Page 17 of Parker

The only thing I can come up with is the same reason I lifted my glass to Quinn in the lounge yesterday and why I quickly set up his table when I saw him struggling this morning. We are two small fish from the same glassy pond, and Vegas is a giant rolling sea full of sharks. It doesn’t matter if I hate him. Quinn Morgan is still from Skagway, he’s still my little brother’s best friend, and I’ve known him for almost as long as he’s been alive. I feel a thin, but certain, loyalty to him even if I don’t like it.

I freshen up my makeup, determined to give Quinn a head’s up about Sociopath Skylar if the chance arises, but not to go out of my way if it doesn’t. After all, I was the one who insisted we be strangers on this trip. I shouldn’t be thinking about him at all. I should be doing my own thing, making my own connections, and enjoying my all-expenses-paid week away from home.

Walking back to my table at the end of the break, I note that Quinn hasn’t returned yet, but Skylar has. She catches my eye as I make my way down the aisle.

“Hey!” she calls to me as I pass her table.

I stop and turn to face her.

“It’s Parker, right? Parker Stewart?”

“Yep. And you’re Skylar Jones.”

“Ding, ding, ding! Give the lady a prize!”

She doesn’t extend her hand or anything, just smiles at me from behind her table, which makes me feel both cautious and uneasy. Instinct, I guess. She narrows her eyes a touch and tilts her head to the side.

“You rustling up business for Skagway?”

“Same as you’re doing for Ketchikan.”

“Not exactly the same,” she says with a condescending smirk. “We’re theJoneses. We have the biggest travel outfit in the state.”

“Not in Skagway,” I say, feeling defensive.

“Skagway’s small potatoes.”

“Look, I don’t know what you’re trying to—”

“Saw you staring at Quinn during lunch,” says Skylar, the words firing from her lips quick and clean like bullets.

“Staring?” My eyes dart up to her face. “Hardly.”

“Seemed like it to me.”

I scoff. “Well, I wasn’t. I’ve known him forever. He’s like a brother to me.”

“I have a brother,” says Skylar. “I don’t stare at him like that.”

I cross my arms over my chest. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

“Just admit you have a thing for him.”

“Ha!” I chortle. “A thing for Quinn? You are so far off the mark, it’s scary.”

“Maybe tell your face that.”

Her stupid—and completely wrong—assumption triggers me. “Shut up, Skylar. You werealwaysa bully.”

“Another self-righteous Stewart,” she says, rolling her eyes.

“Not self-righteous. Justright. There’s nothing between me and Quinn but air.”

She smirks. “Whatever you say, Parker.”

“This is ridiculous,” I say, backing away from her table and offering her the fakest smile I can muster. “Have a great conference, Skylar. Be well.”

“Oh, you too. Say hey to my old friend Harper for me, huh?”

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