A Man Will Say Anything. . .
It was ten o'clock when Victoria awoke from her nap. She was exhausted from the past two days of activities. Parker was still asleep in the guest room downstairs. After their argument they both needed to cool off and rest. The house was empty now, and the stream of relatives and friends had gone home with full stomachs and happy memories. Victoria came downstairs and found her parents sitting at the kitchen table.
“You guys still up?” she asked.
“Yes,” Elizabeth said with a tired smile. “Your father and I were just talking about what a good time we had today.”
“Yeah, it was great seeing everyone again. It's been too long.”
“You know, I think Parker's still asleep,” Elizabeth hinted while John gave her a look that said,
honey, stay out of it
.
Victoria knew that her parents had heard about the argument she and Parker had earlier. After their heated exchange, they'd come back into the family room but had barely spoken two words to each other. Everyone felt the tension. A few minutes later they each retreated to their rooms.
“Oh, really?” Victoria shrugged as if she couldn't care less. “Aren't you two tired?”
“Pooped,” John said. “And your mother and I have to get up bright and early for the community fair that the bank is sponsoring with the Boys and Girls Club tomorrow.”
“You guys need to go to bed and get some rest. I can handle kitchen clean up,” Victoria told her parents. Just then she looked up and saw Parker coming into the kitchen. He was wearing a ratty old t-shirt and a pair of severely faded Levi's. She thought he looked scrumptious, and suddenly had the urge to lick the underside of his neck. But she remembered that she was still pissed at him, so she acted as if he wasn't even there.
“Yeah, we can take care of this,” Parker joined in eagerly, walking over to the kitchen island where Victoria stood.
Victoria looked at him with disbelief. She knew that Parker hated housework of any kind, and had a cleaning service that kept his place immaculate.
I can't believe he's offering to clean my parents' kitchen!
She knew this was his way of trying to make up.
“You kids have a good night,” John said, then he and Elizabeth headed upstairs.
They worked quickly, cleaning in silence. A half hour later, Victoria and Parker were finished, leaving the kitchen with a sparkling shine. She was standing at the edge of the counter when Parker walked up behind her and stood close, pressing his pelvis into her behind. He pulled her hair away from her shoulder and rested his head in the crook of her neck. His breath was warm and made her legs weak as he pressed his body closer into hers. “I'm glad we're finally alone,” he whispered, kissing the side of her neck.
Victoria's anger melted away, oozing down her leg like a carton of ice cream left out on a counter.
He turned her around to face him, pressing his groin into hers as he eased one hand under her t-shirt. He lifted her bra and rubbed her breasts, taking turns to ply each nipple until they were hard and rigid. He cupped his other hand over the front of her leggings, massaging her through the protective layer of cotton and lycra, the only barrier separating him from what he wanted.
“Parker,” Victoria said between heavy breaths, “we should stop.”
“Baby, let me make love to you. I know you want me to.”
“I do, but my parents . . . ”
He wrapped his tongue around hers and pulled her in for a kiss that was so long and deep, she felt she'd drown in it. “They're upstairs asleep. This is a huge house. They won't hear a thing. I'll be quiet . . . I promise,” he said, leading her to the guest bedroom.
They undressed frantically, grabbing at each other's clothes and exchanging hungry kisses as if their lives depended upon one another. “Baby, I love you so much,” Parker whispered as he laid her down across the smoothness of the bed. He explored her body with his tongue, kissing her ankles and then her knees. He moved up her leg, journeyed to her thighs, and worked his way to her delicate middle, spreading her legs like eagle wings. She was dripping wet, so he licked, and sucked, and kissed every inch of her soft folds, enjoying her hypnotic taste and the sensual sound of her low moans. Victoria thought she would burst.
He slipped on a condom and parted her thighs further with his knee. He rubbed his fingers against her moistened lips, massaging them before opening her wide for his admission. She squirmed beneath him, begging him to enter her.
He arched his back and guided himself inside her. When he entered, her warmth welcomed him in like an old friend. He took his time, filling her inch by inch until she'd taken his entire length. He looked down on her with loving eyes, thrusting with slow and steady control. She moved in sync with his hips, grinding herself tightly around him. She rolled over and straddled his lap, sliding down on top of him, making him moan too. He held her by her hips as she rode him, and fought back the urge to make the primal sounds his body demanded from her sensual movements. When he couldn't take it any longer, he returned her to her back and buried himself deeper inside, relishing each stroke of his re-entry. He felt as if his body would explode, but he concentrated and held back, wanting to make sure he satisfied her first.
