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He carefully sets me down on the floor, evaluating my face while behind us, Brittany scoffs innocently, trying to regain control of the situation.
"What a scare, Penny! Wow, I didn't know you were such a clumsy girl!"
A poorly disguised smile forms across her red lips, but Parker, who saw everything that happened, is not up for games.
"You're coming with me. Now!" he barks at Brittany, grabbing her by the arm and dragging her backstage.
The two of them disappear before she can process what is happening, just as she is trying to catch her breath.
In a way, a huge part of me is extremely grateful to Parker for saving me. But the other part wonders how attentive Parker had to have been toward me to notice that I’m in danger so quickly.
It is as if, somehow, he has not taken his eyes off me for a single moment.
Chapter twenty-one
Parker
Myhandcloses,tootightly perhaps, around Brittany's arm.
"Stop!" she shrieks as I drag her backstage, “Let go, you're hurting me!"
She finally breaks free, and I release her once we find ourselves alone in a secluded area backstage.
Her gaze and mine meet. Brittany looks terribly scornful and bewildered, but she obviously doesn't feel guilty about what she did.
"What's with all this protective-man attitude? You've got me fed up with the way you're hovering around silly Penny,” Brittany says, pouting her lips.
Unable to help it, my hand hits the wall, very close to her. The blonde jumps as she witnesses my frightening display of anger.
Her eyes widen and she watches me, as if seeing me for the first time.
"And I’ve had it with you and this whole game of going after Penny. You're going to leave her alone, starting right now.”
For a moment, Brittany seems to want to refute my words, but then she deflates like a balloon as she looks at me with big, sad eyes.
"I don't get it, Parker,” Brittany says. "Where's all this interest in that dowdy Penny Gould coming from? You've never liked girls like her."
"That is of none of your business,” I tell her, knowing full well that it will be impossible to get anything into her head. "Just stay away from her."
"Well, no, I won’t," Brittany says crossly. "It's obvious that idiotic girl is manipulating you. How else would you rather be with her than me?"
A sarcastic chuckle escapes my lips, "Are you so sure that no one but you can interest me?"
"It's clear that she can't offer you what I can in bed,” Brittany says and her eyes sparkle with mischief. "She can't compare to me."
"You're right, you don’t compare,” I say, and for an instant I watch as her eyes fill with satisfaction. "But it's you who doesn’t even come close to what Penny does for me, you understand? There is no comparison. "
Brittany lets out a gasp full of indignation. "Parker, how dare you say something like that to me!"
"I’ve had it with you, do you hear me?" I say, getting very close to her. "From now on, I want to be clear: It's over between you and me. I don't want you anywhere near my fiancée again, or else I'll see to it that you're left out of fashion week entirely."
Brittany's expression shows me how outraged and hurt she is by my comments, but I don't care. Under no circumstances will I let her continue to pick on Penny.
Part of me wonders when I had come to consider Penny ‘mine.’ If I told Brittany that Penny is ‘my woman,’ does that mean that I’m no longer seeing our deal as a simple facade, and that I really, truly harbor feelings for the petite brunette?
Be that as it may, I’m not about to let Brittany, or anyone else, mess with her again. Let alone hurt her.
Turning around, I leave Brittany to her childish tantrums, and walk back to the main stage, in search of Penny.
