She glanced over at him. “Like what?”
He shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. I like cheesecake. How about you?”
“Sounds good to me. There is a place not far from here that sells the best cheesecake. What is your favorite?”
“Strawberry.”
Sebrina chuckled. “Wouldn’t you know it. That’s mine, too.”
“Umm, twice now we’ve discovered we like the same things.”
Yes, they had. Not only did they share the same taste in movies, but they liked the same dessert. “You’ll need to get off at the next exit and then make a left at the traffic light. The place is called Radeon’s Sweet Spot. It’s a Mom-and-Pop outfit, and Edith Radeon is the best when it comes to whipping together a cheesecake to die for.”
He chuckled and the husky sound was way too sexy for her frame of mind. “I’ll take your word for it.”
“You’ll see,” she replied.
She tried not to notice how sexy he looked while driving. The way his large, strong hands gripped the steering wheel had her wondering if he could hold a woman the same way.
He brought the car to a stop at the traffic light, then glanced over at her. Since she was already looking at him, their eyes locked and immediately her inner muscles tightened as desire warmed her to the core. “It’s getting better, I think. This friendship thing,” he said.
She wondered how he thought that when awareness of him was overwhelming her. Did that mean his desire for her was diminishing? If so, then she had a problem, and she’d just have to double-down to get her mind and body in sync.
She’d been surprised when Bob Rollins had called her today. He claimed he had been thinking about her lately. She wondered how that was possible when the only thing he ever had on his mind was making his technology company a success. More than once he had stood her up because of a business-related emergency.
She figured he’d had to dig deep in his phone contacts for her number since she hadn’t heard from him in well over a year.
He had asked her out for next weekend and since she had the time off work, she had agreed to go to dinner with him. Hopefully, this time around, things would be better. Monica used to call him “Boring Bob” because the only thing that ever excited him was his business. And he would talk about it, non-stop, to anyone who would listen. His goal in life was to become the next technological superpower, and she wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to do it.
“We’re here.”
Parker’s words grabbed her attention and she looked out the window. They were parked in front of Radeon’s.
“You were right, Sebrina. This cheesecake is delicious,” Parker said, finishing off the last piece on his plate.
She licked her lips after grabbing a crumb off them with her tongue. “Told you.”
“You weren’t exaggerating.” He glanced around as he took a sip of his coffee. Watching what she’d just done with her tongue had his entire body burning. “Nice place,” he said.
“I like it. As a kid Kennedy used to come here all the time with her dad. He would treat her to cheesecake whenever she did good in school. The day we all moved in together, we came here to celebrate. The owners remembered Kennedy, welcomed her back to St. Paul and we’ve been coming back, ever since.”
He glanced back over at Sebrina, glad she was now sipping her tea and their gazes weren’t connecting. Something always happened when their eyes met. One quick look was enough to get his blood pumping...above and below the belt. It had been harder than he’d thought, sitting beside her in the movie theater. He’d been so tempted to reach out and take her hand in his, but knew he couldn’t do such a thing. Friends didn’t hold hands during a movie.
“Did Kennedy like living in St. Paul while growing up?” he asked, trying to keep the conversation going. Maybe then, he’d be able to concentrate on what she was saying instead of how good she looked.
“Yes. She was born here and has always considered St. Paul home. I remember hearing about the temper tantrum she’d had—it was something—when Michael told her he’d decided to move them to Atlanta.” Sebrina chuckled. “But he did it for her own good. Kennedy was getting into way too much trouble.”
“How old was she?”
“Thirteen. Michael is an airline pilot, and he paid an older woman to take care of Kennedy whenever he was away. I think the last straw was when he got a call notifying him that Kennedy had sneaked out one night to go joyriding with a group of girls from school. There was an accident, but nobody was hurt, thank goodness.”
She took a sip of her tea. “The incident shook Michael up pretty bad because he’d lost his first wife, Kennedy’s mother, in a car accident a few years earlier. That’s when Michael decided to do something drastic. So he moved him and Kennedy to Atlanta to be close to the Bennett family. When he had to work, Kennedy would stay at our house. It was so much fun, and we showed her what it was like to be a real family.”
He could believe that. In a way Rae’jean and Ryan, Sean and Liz, along with Evan’s big family, had shown him what a real family was about, too. His parents had fallen short in that department. In fact, he never recalled them doing much together. Most of the time, his father demanded his mother act the perfect hostess for his numerous business parties and she loved the role. There hadn’t been too much room for him.
Deep down, Parker knew his parents loved him, but for the longest time, he’d thought the only reason they’d had him was to carry on the Stanhope name. For years, his mother had been adamant that he should settle down with the “right” girl and produce pedigree grandkids. But that was then, thank goodness. Now she just wanted him to settle down and was no longer fixated on who he married. It would not have done her any good anyway. But he was glad she now saw things a lot differently these days.
Of course, she still wanted grandkids. He’d had to remind her more than once that marriage and a family were the last things on his mind right now. His medical goals topped the list.
He couldn’t help chuckling when she’d tell him that, in that aspect, he was just like his father. His old man hadn’t been anxious to start a family, either. He’d been too busy building his family’s technology empire.
“You’re lucky, you know.”
She arched a brow. “Lucky?”
“Yes. I got to know the Bennett family through Rae’jean. Even before meeting you, I knew how close all of you are. I think that’s great.”
She nodded. “What about you? Any cousins?”
He shook his head. “Only my Uncle Grady’s kids. He’s Mom’s only brother and there is a ten-year difference in their ages. When I was growing up, I considered him as an older brother instead of an uncle.”
This was getting a little too intimate for his liking. Changing the subject, he said, “I understand the hospital is accepting volunteers to pass out gifts to the kids in Pediatrics for Christmas, and that you’re in charge of it on our floor.”
She nodded. “I’m collecting funds for that, yes.”
“Then I’d like to donate.”
“Thanks. Ravene and I, and a couple of the other nurses, will go shopping next weekend. This is my second year doing it and it’s something I wish I’d started earlier. Seeing the kids’ happy faces, especially at this time of the year, makes it all worthwhile.”