Chapter 3: Chapter 3

KHLOE

CRAP. My body jumped awake, something having woken me from a pleasant dream where I sat sunning myself on the coast of Puerto Rico. My eyes opened, but I couldn't see any better than when they were closed as the room had fallen dark as I napped. The couch was fluffy and my phone had fallen from the cushion landing on the carpeted floor.

Definitely not a Bahama Island.

A harsh click came from behind and I shot straight up as the lights flickered on in the living room. My heart rate skyrocketed from seventy to two-fifty in a matter of a second as I searched the area for a weapon to use against the robber.

"Sorry," my old boss... new boss, Parker whispered from the front door.

I rubbed at my eyes sweeping out sleepy and shook my head to help remember this wasn't a dream within a dream. I hadn't been incepted, but had a case of my regular old run-of-the-mill bad luck. If I told the story in fifty years, nobody would believe that the boss with the probable micro dick who fired me a few months ago ended up hiring me as his nanny.

Regardless, I couldn't afford for him to fire me again, so I only hoped and prayed he'd forgotten about the nasty email and taken pity on my broke ass.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"It's fine." Ava had fallen asleep around seven and I'd opened up my Kindle app to read a book. But I made it less than a chapter before it fell to the side and I rested my eyes for a few minutes. Job searching had been stressful, and that combined with making sure every penny stretched as far as possible had taken a toll on my sleeping patterns. I'd always been a healthy sleeper and a firm believer in the afternoon disco nap, so the missed hours were adding up to the point of exhaustion.

"My meeting ran over and there was an accident on the expressway. I'd have made it here quicker if I'd gotten out and walked."

"It's okay," I parroted myself from earlier. I wasn't sure what to say as our awkward second meeting post-termination began. I wanted to get on my hands and knees and beg him to please not fire me, but I was also a woman of pride. If he'd already set his mind to it, what good would pleading do?

Parker sat on the couch beside me, but not the far side like a regular person. He sat right in the middle so only four inches separated us. His body turned in my direction and he stared at me for longer than a moment. So long that the quiet moment turned downright awkward. One of us needed to talk, but I didn't trust my mouth if I opened it. He smelled like an Old Spice commercial for guys under fifty. You know, a dragon slayer who'd been out in the forest cutting down trees all day.

He leaned in closer, staring into my eyes, and whispered, "Ava did okay?"

The endearing question and obvious concern in his eyes brought a smile to my lips. "Yeah, she's adorable." I left out the part where I had to YouTube how to remove a snot bubble from her nose, but he didn't need to know that part of our day, anyway.

He scooted closer, his spicy scent of woodland adventurer almost knocking me off the couch. If he was a brownie, he'd be fresh baked and straight out of the oven, still warm and gooey. You'd want to take a bite right out of him. I shook my head, clearing the thought, the lack of sleep apparently having more effect than just my inability to get through a book.

"I've missed you," he said in a low whisper I almost didn't catch.

My shoulders tightened in question. Did he misspeak? Did he mean he missed Ava? "You have?"

"Every day." We were already so close I didn't notice when he cut the distance and his lips settled on mine.

Our connection became a wonderful caress as they skimmed across my own. It was the lightest touch, yet I felt it in my toes. In that moment Parker became my entire world. His aroma and presence surrounded me, wrapping us together in a tight ball where the energy between us sizzled.

It was less than a minute before I needed more. I deepened our kiss and ran my tongue between the slit of his lips until he opened and allowed me entrance to his mouth. His hands started at my upper arms and then one went higher, resting in my hair. The strands tangled between his fingers. The other ventured lower and cupped a breast, his thumb rubbing a slow circle on my nipple that made my skin want to burn my bra from my body and give him complete access. How many lunch hours had I entertained this exact fantasy? How many nights did I lie awake wishing to have him this way?

I moaned, wanting him so badly, but not being able to ask for more.

In the distance, further away in his big ass house, Ava's first scream shattered our moment. Parker and I pulled back at the same time, giving us more distance than we had when he first sat on the couch. My breath was heavy, still caught up in the moment and working to readjust to our current situation.

"I'll get her," I said to relieve myself from the awkward consequences of our choices.

Parker shook his head, his eyes still drilling holes through mine as if he wanted to peek into my soul and rip my heart out to keep for his very own. And then in a flash, a quick blink, it vanished, and the only person left behind with the same fire-breathing boss who fired me so unceremoniously a few months earlier. His face lost all passion and his lips, which were against mine a breath ago, became hard, pressed together in a straight line.

"No, I'll get her. You've worked all day and I'm sure you want to get home," he said dismissing me without a second of concern.

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