She heard him laugh.
“Don’t guess you’d like to handle that, would you?” he asked. “You keep asking me how you can help. The sex talk would make us even.”
“No way, that’s all on you. Saving me from a night of debauchery does not make us that good of friends.” She grinned when Parker barked out a laugh. They lay in the bed facing the ceiling next to each other for a few minutes. Suddenly, he rolled to face her.
“Thank you, Astrid.”
“I’m still not giving the sex talk.”
“No, I’ve got that.” Parker laughed again lightly. “Thank you for everything else, taking my brothers out, helping tonight. You were pretty amazing. I think if it was up to my brothers they would move you in permanently.”
With a smile, Astrid rolled onto her side to face him. She tucked her hands under her pillow.
“Can I tell you a secret?” she asked him. His eyebrows rose in surprise.
“You can tell me anything. Remember, I’m your bartender,” he answered, pointing at his chest. She took his hand and laced her fingers through his. She placed their hands between them.
“I felt more alive tonight than I have in a very long time. Would it scare you if I said I loved every moment? Your brothers and their friends are wonderful, working the tables was crazy but exciting. Even the occasional ass grab kept me on my toes.” She heard a deep growl in Parker’s chest at the mention of some of his handsy customers.
“I think it’s me that owes you a thank-you for a great night,” she whispered. He tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. For a moment, Astrid wondered if he would kiss her. A part of her prayed he would. Instead, he pulled his hand away.
“I should probably move to the couch,” he said. He gazed into her eyes for another beat. Astrid simply nodded her head. She wondered how she went from living by herself in a sketchy campus apartment to now as she lay next to the sexiest man she had ever met. She knew life could throw you a curveball on occasion but this one had hit the batter.
She waited for Parker to move, but he just lay there watching her. She finally pulled the covers over them.
“Try not to snore,” she said with a laugh.
“Like a freight train,” he said, tucking the covers down between them.
She lay perfectly still, trying desperately to figure out where this was going when she heard his breathing even out. Was there even anything to figure out?
Parker Donnelly was a beautiful, complicated man. One minute he was cornering her against the wall making her want to wrap her legs around him, the next he was the friend whispering next to her in bed. Now she even had the vision of his naked backside dancing around her brain.
She gave a frustrated snort and snuggled farther down in his covers. She fell asleep within minutes.
ChapterFive
Parker wokeup the next morning alone in his bed. He had had every intention of moving back to the couch last night. But then Astrid had taken his hand, whispered to him in the near dark, and gave him a vision of everything his life could be. He wanted it all, the wife, kids, mortgage, PTA meetings, everything. Most of all, he wanted it with her.
He wanted the woman who jumped in to help him last night, looked at his mostly nude body like she could devour him, and then whispered a secret to him in the dark. She was so much better than him, though. Soon she would come to her senses and leave him behind in her wake.
With a groan, he stretched and rolled out of bed. Somewhere outside the door, he could hear laughter. Pulling on a T-shirt, he leaned against the doorjamb to his room watching the scene in the kitchen.
Astrid was making something on the stove while his brothers sat at the table laughing. Yep, this is what he wanted. Turning around, she saw him leaning against the door. Her face immediately lit up. He also wanted that.
“Good morning,” she sang out. “What would you like in your omelet?” How anyone could be this chipper at eight in the morning was beyond him. Christ, was it just eight? He double-checked the watch still on his wrist.
“Here,” she said, walking around the counter toward him with a cup in her hand. “At least start with some coffee.” Gratefully taking the mug, he followed her to the kitchen. He grunted, looking at the ingredients on the counter.
“I thought you were allergic to pork?” he growled. He was not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination. That was why being a bartender was the perfect occupation for him.
“It’s chicken patties, grumpy,” she answered. “I ran to the butcher around the corner this morning.” He watched her work on Liam’s breakfast while Ronan laughed between bites. He scowled at them and took another swig of coffee.
“I’m not grumpy,” he mumbled under his breath. It earned him a questioning eyebrow lift from Astrid.
“Bullshit,” Liam coughed into his hand. “So, Astrid, you aren’t allergic to beef or chicken?”
“Nope, just pork.”
