Page 59 of Face

“I’m getting cabin fever, handsome. Can we go out for a little bit?” I asked Parker as we sat in his office. We were almost done with the app program he’d started on a few weeks ago. I was helping him polish it up.

He looked over at me. “I don’t know, we should probably stay inside until all of this is cleared up.”

I bit my lip and batted my eyelashes at him. “Please? I just need some fresh air and a change of scenery. I’m feeling cooped up here.”

“Okay. Let’s finish this up. Then we’ll go walk around the park.”

Clapping, I squealed and kissed him on the cheek. “Yay.”

God, I was turning into such a chocolate heart around him. What happened to the quiet, broody girl I was just a couple of weeks ago? Oh yeah, she was gone because she fell in love with the pretty boy with the big brain and an even bigger heart. He’d saved me from what was probably sure death, and he hadn’t thought twice about it. I never thought I’d ever fall in love, but it was instantaneous when I met Parker. My soul knew his was its missing half.

We drove to the park, and after parking his bike in the lot, we walked hand-in-hand toward the play structures. I sat down on one of the swings and breathed in the fresh night air. A half-moon illuminated the park. It was quiet, just the two of us.

I squeaked when I felt my body propel forward. I craned my head back to see Parker pushing me on the swings.

“God, I haven’t been on a swing since I was a child,” I said. “Why don’t I go to parks more often?”

He laughed and gave me another shove. “I don’t know, why don’t you? Oh yeah, because you’re too busy on your computer, hacking into stuff.”

I snorted. “Hey, you should talk. You’re no better.”

“Oh, but I am better,” he said with a mischievous tone. He caught me by the waist on the upswing and held me there. After planting a kiss on the side of my neck, he let the swing go and I was propelled forward, my hair flailing in the wind with each swing.

As I swung, I felt so free. It was so nice to not be cooped up in my apartment, hoping for something better to come along. Being afraid to be in public for fear of people staring at me. Parker was helping me to open up and it was such a good feeling. I could literally feel my depression lifting. I no longer felt like I was stuck in my lonely, unhappy life forever.

On the next upswing, he held my waist again and let me go slowly to stop the propulsion. He went around and grabbed my hands, pulling me to a stand. He held my hands and faced me before reaching up with one and lightly swiping some hair from my face. “I didn’t think this was a good idea, but I’m glad you made me leave the clubhouse. I needed to get out, too. I didn’t realize I had cabin fever as well. Thank you.” Parker pulled my hand up to his lips and turned it around. Moving my sleeve out of the way, he gently kissed the slow but steady pulse on my wrist, his eyes never leaving me.

I stared at the action and my heartrate sped up. Was he going to bite me? The mere thought excited me. He threaded his fingers through mine and leaned down and kissed me. I couldn’t explain with words what his touch did to me. The kisses alone caused my head to spin and butterflies to erupt in my stomach. When he made love to me, I felt like I was in another world. I had never experienced anything like it. There was no way I was ever going to let him go.

He broke the kiss and looked around before staring down into my eyes. “I love you.”

I gazed deep into his eyes. “Why?”

Parker’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Stroking my fingers along his cheek, I asked, “How can someone so perfect love someone so flawed like me?”

He frowned and pulled me closer to him with a sigh. “Devon, I’ve always been the type of guy who tried to find the little imperfections in the people I met. Then you came into my life, and I realized there were none to be found. You think you’re flawed? You’re not. You’re perfectly imperfect. When are you going to see that? Nobody’s perfect or flawless. Certainly not me. I’ve made my share of mistakes and sins and I’ll be forever paying for them. I’ll pay my penance to the universe by taking care of the other half of my soul—making sure she always knows she’s loved. If you’d see yourself through my eyes, you’d know that you’re the most beautiful woman in the world.”

I looked down as tears I couldn’t stop cascaded down my face in rivulets.

He put his finger under my chin and forced me to face him. He looked alarmed when he saw my tears and used both thumbs to wipe them away as he cradled my face. “Devon, love doesn’t see imperfections. It’s why they say it’s blind. It can be a curse, but the blessing is why we were designed this way.”

I gripped him tighter and buried my head into his chest. “Thank you for seeing through the scars and helping me find the real me. She’s been gone so long I never thought I’d get her back.”

“Let’s take a walk,” he said, pointing to a small lake on the other side of the playground.

He gripped my hand and we walked in silence. I saw him occasionally look around to make sure we were safe. I knew he had a gun tucked into the back of his pants and a knife sheathed on his belt. He’d even given me a pistol to carry with me at all times, but of course I’d left it in his room at the clubhouse because I wasn’t used to carrying it.

“What are we going to do once the deadline passes and I don’t have a website for that jerk? Tomorrow’s one week,” I said as we strolled along the lakefront.

“The way I see it,” Parker replied, “he’s going to come looking for you when you ghost him—and you will be ghosting him. He’s gonna go berserk. As soon as the sun goes down tomorrow night, we’re going to head to your apartment. Viper and I will be inside, the other guys will be outside the building. Eagle’s going to be in the van—our getaway driver.”

“So, you discussed all of this already? Without me?” I felt hurt and left out.

He lifted my hand to his lips and placed a chaste kiss on my knuckles. “It’s club business, beautiful. Usually the old ladies sit it out.”

“But this directly involves me,” I argued.

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