“Who would be the surgeon on his case if he decides to go through with it?”
“Dr. Allen Bonner. He’s one of the best heart surgeons around. Mr. Fletcher would be in good hands, but I still worry.”
“But he’s in good hands as your patient, Sebrina. The man sings your praises.” When she lifted her brow, he added, “I knew you were concerned about him the other night, so I stopped in to check on him today. He’s spirited with plenty of spunk. If he was a few years younger, I’d be worried about competition.”
A smile spread across her lips and seeing it heightened the beat of his pulse. “You know you have nothing to worry about, right?”
“I’ll always be worried, and extremely thankful.” He paused, then changed the subject. “Are you looking forward to Christmas? It’s next week.”
“I know. It’s hard to believe it’s that close.” She took another sip of her coffee. “Christmas is my favorite holiday. I told you about splitting my time between Dad in New Jersey and Mom in Atlanta. I think of it as celebrating two holidays. What about you? What are your plans?”
“I’ll be going home to Maine. I’m off until after New Year’s, but I’m not sure I’ll stay in Maine the entire time.”
“I’m lucky. My vacation starts Christmas Eve,” she said. “I won’t be due back at the hospital until after New Year’s as well. I think Monica has time off too. We’re both attending the Bennetts’ family reunion, which starts the day after Christmas. If you get back here before New Year’s, you’ll have the entire house to yourself.”
If she thought that would make him happy, she was wrong. “I’d like it better if you were here sharing the house with me.”
She didn’t say anything for a minute, and then she pushed her empty plate aside. “I think we need to talk about the changes that will take place once Monica returns.”
“I’m hoping I can change your mind about them.”
She shook her head. “That won’t be happening, Parker. We were only trying to work all that sexual chemistry out of our system.”
“Do you honestly think we’ve done that, Sebrina?”
“After Monica gets back, there won’t be any other option.”
He shook his head. “There are always options.”
“Not for us, Parker. I thought you understood that.”
“The only thing I know, Sebrina, is that whenever I look at you, I want you. You smile, and I want you more. Whenever I catch your scent, I get hard. When I look at your lips, I remember your taste, in your mouth, between your legs, as well as other places. But it’s not just all sexual. I love the time we’ve spent together outside of the bedroom. All of our outings. I don’t want to give any of that up.”
“You don’t have a choice. Sure, I enjoyed our time together, but—”
“Why don’t I have a choice, when we both know we’re good together? Do you honestly think we can ignore the chemistry again, now that we know how absolutely incredible sex is between us? Even now as we speak, I want to take you right here on this damn table.”
He saw heat that was as fiery as his thoughts were, ignite in her eyes. He knew she was thinking about some of the wickedly wonderful things she’d done with him.
“If you think I won’t be able to resist you, Parker, then watch me. In fact, after Monica returns, I think we should start dating other people again.”
Was she serious? How could she think he’d want another woman after having spent all this time with her?
At least she wanted to spend the next two nights with him. Then, for her, it would be over. But he didn’t intend for anything to be over. Their lives were entwined, and it was meant for them to be together.
Pushing his chair back from the table he stood and went around the table to stand beside her. He offered her his hand and without hesitation, she took it. Then, tugging her up from her seat, he swept her into his arms and took her to the bedroom.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
“WELCOME BACK, MONICA. I missed you,” Sebrina said, giving her sister a hug.
“I’m glad to be back. The cruise was great and I...”
At that moment a man, a very good-looking man, strolled out of the kitchen dressed in jeans and a pullover sweater. And he definitely favored Chris Hemsworth a lot.
Seeing where her attention had gone, Sebrina turned around. “Parker, I’d like you to meet my sister, Monica. Monica, this is our new housemate, Parker Stanhope.”
Monica smiled and extended her hand to him. “Hi, Parker. It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Monica couldn’t help studying Parker. She’d had joint calls with Kennedy and Victoria on her way home from the airport, wanting to know what to expect. For some reason, neither one would elaborate on Sebrina’s relationship with Parker, but both had described him as a very nice and extremely handsome man. They hadn’t lied. But no man in her mind was more handsome than Landon.
Landon...
She had looked for him when the ship had docked in Sydney. However, she had been told by Hagia that he had been in the first group to disembark. She couldn’t believe that he hadn’t even bothered to say goodbye after all the time they had spent together. She had gotten so angry that she had deleted his contact information from her phone and blocked his number. She didn’t care if she ever saw him again.
“It’s nice meeting you, too, Monica.”
Parker’s deep, husky voice reclaimed her attention. Why wasn’t it claiming anything else? There was nothing. No attraction. No magnetism. At least not for her. However, it was alive and strong for Sebrina. Even with the two of them standing there looking at her with all smiles, she was fully aware of the sexual energy flowing between them. My goodness! It was practically rocking the floor they were standing on. She couldn’t wait to get Sebrina alone because she needed some answers from her sister, whether Sebrina wanted to fess up or not.
“Thanks. I hope Sebrina has been treating you well.”
Bingo. She saw Parker’s sensuous smile and Sebrina’s uneasy one. Evidently Bree had treated Parker very well. But that was so unlike Bree. She wasn’t someone who let a guy get under her skin.
“I’ve been well looked after,” Parker then said. “Sebrina has been more than kind.”
I bet. “Good. Now after a twenty-something hour flight, I am beat. I’m going up to my room, shower and hit the sack. I’ll probably sleep for at least two days.”
“You’ve got to eat some time,” Sebrina said. “Parker is a great cook.”
Monica had heard that already, from Kennedy and Victoria. But she didn’t say anything. She didn’t want Parker to know she’d asked around about him. “I’m sure I’ll wake up whenever I’m hungry. See you guys later.” Then she then walked off, rolling her luggage behind her as she headed toward the stairs.
“Need help with that?” Parker asked her.
She turned and smiled at him. “No, I’ve got this. Thanks anyway.” She needed to get out of their presence—all that chemistry was too much to deal with. Being around them reminded her of what she’d shared on the cruise with Landon. Something she’d likely never share with anyone again.