A Beautiful Lie (24 page)

When Garrett’s hips finally stopped moving, they lay together in a tangled heap of sweat, legs, and blankets, trying to catch their breaths. 

Parker had no idea how much time had passed, but she knew she didn’t want to ever move from the spot she was currently in.  The careless, wild side of her wanted to roll over and press the front of her body against Garrett’s so she could reach down between them and stroke him until he was hard again. But the professional, best friend side of her wanted to stay perfectly still so there were no awkwardly spoken words or embarrassed movements made in the afterglow of what they’d done. 

Garrett’s arm firmly held her in place, and she couldn’t move even if she wanted to, so the decision was made for her.  Parker smiled to herself, enjoying the fact that he wanted to hold her so tightly and not let her go right away.

As soon as she had that thought, Garrett released her and pulled up his towel from between their bodies to clean off the mess he’d made on her.  Now that the euphoria of his orgasm had worn off, he was disgusted with himself for letting his needs take over.  Even though she’d told him to, he shouldn’t have used her like.  He should have been firmer in his decision to make tonight all about her.  Garrett was weak when it came to Parker; that much was obvious as he angrily wiped the evidence from the soft skin of her back.

When he was done he threw the towel over to the corner of the room.  He slid out of bed and stood up, staring down at Parker’s still form.  He assumed she was exhausted and close to falling asleep, but he spoke to her anyway.

“I’m gonna take another shower.”

He walked around the foot of the bed towards the bathroom, thankful once more that the room was dark.  He was hard again and aching to get back under the covers and slide into Parker.  He knew a cold shower was definitely in order.

As the door to the bathroom clicked shut and the water turned on, Parker buried her face in her pillow and let the tears fall silently so no one would hear.

Chapter Thirteen

Parker had no idea what time Garrett finally came to bed.  She had fallen asleep with dried tears on her cheeks, naked and spent under the covers.  She had no idea that when he retreated to the bathroom, he turned the shower on but never stepped inside.  Garrett couldn’t bring himself to wash her smell from his skin.  He leaned his back against the closed door and sunk to the floor.  He stayed in that position until he was certain Parker was asleep and then quietly slid into bed next to her.  Parker never knew that Garrett tossed and turned for hours because the smell of her arousal still hung in the air. Her naked body was close enough to touch and memories of how she felt coming apart against his hand swirled through his mind until he had to move away from her before he did something stupid like ask her if she felt the same way as he did or confess to her everything he’d thought, felt, and dreamed about since the day he met her.  Every time he opened his mouth to speak the words he’d always wanted to, he had to remind himself the room was bugged, and it wasn’t the time or the place for confessions of the heart. 

Parker awoke the following morning to the sound of Garrett pulling a pair of shoes out of his bag that sat in a chair next to the bed.  She opened her eyes but lay perfectly still so she could watch him undetected.

He wore a navy blue button down cuffed at the elbows.  The shirt was tucked into khaki dress pants and finished off with a thick brown belt.  There was a frown on his face and a crease between his eyebrows as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and read something on it.  Parker ached to crawl to the edge of the bed, curl her arm around his neck, and smooth away the worry lines with the tips of her fingers.

She longed to press her lips to his and taste him, feel him harden against her stomach, and watch his face when he found his release again.  Parker knew all along that doing anything intimate with Garrett would be like bringing a lit match to gasoline, and she was right.   His touch filled a void in her, and she wanted that feeling of completeness back.

Garrett tried to be as quiet as he could all morning so he wouldn’t wake Parker.  Aside from wanting to just sit in the chair across from the bed and watch her sleep for as long as possible, he wasn’t ready to face her the morning after.  He was uncomfortable with the fact they would have to act like it was no big deal due to the bugged room, but at the same time, he had no desire to discuss this with her and listen to her remind him it was just a job. 

