In Your Eyes (Man of the Month 6)

"Parker. I'm close. Oh, please."

"Come with me, baby," he demanded, his hand reaching between their bodies to tease her clit and edge her the final way over, so that they exploded together, wild and hot and sweaty and sated.

When she had her wits back, she breathed in deep, her mind in a muddle, her body so deliciously satisfied. "You're amazing," she said, and he murmured he same back to her, then held her

close as she ran a finger lightly over his chest until he finally put his hand over hers and simply pressed it close. "Stop that," he said, laughing. "It tickles."

"Punishment for all you did to me. Some of that tickled, too."

"Oh, did it?" He rolled over, pinning her down. "I think I just might have to tickle you a bit more."

She squealed, but the sound was cut off by his kiss--and then by the way his stomach growled.

He looked at her, his expression sheepish. "I guess it might be time for that spaghetti."

"I guess so," she said, laughing as she got out of bed, then pulled on the yoga pants and tank top that were hanging over the back of the recliner by the window.

She peeked out once she was dressed, then frowned. "It's there again."

"What is?" he asked, coming to her side once he'd pulled his jeans on.

"I keep seeing this black car." She grimaced. "It's making me paranoid. When I left LA--never mind."

He rested his hand on her shoulder. "Tell me."

"There was a car in LA," she admitted. "And other stuff, too." She felt the tightness in her chest as she began to talk, telling him about Carlton. About the stuff that happened before she started seeing the car. The stuff that pushed her to break up with Carlton. Like how he used to drive by her apartment at night, then would call to ask where she was if her car wasn't in her parking spot. "He'd interrogate me. Ask me what I'd been doing and who I was with. And about the same time, he'd started sending me specific clothes--saying I needed to wear one specific thing or another to a party or on a date, and then getting irritated if I said I'd planned something else."

She lifted a shoulder. "There was other weird stuff, but that started the ball rolling, and I broke up with him."

"I remember when you did. I suspected the reason was something like that, although he never seemed your type."

She cocked her head, studying him. "I didn't realize you were paying attention."

He stepped away from her and pulled on his shirt. "Did you forget I asked you out? It always irked me that Carlton had what I wanted." His head emerged, and he smiled at her. "But now I win," he teased, making her laugh as he came back to her side.

"Seriously, there was a group of us who went out for drinks about once a week. Carlton talked the most about who

he was dating and what was going on. He didn't talk much while you were together, but once you broke up ... well, let's just say his ego was sorely bruised."

"Jerk," she said. "He started stalking my house. I'd see the car, and then it would disappear. And calls from blocked numbers. And flowers sent without any card that would just say creepy things. One said You look beautiful in your pale blue nightie. But I'd never worn that for him. I bought it as a break-up present to myself. Which meant he had to have been looking through my window."

She shivered, and he wrapped his arms around her, keeping her warm. "I'm so sorry," he said. "Do you think that car has something to do with Carlton?"

"No. Yes. I don't know." She closed her hands over his at the waist. "It's just a black car. I see them pretty much everywhere. I think it's just a trigger, you know. Something that calls it all back and makes me fear I'm not done with Carlton."

"You are," he said fiercely. "You know if that bastard came back, I'd protect you."

She smiled up at him. "My hero."

He kissed the top of her head. "I look after what's mine."

She turned in his arms. "Am I?"

"What?"

"Am I yours?"

"Oh, baby, yes." He started to kiss her again, then paused, his attention drawn to the window. "Look," he said, as a spry elderly woman with a cane approached the car. The driver emerged, opened the back door for her, and when the woman was settled, he got back in and the car took off.