Table for Two (15 page)

Parker walked over to Isabella and took the menu out of her hand. He kissed her forehead then grabbed her hand. "Nothing here, I'm taking you out to eat." He told her and led her to the door.

"But wait!" Isabella put on her brakes. "I need my purse, and you need your disguise."

Parker smiled at her. "Today is my treat, but if you need your purse, get it." He let go of her hand. "But I'm not wearing any disguises today. This is Chicago. We'll blend right in on the streets."

Isabella quickly got her purse from her room and the two of them headed out to the streets for the day.

It was a beautiful day in Chicago. The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect, and there was a light breeze. Parker and Isabella walked through the streets of downtown Chicago, admiring store fronts, talking, and looking for an outdoor café to eat at.

Parker's cell phone rang, and seeing that it was his manager, he told Bella he needed to take the call. She wandered away from him to give him some privacy and walked over to the outdoor newsstand. She looked through the various magazines, not seeing any that she needed, and made her way to the newspaper section. She saw a few that had Parker on the cover, and she couldn't resist picking them up. She looked over at him, and seeing that he was ending his call, she handed the newspapers to the cashier and bought them, instead of just browsing through them.

Parker joined her just as the cashier handed Isabella her purchases. "Sorry about that, Tommy was just going over the schedule for later." He smiled down at her and put his arm around her shoulder. "What'd you get?"

"Just some of my favorite reading material." She patted the bag. "All about the famous Parker Davidson."

Parker groaned. "Great. Can't wait to see what they say this time."

Just around the corner, they found a cute little café with a few tables on the sidewalk. It was exactly what they had been looking for. They were seated and had their orders placed in minutes. Waiting for their food, Isabella took out the first gossip paper.

"Oooh, this is one of my favorites, they always seem to like you." She told him, showing him the cover of the paper.

Parker snatched the paper out of her hand, smiling the whole time. "Let’s see what I've been doing." He flipped through the paper until he found the pages he was on. His eyes scanned the pages, a smirk crossed his face. "They sure don't waste any time!" Isabella looked up at him from the paper that she had opened, her face a little pale. "Are these the papers you've been reading to keep up with what I'm doing?" He asked her.

Isabella nodded, not quite trusting her voice at the time. She knew that she'd been naïve in trusting what those papers had reported, but she honestly hadn't known what to make of 'Parker Davidson, Rock star'. Before her trip, the only thing she knew of that side of his life was what she had seen firsthand, after the first concert she went to. In her mind, what she saw and the papers she read all fit together.

But confusion was setting into her mind as she looked at the papers that morning. She wasn't sure if she should laugh or cry. The look on her face told Parker all he needed to know.

"Well, I'm glad this came up now rather than later." He told her and exchanged papers with her. It seemed as though they had all the same pictures so there was really no need.

Isabella looked at the pictures taken after the concert the night before. Parker was shown 'making out' with various girls, Bella being one of them. Not only did the pictures blow her mind, but the stories they spun were even worse. She remembered back to the previous night, and remembered some of the girls. They had grabbed Parker and kissed him quickly as he passed by them, but by looking at the pictures, you would never know that they were quick kisses. A picture truly is just a snapshot of such a quick moment in time making it last forever, and Bella understood that now more than ever. And the articles they wrote went along with the kisses, talking of how much of a 'playboy' Parker was, and how he is the true version of the modern rock star.

"Wow, I didn't realize you left with this girl for the night." Bella told Parker, pointing out a picture of him with a blonde girl that was barely dressed. The caption had said they were 'hot and heavy' all night and that they were spotted leaving together.

"Yeah, she was a great lay." He laughed while rolling his eyes. Parker took the papers from Bella and threw them to the ground. "Is that how you see me, as that guy in those papers?" He looked over to her and asked her seriously.

Bella sighed. "I don't know Parker. I don't know how to see you, or who to see you as; 'Rock Star Parker' or 'Sweet and Sexy Parker'." She paused for a moment. "I'd like to believe that you are the Parker that watched movies with me when I got out of the hospital, the one that has swept me away from my over-worked frenzied life for a few days with him."

"But?" He asked, feeling that there was going to be one.

"But I see the papers and I see how the girls are all over you after your concerts, and quite honestly, it freaks me out a bit and I tend to believe that guy exists and enjoys who he is." She admitted.

Parker nodded at the waiter as their food arrived, and waited for him to leave before he spoke again. "I've told you before that I love what I do. I love being out there on stage and making music, playing to the huge crowds. It’s in my blood now, and I get a rush out of it. And yes, when I was younger, I got a rush out of how the girls were all over me too. But I'm not that young cocky kid anymore. I'm not looking for the random groupie hookups that only want me because of my name and my check book. I also haven't purposely kissed any girls since the last time we talked, and before that, it was only for my image." He raised his hands, spreading them out to his side. "This is me Bella, the real me. For better or worse, this is who I am. I'm the guy who makes up reasons to come into your restaurant hoping to get a glance at you. I'm the guy who cares even though I try not to show it. I'm the guy who loves his mother as much as she drives me crazy. I'm the guy who gets jealous seeing you with another man. And I'm the guy who would do anything to see a smile on your face." He reached over and took her hand in his. "I'm also the guy that wants to be with you exclusively, but I know that I will never be that guy to you unless you can trust me."

Isabella's eyes drifted to the ground where the gossip papers had been dropped. "Trust doesn't come easy to me. Logically, I know that those photos don't always paint the true picture, but a part of me wonders if some of them are true, or if the temptation of the hot girls that throw themselves at you might be stronger than your desire for me."

