Table for Two (13 page)

"Ok, ok…I get it. But anyways, you still can't tell me no." He took a deep breath ready for the oncoming verbal assault. "I have a ticket for you at JFK airport, leaving tomorrow afternoon for you to come out and meet me on tour. It's only for a couple of days, you'll meet me in Indianapolis, see the show there, then travel with me to Chicago, then St. Louis, and fly back to New York from St. Louis."

"Parker, have you forgotten that I have a restaurant to run?" She snapped. How dare he make these decisions for her. "Besides, I already told you that our lives are too different. I'm not into all that partying, and watching the girls all over you." As much as it made her mad that he just assumed she'd leave her responsibilities behind to go 'play', she was also tempted to take him up on his offer. Not only did she need a break, but she missed him terribly.

"Listen, I'm sorry that it sounds like I am dictating your life, but the truth is, I need you right now. I need a sense of normalcy right now. I feel like I am going crazy touring, and we still have like three weeks left to go." He told her honestly. "I need someone to ground me, and you seem to have a knack for that."

Isabella paused, not sure what to say. Her mind was battling with its thoughts, both hesitant and excited at the same time. "Can I call you back with an answer?" She asked.

"You have until your laundry is done to call me back." He teased, knowing her better than she thought he did.

Isabella agreed, and hung up her phone. Her heart pounded as she dialed another phone number.

"Hello?" A tired male voice answered the phone.

"Dylly? I need a favor." She said in a small voice. "And if you say yes, I will give you an extra week of vacation that you can use in two weeks."

Dylan groaned. He knew what was coming, and as frustrating as it was, the extra week of vacation would be much appreciated. "Which night do you need off?" He asked.

"Well, see, that's the thing. I kind of need the next six days off." She told him coyly. A moment of fear went through her, and then she was struck with some common sense. She was the boss, she owned the restaurant, and he worked for her. "Dylan, I really need this time off, and I really need you to step in and watch the restaurant while I'm gone." She told him, more confident now.

"Fine." He relented. "Are you going to tell me where you're going?"

"Just on a trip to give me some much needed relaxation." She told him. "I have to run, finish my laundry, and start packing. I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon and will be back in just under a week. I'll have my cell if you need me."

"Ok, have fun." Dylan told her, obviously not meaning the sentiment behind his words. She could tell he was annoyed, but in her excitement, she didn't care.

She opened her phone again and went to the received call list. She hit the call button and the phone dialed the number that was last received.

"I better hear a yes come out of your mouth." Parker said before even saying hello.

"Just tell me what time I have to be at the airport." Bella said quickly, before she changed her mind.

"The flight is at 1:00, but make sure you're there early. I don't want a call telling me that you missed your flight. I will try to be at the airport in Indy to get you, but if my manager thinks it isn't safe, I will send him to get you." Parker was happy, but nervous at the same time.

"Ok, see you tomorrow then." She hung up the phone, her stomach a bundle of nerves. What did this mean for them? What was expected of her? Would she be able to handle his 'other life'? She knew that she wouldn't be sleeping that night, there was no way that her mind would stop asking all these questions.

The plane touched down in Indianapolis, Indiana, and Isabella listened to the pilot tell them to enjoy their stay. She was impressed, Parker had flown her out First Class, but then again, she didn't expect any less of him. It was just typical Parker, always thoughtful…or at least typical of the side of Parker that she knew.

Isabella wheeled her carry-on through the gates of the terminal, searching for anyone familiar, or someone that held a sign with her name on it. She walked through the crowd of people waiting, and suddenly felt a hand on her arm as she moved between two people. Bella looked at the hand and moved her eyes up the arm of the person holding hers. Looking up even further, she saw a man with shoulder length blond hair, a backwards trucker hat, and aviator sunglasses. Just as she was about to tell the man to get his grubby hands off her, he leaned in and whispered in her ear. "Glad you didn't miss the flight gorgeous." He kissed her cheek and pulled her along downstairs, to the baggage claim area.

He put his finger up to his lips, effectively keeping her quiet, and not saying anything that would draw attention to them. Once they had her other suitcase, they exited the airport to a waiting town car. Safely inside the vehicle with dark tinted windows, he pulled off the sunglasses, hat and wig. He fluffed up his spiked hair, and looked over at the woman who was still quiet.

"You can talk now." He laughed at the awe in her eyes, and the smile on her face.

"I missed you so much Parker." She blurted out before her brain could stop her.

"Not as much as I missed you, Bella." He leaned over and hugged her tight, not liking the feel of her body. His mother was right, she had lost a lot of weight, too much in fact. He slowly backed away from her, and for the first time, he saw how tired she actually looked. At that moment, he vowed to make this the best vacation she ever had.

"So what are the plans for today?" Bella asked as they carried her luggage into the hotel and up to the room. Isabella looked around, impressed with the lobby and all of the furnishings in the hotel. It was obviously an upper class hotel, the type that she wasn't used to staying at. Before her restaurant had become a success, she lived a middle class lifestyle. And now that the money was rolling in from the TigerLily, she hadn't really had time to indulge in any luxuries yet.

"Well, first we are going to get you settled in your room, and then you have an appointment in the spa while I go do my sound check. When I get back, we have dinner reservations, then I figured we could walk around Monument Circle for a while and be all touristy." He told her in the elevator.

"The spa?" Bella asked.

"Yup, I signed you up for the full package…facial, massage, some sort of mud bath thing…the works." He answered, looking at the numbers in the elevator, watching as they went to the top floor. He pulled out a keycard from his back pocket and slid it into the lock, opening the door in a flash.

In the hallway, Isabella looked around and saw that the only door was the one to the room Parker was opening. She followed him into the room, and saw a giant sitting room with doors that led to separate bedrooms and bathrooms. "Parker, this is huge!"

