Thankfully, Rod and Lorraine turned out to be surprisingly supportive, and Erin was gracious and kind. It was clear she felt the loss of Parker keenly, but hopefully she’d find someone or something someday soon to help her realize Parker wasn’t the right future for her. Rod had even gone so far as to shake Parker’s hand and tell him this was just the excuse he’d been looking for to expand Rokas Sports into Aster Valley.
“You’ll manage the new Aster Valley location, of course, son,” he told Parker. “I’ll call you in a week or two, and we’ll start scouting properties for the storefront, alright?”
Parker had nodded and said that was very alright.
Eventually, we’d split up to arrange a room for Parker and me. I’d been looking forward to spending a few hours alone with my guy and maybe a couple of those alcoholic beverages that came in coconuts. But after he let us into our private oceanfront suite, I hadn’t had time to do more than push him up against the wall and kiss him before he’d turned me toward the enormous bathroom and told me to have a soak in the tub that overlooked the water.
“I’ve got a few things to take care of,” he said mysteriously, kissing my cheek. “I’ll be back in time for dinner.”
An hour later, a tuxedo-clad waiter had knocked on the door with a fruity coconut drink and a note in Parker’s handwriting that said “Drink Me”… but Parker still hadn’t arrived.
I’d ended up drinking on the private balcony, wrapped up in a resort robe.
Half an hour after that, the concierge brought me a linen shirt and pants from the store in the main lobby—an outfit that was perfectly my style and not at all Parker’s—with a note that said “Wear Me.”
I’d chuckled to myself as I got dressed, thinking this was probably the first time Parks had ever dressed me before, but I could definitely get used to it.
But by the time the third knock came ten minutes after that, I’d gotten a little impatient. I didn’t need more presents; I needed my boyfriend.
I threw open the door. “Yes?” I snapped.
Parker lounged against the doorframe, wearing a light green shirt that made his eyes glow… or maybe that was just the loving look he’d fixed on me.
“Get it right, baby. In this family, we answer the door with ‘We don’t want to have sex with you,’” he teased.
“But what if I do want to have sex with you?” I bit my lip.
Parker stared at my mouth for a beat, then swallowed hard and shook his head to clear it. “In that case, you’re going to have to be patient. We have dinner plans.”
“I take it that’s what you were arranging all afternoon?” I stifled a groan. “I’d imagined that flying to Mexico to surprise my boyfriend and tell him I love him would involve some reward nookie. I’d hoped you were just running down to the gift shop for lube.”
“Oh, I got that, too,” Parker assured me, taking my hand as he led me down the path toward the main resort building. He pulled me close so his words were a breath in my ear. “And you will be rewarded, Julian, I promise. All in good time.”
I shivered and tried to call up even a shred of the self-control that had let me hide my feelings for Parker for nigh on two decades… but it all seemed to have evaporated in mere days.
I was possessive as fuck when it came to my boyfriend. I didn’t want to hide anything anymore.
When Parker had said we had dinner plans, I’d assumed he’d meant that we would be meeting up with Erin and her parents, but when Parker gave our name to the hostess and she led us to a private table for two at the edge of the sand, I realized Parker had something else in mind.
“Is Erin’s family joining us?” I asked, looking around.
He shook his head. “Nope. They already left for Cancún so they could replace her passport first thing in the morning. It’s just us tonight.”
The warm breeze from the ocean was a nice change from the cold winter night air in Aster Valley. Glass-covered candles flickered on the restaurant tables around us, and faint sounds of crystal and tableware clinking mixed with the rhythmic rumbling of the waves at the edge of the surf.
I paused beside the little table. “This is… it’s like… a date.” It sounded silly to say it out loud, but my brain was having trouble putting things together.
Parker laughed, and the little crinkles next to his eyes caught the light. “Yes. That’s exactly what it is.” He pulled my chair out for me and gestured for me to sit down.
“Oh,” I said, feeling my face go hot. “Wow.”
Parker nuzzled my neck briefly before taking his own seat. “Babe, one of these days, you’re not going to be so surprised when I do something romantic for you. I can’t wait for the day when you start to rely on it.”
“It’s not just you, it’s…” My voice trailed off as I wondered how to describe my feelings. “I’ve never had this with anyone, you know? Even when I’ve dated other people, there was always you in my mind. In my heart. So in some ways, all of this is new to me, too.”
“Then I’m really glad I get to be your first.” He winked and reached for my hand on the table, then looked down at the menu and began predicting which dish I would probably order.
I couldn’t believe he was so comfortable holding another man’s hand in public that he didn’t even look around first.
“You think you know me so well,” I teased, squeezing his fingers. “Maybe I should get something completely unexpected, just to prove you wrong.”
Parker leaned toward me and said in a confiding whisper, “I knew you were gonna say that,” and I burst out laughing.
Parker Ellis had been my sunshine for the past twenty years, and there was no one I relied on more.
When the server came, Parker ordered a bottle of wine and an appetizer. I let the fact of the Rokas family’s departure sink in.
“It’s just us here?” I asked.
“You and me, on my honeymoon,” he said with a smirk. “The way it always should have been. I did invite you originally, if you’ll recall. See what you would have missed out on?”
I stared at Parker’s handsome face in the flickering candlelight and nodded. “Oh, yeah,” I whispered. “I see.”
The server came and presented the wine, allowing Parker to taste and approve it. Once we were alone again, I savored the first sip.
Parker eyed me over his glass. “This afternoon, while we were talking with Erin and her parents, I couldn’t stop thinking about everything you’d gone through so you could fly down here to be with me—”
I blushed. “It actually wasn’t that hard. When I told Mikey and Tiller what was happening, they insisted that we reschedule the meeting so I could be here with you. And my dad lent me the family plane. So, really—”
“I don’t mean the logistics, babe. I mean the emotions.”
Oh.
“You deserve to be my number one priority without having to give it away to someone else, even for a little while,” he concluded.
Parker was sexy as hell sitting there in the candlelight with the sea breeze lifting strands of his hair. His shirt collar was open, revealing a hint of light chest hair. I knew how that chest hair tasted, how it felt against my cheek when his skin was sweat-slick and flushed with lust.