Addicted to Mr Parks (The Parks Series #2)(17)
“Certainly. Oh, and I wanted to inform you that David hasn’t stopped calling.”
Parks’s groan informed me that whoever David was, he was a pain in his arse. “Was I spotted entering the hospital?” Cleaver nodded, which made Parks groan again. “Tell him I’ll call him later.”
Parks steered me over to the lift with his hand firmly pressed on the small of my back. I glanced up at him, perplexity settling in. “You let him call you Wade?”
He pressed a code in the keypad, then turned back to me. “Cleaver is like family to me, Evelyn. Of course I do.” He gestured for me to enter the lift first as the doors opened, and he followed behind, pushing in another code when were inside.
“Who’s David?”
His lips tweaked. “Nosy, aren’t you? He’s my publicist and a big pain in my ass.”
Thought so. “Why?”
He pressed his lips to my temple. “He just is.” Parks changed the subject by telling me the passcode to get into his apartment and handed me an ID card. Wow. Talk about snazzy. What was wrong with a normal key?
His Kensington apartment was beautiful. A fish tank to the left of the lobby, the spiral staircase. The panoramic views out to the city, and stunning décor. It was perfection. Just like him.
“Go on up. I have to collect a few things from Cleaver.” He gestured to the stairs, so I made my way up and into the living/kitchen area. Parks came up the stairs with Cleaver shortly following behind. Cleaver placed six glossy bags onto the kitchen counter, nodded to us both, then headed back downstairs. My curious eyes glanced across the bags.
“Why do you have Myla bags?”
Parks loosened his tie and smirked. “I like to dress up on occasions.”
I scoffed out a laugh. “Now you’re being ridiculous.”
“Well, don’t ask ridiculous questions. They’re for you. Take them into the bedroom. I’ll be in shortly. I just have to make a few calls.” He handed me the bags and bent down to press a tender kiss to my forehead. Normally, I would have flinched because it was an action that affectionate couples did, but I didn’t this time. I accepted it and actually closed my eyes to relish it.
I picked up the bags and made my way up another set of stairs and into his bedroom to settle them on the bed. I emptied the Myla one first, and out fell a duck-egg baby-doll. I took it into my palms. It was soft satin, short, and had gorgeous lace trimming by the breast lining. Along with it was a matching silk wrap with widened arms. After emptying the whole bag, I noticed there were also ones in black, red, and white. Jesus. This is what he wanted me to wear to bed? Normally I wore comfy PJ bottoms and whatever top I pulled out of my wardrobe first. I opened a second bag, Agent Provocateur, and pulled out more baby-dolls to sleep in. I took another bag, and inside was a pink lace bra with a matching provocative lace thong that had three strings at the back. There was another white bra, but the material was completely see-through. The matching thong was the same. My backside fell down onto the bed while I held the garments in my hand and breathed out a long, dragged breath. I felt a little overwhelmed by it all. Flopping back onto the bed, I threw my arm over my eyes. Did he want me to wear these for him? I don’t know how many times I stared at myself in sexy underwear in the mirror, only to be reminded that the lingerie was the only thing sexy on my body. I wished I had the confidence to stand in front of a man naked. To feel sexy. But I didn’t.
“I will get you more, but that should tide you over for now.” I jumped up as Parks walked into the room, startling me. He then read my expression wrong. “Do you not like them?”
“They’re gorgeous,” I reassured him. “But I’ve got my own clothes, Parks. This is unnecessary.”
Of course, he wouldn’t hear of it. “I’m looking after you; there is nothing unnecessary about it.” He lowered himself onto the bed next to me, slipped his arms around my waist, and kissed my temple gently. “I’ve run you a bath. I’d like to wash you.”
I pushed myself away from him. “Now that’s where I draw the line. We can’t act like nothing has happened, Parks. I can’t—”
“I’m not asking you to, Evelyn,” he said gruffly, “but I want to help you, and you agreed to let me.”
I walked to the windows, wrapping my arms around myself. “I agreed, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be hard.”
I heard him push up from the bed, then saunter over to me to take my fingertips into his hands. “The things that are worth fighting for are never easy, but that doesn’t mean we give up.”
I blew out a harsh breath and let my hands fall from his. “A week ago you walked out on me, acted like I was worthless. You ignored my fall in the lobby, and now you want to help me? Can’t you see how f*cked up this is? Everything in my life is f*cked up. I think I’ll take that bath.” I walked around him, snatched a coral baby-doll from the bed, and padded into the bathroom.
I lay back against the egg-shaped bath, mindlessly rolling the bubbles around in my hand, not actually believing I was soaking in Parks’ bath. Only hours ago, I hated him, never wanted to see him again, and was glad he left me. Fast-forward a few hours and I’m accepting help from him and living in his swanky penthouse. Accepting expensive, sexy gifts and lying in bubble baths. On the outside it looked perfect, but my soul remained broken. Parks couldn’t fool me, either. He was hiding something, and if he wanted to unravel me, I sure as hell would be reciprocating.