Parker (Rich & Single #2) (7 page)

The sound of a chair sliding out close enough to be heard over the noise of conversation from the surrounding tables pulled Parker out of the article he was scanning over lunch. He looked up to find Jennifer Leandra sitting across from him.

She was not, for once, wearing spandex workout gear. Instead she was in a shirt that left her shoulders and arms bare, and flowed over the curves of her breasts and hips in a way that made Parker really want to take it off her. Preferably somewhere that he could take the rest of her clothes off her, too. He realized he was staring, and dragged his eyes up to her face. When they met hers, she was smirking at him.

“Having trouble?”

“Like I’m the only guy you’ve ever had stare at you.”

“Not at all.” She dropped one hand to rest on the table and tapped a fingernail against the wood, raising an eyebrow in his direction like a challenge. “Doesn’t make it any less rude.”

Parker set his phone down. “What are you doing at my table, Jennifer? Can I help you with something?”

Jennifer laughed. “I’m just here to chat. I wanted to say that I saw the video you sent out. Not half bad. A little short, but it seemed totally you.”

He was starting to understand why Jackson disliked her so much. “Is that it?”

Her eyebrows lifted. “What? Did I hurt your feelings? All I did was point out that it’s kind of rude to stare when my face is up here.”

Parker sighed. “Tell me something, Jennifer. Do you have any interest whatsoever in being friends with me?”

“Friends?” She let out a sharp little laugh. “No. That’s not really my intention. I was pretty sure we’re supposed to be rivals, actually.”

“So I’ll ask again, then what’re you doing here?”

“Oh, I don’t know…” She toyed with the salt shaker, rolling it back and forth on its bottom edge. “Just rattling some cages and seeing what shakes out, I guess.” Her eyes lifted to his again, and she grinned. “Wouldn’t want to let you get too comfortable, after all. What kind of challenger would I be, then?”

“The kind that isn’t annoying?”

“Honestly, I think you only feel that way because I’m not going to let you get in my pants.” Her head tipped slightly to the side. “Admit it, Parker, if I crooked a finger at you right now you’d roll into bed with me so fast your head would spin.”

“Who said I wanted to fuck you?”

She snorted. “Please. It’s written all over your big, dumb face.”

The teasing about staring was one thing, but he wasn’t going to sit there and say nothing while she insulted him. He shook his head, jaw tightening. “That’s enough. Whatever it is you’re here to try to do, I’m really over it. Get up.”

“It’s a public place.” The grin she hadn’t dropped widened. “I’m not doing anything that you can really report me for.”

“Fine. You stay. I’ll go.” Parker tucked his phone into his pocket and stood up.

“Oh, come on. I don’t really think you’re stupid, Parker, or I wouldn’t have picked you to run the challenge against.” She rolled her eyes. “And I didn’t come in here to chase you away from your table. Sit down. Eat your fucking lunch. Sheesh.”

No way was he going to sit back down at the table like she’d just called him to heel. Leaving meant she’d pushed him out, but at least he wasn’t her lapdog. Parker picked up the rest of the food, closing the box it was in on it, and started for the door. He heard her chair scrape again against the floor behind him, and then her footsteps following, because of course it wasn’t going to be that easy to get away from her. Jackson was probably right. If he ever had sex with her she really would murder him in his sleep.

“Parker,” she said as they stepped out onto the sidewalk and he turned to head back toward the gym. And then, louder, “Parker.”

He turned into an alley that cut between the buildings on this street and the next and made for a faster route back to work, and she followed. For a moment, he thought he was going to outpace her. Then a hand brushed against his arm.

Parker abruptly stopped walking and turned, spinning around to face her and taking a step in her direction. Jennifer took a step back, and then another. He followed, and her back hit the wall of one of the buildings that framed the little graveled space. She looked up at him with wide eyes, and an expression that wasn’t entirely displeased.

“I mean it, Jennifer,” he said, pressing one palm to the wall, though his other hand was busy with the takeout box. “Why are you following me around?”

She tipped her head back a little to meet his gaze from under her eyelashes, and he felt a palm stroke up the outside of his thigh. “Maybe I just like to get you hot and bothered.”

Parker caught her wrist in the hand that had been pressed up against the brickwork and pulled it away from his body with just enough force to make a point, careful not to hurt her. Jennifer laughed, and pushed against the pressure until he just let go and stepped back.

“You don’t want to go to bed with me. You’ve made that pretty fucking clear.”

“Did I say that?”

He leaned in a little closer, catching himself before his body touched hers, and wondered what the hell he was thinking. She was probably just looking for one more reason to mock him. 

“Anyone ever tell you that you’re…”

“Kind of a bitch?” She smiled at him. “All the time.”

Before he could answer, she spun on her heel and slipped past him, hip sliding deliberately against his on the way. He watched her saunter down the alley, her hair catching the sunlight as she moved out onto the main street again, turning the corner and disappearing without looking back.

Fucking tease. Jackson hadn’t only been right about her. He’d been right about the competition, too. With her in it, it was going to be harder than he’d thought, in more ways than one. Shaking his head, Parker turned toward the gym and started walking.

***

Sitting in the car, Parker glanced down at the clock on his phone. 8:23. Jackson was late. He was never late to business meetings, but try to get the man to go somewhere fun and he would inevitably be fifteen minutes behind the time he was supposed to leave. He’d been that way when they were roommates, usually caught up in finishing one more section of homework. If he didn’t come out within the next five minutes, Parker was going to get him. He turned up the music, and leaned back further in his seat.

A minute later, there was a knock at the passenger window. Without opening his eyes, Parker reached over and hit the unlock button. “You’re late,” he said as the door opened.

