Following that first lame attempt at conversation about caffeine, neither she nor Parker had said a word. Their eye contact had been haphazard and fleeting. Parker seemed to be making a concerted effort to avoid it altogether.
Feeling awkward, she asked if he was happy with what he’d written that morning.
“It’s all right, I guess,” he mumbled into his coffee mug, keeping his head down.
T
his was silly. They were grown-ups, not adolescents. Up till now, he had seized every opportunity to slip a blatant sexual innuendo into their conversation. He certainly hadn’t been shy about demonstrating his attraction to her, starting with the night they met. His sudden bashfulness made no sense.
“Did Mike lecture you?”
He looked over at her. “About the foreplay?”
“I… I was going to say about seducing a married woman.”
“Is that what I did?”
“Not without a lot of encouragement.”
“Then does it count as a bona fide seduction?”
“Parker, are we going to play a game of semantics, or are you going to answer my question?”
“Mike is concerned for you.”
“Why?”
“He thinks I’m rotten to the core.”
“He thinks the sun rises and sets in you.”
“He’s afraid I’ll hurt you.”
Looking at him intently, she asked, “Will you?”
“Yes.”
Startled by his blunt reply, she sat down at the kitchen table without breaking the eye contact they had finally established. “At least you’re honest.”
“Brutally so. It puts most people off.”
“Noted. But I’m not most people.”
The hard line of his lips softened. Something sparked in his eyes, which had been so remote only seconds ago. They moved over her, alighting for a time on her mouth, her breasts, her lap. Those spots that had experienced his intimate touch began to tingle with sensual recollection.
When his gaze reconnected with hers, he said gruffly, “Noted.”
They lapsed into a long stare that went unbroken until Mike reentered the kitchen, bringing with him several pages of text. “The print was getting dim, so I had to replace the cartridge.” He handed the pages of manuscript to Maris.
“I need to get back to it,” Parker said, wheeling his chair toward the solarium. “Don’t talk about me while I’m gone.”
“We’ve got better things to talk about,” Mike retorted.
Parker slammed the door shut behind him.
Maris laughed. “You two are like quarreling siblings. Or an old married couple.”
“God forbid.”