Page 55 of The Proximity Factor

Parker’s chuckle came from the kitchen. “In here.”

I dropped my bag and slipped out of my ballet flats before flitting over to the kitchen in my red flutter-sleeve summer dress. I rarely got to wear anything but athletic clothes during the school year, so it was nice to dress up a little.

As soon as I walked into the kitchen, Parker set a plate down on the table, already filled with food. He flashed me a crooked grin while giving me a once-over with his eyes. He was a big fan of the dress. Such a big fan, we’d gotten a little carried away with the goodbye kiss before I left for work that morning. I’d had to redo my hair and was almost late. Best start to my day ever.

“How was your day?” he asked.

I opened my mouth to answer, but all I could think about was how handsome Parker looked in his dark jeans and button-up shirt, with a twill sport coat to complete the sexy ensemble. I’d never seen him dress so nicely. “Wow, you look amazing. What have you been up to today?”

“First, tell me how your day was.”

I loved how Parker always tried to make sure I felt seen and heard. He feared he hadn’t done a good enough job of that in his marriage. Bit by bit, he was opening up to me about his past.

I sashayed his way and planted a kiss on his lips before I spoke another word. Every time our eyes locked and our lips touched, a gentle shock of electricity went through my body.

Parker gripped the back of my head, pressing me to him as if asking me to stay awhile.

I was happy to oblige and parted my lips, catching my breath when his mouth fully captured mine and the dance of our tongues began. He tasted of garlic naan, savory and yummy.

His fingers tangled in my hair while his teeth nipped my lips, eliciting a gasp from me and a groan from him. That’s when he slowed the kiss and achingly removed his lips from mine.

“Lanie,” he whispered while gliding his fingers down my back.

“I love when you say my name like that. Like it means something to you.”

“You mean something to me.” He kissed the top of my head, holding on to me for a few beats longer.

For now, as we were getting to know each other, I would take “something.” I pressed my head against his chest, hoping someday we would mean everything to each other, that he would give me the smile that said I was all of his universes.

“How was your day?” Parker released me before pulling out a chair for me.

I sat down and grabbed a large piece of naan off the plate in front of me. “It was long, but good. We had a group of professional ‘coaches’ come in to talk about how to help our students embrace both risk taking and critical thinking. We went through a lot of exercises using the Socratic method, so my brain kind of hurts.”

Parker took the seat across from me and grinned. “I’m a fan of argumentative dialogue.”

“Is that so?”

“Debate was one of my favorite classes in high school.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.” I grabbed some of the jasmine rice and dished it onto my plate before covering it in chicken makhani. “By the way, thank you for dinner. I know how busy you’ve been, so this is a great surprise.”

And he had been busy. We’d barely seen each other this week. I was gone during the day, and at night he was playing catch-up and doing interviews via Zoom. Not to mention posting new positions within his company and dealing with technical issues. We were lucky to get an hour or two at night together before we both passed out from exhaustion.

“I’m sorry we haven’t been able to spend much time together. Hopefully things will slow down in the next few months.”

Months? “Do you need any help? I’d be happy to jump in.” Seriously, I needed some time with this man, even if we were working together. I was all about mixing business with pleasure.

He reached for his glass of water, not making eye contact. “You’ve done so much already. I can’t ask you for anything else. Besides, you’re back to work now. I don’t want to intrude on that.”

“Intrude away.” I smiled.

He dared a glance at me. “Lanie,” he said uneasily. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot. You are incredibly talented and capable. I wouldn’t have a company to speak of right now if it weren’t for you. But ...,” he hesitated to say, “as you can imagine, working with you makes me nervous. I don’t want our relationship to be about work. I did that before, and as you know, it didn’t turn out so well. And I’m not talking about losing my company. When Maren and I started working together, I think we lost something. We forgot who we were as a couple. I don’t want to do that with you, especially with our relationship being so new.”

Everything he said made total sense. I knew he wasn’t trying to hurt me, but after the last couple of weeks, I felt let down by this news. It wasn’t just because he didn’t want to work with me. Working on the expo made me feel smart, like I didn’t need to memorize the periodic table to be valued.

I had to catch my breath before I could speak. “I understand.” And I did. It just kind of sucked.

He reached across the table for my hand. “Lanie, I’ve hurt you.”

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