Addicted to Mr Parks (The Parks Series #2)(6)

“Like I said.” I sighed, fabricating my response. “There’s nothing wrong with me.” I pulled my hand from under his, took back the mouse, and tried to log in to my account. Twice I tried the password but kept getting it wrong. The third time my computer pinged, telling me I had one more chance.

“Are you having some trouble sighing in?” Clarke frowned.

I widened my blurry eyes and tried again, that time using more concentration. I was in. “I’ve done it,” I told him firmly.

He tried ignoring my erratic behaviour as he typed. “I have to look around for a new junior.”

“Oh?” I questioned thoughtlessly. “I thought Dwayne had the job?”

He straightened his glasses. “Well, it would seem something has stopped him coming to this firm. Which is terribly baffling. Any law student in their right mind would’ve jumped at an opportunity to work at Parks Law Firm.”

“I’m not the reason he didn’t want to come back, am I?” I didn’t care if I was, but I felt guilty because Clarke was excited about Dwayne joining his team.


Clarke wobbled his head. “No. Nothing to do with you,” he said adamantly, but I was sceptical. I’d gone AWOL, leaving Dwayne without help. After briefly weighing up scenarios of what it could be, it suddenly hit me.

“Parks,” I growled.

“Excuse me?” Clarke frowned, glancing towards me.

“Parks made sure he wouldn’t come here to work with us.”

Clarke rolled his eyes and carried on typing, clearly thinking my theory was ridiculous. “And why on earth would he do a preposterous thing like that?”

I knew damn well why he would do a preposterous thing like that, but admitting it would make me sound crazy. “You’re right, it’s silly.” Clarke didn’t believe me, but he didn’t question me, either.

Throughout the morning, it took me twice as long as usual to type up what Clarke needed from me. I only had two small drinks before I left for work that morning, but Jesus did it affect me.

“Take these forms to Carla, please, Evey.” I glanced up and over to Pat, who was waving documents at me. I used the edge of the desk to pull myself up, walked over to Pat, who was watching me suspiciously, and took the files from her hands. Walking into Carla’s office, I straightened out my back, getting myself ready for another verbal thrashing. I placed the documents on her desk and was about to turn and leave, but she clicked her fingers at me promptly. I knew I wasn’t going to get away without a confrontation.

Crossing her long legs, she sat back in her chair smugly and clasped her red-painted fingernails together.

“So nice of you to actually show up to work this morning. Reason for absence?”

I wrinkled my nose in disgust, mentally warning myself to behave. “I wasn’t well.”

“And now you’re better?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t, would I?”

Her phone rang, stopping her from snapping at me. I watched in revulsion at how she answered the phone thinking she was the dog’s bollox.

“Carla Hammond.”

Turning on my heel and away from her, I mindlessly stared out the windows and over to the London Eye until something she said spiked my attention.

“No. I will be attending the meeting alone. Mr. Parks is leaving for America that week.”

He’s leaving? Why did my heart skip a precious beat when I heard that news? Carla—of course—caught my reaction, and her lips twisted in satisfaction.

“Yes, Mrs. Hunt, good-bye.” She placed the handset down slowly, then swivelled in her chair to face me, crossing her arms and drumming her fingers along her bicep. “So you didn’t know Mr. Parks was leaving?”

“How would I know?” I shrugged.

“Well,” she began, “you have a thing for him, don’t you? It’s a shame he only has a thing for me.”

What I should have done was act with grace and nonchalance, but my instincts took over, and I rolled my eyes on a scoff. “Is that so?”

Carla’s offended flinch was a reaction I was hoping for. “You know nothing about him.”

I begged myself to leave it at that. Pleaded with my mouth to zip up, but of course, I was impulsive. I was never going to relent. “I know more than you think.”

“Oh?” Her red lips twitched. “So you know that he’s a gentleman in the streets but a beast in the sheets?”

“You’ve slept with him?” Shit. My voice was higher than I intended it to be, making it seem like I cared. Did I care? No. I was just curious.

She didn’t confirm it. Just smiled and pushed to her heels. “Do you remember the night of the society dinner after I spoke to you in the toilets, warning you to leave him alone? Who do you think he came and kissed? Me.” She bitchily grinned.

I quickly racked my brain, trying to remember that night. All I did remember was how Parks parted my legs and went down on me so dextrously that I would never forget it in a lifetime. Whether he kissed Carla afterwards was a mystery. The thought of him kissing another woman, though, pierced my chest like sharp jabs, making a switch flick inside my head. Immediately, I knew I was about to cross the line, but I couldn’t stop myself.

“Oh.” I raised my eyebrow, humouring her. “So how did I taste?”