Feather Light (Knead Me) (21 page)

He fell silent for a few moments before he spoke again. “Is it sensitive in nature?”

“Yes . . . it has something to do with me, but it will ultimately affect you
and
me.”

“Then tell me when you get back. I’m not going anywhere.”

Kelly hesitated. As relieved as she was with Parker’s assertion that he’d rather wait until they were together, she wanted to give him a hint just to see how he’d react.
 

“But I want you to know before you find out from others.”
 

“Ann, if it makes you uncomfortable discussing it over the phone, I understand. I’d rather we wait until we’re together. That doesn’t mean I won’t be waiting for your call every day.”
 

“Well, okay. If you think that’s best. Don’t worry. We’ll be burning the phone lines.” She breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, I just wanted to tell you that I had a wonderful time with you, and I-I’m so glad I met you.”

“Me, too, Ann. Me, too.”

Her heart leapt with happiness. All she had to do was get back from Milan and just tell him. The prospect made all her qualms disappear.

“I’m glad to hear that. Gee, I have to go. I’ll call you once I’m settled. Take care of yourself.”

“You’re the one who’s traveling, so take good care of
you.
I’m looking forward to seeing you again.”

Kelly smiled. “Bye, Parker.”
 

“Bye, Ann.”

Webster thought she’d lose it when she saw the headlines on the latest issue of
Natter Biz
. She bought a copy from the corner newsstand and hurried to her desk, where she gobbled up the entire article within minutes. Her anger was at the boiling point by the time Parker and Cork arrived for work.
 

She couldn’t hide her disdain at her discovery but wasn’t sure if she should meddle, or even what constituted acceptable meddling. When Parker left the room for his first appointment of the day, she went to see Cork down in his office and closed the door.
 

Cork glanced up, looking amused. Since getting together a week ago, she had refused to go public with their relationship. He rose and rounded his desk to where she stood, tabloid in hand. Cork pulled her close and kissed her. She returned the kiss but with much less passion. The information she’d discovered was too distracting.
 

“What’s wrong?” he asked, searching her face.

Webster drew a deep breath. She had told Cork the nature of her relationship with his brother, and he seemed to have taken everything in stride, not that he could have done anything about the past anyway. He was well aware of her preferences and had been warming up to the idea, despite his earlier reservations.

“I drove Parker yesterday. He called to ask if I could take him shopping, and I did.”

Cork raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Webster felt the need to explain further, even though he hadn’t asked. “He feels more comfortable asking me for help in this matter. Well . . . you know why.”

“You don’t have to explain,” Cork said, keeping his arms around the small of her back.

“As it so happened, I probed, and he told me about his mystery date.” 

“Oh, yeah. Mom grilled him about that woman the other night during dinner.”

“I was harassing him about not knowing her well enough, so he gave me her name just to shut me up. It turned out that this woman said she was Ann Sutton. To make a long story short, as soon as I got home, I searched for whatever I can get my hands on about her. And guess what came up?”

“What came up?” Cork echoed her question while rubbing the back of her neck.

“Ann Sutton is Kelly Storm, the actress. You know . . .
Deep Ice
,
Hearts Afire
, and
Shattered Dreams . . .
”

Cork pulled back and stared at her in disbelief. “No way! Are you sure about this?”

“Positive. And now this.” Webster held up a copy of the gossip magazine.

Cork read the headline first, and then gave her a questioning look. “So Kelly is seeing a new guy. Where does Parker come in?”
 

“Look at the man in the picture.” True, the man had his back to the camera, but she’d bet her life savings it was Parker. The blond hair and the body build gave it away for her.

Cork studied the picture and cursed. “Oh shit! We saw her at Chateau Marmont Saturday night!”

“What?”

“Yeah, when we walked in, she was staring at Parker. I teased him about it and tried to get him to go over to her table to say hi, but he refused. Shortly after, she left in a hurry.” Cork looked stumped.

Webster shook her head. “What the hell is going on? Parker has no idea Ann and Kelly are the same person. I’m sure of it. He wouldn’t hide something like that from me.” The deception was disgusting.

“I believe you. What should we do?” Cork let her go, and they both sank down on the chair.

“That’s why I’m here. I don’t think Parker is aware of this yet. But it won’t take long before your brother finds out. God. Wait till I get my hands on that bitch. I’ll wring her neck! How could she do this to him?” Angry tears pooled in her eyes.

“I want to tell him, but shouldn’t we check the facts to be sure?” Cork laid a hand on her arm and rubbed soothing strokes.

“What else do we need to know other than she deceived him?” Webster shouted.
 

“I know you’re upset. I am, too, but we can’t go to Parker and just say it. Don’t you think we ought to give this some thought first?”

“I don’t know what to think anymore. For the longest time, I tried to protect him from women who would take advantage of his blindness, and now she comes along. Poor Parker.”

Cork stood and pulled her to her feet, gathering her into an embrace. “I feel the same way. That’s why I gave up my career to come and work for him. I hated the thought of that once proud man being reduced to asking other people for help. I don’t mind it at all because we’re brothers. Parker has always been there for me, protecting and watching my back ever since we were little. It was the least I could do. But we have to approach this situation with care. We can’t barge in his office and tell him the woman he cares about is lying to him. There’s a fine line between us getting involved and letting him figure this out for himself.”

