In Your Eyes (Man of the Month 6)

But while her looks had fascinated him, her personality had intrigued him. He'd always had a weakness for ballsy women, and she certainly qualified. After all, he knew she'd moved to LA without a dime. And she was fiercely self-reliant, too. That much she'd proven today when she'd refused to blow the whistle on Lisa.

He'd thought he'd lost her when she'd unexpectedly left LA without a word to anyone, but after he moved the corporate offices of PCM to Austin three months ago, he'd seen her on the street and realized that she'd moved here, too.

As far as Parker was concerned, that was one hell of a Cosmic sign.

Between the coincidence of Austin and Lisa's screw up, it was clear that Fate was giving him another chance--one he didn't intend to fumble.

And that somehow, someway, he'd have Megan Clark in his arms ... and in his bed.

Chapter Four

Wednesday night arrived both ridiculously fast and interminably slow. Monday had been a haze, Tuesday a whirlwind, and today a slow grind. The only real break had come a few hours earlier when Beverly Martin--a rising indie star who'd agreed to be the contest emcee--had arrived at Megan's condo for a makeup session. A nice reprieve from the constant nerves and worries, but Bev had been gone for over an hour now, and Megan's nerves had shifted back into high gear.

At least it was finally time for her to get dressed and head to The Fix for tonight's contest.

And for all the things that would come after.

Her stomach flipped over as a fresh wave of jitters overwhelmed her. Sternly, she told herself to chill, and she was coming close to managing that when another thought occurred to her--Thursday.

Parker had told her to take off Thursday, and she'd done just that, confirming the time off with Tyree and Jenna as soon as she'd arrived at The Fix on Monday after her meeting with Parker.

Then, of course, she'd done her best not to think about the implications. Because, well, whoa. She'd anticipated a very late night on Wednesday, with the possibility of another round of--well, whatever--on Thursday morning. But the whole day? Why did she have to take off the entire day?

She'd decided not to worry about it. But now that Wednesday was here and Thursday was fast approaching, she couldn't avoid the issue.

Was he yanking her chain?

Or maybe he was just determined to get a full twenty-four hours? That was certainly possible. After all, because of the contest, their date couldn't even really get started until nine-thirty.

But he'd said he wanted her, and she knew that didn't mean coffee and chitchat. So maybe he really was anticipating some sort of overnight sexcapade? A wildly sensual affair in a premium hotel with the kind of all-night activities that she was certain Parker was expert at--and which were designed to make a woman melt.

She swallowed, her mouth suddenly dry. Did she want that?

Her mind very primly announced that she most certainly did not.

But if the way her skin was tingling was any indication, her body had a very different opinion.

Frustrated, she grabbed her hairbrush off her dresser, then stood at the window brushing out the knots as she looked idly out the window, her mind on tonight as she pondered the myriad of possible activities Parker might have in mind.

Honestly, it could be anything.

Anything.

A shiver cut through her and she hugged herself as she realized just how true that was. Parker had been friends with Carlton, after all. Who knew what proclivities he might have?

Frustrated, she tilted her head, then began to brush more vigorously. She was being paranoid and unfair. Carlton never actually hurt her, and he'd never done anything overly kinky. He'd just gotten a little weird.

Still...

Parker might turn out to be weird, too. Had she leaped from the frying pan into the fire?

She didn't think so. He felt ... well, right. Arrogant and demanding, yes. But not in a way that made her skin prickle with apprehension. On the contrary, the only tingles she'd felt around Parker were sparks of anticipation.

And that was an entirely different kind of danger.

She drew a deep breath, then started to step away from the window.

That's when she noticed the car. Sleek and black, just like the one she'd seen from her window on Sunday. And, once again, it was double-parked right across the street from her condo, the interior light indicating that someone was sitting inside.