Page 74 of Desired Hearts
That wasn’t at all where I thought he was going with this conversation. “What do you mean?”
“I wanted to touch you all night. Kiss you the second you walked into the inn. But I’m trying not to push?—”
“Push all you want,” I said, the words flying from my mouth as I thought about Jules’s advice.
“You sure about that?”
“Yes,” I said, remembering how I’d felt just before falling asleep, wondering if maybe Parker had met someone and that was why he hadn’t texted. Someone less fragile than me. “I don’t want to be needy. That’s not who I am.”
Parker looked furious all of a sudden. “I swear to God, if I ever meet that asshole, I’m going to kick his ass for making you feel that way. Delaney,” he said, “wanting to be reassured, knowing you care, isn’t needy. It’s hotter than hell. Please don’t hold back. Not with me.”
His words were like a soothing balm caressed over an open wound. One I thought had healed but that clearly still festered.
“I’m still waiting for the shoe to drop,” I admitted. “No one can possibly be as nice, and understanding, and amazing in bed,” I added with a smile, “as you. How haven’t you been scooped up way before now?”
“Because I’m also damaged. My father?—”
“Isn’t you.”
We pulled onto the block where our carriage ride would come to an end. I didn’t want to get up. I wanted to stay here, in Parker’s arms, talking, all night.
“To be clear,” he said as the carriage slowed, “when we meet up with the others later, I’m not hiding anything.”
“Good.”
“We’re together.”
“We are,” I agreed. To just to clarify. “As in…”
“As in, you are my girlfriend, Delaney. And I’m going to text you good morning, and good night, anytime we’re not already together.”
My pulse raced. This was really happening. “And seeing other people?”
The carriage stopped.
Parker slowly shook his head.
No.
Smiling, I tossed the blanket from my lap. “Well then. That was an eventful carriage ride.”
Parker held my hand as I began to climb down. “Wait till you see what I have planned next, cupcake.”
27
PARKER
“Look at him,” I said as Beck made his way toward us.
Mason and I had been painting the hallway for an hour. With no guests, it was a good time to get it done, being the only indoor painting job left. At this point, every room of the inn had been renovated, and while there were a few bigger jobs remaining, most of those would wait until spring.
“He’s a fucking mess,” Mason said, more bluntly.
Since Beck and I were roommates, when I offered to move in to help Mason renovate, Beck immediately decided he would do the same. At the time, Mason had laughed at Beck’s insistence he could be as useful as me, and it seemed like now he had a good reason to be skeptical. If he wasn’t working, Beck was either screwing someone new, sleeping in… actually those were his three primary activities.
“I heard that.”
Mason ignored him. “There’s a pan for you over there.”
