Page 71 of Desired Hearts
Knowing what he meant, I moved my hips just the right way and cried out, Parker thrusting his hips up to me harder than he had all night.
Maybe it was the control. Maybe knowing we had no barrier between us. The whole night, wanting to touch him. The fire. The look in his eyes. I wasn’t sure. But something had shifted between us, and in the aftermath, before I pushed up and away from him, still joined together, we watched each other.
When Parker smiled, the oddest sensation of wanting to cry washed over me. I held it together, never in my life crying during, or after, sex. But somehow he knew. Parker pulled me toward him, against his chest, and I lay there, listening to his heart.
When my breathing became normal, my cheeks no longer tingling, I lifted my head up.
“I know,” he said, tucking errant strands of hair behind my hair. “I felt it too.”
26
DELANEY
“Hey, stranger,” Jules said on a break between customers.
Juliette and I met not long after she’d come to town in middle school with her mother. From Austin, they moved back to Cedar Falls where her grandparents had still lived at the time before they both passed. She was four years younger than me, so we didn’t know each other well then but became friends when I moved back to Cedar Falls. Most of the girls I hung out with in high school moved out of town, and I considered Jules one of my closest friends.
Of course, us both being “artsy types” didn’t hurt either. Although she was a writer, we often had discussions about the creative process, something a lot of people didn’t really get, even though I thought most people had a creative side to them, whether they knew it or not.
“What are you doing in here?” I asked. “The festival is”—I waved a hand toward the door—“out there.”
The Cedar Falls Winter Wonderland Festival was our town’s way of getting people to the area during a typically slow time. Since I was working until three, for me it just meant a busier day than normal with foot traffic, which was fine. I never realized until taking this job how awful being bored was. I preferred busy any day.
“Just popping in to say hello. I’m meeting some friends soon for lunch. Apparently The Big Easy and Bella Luna are both jam-packed, so we may just head down to O’Malley’s instead.”
“Tell Beck I said hello. Pretty sure he’s on for a double today.”
With her jet-black hair and signature stacked jewelry, Juliette, or Jules as most people called her, always looked like she was ready for a rock concert. Not even a thick winter jacket and hat could hide her unique style. Jules definitely marched to the beat of her own drum, and I loved that about her.
“Will do. So”—she looked around the pharmacy—“where’s he hiding? I know you don’t go anywhere these days without him.”
It was true. Parker and I had been together every day this week. Although he hadn’t stayed the night since Tuesday, we’d done something each day. Even yesterday when he mentioned a guys’ night with Mason and Beck, Parker had said, “We need to connect at some point,” and we went to brunch before I started work.
“He’s actually volunteering until two. Apparently Maggie roped him into manning the charity drive booth, although he didn’t seem to mind all that much.”
Maggie LeBlanc, the owner of a New Orleans-themed restaurant in the town square, was the chair of the event. It had been her idea a few years back, a way to liven up Cedar Falls in January.
“Volunteering. Of course. Is he really as nice as he seems?”
I asked myself that question at least once a day. “He really is. I’ll be honest, I thought for sure he was too good to be true. But he’s genuinely an all-around great guy.”
“No wonder Pia wanted you to get together with him sooner. Fucking Makis.”
“Tell me about it. Part of me still feels like I’m walking on eggshells even though I know the two are like night and day.”
Jules bit her lip. “Not to overstep, but you did ask me to remind you to listen to me the next time I gave you dating advice.”
“I guess you’re about to do that now?”
“I am. Let yourself love, Delaney. Forget Makis for good.”
Loving Parker would be so easy to do. And hearing my ex’s name reminded me of how little I’d thought about him recently. Every day that went by, the pain he’d caused by ending things the way he had ebbed further and further away.
“I’ll consider it,” I teased.
That seemed to be good enough for her. “In other news, I was talking to the owner of Cedarwood Grill the other day. My mom and I went in for lunch. He’s doing some renovating on the dining room, and I may have thrown your name out for some commissioned artwork. Hope you have time in your schedule.”
I appreciated that she’d thought to mention me. “I do. Any idea what he wants?”
