Waiting (12 page)

Parker held my gaze, his eyes a fierce black.

“The first time, no. I’m sorry to say I would’ve lost it and probably would’ve killed the young bastard.”

That pulled a small twitch of my lips.

“I was sixteen and it was nothing memorable.”

He nodded, not caring either way.

“The second time, yes. I didn’t stay and listen or anything creepy like that. The guy was a virgin and was worried about how to get you to be with him. You threw him off guard.” I gasped. I’m such a loser and Parker was there at one of my most embarrassing times. My head buried in my hands as I tried to forget the conversation we were having. “The arrogant
prick
used
…well, he’s still breathing as far as I know.”

Parker seemed upset that the unimportant man had used me
,
but little did he know that I’d been using him too.

             
“How many have
you
…been with?” I managed to ask without hesitating too much.

He knew I was with two, obviously. It
was only fair I got to know the
same about him.

“I…” he stopped and ran a hand through his beautiful, thick hair.

“I know you’re old and everything and it’s bound to be much greater than my measly two times with two different men, but…. if it’s not in the thousands, I’d like to know.”

My heart beat too quickly but I
maintained a cal
m outer appearance. This did nothing to hide what I was really feeling to him of course, but it helped me feel better about myself.

“Thousands?” he scoffed, grinning widely before taking my hand in his. “I’m not even in the double digits as far as partners go.” I closed my eyes and reveled in this bit of information. Not even ten i
n his two hundred and five years
? “I’ve had eight partners, all of which came after I was turned and before you.”

“You’ve only had sex eight times?” That didn’t seem right. Oh wait, it’s because it isn’t. Eight partners, not eight times. “I mean, how many times?”

“Piper
,” he began, making me grow uneasy
. “I don’
t want you to get the wrong impression about me and I fear my number will do just that.”

I let the smile remain on my face
,
though my heart sank.

“Too many to count. I get it.”

He gripped my hand tighter when it started to sweat.

Calm down, Piper. It’s not like you have some sort of claim over him. This was all before you were born, idiot!

I took a deep breath and stopped my inner turmoil to look up at him.

“These women,” I began, slo
wly gaining my strength back. “W
ere they your girlfriends? Wives?”

Two hundred years was
a very long time to live alone.  I
t’d be natural for him to have at least one wife by now.

“I guess two of them could be described as girlfriends. The rest were just there to help pass the time.”

My heart was thudding so loudly against my chest I thought I’d explode. Another bad thing to add to the vampire list: he could hear and smell the effect he had on me.

It wasn’t long
before
we made our way
back down to make lunch. I kept asking him if he was sure he didn't have to feed and he kept assuring me he was fine. I have to admit, I was a little curious and kind of wanted to see him do it. My neck wasn't necessarily offered to him because of the pain I'd felt before, but to see him feed, that might be interesting. Especially since there'd be no killing or torturing.

I was halfway through my
sandwich
, still trying to get my questions in between bites, when his phone rang. It was Francis. Since I could only he
ar one side of the conversation
I tried to decipher what they were talking about.

"Good. That's what we wanted. Why do you sound so upset?" His brows puckered together. "Is that really necessary?... No, I'll meet you somewhere." He stood, then sat back down. "Fine. Call me back in an hour."

When he hung up
he grabbed my plate, rinsed it, then set it in the d
ishwasher
all at human speed
before coming back to take the seat next to me again.

"I have to meet him when he calls back. Something's up." He was worried, that much I could tell. "There's
a lot
I wanted to do today, but we can do it this weekend.
Wana
go back up on the roof for a bit?"

I agreed
then went into my hall closet and grabbed some blankets so we could lay instead of sit. He took them from my hands, grabbed my hand with his other, then started to lead the way back out. When he opened my front do
or
we both stilled. I smiled once the surprise wore off.

"Hey, Julie. What are you doing here
?" I
peeked
my head out but didn't see anybody else. Bruce must be working.

She eyed Parker, rubb
ing her belly while
thinking
until realization hit.

"Parker? Parker Smith? Oh my God, it's been so long. How are you?" She wrapped her arms around him, him doing the same awkwardly around her belly.

"I'm excellent and how are you Julie? You look wonderful."

She rolled her eyes
then smiled widely at me.

"I knew you weren't sic
k. I'm so happy to see you happy!
" She was smiling so wide, even happier than I was. "Sorry." She looked at Parker again, then back at me, si
lently praising me for my taste
before turning back to Parker.

"Do you live in the city? I haven't seen you in years." She grabbed my hand and pulled me back into the apartment while making her way to the couch. He followed and sat on the opposite side from us. "I married Bruce Teller. Do you remember him? This is our second child."

I'm not sure I've ever heard her this excited and yappy.

"Congratulations. Yes, Piper's told me all about you. You're quite the help at the office and she absolutely adores you and Bruce."

I'd never told him any of that
but it was all true.

Julie
pressed a hand over her heart and looked at me thoughtfully.

