Page 30 of Parker

King’s low grunt of agreement came from the passenger seat.

Wasn’t expecting that, but I’ll take it.

“Appreciate it.” He really did. “And just so you’re aware, I know the press has made me out to be this cocky playboy who spends his days playing video games and his nights bedding every woman with a pulse. But that’s not me.” Not even close.

“Funny.” Hunt flashed him a knowing smirk in the rearview. “Cross said the same thing when he called.”

Asher had said that? “Really?”

The Delta operator nodded. “Said you weren’t anything like the immature player the tabloids made you out to be, and that everything they printed about you was a lie.” He huffed out a breath. “Other than the cocky part, that is. Ash said that was one hundred percent truth.”

Parker grinned, his anxiety a little less on point than it had been a few minutes earlier. “I plead the fifth.”

“I bet,” Hunt replied.

Another, more comfortable silence fell over them once more. Before he knew it, Parker heard Hunt say…

“We’re here.”

Glancing through the windshield from the center of the vehicle’s middle seat, he saw the grocery store’s shining florescent sign. His nerves returned with a vengeance, the sudden urge to jump out of the moving vehicle and yell out her name much stronger than it should have been.

Chill out, Park. You don’t even know she’s here. This whole thing could be one big set-up.

But even as the thought formed, Parker knew that wasn’t the case. Jinx was here, and the fear he’d heard in her voice when she’d called…

That shit was as real as it got.

He scanned the lot, noting several random spaces filled with various makes, models, and colors of cars. But he only had to find one.

“She drives a black Nissan Altima. Four-door.”

“You got a plate?”

Parker shook his head. “She said I’d know it when I saw it.”

The words had no more left his lips when he spotted a black sedan two rows over. “There! That might be it.”

Lucky for him, they’d just reached the end of the row they’d been driving down, so Hunt was able to get them to the other car in nothing flat.

The car came into clear view, his heart leaping into his throat when he saw the silver, circular logo centered on the rear edge of the trunk.

A trunk that was dented all to hell.

What the…

“Holy shit.” Hunt spotted the damage at almost the exact same time.

“She mention anything about getting into a wreck?” King finally decided to join the conversation.

“No.” Parker zeroed in on the car’s windows. From what he could tell, they were still intact, the car’s rear bumper and trunk holding the majority of the damage.

His breathing picked up, his heart beating wildly as he tried like hell to catch a glimpse inside.

There!

“I see her!” Parker announced in a rush, pointing to the half-sitting, half-slouched figure in the Nissan’s front seat.

Hunt slowed the SUV, pulling into an empty space a couple spots away. Not waiting for the wheels to come to a complete stop, Parker opened his door, his boots hitting the asphalt at the same time Hunt opened his door and hollered out for him to wait.

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