Chasing Forever(55)

He didn’t make any move to leave. “Do you want go to dinner after work?”

“I go to the gym after work on Mondays.”

“Tomorrow, then.”

“I don’t know.”

“If you don’t say yes, I’m not opposed to playing dirty.” He walked to the door, and his hand rested on the doorknob.

She’d witnessed him playing dirty, and she just might be compelled to beg for more. “Is that a threat?” she asked, a wayward smile dancing at the corner of her pleasure-stung lips.

“If it needs to be.”

“Hmm…” She looked up pretending to consider her answer. “Okay, tomorrow night it is.”

“Lucas,” she called as he opened the door.

“Yes?”

“Have you seen my gold earrings? I think I might have put them in your toiletry bag accidently or left them on the bathroom vanity.”

“I’ll look.”



***



Two hours later, Parker called asking if she could meet him for drinks after work. Regan knew she shouldn’t be frustrated by his persistence. He still believed they were dating. He didn’t know what happened between her and Lucas, and that wasn’t his fault. It was hers. She should have dealt with this over the weekend instead of letting it linger.

“I would love to go, but I have to work late tonight and I take a class at the gym on Monday nights.” She cringed at her word choice. Making him believe for one more second that she still had any interest in pursuing a relationship with him wasn’t fair.

“Do you realize if you’re dating someone, you should make the effort to see that person on occasion?”

“Parker—”

“Unless you aren’t interested and, in that case, general courtesy dictates that you inform the other person,” he interrupted.

She paused, trying to choose her words with awareness. “You know I’m busy, and I had that business trip last week and now.…” She couldn’t think of any explanation other than the truth. She owed him the truth.

“Now what?” he asked and she could hear the frustration in his voice loud and clear. He’d been her friend for a long time. He didn’t deserve to be strung along like this. She wasn’t the type of person that did that.

She bit her lip hard, and the silence stretched on the phone.

“Regan,” he said, drawing out her name. “We’ve been friends for two years. Just tell what’s going on. I’m not going to be mad.”

She sighed into the phone. “Okay, so I started seeing someone.” Parker didn’t say anything, so she felt compelled to keep talking. “This guy I know,” she added, hating the silence.

“Do I know him?”

Regan started tapping her pen on her desk. “It’s kind of new, and I don’t want to talk about him…with you.”

“When did this happen?”

“I don’t know. Last week. I can’t say exactly.” She answered evasively because maybe it started the moment she walked in Lucas’s office at the beginning of the summer. She’d thought her feelings for him were dead that day, but now she knew they’d been there all along just waiting for the moment he walked into her life again.

“But you were gone most of last week,” he said sounding confused.

“Uh huh.” She didn’t want to elaborate. The tapping of her pen sped up.

“Unless…” He groaned. “Please tell me you’re not seeing your asshole boss.”

Oh shit. She froze and the pen dropped onto her skirt leaving a sizable inkblot. This wasn’t exactly how she planned this conversation, not that she actually planned it out in detail, but she wanted to keep Lucas out of the explanation for as long as possible.

“Parker, I don’t want to talk about who I’m dating.” She took a sip of water, her throat suddenly dry. “It’s not relevant.”

“I wouldn’t either if I were you.” She heard him breathing into the phone, and she could imagine the disapproval coloring his face. “Your boss? Seriously. That guy is such an ass. I met him for five seconds and I knew what kind of guy he is. I thought you were smarter than that.”

For the first time since she’d met Parker, he sounded bitter and harsh. She didn’t like this side of Parker. She wanted her friend back. “Don’t be mean. I didn’t set out to hurt you. I have a history with him, and I don’t know…” How could she justify what she did and why? It hardly made sense to her. Getting back together with Lucas wasn’t planned. He just worked his way under her defenses until she was too weak to deny him.