Victoria felt her body melt into his. His love and his passion rendered her helpless, like a child. She closed her eyes and allowed herself to receive the gift she'd held out for. He was going deeper and deeper, and she moaned, enjoying the pleasurable pain she felt below her waist. She opened her eyes and found him staring at her, a mixture of determination and devotion on his face. At that moment, her stomach fluttered, her thighs shook, and her internal warmth spasmed around him, holding him in tight for dear life. She trembled, and that was his signal to join her.
Afterwards, they lay together, hugging close, trying to catch their breaths. Parker kissed her softly. “Baby, I'm sorry about the things I said earlier, and about the situation with the Africa Project. I know you're still upset about it.”
Victoria wriggled her body from under him and walked over to the bathroom. She came back out with a determined look on her face. She wasn't going to have this conversation with Parker in the nude. Tyler had once told her to never have a discussion with a man while she was naked. “A man will say anything when he's got ass in the palm of his hand,” he'd said.
Victoria quickly dressed herself and grabbed Parker's boxers from the floor, tossing them onto the bed. “Get dressed, we need to talk.”
They sat at the kitchen table drinking orange juice. Victoria's legs still trembled, but she needed to get things off her chest. “We've discussed the Africa Project so much that I'm sick of it. I really don't want to talk about it tonight,” she said, to Parker's relief. “But I do want to address your accusations about Ted. How could you think there's something going on between us? Don't you trust me?”
“I trust you. But I know how men are. Especially men like Ted.”
“What do you mean, men like Ted? You've never even met him.”
“I don't have to meet him to know his kind. Powerful, money hungry, arrogant white men who believe the world is theirs for the taking. He sees you and he wants you. And just like anything else he sets out to acquire, he's orchestrating a plan to get you. All the late nights at the office, the business trips, the special projects, the phone calls?”
“Parker . . . ”
“Baby, he's trying to spend time with you so he can ease his way in.”
“You have such double standards,” Victoria countered. “I never question you when you're working late, or on the few occasions when I've come by the hospital to meet you, and seen those nurses openly flirting with you.”
“That's different.”
“How so?”
“I'm a man, I can rebuff that kind of behavior. It's different with women.”
“Oh my God, you sound so chauvinistic. I didn't know I was dating a caveman!”
“Call me what you will, but I know how things work.” Victoria opened her mouth to speak, but Parker continued. “Mason is a good judge of character, and he told me that Ted looked like a man who's after pussy, not friendship,” he said with bluntness.
Victoria sucked in a deep breath of air to calm herself because she didn't want to yell and wake her parents. She couldn't believe that Mason had the nerve to talk about what anyone was after. “What Mason thinks is of no concern to me.”
“Has Ted come on to you?”
“Absolutely not. Do you really think I would continue to work with him if he were making sexual advances toward me? I wouldn't tolerate something like that.”
“I'm sorry, I trust you, baby. But like I said, I know how men are. Plus he's white.”
“What does race have to do with anything?” Victoria said, surprising even herself with the comment.
Parker stared at her. “Maybe it doesn't matter when it comes to Ted. You didn't even tell me he was white. I had to find out from my brother.”
“Ted's race doesn't matter in my friendship with him, just as Debbie and Rob's race doesn't matter. And besides, Ted is my boss, so there's a certain separation I have to keep. But Parker, he's no threat to our relationship.” Victoria looked him dead in the eyes. “We've got to have trust in this relationship, otherwise we may as well end it now before you leave for Kenya.”
Parker rose from his chair and pulled Victoria to her feet, wrapping his arms around her waist. “I trust you. I just don't trust him.”
“Is trusting me enough?”
“It'll have to be . . . because I love you.” He kissed her until he felt the familiar rise in the front of his pants. He led her back to the guest room, and she willingly followed.
Bon Appétit. . .
Parker dropped Victoria off at her house when they returned to town. He wanted to spend the night, but they both had a busy Monday ahead. They were worn out from traveling, visiting, and making love. So despite Parker's yearning, he went home to his own bed.
