Playing Dirty (Risky Business, #2)(14)

“That’s not good,” I said. “What if she changes her mind? Or he does? Is he still in love with her?”

Now Megan looked downright dejected. “Yeah, I think so. I told him I wasn’t comfortable with him still being so close to his ex—I mean they text like all the time—but he said they were just friends and I shouldn’t worry.”

“Which means you should worry.”

“Exactly.”

“And to top it off,” she continued, “Brian’s been turning up again, sending me random texts about work stuff.”

“No way is he texting you again,” I said in disbelief. Megan had crushed on the eccentric and socially awkward IT guy for quite a while before giving it up as hopeless.

“I know, right?”

We commiserated for a while on the sometimes inexplicable behavior of men before we had to get back to our mutual jobs. But Megan talking about Todd still being hung up on his ex had me thinking about Natalie.

A few months ago, I’d found a photo of Ryker, Parker, and the woman I’d assumed to be Natalie tucked away in a dresser drawer in Ryker’s bedroom. Keeping something like that made me think that maybe Todd wasn’t the only one still hung up on an ex. And I was confused as to the conflicting reports I’d heard about Natalie. Ryker made her seem akin to a saint when he spoke of her, whereas Amy hadn’t appeared to like her very much at all.

Was Ryker over Natalie? That was a question I wanted answered before I could decide whether or not “serious” was in the cards for us.

*

It was late in the afternoon when Parker called me into his office to work on a file for one of our biggest clients. It took a couple of hours and I kept glancing surreptitiously at my watch, wondering if I was going to have to cancel dinner with my parents. This last time, Parker caught me at it.

“Something wrong?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“No, I just—”

“Have a date with Ryker?” Parker interrupted.

“No. My parents are coming to take me to dinner,” I said, omitting the information that Ryker was coming, too, and that he was in fact the entire reason for my parents driving into the city.

“Ah. I see.” Parker settled back into his chair from where he’d been pacing as he talked through the case and I’d taken notes. “You know, I’d like to think we’re still friends, you and me.”

“We are?” Parker and I had never discussed our relationship after I’d left his apartment—and his bed—in the middle of the night.

“Of course. Which is why I told Monique I wasn’t going to fire you.”

“Excuse me?” Surely I had misheard. “I thought she said I was pretty.”

“Oh, she did. That was the problem. She doesn’t like the idea of me having a secretary who looks like you.”

“Executive Administrative Assistant,” I automatically corrected him. My immediate thought was, what a bitch. My next thought was to wonder why he was telling me this.

“I told her she was being ridiculous. And you’re probably wondering why I’m telling you this,” he said.

My internal um, yeah must’ve shown on my face.

“I like Monique,” he said. “She’s an … interesting diversion. But you … you are a fixture in my life and I wouldn’t dream of firing you, especially at the whim of a temporary girlfriend.”

“Is that what she is? Your girlfriend?”

“For the moment.”

“I see.”

“Is Ryker for the moment? Or a fixture?” he asked.

That gave me pause. Since when were we discussing our personal lives at work? Or anywhere, for that matter?

“Why do you care?” I asked.

“We’re friends, Sage. I care. I just want what’s best for you. Like you said last night, I want you to be happy, too.”

He seemed genuine in his concern, his eyes locked on mine as he leaned forward onto his desk, his arms folded on top of the polished wood surface. The tie at his neck was loosened, a slight concession to it being after official working hours, and his jacket had been tossed on the leather couch in the corner. I’d been wanting to go hang it up so it wouldn’t wrinkle for the past thirty minutes.

“Ryker and I … haven’t really discussed the future,” I said, deciding to be honest.

Parker got up and walked to the old-fashioned antique highboy where he kept his liquor and took out two glasses. “But he’s meeting your parents tonight,” he guessed.

Unsurprised that he’d figured that out, I nodded, watching as he poured an inch of amber liquid into each glass. “I met some of his friends this past weekend. People I think you know, too.”

“And I bet not a one of them had a good word to say about me,” he said, handing me one of the glasses as he took a sip from the other that he held. Returning to his chair, he leaned back, his hands folded on his abdomen, which caused my gaze to briefly wander before I jerked it back up to his face.

“It seems everyone knows all the details about you, Ryker, and Natalie,” I said. “Except me.” I took a drink of the scotch, the liquor burning a smooth path down my throat to warm my belly.

He shrugged. “I told you everything I thought you needed to know.”