Page 39 of Parker

“No sign of Oreo yet, but cats are resourceful, and they love to hide. I’m sure she’ll show up soon.” He watched her closely as he added, “Syd’s like my little sister, Jinx. She’s also engaged to the same man who arranged for Delta’s help with all of this.”

“Oh.” The guarded woman blinked a few times. “That was really nice of him.”

Does she even realize she sounds relieved?

“I’m not with anyone, Jinx.” He tilted his head, thwarting her attempts at breaking eye contact. “I told you that before, remember?”

“I know.” A bit defensive. “You’re obviously free to see whoever you want. It’s not like you and I are…together. I only asked about the phone call because I thought it might be—”

“Hunt,” Parker finished for her. “Yeah, I got that.”

An adorable blush filled her cheeks as she jutted her chin, her shoulders becoming stiff. Glancing back down to their hands, Jinx motioned for him to take control of the towel.

“I, uh…I guess you can probably take it from here.”

Unable to tear his eyes away, Parker blindly moved to grab the gathered material. His hand landed on hers in the process.

The tiny hitch of breath filled the otherwise silent room. Her gaze returned, the expanding pupils and slight parting of her lips giving away the woman’s reaction to his touch.

She feels it, too. Good to know.

It was his turn to blink. Heart kicking against his ribs, he lifted his hand so she could remove hers. The void her touch left took him instantly off guard.

He shouldn’t feel this strongly about her. Especially when, as Sydnee had so vehemently pointed out minutes earlier, he still didn’t know her name.

I’ll know it soon, sweetheart. Very, very soon.

“So.” Parker went back to the sink, setting the unneeded towel in the stainless-steel cavern. “You sleep okay?”

“Not really.”

Her blatant honesty had him turning his head. Walking toward him, Jinx stopped about a foot away from him, her lower back resting against the counter’s edge.

Cleaning up the spilled coffee, he forced himself to focus on what needed to be done, rather than her. “The place we’re staying at tonight will be more comfortable.” He tossed a wad of soiled paper towels in the trash. “Clothes fit okay?”

“Yeah.” She nodded, giving her outfit a quick glance. “Perfect, actually. Thank you. And I will pay you back as soon as I get my wallet.”

“Told you last night, it’s my treat.”

“And I appreciate that, but I’m still paying you back.”

His lips twitched as he filled the second mug. The woman knew he was a billionaire, but still insisted on paying him back for a bill that cost less than two hundred dollars.

A vast difference from the other women who’d come in and out of his life. Apart from Sydnee, of course.

“Hunt called a few minutes ago,” he shared. “Said he and King were at your place, and there were definite signs of a struggle.”

“Because there was one.” She sighed. “Did they say whether they found my purse and tablet?”

“They’d only just gotten there, but I told him to call if he had any issues.”

When they’d gotten here last night, Jinx had given Hunt her address, along with her keys and a list of things she wanted from her place. On that list had been several clothing items, but Parker had shut down that idea.

It was probably overkill, but given what he knew about technology—and the classified work he sometimes did for the government that very few people knew about—he wasn’t taking the chance of her being tracked.

Hence the new outfit she had on now.

The purse, wallet, and tablet she’d requested would be easy enough to check. Clothes, however, had too many places a tiny chip could be hidden or sewn into, it would take forever to do a thorough check. Thankfully when he’d explained all that to Jinx last night, she’d agreed.

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