Victoria needed to relax because she knew the next couple of weeks would be hectic. She had two parties for clients in the next few days alone. Then there was ViaTech's annual Christmas party at the end of the week, Tyler's YFI fundraiser the following Saturday, and her own holiday party the weekend after that. And last but not least, spending Christmas with the Brightwoods in Washington, DC. The last event registered a zero on Victoria's top ten list of things to do.
She unpacked her bags and drew herself a hot bubble bath. She sank down into the soothing water and replayed her stolen moments with Parker. That's what they were, stolen moments. Each time her parents left the house or went to bed, she and Parker would steal away to whatever room was convenient at the momentâthe guest room, her old bedroom, the couch in the family room, up against the wall in the kitchen, and on top of the washing machine in the laundry room. She felt like a teenager, and it added to the excitement of their lovemaking.
After a long soak in the tub, Victoria slipped into her nightgown and crawled under her soft sheets. She sat up in bed and flipped through her
Bon Appétit
magazine. She was searching for a sparkling champagne recipe when she came across an advertisement that grabbed her attention. It was a wine ad, and in it a couple was toasting the holidays. The man reminded her of Ted. She reached over to her nightstand, picked up the phone and dialed his cell.
“Hello,” he answered.
“Hi Ted, it's me.”
“V, I'm so glad you called. Are you back in town?”
“Yes, I got in this afternoon. How about you?” she asked.
“Yeah, I flew in early this morning. So, what're you doing?
“Lying in bed, looking at you,” she giggled. “Actually, I'm looking at a picture of a guy in one of my magazines who looks a lot like you.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, tall, handsome, terrific smile, great teeth, nice body . . . ” Victoria stopped herself, throwing her hand up to her mouth. She hadn't intended on going so far.
Ted smiled on the other end. She always told him what a sweet guy he was, what an intellectual mind he had, and what a supportive friend he'd become. But she'd never told him that he was handsome, or even good to look at. “You think I'm handsome?”
“Yes,” Victoria said, slowly letting out a deep breath. “Ted, I feel awkward talking to you like this. You're my friend, but you're also my boss.”
“V, I tell you that you're beautiful all the time, and honestly, I'm flattered by the compliment.” Ted's heart was racing. He found himself pacing the floor of his suite. “But please do me a favor. Can you stop referring to me as your boss? It makes me cringe when I hear you say that.”
“But Ted, essentially you are my boss. What else should I call you?”
“I'm your friend; call me that.”
“This is very strange for me. Like I've said, I've never shared a friendship with someone like you, and I want to make sure I don't overstep any boundaries, as if it weren't already too late for that.” They both laughed slow and easy at her statement. “I'm glad we've become so close, and our friendship means a lot to me, but sometimes even I don't quite understand it, so I know it's difficult for other people to. That's why it's hard for me not to think of us without certain boundaries in place.”
“Other people like who?” Ted asked.
“Parker.”
“He doesn't understand it, or he doesn't like it?”
“Honestly, both. We really bonded over the holiday and he made some valid points. I'm in a relationship with him and even though you and I are just friends, he feels like you're the other man. Just think about it from his perspective.”
“Does he feel the same way about your friendship with Tyler?”
Victoria didn't answer.
Her silence confirmed his thoughts. “So, you two bonded?” Ted's pacing stopped, but his heart raced faster.
“Yes . . . we did.”
Ted knew what that meant, so he ventured to ask the question he already knew the answer to. “You slept with him?”
Her response was slow, mixed with a strange wave of guilt. “Yes.”
Ted sat down on his bed. His head was swimming and his throat went dry.
“Ted, are you there?”
“I'm here,” he managed to respond, holding back his despair. He made up an excuse about having to finish some last minute paperwork, then said a quick goodbye.
Victoria tried to shake the confusion in her mind. She put her magazine away, turned off the light, and forced herself to sleep.
Ted went to bed with what felt like a sledgehammer in his head and rocks in the pit of his stomach. The woman he loved was sleeping with another man. He knew it was inevitable, and in reality, he'd been bracing himself for this from the moment he found out that Victoria was seeing Parker.
Parker had beaten him to the draw, claiming Victoria first, while he sat back and pondered over what he should do. But once again, Ted reminded himself that it wasn't about the mistake he made, but how he recovered from it. Parker would be gone in another month and Ted planned to use that window of opportunity to grow closer to getting what he wanted.