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"Okay. I'll be back in an hour."
Feeling like I’m floating, or perhaps imagining I am, I hurry out of the car and went straight up to my room, where a very flustered Sarah is waiting for me.
Nearly running, I race to the elevator, reminding myself all the while to stay calm.
This is just another night out with a childhood friend, right?
Except, it isn't. Not for me, anyway, and I know it instantly, as soon as Parker gets out of the car to open my door, fending off the paparazzi who follow him everywhere he goes so they couldn’t document too many details about me.
I jump in the car in a hurry, observing Parker's somber countenance. Loose strands of hair fall over his forehead, still slightly damp, while his toned arms are outlined through the shirt he wears rolled up to his elbows.
He is perfection sculpted together into one piece, and I hate myself for discovering that after all these years, I still want him, badly. What I thought had been just a teenage crush is proving to me that it is, in fact, much more than that.
There is something about Parker, something I find impossible to admit exists, but it is there, welling up with every glance I give the handsome billionaire.
He drives the car through the city until we arrive at a tall building, on the terrace of which is one of the most exclusive and fashionable restaurants in the city.
It is impressive to see how all doors open for the well-known Parker Hamilton, because no matter who he is, everyone around us gives him a smile before making way for us.
Reminding myself to keep my composure, I escort him through the lobby of the luxurious restaurant as he stands at my back.
"Allow me," he says, as he removes my heavy coat.
As soon as he does, a rush of breath escapes his lips.
"Everything okay?" I ask, turning around to look at him.
"It's just... You look beautiful," Parker says.
My eyes widen as I watch him and realize that I do, in fact, own all of his attention in that moment.
I smile. "That's the first time you've ever paid me a compliment."
He takes my hand and wraps my arm around him as he guides me in our seats. "Correction: This is the first time you've heard me give you a compliment, but not the first time I've ever done it."
Curiosity climbs up my body like a vine at his words. "When have you ever said anything nice about me in your life?"
"I'm not all bad, Penny," Parker assures me as he leads me to a table by the window, where we will be alone and secluded.
The views of the city are incredible, but not more so than the man sitting across from me, handsome and so intense looking as I feel him undressing me with his eyes.
Feeling a flush creep up my skin, I shake my head.
"I don't believe it. I've always just been ‘Moneypenny’ to you," I say, feeling a bit of the bitterness of the past as I reflect on the memory behind those words.
"I'm really sorry about that," Parker says as the waiter comes over to take our order.
We order something to drink and some appetizers. A part of me decides it is best to leave that touchy subject alone, but Parker moves closer to me.
"I'm sorry. For everything. I was a real jerk in the past." He looks deep into my eyes as he speaks.
"You were." I gaze at him, trying to ignore the way one of his arms settles over the back of the couch, encircling my back in a subtle, but binding movement.
Feeling his presence, breathing in the seductive scent of his cologne, and becoming enraptured by the green in his eyes, I look up at him, knowing that with each of his words, I’m becoming more and more lost in him.
"I know I don't deserve your forgiveness," Parker says. “But, would you believe me if I told you I am someone else now?”
The look in his eyes makes me want to believe him. That childhood crush on my bully makes me want to believe him that much more.
