Page 13 of Eternal Hoptimist

Austin looked over my shoulder, and his eyes went wide. “This can’t be a coincidence. Is he stalking you?”

I turned and saw the group of people Caleb must’ve been talking about earlier. One person turned to gesture to something, and that’s when I saw him—Parker.

“No fucking way.”

“Is that the guy from the club you cockbl—Ouch! Why’d you kick me?” Caleb complained.

What’s he doing here? Is he one of the people trying to develop this place?I couldn’t take my eyes off him as he talked with the group. They all smiled and laughed, but he seemed tense. I could think of a dozen ways to ease his tension that wouldn’t even require him stripping out of his sexy dark-blue suit. I hadn’t been able to shake him from my thoughts. He’d featured in my fantasies all week, and realizing he was basically one degree of Kevin Bacon away from me hadn’t made the attraction any easier to ignore.

“Are you going to go talk to him?”

“Probably not.” What was there to say? Neither of us wanted anything serious. Even if we did, we lived too far apart.

As I collected my trash, Austin waved to Parker.

“Just trying to make up for interrupting you last week,” he said, then winked at me. “He saw me.”

Guess I have to say something now.

CHAPTER5

PARKER

“I swearmy kids would complain if their friends got boats, and I ‘only’ got them each their own jet skis for Christmas.” One of the guys from LD Development shook his head. He was one of a half dozen representatives from my development client who’d joined the tour to decide whether they wanted to make an offer on the property to develop condos.

“Tell me about it. I bought mine everything on their lists, and they still whined,” another of the commercial developers said.

“So did my wife. I bought her a tennis bracelet, and she asked about matching earrings,” my boss, Glenn, said. A current of annoyance contradicted his bemused smile.

They looked expectantly at me, waiting for me to join in on their privileged bitchfest.

“You got any kids?” one of them asked.

“Not yet.” I tried for a breezy tone and hoped they didn’t press.

“Did your wife start dropping hints for Valentine’s Day?” He laughed, and the others joined in.

I tried for more than a halfhearted chuckle. “I’m not married, but my mom loves getting chocolates on Valentine’s Day.”And how about not making assumptions about my sexuality? I’m your lawyer, not your friend.

The energy shifted, and Glen’s expression pinched like it did when I wasn’t able to join in the marriage and family small talk. What made complaining about families the only way to connect with clients? Just because I was single with no kids didn’t make me any less capable of helping them secure the land and complete their planned condo development.

It was an unspoken rule that those in the final running for partner at Sullivan Brothers were those with families, or at least well on the way to having one. I hated it. How could they expect me to find someone to settle down with when I often pulled sixty-plus-hour work weeks? I barely had enough time to take care of myself, let alone go on dates and put effort into a relationship.

“Thanks for meeting, gentlemen,” Glen said after shooting me a look like I’d killed the vibe with my toxic singleness.

“I appreciate your time. When I have the contract draft for you to review, I will be in touch.” I shook hands with each of the LD Development leadership.

“See you back at the office,” Glen said.

I nodded, then turned to pick out a food truck to grab a quick lunch from before heading back for my afternoon marathon meetings.

Movement caught my eye, and I spotted a vaguely familiar person waving at me.Where do I know him from?The swoop of hair and narrow shoulders of the person sitting across from him were familiar—etched in my mind after staring at them while dancing on New Year’s Eve, clutching his hips and grinding against him. He turned toward me.Ethan? How in the hell?I stopped in my tracks and locked eyes with him. He looked startled, but that faded into an easy smile as he stood.

Universe, what are you playing at?

I returned his smile and walked toward him. He met me at the edge of the cluster of tables in the middle of the pod. He was as cute as he’d been the last two times I’d seen him.

“We’ve got to stop meeting like this,” I said.

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