Keep Me Safe (23 page)

“I’m sorry,” he apologized. “I wasn’t expecting to deal with that today.”

“It’s okay. You have nothing to apologize for. Considering what happened on our first date, I’d say we’re more than even.” I smiled to ease his embarrassment.

“She was just a girl that I dated between other girls. None of them were ever serious and I’m pretty sure most of them just liked bragging about dating a guy in uniform.”

“You don’t have to explain,” I reassured him. “Who you dated is none of my business.”

“You’ve told me so much about you, things that most other people don’t even know. Keeping you in the dark about my life doesn’t seem very fair.” He reached over and squeezed my hand. “If you ever want to know anything, just ask.”

“Okay.” I nodded.

We got back to my house and brought my half of the groceries inside. It didn’t take long to put them away and I spent the entire time thinking about the woman at the store who was obviously intimately familiar with the man I was crazy about.

“What’s on your mind, sweetheart?” He asked in his sweet tone.

“Nothing, I’m fine.” I turned to put the juice in the fridge so I didn’t have to look him in the eyes when I practically lied to him.

“When a woman says she’s fine, she’s
never
fine.” He laughed. When I only smiled, he grabbed me by the belt loops on my pants and pulled me to him. “You look like something’s bothering you. What’s up? Is it about Piper?”

“No, not Piper in general. I was just thinking about when you said ‘none of them’,” I made quotation marks with my fingers, “were serious. Are there any serious relationships in there, or just a bunch of annoying, all beauty no brain, types?” I hoped my sarcastic tone hid my jealousy, insecurity, curiosity…whatever the hell you wanted to call it.

“Tell me how you really feel.” He sniggered as he hopped up and sat on the counter. “Honestly, there really isn’t anything to tell. I’ve had two serious relationships. The first girl didn’t like how much I worked. We were both young and she was pretty naïve about what I actually did. She thought I was just hanging out at work, driving around at all hours of the night. The other girl just never had any goals. She wanted us to go out with friends, have parties at one of our houses every weekend and didn’t really know what she wanted out of life. I think that’s why I stuck to the simple, no serious complications type of relationships for the last couple years. My work and career were just as important to me then and I didn’t need someone who is just along for the ride. If I didn’t expect anything from any of them, there was no hassle or expectation from me and that’s what I needed.”

I paused for a moment before I walked over to him and stood between his bent knees. “So what changed?”

“You came along.” He grinned and my heart skipped. Using the tip of his finger to lift up my chin, he bent down to kiss me softly. I sighed when he pulled away so quickly. “Don’t get me all worked up. We still have to take groceries back to my house.”

“Ugh,” I groaned. “I forgot all about them.” I stepped back so he could hop down and we left for his house.

Twenty-five

We went back to Parker’s house as we both worked to put the groceries away. Being in this ‘domesticated’ situation like he teased was perfectly fine with me. The common nerves associated with a new relationship had surprisingly subsided on my end, and they seemed to for him as well.

“I could get used to this.” He smiled over his shoulder.

“Yeah, I could too.” I nodded. “I was just thinking the same thing. A
normal
normal is so nice.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of extraordinary, wonderful, passionate…”

I interrupted him. “No, that’s not what I meant. You and I
are
all of those things. I just meant everything without-“

“I’m just picking on you. I know what you meant. I’m sure the ability to relax makes things a lot less stressful for you.” He closed the cabinet and grabbed my hand to walk us over to the couch. He sat and I laid down length wise and put my head in his lap.

“Yeah, I still find myself overanalyzing your answer to something when I ask. I know it’s going to take me a while to stop doing certain things out of habit, so thanks for being patient with me.”

He ran his fingers through my hair. “You’re welcome. Unfortunately, I’ve witnessed more long-term effects of abuse than I’d ever like to.”

His mom?
“Oh, because of work?”

He continued to play with my hair. “I know we hadn’t really talked about it, but my mom was in an abusive relationship before she married my dad.”

“Oh?” I did my best to sound surprised. I didn’t want to get Beth in trouble for telling me if she wasn’t supposed to.