"That is so sweet. We love you just as much." A wicked spark lit her eye. "So are you two... are you dating?"

Oh, wow.
We hadn't even talked about the specifics
yet. He'd told me multiple times that he was going to 'make me his', but that still seemed liked more of a possession thing,
rather than an intimate thing. 

Since
words escaped me
, Parker spoke up.

"It's in the works." He winked at Julie when she clapped in excitement. "She's a tough one to land. She's a work-a-holic and extremely picky about who she dates." Now it was me who gasped. "But I'm trying to get under that shell of hers, and it's working I think." Julie nodded as if agreeing with everything he was saying. "It's not like I bite, right Piper?"

"Who knows? You might be a s
erial killer for all I know." His
eyebrow went up
. "I still need to get to know you better, you know, before I make you mine."

His lips twitched when Julie scoffed
out loud
, like I was being pathetic.

"I'm just happy you're giving him a chance." She abruptly stood and let out a h
uge gasp. "We have to do dinner!
If not tonight, then tomorrow night. I insist."

Instead of looking at me to answer, she waited for Parker, who winked at me before standing and taking her arm as he walked her to the door, me following behind.

"We'd love to. We're free tomorrow night, at least for now.
I have a bit of a brother issue
but we'll make it work
s
this weekend for sure."

His body tensed before h
e op
ened the door to escort her out
, stopping
at the sight of another unexpected guest. Francis.
 

"Hello bro
ther. Julie. Sorry to interrupt
but there's been an incident." He winked at me over Julie's head
before smiling
back at Parker.

"Whatever it is, don't
let them miss our dinner plans!
" Julie spoke
force
fully, her hormones springing to life
. "I have to go, but please don't ruin my weekend."

Francis nodded and assured her he'd try his best to not interfere with our lives, then walked her to the elevator and pushed the button, making small talk with her until it came and she left, waving to all of us with a huge smile.

Ten bucks says she calls Bruce as soon as she hits the main floor.

"Do I have to stand out in the hall or are you going to invite me in?"

Before I could respond
Parker held up
his hand instructing me to wait, his playful mood completely disappearing.

"What's this regarding
?  A
nd did you bring trouble to her fron
t door? Think before you answer
since I already told you that her safety is very important to me, even if it means nothing to you."

He said the sweetest things.

"Relax. Nothing
's after me. Quinn folded practically
immediately after you left. I kept the silver around him until I thought everything through, making sure he wasn't out smarting me."

He waited, Parker glaring him down before I finally rolled my eyes and pulled Parker back.

"Come in
,
Francis." Parker looked like I'd just slapped him when he abruptly faced me. "I can always take it back. And you're here with me now, so there's no danger, right?"

"No danger. I'd protect you with my very life if Parker wasn't around to do it." Parker turned to look at Francis,
gauging
his words. "It's true,
whether
you want to
believe
it or not. Now that I'm able to think clearl
y, not in a blood frenzy twenty-
four hours a day, I'm able to see my priorities. The last thing we did right together was kill mum. Now we can protect your woman together. If and
whenever
you nee
d me, I'll be there for you.  P
romise."

Francis looked between the two of us before Parker broke his stare and decided to accept what his brother was saying was the truth.

"Alright. We'll take this in steps, but for now, I believ
e you." Francis rolled his eyes
then nodded. "Why did you come here?"

We wer
e all huddled in my living room. T
his time me and Parker sat together and Francis stood by the window looking out. If I would've known I was going to be having so much company, I would've cleaned.

Stuck doing a mental check
list
of ever
ything that needed to be done,
I almost didn't notice the silent conversation they were having. Both their faces were scrunched, like they were having trouble communicating.

"What am I missing?"

Parker blinked then squeezed my leg with his hand.

"Not much. We're both dehydrated and having a hard time getting our thoughts across." He smiled sheepishly and Francis decided to take a seat.

"W
ell we could just talk out loud.  I
t would be less rude
and
less draining." He seemed tired already.

"Fine. Quinn agreed to let you go, not hunt you and not send others to hunt you, but you're worried about me. I doubt
he'll come after me. I
f he did
you'd just call him out and kill him. He knows that. If he comes after anyone, you'll kill him. He wants to live too badly, that's why I picked him."
 
His grip tightened on my leg until I let out a little
squeak
. "Sorry. I just don't like the thoughts Francis is putting in my head."

"Fine." Francis stood again. "So he's not a threat to us. What about Sam? I know you visited a few weeks ago and guess who's missing now. That's right."

I opened my mou
th to suggest maybe
Sam wasn’t missing since Francis had been wrong about Parker missing, but Francis looked right at me and shot me down while smiling.

"The
real
missing. I talked to some of the local Fangs, like Tommy and Gunner, and they say she was on the phone when she screamed, like an actual scream like a little girl before the line went dead. They went in search of her but couldn
't find her. Any
where." He paused to let that sink in. "Do you think they followed you when you stayed with her?"