“You’re going to let her hurt your brother?” Webster gaped at him in surprise.

Cork shook his head. “No, that’s not what I meant. There are some things we have no control over, and one of those things is Parker getting his heart broken. This Ann, Kelly, whoever she is, has already done that. No amount of warning can undo her actions. Let’s think about this a little more, okay?”

Webster nodded. If she ever got the chance to see Kelly in person, she’d make sure the woman would feel the shame and guilt of what she had done to Parker, or at least for what was coming at Parker thanks to her lies.

Chapter 12

Parker waited all day Monday for Ann to call as she had promised and was still waiting the next day, but he refused to phone her like some insecure boyfriend. He wasn’t her boyfriend, as least as far as he knew, so he kept himself occupied to avoid the temptation to call her. Instead, he spent long hours at the track with Andrew after work, but his friend’s continued questions about his frame of mind were driving him crazy.

By the time Wednesday rolled around, he was going insane with worry. What if something had happened to her? Parker reminded himself several times to calm down and that she would call. People at work were beginning to ask questions about his foul mood. Even in his darkest hours, when he’d first gotten the news of his impending blindness, he’d managed to maintain an appearance of calm. This time, he couldn’t help himself. He snapped at the slightest idiotic question, no doubt raising eyebrows and concerns among his employees.

As soon as he got to work on Thursday morning, Webster cornered him in his office. She handed him his coffee, and then sat down across from his desk.

“What’s with the long face?” she asked.

He took a long sip before leveling his gaze in her direction. “What are you talking about?”

“Fine . . . play coy. But you’re biting people’s heads off for the littlest things. You jump whenever your phone rings—”
 

“I get it. Jeez, you’re such a pain. So I’m a little worried because Ann hasn’t called. Bite me.” Parker scowled in her direction, hating the fact that Webster could read him like a book. “Have I been that bad?”

“Yes. You’re like an ogre.” She paused as if choosing her words carefully. “This Ann person . . . how well do you know her?”

He groaned. “Are we back on that subject again? I told you already, I know her well enough. What else do you want?”

“Well, maybe it’s time for you to snoop a little and find out who this girl is. I mean, she hasn’t called you when she said she would. She sounds a little suspicious to me.”

“There must be a logical explanation for that. I’m just hoping nothing bad has happened to her.” The thought sobered him. He’d give anything to know what was going on with Ann. Aside from her phone number, he had no way to get in touch with her. Although he’d been to her house, Parker had forgotten to ask for her address.

“I’m sure there’s a good reason in there somewhere,” Webster said, her tone filled with sarcasm.
 

Parker didn’t quite understand what he was hearing in Webster’s voice. He leaned forward and narrowed his eyes, trying his best to catch the expression in her face, to no avail. Everything remained hazy.

“Are you trying to tell me something?” he asked.

“I’m just saying you’re losing your touch, Parker. You’ve never sat around and waited for a woman. If she wants you, let her come to you. Don’t mope around as if the end of the world is upon you.” Webster stood, reached for his hand, and gave it a soft squeeze. “I booked your flight to New York. You’re leaving Sunday afternoon. Same hotel, and your transfers are all arranged. I’ll e-mail the itinerary to you in a bit.”

Parker wasn’t certain what to say. Women seemed to have a knack for giving men whiplash. One moment they were talking about something important, and with a snap of a finger, they shifted to something frivolous.

“Thanks.”

“Your first client should be here by now. I’ll put Ms. Jones in room 104.”

Parker nodded, still wondering about Webster’s cryptic comment about Ann. He wished things were different, but he couldn’t change the past. He’d met Ann, and now he intended to move forward with her.

He had a few minutes to spare before his first client of the day, so he typed a short text to Ann and hit the send button, leaning back in his chair and hating that he had no idea how to find her.

Normally he’d leave his cell phone in his office whenever he was with a client to avoid being interrupted while working. But this time, he silenced the ring tone and set the phone to vibrate.

He reached room 104 and tapped on the door before entering. The familiar scent of Flower Bomb perfume floated around him when he greeted Liz Jones, a local newscaster and one of his regular LA clients.

“Hello, Liz. I haven’t seen you for quite some time.”

“Parker, you won’t believe what happened!” Liz jumped up and draped her arms around his neck, kissing him on the cheek.

Parker cupped her face and smiled. “Sounds like someone is very happy.”

“Ecstatic, actually. Steve and I are having a baby!” she said, still clinging to him.

“Really? Congratulations!” Parker kissed her on the forehead before pulling away to get a good look at her face. “How far along are you?”

“Thank you. Steve’s beside himself. Twelve weeks yesterday.” She took his hand and placed it on her belly.

Parker felt the bump and grinned. He rubbed her stomach several times, eliciting a giggle from one of his most loyal customers. “I’m happy for you.”

Strange as it seemed, the image of a pregnant Ann flashed through mind. The idea was a little far-fetched, but he couldn’t deny the pride he felt at the thought of her carrying his child.
Whoa, Parker. You’re really getting ahead of yourself!

“Thanks to you. If not for our ‘psychiatric’ sessions, I would have left Steve already. I’m so glad you talked me out of it.” Liz laughed.