He laughed. "Well, I am so tired of sleeping in cramped spaces on the tour bus, so I decided to get the penthouse and treat us both. You're giving me an excuse to sleep in nice hotels while you're visiting, rather than making us both suffer on the bus." He led her over to a large room. "This is my room, just in case you get scared…or horny." She laughed and smacked his arm when he wiggled his eyebrows at her. Snickering, he walked a bit further and opened another door. "This is your room."

Isabella entered the room and looked around. It was so elegantly decorated with cream, gold, and hints of maroon throughout the room. Parker set her large suitcase on the bed, and turned to leave. "Your bathroom is through that door over there." He pointed to a large door to his left. "That's the closet if you need it, but we'll only be here until tomorrow. Um, there's food and drinks in the kitchenette, help yourself to whatever you want. Oh, and your appointment is in 45 minutes, so do whatever you need to, but be downstairs in the spa by then. I will be back shortly after you get done being pampered, and our dinner reservations are at 8:00." He ran through the list, Isabella trying to take it all in.

She put her carry-on bag down and followed him to the door of the penthouse. "Parker, wait!" He stopped rushing to leave and turned to see what she wanted. Once he stopped, she stood awkwardly, not quite sure what to say. She walked to him slowly and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. "Thank you."

Parker nodded, not really knowing what to say without screwing up the moment they were sharing. He returned Bella's kiss on her cheek, and walked out the door.

*****

After two hours of absolute bliss in the spa, Isabella returned to the room, using the keycard that Parker had left for her on her night stand. She collapsed onto her bed, feeling so relaxed, and easily drifted off to sleep.

Parker came back to the room an hour later, and stood at her door watching her sleep. He was so torn whether he should let her sleep, or wake her up to get ready for dinner. What he really wanted to do was crawl into bed with her right then and there, and see where it led to. Instead, he quietly crept into her room and sank down on the bed next to her. He placed a kiss on Bella's forehead, waking her from her nap.

A slow smile spread across her face, feeling completely rejuvenated. She stretched her arms over her head, groaning softly. Parker watched her and felt a stirring in his pants as she stretched. Her innocence had such an effect on him, which was surprising to him. "Good morning Sleeping Beauty. Do you want to sleep more? I can cancel our reservations and just order room service later."

A grumble from Isabella's stomach told him the answer. They both laughed when they heard it. "I am definitely ready for food. What kind of place are we going to?" She asked, getting up and going to her suitcase to figure out what to wear.

"Dress nice, but comfortable so that we can stroll around later." He told her. "Can you be ready in twenty minutes?"

"Without a doubt. But can you, pretty boy? Looks like that spiky hair is pretty high maintenance." She joked with him. He flipped her off as he left the room to get ready himself, leaving her laughing as she gathered her clothes. As she stood in her bathroom, the only thought in her head was that this trip was exactly what she needed.

*****

Twenty minutes later, Parker finally emerged from his room. He was surprised to see Isabella sitting on the couch, flipping through a magazine. "It’s about time." She joked, not looking up from the periodical. Finally, she threw it down onto the coffee table and turned to look at Parker. Her breath hitched as she took in his appearance. His outfit wasn't anything phenomenal, but for some reason, he looked amazing. His steel blue shirt was open to reveal a black t-shirt underneath, the sleeves rolled up slightly. Looking down, she took in the black pants and black Doc Martens. She eyed him appreciatively, noticing that every single one of his hairs was in perfect place, to make it look like he hadn't even tried.

At the same time, Parker was scoping out Isabella. Usually she wore black, but today she had on such an interesting shade of camel, and it looked great on her. Her knee high leather boots matched the camel leather blazer that she wore. A tight white tank top was tucked into her denim mini skirt, which drew so much attention to her chest and legs at the same time. Parker needed to keep his hormones under control. He wasn't sure what Bella wanted from him, and he didn't want to scare her away.

Parker cleared his throat. "Are you ready?"

"Oh yeah, I'm starving!" She walked over to him, and hooked her arm into his. "Let's go get our grub on."

Parker laughed as he escorted her to the elevator and down to the waiting town car. He had never seen Isabella so carefree and jovial; except when she was drunk, and there wasn't much that he remembered about that night.

Dinner went well, but Parker kept insisting that even though it was a well-known restaurant in Indy, it had nothing on the TigerLily. That made Isabella blush, as she protested that the food was delicious. Deep down though, she kept thinking what could be added or taken away from each dish to make it better.

After their meal, they headed to the Indianapolis Canal walk, after walking by Circle Center Mall and Union Station. It was a beautiful night as they walked arm in arm, taking in all the sites of the beautiful downtown area. People were sitting on benches alongside the canal, and some were travelling down the water in gondolas.

Parker looked over at Bella and even in the dark, he could tell that she was starting to look better. He still needed to feed her, get her weight back up, but that wasn't something that could happen overnight.

As they headed back to their downtown hotel, neither one could fight off their yawns. It had been such a long day for both of them, and their previous exhaustion did nothing to help the matter. They were both in need of a good night's sleep in a comfy bed, with nothing to distract them.

Back at the hotel, Parker walked Isabella to her bedroom door, and took her hand in his. He brought it up to his mouth where he kissed it gently. After he lowered her hand, he didn't let go as he looked into her eyes. "Thank you so much for coming Bella. I really missed you."

"I missed you too." She whispered, startled, but a bit turned on by the intense look in his eyes. "Thank you for tonight, it was a perfect Parker." She told him, kissing his cheek as she fled to her room before anything happened.

Parker sighed as he made his way to his room. He most definitely needed a cold shower before he'd be able to sleep that night.