A small part of him wondered if that would still be the case after last night though.  The words of encouragement she spoke, her moans of pleasure, the way her body felt in his arms when she came, it seemed impossible to Garrett that it was all an act.  She would have never told him to keep going if some small part of her hadn’t wanted it – hadn’t wanted him.

Garrett wished they were anywhere but there right now.  Somewhere away from this assignment, away from the stress and the sham of the game they were playing—alone in a place without bugs, lies, and ghosts of the past.  For the first time, Garrett questioned why the things that happened between Parker and him on this assignment couldn’t continue when they went back to their lives.  He wondered what would happen when they were free from the charade and could just be themselves.

Garrett’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see he had missed a call from an unknown number.  That would make three in the span of an hour.  Garrett knew he needed to focus and stop letting thoughts of Parker mess with his mind and ruin his concentration. He sent Brady a text asking him to try and trace the unknown number, pushing aside his frivolous thoughts of love and relationships when there were much more important matters that needed attention.

Garrett glanced up to take in Parker’s sleeping form again only to notice that she was staring at him.  She was on her stomach hugging the pillow to her, the sheet draped down around her hips.  Garrett’s eyes trailed down the smooth skin of her naked back and he decided to do something he wanted to do and knew he had to do for the purpose of the hidden ears that listened.

His eyes found hers again, and he kept his gaze locked on them as he wordlessly walked over to the bed, rested his hands and one knee on top, and leaned over towards Parker, pressing his lips to the skin of her shoulder.  He should have backed away then, but he couldn’t help himself.  Garrett moved further over her body and kissed her between her shoulder blades, down a few inches to the middle of her spine, finally ending at the small of her back, right where the sheet began.

Parker closed her eyes during the kisses, sighing lightly each time Garrett’s soft, warm lips made contact with her skin.  She had been nervous things would be awkward between them this morning while she lay there watching him.  She felt the wetness pooling between her thighs as his breath ghosted along her spine.

Garrett forced his mouth away from Parker before he pulled the sheet lower and kept going.  He stood up from the bed and watched her slowly open her eyes back up.

“Good morning, sweetie,” he said cheerfully as he turned his back and sat down on the settee at the foot of the bed to put on his shoes.  “Get your sleepy ass out of bed so we can get some breakfast.”

Garrett finished slipping on his shoes, got up, and walked into the living room without another glance in Parker’s direction.

To a stranger, Garrett sounded perfectly content and ready to start the day.  But to Parker, the woman who knew him better than anyone else, his voice was strained, overly joyful and dripping with false affection.

He was playing a role.  The one he came there to do.  Parker was an idiot for not remembering that and for thinking anything different.  She spent years training for things like this, and with one orgasm from the man, she forgot everything.  She sat up, angrily flung the covers off of herself, and put the mask back in place as she walked to the bathroom.  Halfway there, she paused, turned right back around, and marched across the bedroom and through the door to the connecting living room.  Parker found Garrett sitting on the couch with his hands on his knees and his head in his hands.  His head shot up when he heard her walk into the room.  The look on his face would have been priceless and one she would have got a good laugh out of if she wasn’t so pissed off.

Standing in the doorway completely naked, Parker twirled a lock of hair around her fingers.  When she reached the end, her hair fell from her fingers to rest against the top of her breast.  She let her middle finger trail a path down her skin from her collarbone to one perfectly erect, pink nipple,where she circled it a few times for good measure.

“I’m just going to take a quick shower, baby.  If you weren’t already dressed, I’d ask you to join me.  Maybe later you can fuck me up against the shower wall.”

Parker turned on her heels and strode from the room, blocking her mind from the way Garrett’s eyes had trailed hungrily up and down her naked body while she stood there in the doorway.  She was too angry to care that just the sight of her had given him quite an obvious erection.

She made it to the bathroom without swearing or kicking anything out of her way, and then turned the water as hot as she could handle it to try and burn the feel of Garrett’s hands and mouth from her skin.

