Addicted to Mr Parks (The Parks Series #2)(41)

“I know.” He pressed a tender kiss to my forehead. “I need all of you, Evelyn. Even if it’s bit by bit. I don’t want to rush what we have, and I don’t want to f*ck it up, either.”

I wanted all of him too, and I also didn’t want to f*ck up what could be special. “Me neither.”

Something behind me caught his eye. “Princess, wait here. I just have to take care of something.”

I let go of his hand and watched him make his way to reception. Causally turning to look around the lobby, I quickly caught sight of Julian.

“Julian?” He turned his head, noticed it was me, and rudely carried on walking. I jogged up to him and tapped his shoulder to gain his attention. “How’s Steph? Have you seen her?”

His scoff pissed me off, and he snarled over his shoulder. “No, I haven’t.” The odd twitch his eye gave was an indication of a lie, but I didn’t question him. I wanted to know about Steph, and the way not to do it was to piss Julian off.

“If you do, could you tell her—?”

“I’m not telling her f*ck all for you,” he spat, then glanced behind me quickly, his face turning pale. “Mr. Parks.” Julian cleared his throat.


“Is there a problem?” Parks went on, slipping his arm around my waist.

Julian glanced to where he had me. “Um, not at all.”

From the moment Julian caught me and Parks in the hotel lobby looking completely suspicious a few weeks back, he knew something was going on between us. But Parks was also CEO of the company he worked for, so Julian wasn’t going to say anything to him.

Parks tightened his grip around my waist. “Then why are you mad at Evelyn, may I ask?”

Julian’s expression dropped. “Oh, it’s nothing.”

I would have loved to tell Parks that he called me an alcoholic slut before, but that was petty. I punched Julian for it, so that was enough revenge. For now.

“Evelyn is with me now. So I suggest you choose your words wisely when talking to her.”

Julian just nodded, not sure of what to say or do, then scuttled away like the creep he was.

“Who’s he?” Parks jerked his head in Julian’s direction and began walking away from the exit with his arm still around my waist.

“Steph’s personal trainer. He works at your gym.”

“I could see that,” Parks teased, meaning Julian’s uniform.

“What did you need to take care of?” I glanced up at him as he led me through a corridor of the hotel I’d never seen before.

“Oh, Jenifer—the manager—wanted a quick word.”

“Did she flirt with you?”

He stopped walking and grabbed my elbow. “Is that a serious question?”

I was stunned by it myself. Jealousy was not a trait of mine. Where the hell did that from?

“No. Ignore me.”

He bent down and kissed my temple. “Never worry. You are the woman that has captured my eyes. Come on, I’m taking you for dinner.”

I looked down at my gym clothes, horrified. “Dinner? I’m not dressed for dinner.”

“You look perfect to me.”

“But not for dinner. Wherever you plan on taking me I’m sure will be all glamorous and lobster food, and I’m dressed for the gym.”

“Lobster food?” He laughed, a laugh that was rare, and I treasured it truly.

“Posh food.” I shrugged.

He laughed again. “I’m taking you to Gordon Ramsay’s because you said you wanted to go, correct?”

My mouth fell open. He continuously amazed me with the attention he paid to my words.

“Yeah, but not like this.”

“Like I said, you look perfect.”

Then I noticed he was taking me out of the back way of the hotel, where Cleaver was waiting. “Afternoon, Wade. Evey.”

“Hi.” My smile was short, I didn’t mean to be rude, but Parks’s behaviour was making me paranoid. “How come we’re going out the back way?” I asked when he opened the car door for me and let me slide in first.

Parks slipped in, using all that elegance his body was made of. “Because there are paparazzi waiting to get a shot of us out front.”

My heart stopped, and my paranoia hit a high. Paparazzi? “How do they know we’re together?”

“They know everything. Tip-offs, mainly.” He took his smartphone out of his pocket and read a text, his brow furrowing as he replied quickly.

“Don’t you want to be seen with me?”

Cleaver pulled out into traffic, and Parks pulled his gaze from his phone screen and glared over at me. “Evelyn, if it was safe, I would show you off to the damn world. But when you start having your photo taken with me, put in the papers and linked to me, they will dig up whatever they can find on you.”

“So you’re worried about what they’ll think of me?”

He went back to his phone. “Now you’re being ridiculous.”

I pushed his phone down and out of his view. “Am I? You said yourself, you couldn’t be associated with someone like me. And—”

“Stop,” he demanded with a smack of his hand on the leather seats. I shut my mouth and stared out the window.

Of course he didn’t want the world to know he was dating someone like me. It would ruin his clean name. Although I would never want to shame him, it still hurt to think he was ashamed of me.