Cheryl out into the kitchen, where she told me to sit down and quickly made me a cup of tea.

“It’s heaven,” Cheryl sang playfully. “Ralph’s having a nap, Ella’s over her friend’s house, and Darcy is upstairs colouring.”

My next words made me stare at my tea as Cheryl handed me the mug. “Does she still hate me?” I asked, shifting it side to side on the table sorrowfully.

Cheryl scoffed. “She said she’s not talking to you. That’s why she hasn’t come down.”

“I’ll go see her in a mo.” I blew the steam from my mug and took a sip. “What about Ella?” The last time I saw Ella, she was as drunk as a skunk and told me she had a damn boyfriend.

“Better. I think the talk with you done her good.”

“Good.” I smiled, going straight in to what I’d been dying to tell her. “I cut all ties with my mum.”

“You did?” I knew she’d be happy.

“Yeah, Wade told her some home truths, and she didn’t like it. He’s making sure I stay away from her. He’s doing so much for me, Chez. He’s getting me help, and he takes my mind off everything.”

“Wow. I would have loved to see the old bat’s face when he told her, though. What did he say?”

“Told her she wasn’t worthy of my love. That she was despicable.”

Cheryl pulled her arm into her chest like it was a victory. “I love it.”

I picked up a biscuit and pointed with it. “I have bone to pick with you.” The way Cheryl’s gaze fell into her coffee cup, and the way her lips twisted up a smirk told me she knew what I was about to say.

“Evey, I know I shouldn’t have told Wade about Gabe or Trevor, but he can be very charming.” She blushed.

My scoff accompanied my furrowed brows. “He’s charming, all right.”

“Let me and Kev take you out for a meal tonight. His mum will watch the kids.”

I shook my head in disbelief. Her way of deterring me was through food. Well, I wasn’t complaining. “Sure.”

After finishing up my tea and biscuits, I carefully climbed the stairs and walked into Darcy’s room. I quickly spotted the blonde-haired angel sitting crossed-legged in the middle of her pink room, paper and colourings thrown around her.

“Hey.” I smiled, catching her attention. The daggers of her eyes made me wince. Wow. I’d gotten the death stare from a kid. “What are you colouring?” Easing into the room, I bent down and knelt on the floor to peer at her picture. “Oh, a dog?” I guessed.

“It’s a cat,” she snapped with a roll of her eyes. “Are you blind?”

I had to hold in a laugh at the attitude she threw me. “Can I help?” I went to pick up a colour but stopped midway when Darcy’s eyes narrowed. She was telling me she didn’t want me to help. “Okay, can I draw my own picture?”

She gave me a shrug that time. Holding in a smirk, I picked up a piece of paper and a black felt-tip pen. I began bubble writing the first thing that came into my head, and Darcy glanced towards what I was drawing. She squinted to try and work out what the black, fancy writing said when I was finished.

“Mr. Parks? What’s Mr. Parks?”

A smiled crept upon my mouth, happy that she was finally talking to me. “He’s my…friend.”

She tilted her head. “Does he like Peppa Pig?”

I laughed. “I don’t think so.” That was kind of the icebreaker for us, and she took me downstairs so I could play with her dollhouse.

After an hour of playing dolls and pretend tea cups with real biscuits, the doorbell rang. Kevin was taking a shower and Cheryl was fixing up the kids’ dinner, so I pushed to my feet.

“I’ll get it.” I opened the front door, mindlessly shoving the rest of a biscuit into my mouth. “Wade? What the—?” I almost choked. Yes, I was mad that he intruded and turned up unexpectedly, but I was also speechless because, Jesus, the only man that had ever turned me on by sight alone was Patrick Swayze in
Dirty Dancing
. Until I clapped eyes on Parks. His presence did terribly wonderful things to me.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked, swallowing hard.

Dressed casual and sexy in a white shirt and blue jeans, he crossed his arms. “Did or did we not arrange to visit your aunt together this weekend?” The slight tug of his lips mocked me.

I stepped over the threshold and closed the door. “You were ignoring me. I didn’t think you still wanted to come.”

His gaze danced over my face, sucking in my attitude like he wanted to pounce on me for it. “Well, it’s not very polite to decline an offer, is it?”

I stepped into his space, but he made no attempt to step back. “And it’s not very polite to be a nob,” I hissed. “Have you forgot what happened last night?”

“No.” He stiffened, his voice softening. “But I’ve had chance to calm down. I suggest you do the same.”

“So is this how it’s going to be?
Always your way.
When
you’ve
calmed down, then
we
talk?”

He took a measured step back in his brown brogues and sighed. “Evelyn, I don’t want to hurt you, and taking myself out of the situation to calm down is the only way I can ensure that.”

“Hurt me? I know you would never hurt me.” Physically, anyway.

“What I mean is…” Another sigh escaped his throat. “You’re right. I can’t spank you every time I’m mad. For punishment it’s different, but when I’m mad, I could hurt you, and I would never forgive myself. I did it the day you came to live with me, and I promised you I would never do it again. And I won’t.”

My head fell back, my eyes drifting to look up at the sky. Standing in front of me was a man that defined the word
perfection
. The epitome of a sex god living on earth. Inside, though, defined something far from perfect. He was the epitome of wounded. The worst part was, I hadn’t a clue why.

“Tell me what you’re thinking,” he pleaded.

I brought my head back down and looked into his eyes. “I’m thinking some days being with you is heaven-sent, then we head back to hell again.”

“Evelyn, it was never going to be smooth sailing between us. But we work because we shouldn’t work. We work because we get each other.”

I shook my head, which made him frown. “You’re wrong. You get me. I don’t get you. Not in your entirety. I don’t get your temper. I don’t get your inner weakness. Inner demons.”

His stunning features looked away from me briefly and towards a couple that were walking past the bottom of Cheryl’s drive hand in hand. “Evelyn, the less you know, the better.”

I knew exactly why he didn’t want to let me in. “You won’t tell me because you don’t think I’m strong enough to cope with it.”

“Let’s not do this.” He hated to make a scene in public, but I ignored his warning.

“Do you know when you leave me and ignore me, I feel lost? You make me feel abandoned. You told me you wouldn’t do that to me again.”

He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me into him. “We needed space, Princess. You think I would leave you again?”

Pushing him away aggressively, I spat, “I don’t know what you would do, because you don’t tell me anything.”

“Then let me tell you that before I met you, I wasn’t existing. I was barely breathing.”

I stumbled back a touch at his words. Words I deeply, stupidly yearned for.

“And now?” I swallowed.

He brushed his knuckles across my heated cheeks. His green eyes looked into mine so tenderly that I never wanted him to look away. I wanted him to
always
look at me that way.

“I’m living,” he breathed.

I nuzzled my cheek into his knuckles, closing my eyes so I could soak up his words and live in that moment. He said he started living because of me? The feeling was utterly mutual, and it felt incredible to hear, but there was still a long way to go.

My heart sank, the frustration I felt towards him slowly evaporating like he’d cast a spell upon me. My body ached from his presence, and it was a feeling I truly treasured. It was like I forgot to breathe when he was near. Forgot my life, forgot my mind, and that was a good thing for me. I craved to forget, and Parks could grant me that wish in an instant.

“You’re such hard work.” I sagged. “But you’re so good for me. Although some days I could easily tell you to fuck off and never see you again, then you turn up like this.” I waved a hand down his body. “Looking hot in casual clothes, sexy brown hair that looks good even though you’ve just pushed your hands through it, and your green eyes sparkling all bright and sexy. When I see all that, I forget why I was so mad at you.”