“Yeah, I mean it was a long time ago. But even when I was a kid, I would see her flinch or something when she didn’t hear one of us come up behind her. She’s told us about it, especially when it came time to dating. She knew that neither of us would ever lay a hand on a woman, but she wanted to make sure that we were especially respectful. She amazes me all the time. I really can’t wait for you to meet her.” One corner of his mouth turned up to smile and I could tell he was excited.

“I can’t wait to meet her either. Everyone in your family has been really great. Hopefully it won’t be too long before you get to meet my parents. I can’t wait until
I
get to see my parents. It’s been way too long. They’re going to love you, though.” I rubbed my thumb along his forearm that rested over my stomach.

“Oh I’m sure it won’t be too long.” He laughed lowly under the deep breath he took. “We just had a very nonchalant conversation about meeting each other’s families. That didn’t weird you out, did it?”

I giggled. “Not at all. Actually, I had a girly moment and did a little happy dance on the inside.”

He smiled and leaned down to kiss me. “Are you hungry? We haven’t eaten since breakfast and it’s going on,” he looked at the clock, “3:00 in the afternoon already.”

“Yeah, I could eat.” I felt Parker shift under me, so I lifted my head to give him room to get up. He stood up and held his hands out.

“Come keep me company while I cook something?” he asked. He pulled me up and we walked to the kitchen. “What are you in the mood for?”

“I have no idea. Something simple, though. I’m not terribly hungry.” I hopped up onto the counter next to the sink as Parker opened the fridge.

“Umm,” he bent down to look inside. “We’ve got chicken salad, turkey for sandwiches, or leftover pizza.” He peeked over the door. “Sorry, I’m not a good shopper. I always eat the same stuff.”

“Chicken salad is fine. I’m not picky. I’ll take a water too, please.” As I slid off the counter and started to walk over to the table, Parker pressed the bottle of water to the back of my leg.

“Yikes! That’s cold!” I squealed.

Parker let out a laugh and I couldn’t help but smile. His playfulness was one of my favorite things about him. Not that I had found anything wrong with him yet. He was always so easy going and I envied that about him.

When we were done eating, I walked over to lay back on the couch. “I could totally take a nap right now.”

“You and me both.” Parker slid onto the couch next to me and put his head on my shoulder and arm over my stomach. “I’m just going to close my eyes for a minute.”

“Are you serious? We can go get in your bed right now and take a nap. I’m all for that.” I laughed.

“Um, we can go to my bed and do something else…” Parker used his index finger and slowly slid it under the hem of my shirt. I tried to not let his touch make me squirm since I was so ticklish, but I couldn’t help it.

“What’s the matter baby?” He made it sound so innocent. Right, like he didn’t know exactly what he was doing.

“You’re doing that on purpose!” I tried to play it cool but all I ended up doing was jerking my body back and forth.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” He lifted his finger a little higher and pushed my shirt with it. He kissed my stomach and looked up at me. “I think I should take you to my room.”

I didn’t want to wait another second. “Why do we have to go anywhere? This couch is plenty big enough,” I hinted.

Parker pushed himself up and hovered over me. He watched me silently and I went from smiling to impatient as I waited for him to kiss me. I pushed upwards using my elbows and brought my lips to his. I didn’t want to wait anymore.

Twenty-six

“Okay, well you know where to find us if you change your mind,” Stephannie repeated.

I made the mistake of telling her how nervous I was to meet Parker’s parents on Thanksgiving and she teased me about it every day.  It wasn’t so much that I was nervous because it was his parents, but I just wanted them to like me. I felt like Parker and I were moving forward in our relationship very quickly, and I couldn’t imagine what would happen if they didn’t like me.

“I’m not going to change my mind. Even if I’m terrified, I still need to do it. Plus it would be rude after they’ve already invited me.” I grabbed my purse and closed the desk drawer.

Thankfully, it had been a short week because of Thanksgiving, but today was only Wednesday and it dragged on
forever
. Parker and I spent Sunday apart to get some work stuff done so we would be able to relax this weekend. He went in to finish paperwork and I worked on getting concert details worked out. He came over for dinner – okay, and sex - on Monday night, but that had been the only time I’d seen him this week. I missed him terribly.