“I know. I’m sorry.”

Parker opened his eyes and hit the lever that would bring his seat back to upright for driving. He turned and looked at Jackson, who was sitting in his passenger seat dressed in black jeans and a t-shirt. “You’re always late.”

“I am not! I’m never late to meetings.”

“You’re always late when I want to go out.”

Jackson didn’t answer that one. He knew Parker was right.              

“What took so long this time?” Parker asked as he shifted the car into drive and pulled out.

“I was working on some paperwork. Lost track of time.”

“As usual.”

“It was paperwork for you, you ungrateful bastard.”

              Parker laughed, and when he cut his eyes briefly to the right, Jackson was hiding a smile by looking down at his phone.

              “Come on. Admit it. You need some time away from your desk.”

“Yeah. That’s probably true.”

“It’s definitely true. Any longer and you were going to turn into one of those shriveled up old accountant-types who wear suits everywhere and never stay out past eight.”

Jackson flipped him off. Parker laughed again and kept driving. He hadn’t told Jackson about his run-in with Jennifer two days ago. Since then, he hadn’t seen her, but he’d heard her name mentioned more than once. Meanwhile, his own people were spreading the word of the contest, and his clients had been voicing support, telling him they knew he would win.

“How is the search for a candidate going?”

The sound of Jackson’s fingers tapping against the screen of his phone didn’t even slow. “We’ve narrowed it down to five options. The next step is to have you talk to each of them. See who you think is most likely to be successful. We made sure they’re all the kind that people are going to be rooting for: sad life stories, that sort of thing.”

“I’ll trust your judgement, then. When do you want me to meet them?”

“Later this week. We’ll be bringing them in one or two a day so that they’re not taking up too much of your time.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Parker took a right turn, and moved deeper into downtown. They weren’t going to the little club he’d hit on Wednesday. It was the weekend, and Jackson lived closer to midtown anyway.

He pulled up to the curb beside the club, and turned the car off. A line of people was already winding out the door and down the sidewalk. Jackson looked at it like he was considering turning around and walking home.

“Just come on.”

They got out of the car, and Jackson followed Parker toward the end of the line.

“You just going to wait in line? Really?” Jackson stared at him in surprise. He didn’t seem to think Parker waited for anything these days.

Parker shrugged and laughed. “I guess I could go tell them who I am, but honestly I don’t mind the waiting. If you get in at the front before everyone else, people either hate you, or follow you around trying to figure out how you’re famous and whether or not you’re going to be willing to let them be hangers-on. Not really my idea of a good time.”

Jackson laughed. “Yeah. Okay. That makes sense.” He gave Parker a sideways look. “I wouldn’t know, seeing as I don’t really have the star power to jump club lines.”

“You just need to get out more.”

“Yeah. You say that a lot.”

Ahead of them, the line slowly inched forward, and Parker began to wonder if he should’ve tried to jump it after all. Some places recognized him. Some didn’t. This club he hadn’t been to before, and there were plenty of people more famous than he was in New York City. Half the reason, if he was being honest, that he didn’t try line jumping most places was that he didn’t want to walk up there and say who he was only to get turned down. No way was he making himself a laughingstock.

The line inched forward, and they moved with it.

“So, Jennifer Leandra showed up at the diner while I was eating my breakfast. Did I tell you that?” Parked relaxed against the brick wall and folded his arms over his chest.

Jackson’s eyebrows shot upward. “No, you didn’t tell me that, and you know it. What was she doing there?”

“Trying to psych me out or something. Getting all up in my space, mostly. Calling me names.”

“Calling you names?”

“Something about my big, dumb face.” The answer he got to that was laughter, and Parker glared at Jackson as he doubled over in mirth. “If you keep laughing like that I’m going to tell them I don’t know you at the club door. Or just push you off a curb once you’re drunk.”

“Sorry. Sorry.” Jackson pulled himself back together and looked up at Parker. “She really said that? Your ‘big, dumb face’?”

“Yeah, really.” He waiting to see if Jackson would start laughing again. “And then when I got up and left she told me that she didn’t really think I was stupid, or she wouldn’t have picked me to go up against for her little challenge. Honestly, I have no idea what she was trying to accomplish.” He rolled his eyes and took a few more steps forward. “Women!”

“So you, what? Just left her there?”

“She followed me out and hit on me.”

Jackson stared at him. “Dude. So she walks in. Insults you. Then hits on you?”

“Pretty much, yeah.”

“I think you’re right when you say that she’s trying to psych you out.” Jackson shook his head, and took a step forward with the rest of the line. “Are you sure you don’t want to go back on this? It seems like she might not be entirely stable.”

“I can’t back out. Not now. There’s too much riding on it, and we’ve already started the publicity shit. You know that.”

He did know it, and Parker saw it on his face.

“Okay. You’re right. I just... Honestly, Parker, I worry. I don’t want anything to happen to the company, and I don’t want anything to happen to you. Don’t let her get too far under your skin, okay? Whatever happens with this challenge, your clients love you. And you know what they say about publicity: It’s all good.”

“I’ve heard that. Not sure I believe it. You’ve seen what happens to people who get bad reviews in our business.”

“Losing a challenge like this isn’t a bad review. It’s losing a silly little contest. No one really cares about the results as much as they care about the fact that you’re doing it at all. It’s all just a game to them. A lot of stunt and glitter.”

“If you say so.”

“Be you. Everyone’s going to love you.”

The last few people ahead of them were approaching the bouncer, and Parker ran a hand through his hair. “What do you say we drop shop talk once we’re in there? Honestly, I just want to enjoy my Saturday night.”