Page 8 of Steamy Dunk
"Nice to meet you."
Her voice was too sweet and fake and it was obvious she was fishing for information. She probably saw Violet with Parker and had purposely come over to size up the woman with her ex-boyfriend.
"So who are you here with?"
Yep. She was totally transparent. Gross. Katherine knew the answer to that question, which is why she came over here in the first place to ask it. Violet couldn't get out of there fast enough.
"Um, sorry, but could you excuse me for a moment?"
She turned and saw Shalee give her a reassuring smile. It turned out that she wasn't the only one who could see through Katherine's ploy. But Shalee's smile seemed genuine enough, like saying "I know you're abandoning me, but it's OK. I understand."
Violet stood up, gave Katherine a quick "Nice meeting you," and left.
Parker was waiting for her at the bar with the bartender asking, "What can I get you?" But he didn't seem to notice, instead nodding his head toward the curtain-framed doorway to a side lounge. Violet actually designed and sewed the curtains herself.
There were a few people sitting at tables in the darkened room, but it wasn't as crowded. It was a little more cozy than the main area as well, which Violet was now keenly aware of as Parker had pulled her closer to him to tuck themselves out of the way of prying eyes.
And yet, his eyes were prying into her. It made her nervous in a delicious way to see him standing there looking so far down at her. She could get used to this basketball player thing.
"You OK?" he asked in a quiet tone.
"Was that your ex-girlfriend that was talking to me? With the red dress?"
She watched him swallow hard and nod his head. "I'm really sorry about that."
But Violet just waved her hand aimlessly in the air. "Oh, it's fine. It's just..." Her voice trailed off as she realized just how much Parker was staring at her, wondering what her next words would be. "Um, did you know she refers to her boyfriend as Dr. Tom?"
A smile started to creep at the corners of his lips. "Yeah." He gave her a small laugh and shook his head. "It's weird, right?"
"Very weird!"
Parker's mouth tightened just a bit, licking his lips a little as his bigger smile faded and into a smaller one. There was something starting to crackle in the air and Violet liked it. But was she supposed to? She just met Parker this morning and already he seemed to have this flirtatious pull on her that made her want to do more than just be his date for tonight.
"Um, hey." He reached out and brushed a piece of her loose hair over her shoulder. "I put in my appearance so we can head out anytime you want. Like, we can go now if you want to."
Now? Sure, Violet's feet her in her red shoes and she was getting a little sick of the strapless bra she was wearing. Going home wouldn't be a bad thing.
She didn't want to just go home. She wanted to go home with Parker. There was something pulling her to him that she couldn't explain. But then she really couldn't explain anything about today, starting with how she got here to The Cheshire Cat in this green dress with a gorgeous basketball player. She was wearing sweatpants this morning and didn't even know who Parker Blakeman was. And now...
"Can we get out of here?"
Parker released a breath that she hadn't realized he was holding in and that big smile of his returned. Then his hand slid into her and he pulled her close to him. He was warm and even more rock solid than she expected for a lanky basketball player.
He leaned down -- far down -- so he was close enough to her ear that she could feel his breath on her neck.
"Let's go."
Chapter Four
Was it a bit cliche for Violet to be ending a date in a man's tuxedo jacket? Yes, but she didn't care.
It was a little chilly when she stepped out of the restaurant to wait for their car to pull around and Parker must have noticed that she was rubbing her arms to get a little warmer. She didn't ask for his jacket and really didn't ask for his help at all. He just quietly shrugged off that gorgeous tuxedo jacket and put it over her shoulders. There was nothing wrong with her accepting it.
There was also nothing wrong with her slipping her arms into the jacket after they got in the car. It was just to help it stay on. And there was nothing wrong with grabbing Parker's hand as they watched the city go by them from the back of the SUV he was paying for. Just another totally normal thing for a Saturday night.
Except none of this seemed normal.
She still wondered what exactly "this" was. For now, Violet was just going to assume it was a pleasant night and there was nothing else to it. She and Parker would go their separate ways at the elevator and it was a good time. Maybe they could do it again.