"Well, I don't know what else I can do to show you that I'm not the rock star whore. I've told you before that there is an image that I need to live up to for my career, which means that I have to go to the backstage parties and look like I'm having a good time. If I could give it up to show you how serious I am about wanting to be with you, I would." He sighed. "But that just isn't possible. And I understand that trust is something you have to earn, but just look at the past and see if there is anything there that might lead you to understand that you can trust me."

Isabella nodded. "I'm just afraid that if I give you my heart, I'll get hurt."

"Baby, I already have your heart, and I'm just waiting for you to realize it." He reached over and brushed his finger along her cheek. "And I'll be here waiting when you do."

Bella blushed and started eating, putting an end to their conversation, or at least the heavy part of it. He gave her the rundown of the next few days in Chicago, telling her that he had a couple of appearances to make that night, then they could go to a club if she felt up to it. The next morning he had a few radio shows to do, then a rehearsal at the venue, and the concert was the following night. They would stay in Chicago after the concert and head to St. Louis the next morning for a show that night. The day after the show, she would be leaving and heading back to her life in New York.

Isabella wondered how he could keep it all straight, being in so many different cities, each one having different schedules and events. It seemed like no two cities had the same things going on for him. It was definitely giving her an insight to his touring life, and why he was so tired, with not much time to call her. She also knew that he had put a lot of appearances off because Isabella had come to visit him. It was something she had overheard him and Tommy fighting about on the phone, but she didn't let on that she knew.

After lunch, they walked around some more, doing a bit more shopping at expensive boutiques that Isabella never would have shopped at before. Any time she picked up something black, Parker took it out of her hands and replaced it with something that had a lot of color. She laughed at his antics and ended up buying a rainbow of different colored clothes.

When they returned to the hotel, Parker went to his room to get ready for his appearances that he had committed to for the evening. When he asked Bella if she wanted to go, she politely declined so that she could relax for a while in their hotel room, and maybe even make use of the hot tub.

Once he left, Isabella had plenty of time to herself to think back to their conversation. Had she really given him her heart already? Did she really trust him? Her first thought was to call Dylan, but she knew that he had an extreme dislike for Parker, and he would be totally biased. The only one that would be honest with her was Jason.

Jason's number rang through her cell phone, and just as she was about to hang up, he answered breathlessly. "Hey Mary! How's vacation?"

Bella laughed. "It's great! Exactly what I needed." She smiled dreamily. "What took you so long to answer?"

Jason giggled. "I was a bit pre-occupied, saying goodbye to a hottie at my door. And you will never guess who said hottie is!"

"You're right, and you know I hate these games, so just tell me who it was." She went to her room and put her bathing suit on as she talked to him, grabbing her cover-up and her room key as she headed down to the hotel's hot tub and pool.

"It's someone you know quite well, and is an absolutely fabulous kisser!" He gushed.

"Jase! Tell me for fuck's sake!" She yelled, getting annoyed, the sound echoing in the elevator.

Jason laughed, loving to tease her like that. "Remember how I told you that Thomas boy was a closet queen? Well, my gay-dar was right! I ran into him on the street yesterday, we went out for a drink, and well…he just left." He sounded so pleased with himself.

"Good for you sweetie! Are you going to see him again?" She was truly happy for him.

"We're supposed to meet up again tomorrow. It's just hard because he hasn't come out yet and I'm not sure if I want to deal with that or not." He sighed. "Are you upset with me? I know you were kind of dating him."

"Not at all! That's kind of what I called to talk to you about." Bella looked through the glass door to where the indoor hot tub and pool were, happy that it was completely empty. She walked in and shed her cover-up, sinking into the extremely hot water with a moan of delight. "So, you know I'm touring with Parker right now, right?" When Jason answered with a 'DUH', she continued. "Well, we got into this intense conversation today about how he wants to be with me, but that won't happen until I trust him. Then he said that he already has my heart, I just need to realize it and let it happen. And now I'm so confused! I don't know how to trust him when I know that he's on tour and all these hoochies want to get with him, even though when we're together, he's never given me a reason not to trust him. Actually, when we're together, I trust him more than I trust anyone aside from you. I trust him more than I trust Dylly now, even! It's just when he's gone that I'm not sure about."

"I have to admit, I wasn't too sure about him at first, but I'm really starting to think he's a stand-up guy Bella. And sexy as hell, but that's beside the point." He always knew how to make Bella laugh. "I know that what we saw at his concert wasn't a good thing, he was kissing another woman. But did it go further than that? And had you committed yourselves at that point?"

"No, it didn't go further than that, and we hadn't really even talked about how we felt about each other at that point. And he told me that he hasn't even kissed another girl in the past few weeks, even though they seem to attack him as he walks through the crowd."

"Well my dear, the way I look at it, is that you're never going to know unless you give it a try. Just relax and let yourself go, and see where things lead for once. You're OCD in every other part of your life, just this once, be impulsive and stop over thinking and trying to control every aspect of it." He suggested.

Knowing that he was right, Bella thanked him and hung up her cell phone after wishing him luck with Thomas, Sasha's son. She closed her eyes and rested her head against the back of the hot tub. She would let him know tonight that she wanted to try something with him.

*****

Parker returned from his engagements looking tired and worn out. Bella felt bad for him, knowing that she had rested , something he didn't have the luxury of doing. He gave her a tired smile and led her to the couch.

"Let me just take a shower and I'll take you out to dinner." He told her, followed by a yawn.

"I have a better idea. You go lay down for a little while, and I'll order room service. Deal?" She smiled sympathetically at him.

"Are you sure?" Seeing her nod, he agreed. "On one condition. Once we order room service, tell them to deliver it in an hour, and you come and lay down with me. I'm in the mood to cuddle."