“Just feel lucky you’re not coming over. JT’s parents are coming over and they
love
me.” She put a sarcastic smile on her face.

I stood up and turned my computer monitor off. “So I’ll see you Monday?”

“Yup, if not before!” She winked at me and we both walked out of our office. I turned the light off to my classroom and went home.

I got home and grabbed my e-reader and cell phone before heading to the couch. I left the windows open while I was at work and the fresh air felt fantastic. Parker was going to come over and spend the night tonight so that we could just go to Beth and Matt’s together in the morning. I was nervous as hell, but I was also pretty excited to meet his parents. It was another step for us and it would be nice to spend Thanksgiving with his family if I couldn’t spend it with my own. The thought made me a little homesick, so I picked up my phone and dialed my parent’s number.

“Hey Sweet Pea!”

“Hey Daddy!”

“How’s my favorite daughter?” he joked.

“That never works since I’m your only daughter, Dad.”

“Sure it does. You’d be my favorite even if you weren’t the only one.” I smiled, even though I missed them both so much. “How are you? I haven’t talked to ya in a while.”

“Oh, I’m fine, Dad. I talked to Mom last week, but you were busy in the garage. How are you? Staying healthy?”

“Oh, I’m fine. You know your mother. She makes sure I take all my medication and keeps me in line.” He chuckled.

“So true, I’m surprised she doesn’t ask me if I’m taking my vitamins when I talk to her.” I heard him shuffling stuff around. “What’s all that noise? Are you busy?”

“Uh, no.” He hesitated. “Just cleaning up the house.”

“What are you guys doing tomorrow? I hate that I won’t be home for Thanksgiving. I miss you guys.”

“Um, nothin really. I think your mom said something about the Turner’s coming over. You won’t be missing anything.” Sounded like my typical dad. Just went by whatever my mom said or told him. “It won’t be too long. We’ll still be coming down soon.”

“I was going to come up there for Christmas. That’s still the plan, right? Or did you guys want to come down here?”

“Oh, yeah. That’s what I meant. You know how I’m always forgetting stuff.”

“I sure do.” I certainly got my memory issues from my dad. I could hardly ever remember what I needed to do tomorrow, let alone in a month.

“Hey Sadie, I’m so sorry, but I gotta get finished up here. Can we talk to you tomorrow?” I heard him shuffle more stuff around.

“Sure, Daddy. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Tell Momma I said hey, okay?”

“Sure thing, baby girl. Bye.”

I hadn’t talked to my dad for a few weeks. I was sort of disappointed that he was in such a hurry. But it certainly wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to bury himself in whatever he was doing. Oh well. I guess I’d talk to him tomorrow.

Just as I put my phone down, I heard my doorbell. My stomach did somersaults again knowing it was probably Parker on the other side. I could see his hair through the pane of glass at the top of my front door and my smile grew even more. When I opened the door, he stood there in jeans and a black t-shirt. His hair was gelled to perfection, as it always was, and he smelled as good as ever.

“Hey baby.” He stepped through the front door and lifted me up by the waist. He spun me once before putting me down and kissing me. One of those ‘I’ve waited all day for this’ kisses.

“Hey!” I sounded a little too enthusiastic. “How was work?”

“Eh, work was work.” He closed the door behind him and walked into the house. “The mountains of paperwork never seem to end. I guess there is a downside to closing a big case.” We got to the couch and sat, and I snuggled up right next to him and grabbed the blanket. He pulled it over both of us and kissed my forehead. “How was work for you?”

“Oh, you know. Same as always this time of year. Stephannie told me how much she’s not looking forward to tomorrow because her in-laws were coming over. I did get to talk to my dad, though.”

“Oh, yeah? How are they, okay?”

“Yeah, they seem to be. They’re having their neighbors over for Thanksgiving. I’m glad they won’t be by themselves. I hate that I had to miss going home to see them.” I rested my head on Parker’s shoulder and rubbed my fingers on his bicep.

“I’m sure you’ll see them before you know it. It’s the holiday season. Time goes by so much faster.”