Chasing Forever (The Forever Series #1)(21)
Regan shook her head disbelievingly. “Oh, please. Save the bullshit for someone else. It’s in the past, and that’s where I want it to stay.” Regan reached for the door handle and then paused. “I’ll go with you next week, but not because I want an offer from Martin and Black. Well, not as long as you’re here anyway. I’m going so I’ll know what you’re thinking when I’m sitting at that opposing counsel’s table.” With that, she opened the door and left.
As he watched her walk out of his office with her head held high, he knew he deserved every ounce of her anger and more. He’d totally f*cked up with Regan, and he couldn’t lay all the blame at Olivia’s feet even if he wanted to. The long overdue realization shredded him. He had to fix this.
Chapter Ten
“I. Do. Not. Want. To. Go.”
Regan stretched out on her sofa with her legs on the coffee table while she and Parker shared a pizza.
Parker tilted his head to the side. “So don’t go. What’s the big deal? You said you didn’t want to work there after this summer. Stop sweating it.”
Parker had texted her after work asking if she wanted to grab something for dinner. Still fuming from her confrontation with Lucas, she didn’t feel liking going out, but she suggested pizza and a movie at her place instead.
“But I still need a reference,” she whined. “I can’t walk away from this summer empty handed.”
Parker shrugged as he folded a slice of pizza in half lengthwise. “Contract a sudden illness, or better yet, invent a family emergency. If he’s mad, come work with me at the District Attorney’s office. It’d be fun. You might even change your mind and decide you want to be a prosecutor.”
“Lucas wouldn’t believe it. He knows I don’t want to go with him.”
“Who cares what he thinks. Lucas is an *.”
“Now that’s a true statement if I’ve ever heard one.” She laughed and then took a bite of her pizza.
Parker touched her chin with his napkin. “You had cheese.”
“Oh,” she said, smiling, enjoying the way he looked at her as though she were special. “Thanks,” she added. Then he leaned in and kissed her lightly on the lips. It was an easy, comfortable kiss, just like him.
“So, I’ve been meaning to ask you about something,” he said, his blue eyes shining at her.
“Okay.” Regan froze. She didn’t want to answer any more questions about Lucas. She told Parker she didn’t like Lucas because he had mistreated a friend in college or something vague like that. She complained that she didn’t trust him, and she couldn’t imagine spending time alone with him in Colorado. He didn’t question her further. He just accepted her statement. She liked that about him. He was easy, uncomplicated, and sincere unlike someone else she knew.
Looking at her expectantly, Parker lifted one of his arms and stretched it out along the top of the couch behind her. “My older brother got engaged last month, and my parents are throwing an engagement party in a couple weeks. I’d like you to go with me as my date.”
Wow. Meeting the parents. It felt a little fast. She’d known Parker for two years, but they’d only been on two dates and the first one ended abruptly with an entire glass of beer on her blouse. “Are you sure? It seems a little premature. We don’t know each other that well.”
“I'm not a random guy you met at a bar. We’ve know each other for two years,” he responded, looking at her fondly. “Don’t get freaked out. I didn’t ask you to marry me. It’s just a date.”
“To meet your family at your parents’ house.”
Parker laughed. “Don’t think of it that way. Over a hundred people will be there. I’ll introduce you to my parents, but that’s it, no interrogation, and no sharing intimate life details. The experience will be completely stress-free. I promise.”
“I don’t know,” she said skeptically, her stomach clenching. She wanted to take things slow.
“You’re not going to force me to go to this event dateless, are you? I’ve already told my family I was dating someone, and if you don’t show, I’ll never hear the end of it. They already think I’m a hopeless law nerd,” he teased.
She rolled her eyes. She could do this. It wasn’t a big deal. She needed to move beyond her phobia of relationships and Parker seemed like the perfect guy to help her with that. “Okay, I’ll go, but only to save you from being stuck in perpetual law nerd status.”
Parker leaned in and kissed her, quickly and gently. “Thanks, I feel better now that I know pity works to manipulate you. I like knowing people’s weaknesses.”
Two hours later, Regan kissed Parker goodnight and locked her front door. As she cleaned up the mess from dinner, she thought about her relationship with Parker and the pending trip to Colorado with Lucas.
Parker put everything out there. Unlike Lucas, she didn’t believe Parker had a hidden agenda. He liked her and she liked him. He had a good head on his shoulders and she could never imagine him hurting her. Dating him was simple, pleasant, and easy. There was that word again, easy. But she needed easy because making it through the summer at Martin and Black would be anything but easy.
She decided to tell Lucas she couldn’t go on the trip with him early tomorrow morning. She wouldn’t lie or make up some excuse as Parker suggested. She couldn’t invent an excuse more compelling than the truth. After all, she and Lucas didn’t need any more lies. She didn’t think Lucas would be in favor of airing their dirty laundry in front of Richard or any of the other partners, so he probably wouldn’t fight her decision or sell her out. Crawling into bed later that night, she felt good about her conclusion. As she closed her eyes, she prayed Annabelle hadn’t already purchased airline tickets.