<> ~ <>

Garrett didn’t think he would ever recover from the shock of seeing Parker walk into the living room naked.  He had absolutely no idea what had possessed her to do something like that, but the image of her perfect, bare breasts and the heaven between her thighs that he wanted to sink his mouth into was forever burned into his brain.  It was torture enough that he could still feel her heat on his fingertips and her body against him. Now he knew exactly what the parts of her body he touched the night before looked like in full, glorious living color.  Garrett remained rooted in place with his mouth hanging open while Parker showered.  As soon as she finished and got ready for breakfast, she bound into the living room. Giving him a kiss on the cheek, she pulled him up from the chair and told him how handsome he looked today, calling him
sweetie
,
baby
,
hon
,
honey
,
love
, and every other variation she could think of with every single sentence and a sickeningly sweet smile on her face as they made their way downstairs.  Garrett wondered where Stepford Parker had come from and wished she would go back into hiding.  He wanted to push her back into their room, lock the door, and kiss her until she dropped the act.  He wanted to run his hands over every square inch of her beautiful body she put on display for him earlier.  He wanted to tell her that the previous night had changed everything and he didn’t want to go back to the way they were, but he couldn’t do that.

A guard greeted them as soon as they exited the room and escorted them to a smaller dining room on the first floor, right off the kitchen.  Parker had curled her arm through his and practically skipped down the stairs, rambling about how happy she was and how they should come back to the Dominican for a vacation when they were done with work.  Garrett hated that his own fake husband act earlier had forced her to behave like this.  He second-guessed his decision to focus solely on the assignment and realized belatedly that he should have just acted how he felt.  Knowing there were people listening in on everything they did made him self-conscious and nervous about what he might let slip if he let his guard down.  Garrett thought it would be easier to just be professional with Parker so they wouldn’t make any mistakes.

He should have known better.  At this point, it would be impossible to be professional with her when all he could do was stare at her and think about how much he wanted her full breasts in his hands and nestle himself between her legs.

Garrett and Parker were seated at the table and a server was instantly by their side, informing them that they could order whatever they liked.  Parker asked for a bowl of fresh fruit and yogurt, and Garrett went with a cheese omelet with toast and bacon.  The food at the resort had been good, but it had been the Dominican’s version of American food.  Nothing tasted exactly like it should have, and they were pleasantly surprised to find that the meals prepared at the palace were exactly like the ones they would have eaten at home. 

They talked about photos Parker wanted to take during their stay, figuring it was a safe line of conversation.  Parker remained in character as the dutiful wife and asked the server if someone could press one of her husband's shirts while she reached over and placed her hand on top of Garrett's.

Garrett had finally reached his fill of the saccharine wife act, so he wrapped his hand around the back of Parker’s neck and quickly pulled her to him, silencing her with his lips.

Parker didn’t protest, knowing there were servers currently watching them in two corners of the room, but Garrett’s action still surprised her.  She was pissed at the way he’d so easily turned his emotions off this morning even though she knew it was necessary.  She was pissed at herself for disregarding every single rule of being an agent and allowing her personal feelings to influence her actions.

Garrett instinctively knew she needed something to bring her back down to earth, and his kiss was the perfect remedy.  He brushed his lips back and forth over hers before angling his head and fitting their lips together.  Their tongues immediately met in the middle and Parker sighed into his mouth and returned his kisses, telling him with her lips that she was okay.  The kiss ended before either of them wanted it to, but they knew a server was waiting to remove their plates from the table.

As their plates were cleared away, the man who walked them to their suite last night made an appearance.  He informed them that President Fernandez had wanted to join them for breakfast but had been called away to a meeting.  He left word that Parker and Garrett should enjoy the use of the pool today, and he would meet them for dinner.  When Garrett noted that they hadn't brought any bathing suits, they were told that several pairs of new trunks could be found in the pool house and a large selection of bathing suits had been placed in their suite while they ate.