Addicted to Mr. Parks (The Park #2) (14 page)

He pulled me into him and clutched at my body, holding me close and safe. “Oh, Princess.” My anguish unsettled him because he’d never heard me talk this way and never saw me sobbing. He was also tormented because he couldn’t take away all the hurt and distress I carried around with me, and that tore him apart. “I hate that I could never save you from your parents. But I vow to you that I will make it better.”

After I’d sobbed, we remained silent until he started to ask me questions about my past. I knew he was waiting for the right moment to ask, because in a way, it was a question he didn’t really want to know the answer to.

“What was the worst thing she did to you? Your scars?”

Aggrieved, I closed my eyes tightly. “That’s one of the mild ones. I remember my mother asking me to try cocaine at the age of eleven. I remember being smacked over the head so hard with an iron that I woke up the next day in a stranger’s home. My mum thought I was dead and left me at a junkie’s house to let him take the blame. But you know, it’s not so much the physical abuse. Most of my smacks were forgotten. The pain goes away quickly, depending on how severe. But what never goes away are the names she’d call me. The goading. I can remember everything. Fat. Ugly. Thick. Worthless. Good-for-nothing. Unwanted. A burden. They will never go away.”

“You are none of those things, Evelyn.”

“But when they are drummed into a child, how the hell does anyone expect us to forget?”

“They can’t.” A painful sound was entwined with his breaths. It was like he felt the torment I carried around with me, but his eyes displayed something different. Familiarity?

“Sports day,” I went on. “Everyone’s parents came to cheer on their child. I looked around the crowd of families to see if I could see my parents, but they never came. I’d won two races, and I couldn’t wait to get home to tell my mum. My neighbour picked me up that day, and I ran into the flat, calling for my mum. I told her with a huge grin on my face that I’d won and held the medals that were around my neck to show her.” My eyes rolled the ceiling as I tried to knock back my emotions. “She ripped the medals from my neck and threw them in the bin. Told me I’d probably cheated so I didn’t deserve them. I was heartbroken. She stopped me ever enjoying sports day. She also stopped me enjoying birthdays.”

Parks was quiet, and I sensed his apprehension, but also I noticed the surprise. He was shocked I was opening up to him. Shocked I was so willing to let him in.

“Why birthdays?” he asked.

“It was my six birthday, and my mother wouldn’t let me see my nan. But I can remember opening the door to her when my mother was asleep on the sofa. She brought sponge cake and sang “Happy Birthday” to me. She told me to make a wish before I blew the candles out. My mum woke up as soon as my nan left and ripped the cake from my hands, forcing me to watch the dog eat every piece. She said it was what I deserved. Since that day I’ve never wished for anything whilst blowing candles out because my wish never came true.”

“What was your wish?”

I sucked in a nauseous breath and told him on a shattered heart. “I wished for my mother to love me.” That hopeful wish, that one thing I desperately wanted more than anything in the world never came true. Hope and love. Four-letter words that meant nothing to me.

Chapter Fourteen

The next morning, a buzzing from Parks’s side of the bed woke me up. It was still a little dark outside, so I rolled over onto my stomach and pulled the duvet over my head to drown out the noise, but then I had the sheets pulled from me.

“What’s the time?” I groaned, trying to pull the sheets from Parks, but he pounced on the bed and flipped me onto my back. His hair was beautifully dishevelled, falling across his forehead, and his strong arms flexed as he held his weight on his palms to look over me.

“Five a.m.” He smirked, dipping down to take my nipple that was peeking through the sheets into his mouth.

“Five a.m.? Fucking serious?” I pushed him away, letting my breast fall from his mouth. “I don’t care how good you are at sucking my tits, I am not getting out of bed at five a.m.”

His groan was contemptuous as he climbed off the bed. “We’re getting up.” He took hold of my ankle and pulled me out of the comfort of the bed and out of hiding. “I have to be at work in an hour. Come take a shower with me. I want to be tucked in your sweetness.”

I tried to wriggle out of his grip, but he only held me tighter, laughing at my attempt to unlatch myself from him. “I would love for you to be tucked inside me, but can’t we do it in an hour?” I yawned.

He chuckled huskily. “I can see you’re not a morning person.”

“No,” I corrected him, “I’m not a five a.m. person.”

He settled me down onto my feet, made sure I was watching him, and pulled down his boxer-briefs, uncovering his impressive, hard cock. I sagged as I stared at it. I’d been defeated by a man organ. “I
could
be a five a.m. person,” I relented on a smirk.

“Thought so.” He grinned as he picked me up again and padded into the bathroom.

***

My legs were crossed on the bed while I watched in delight as Parks dressed himself in an outfit I’d picked out for him. A white, fitted dress shirt accentuated his biceps, a navy waistcoat over the top still managed to show his perfectly formed abs, and the matching suit trousers ran effortlessly down his long legs. His feet were dressed in brown brogues, his wrist in a gold Rolex, and his hair styled impeccably.

“I don’t think I can walk after last night and this morning.” I rolled on my back so I was lying flat out, my head resting at the end of the bed whilst I began stretching out my arms and legs.

“Baby, you will never walk straight after sex with me.”

I shook my head on a smirk and tilted it to look at him upside down. “You should get a WParks shag patented.”

He cocked his head like he had an idea. “Or you could buy the rights.”

“How much?” I grinned, turning onto my stomach and propping up on an elbow.

Fixing his dark navy tie, he said, “How much do you think I’m worth?”

I wriggled my nose and narrowed my eyes, dramatically pretending to think. “A tenner?”

“A tenner?” he gasped playfully in a British accent, then widened his arms. “Then I’m yours.”

A laugh spilled out of my mouth. “You just sold yourself short, Wade.”

“For you to keep calling me Wade, I’d give you myself for free.”

I rolled my eyes. “You already do.”

He gracefully walked to the end of the bed and bent down to my eye level. “Are you thankful?”

I bit my lip seductively, slowly studying his incomparable features. “Very.”

He shook his head, telling me to behave and pushed to his feet. “Evelyn, get dressed.”

As of then, I hadn’t told him my reason for not getting dressed, but he was about to find out. Picking at the edge of the bedsheet, I blurted it out. “I can’t go to work.”

His brows drew in on a frown. “Why not? Are you still feeling sick?”

“No.” I gulped. “Clarke suspended me.”

He let the tie he was still faffing with fall around his neck in exasperation. “What did you do?” I stayed quiet, which gave him reason to push sternly. “Evelyn?” His forbidding tone had me wincing, and I threw my hands over my face, talking between my fingers because I was completely ashamed.

“I was drunk at work.”

“
What?
” As expected he wasn’t best pleased.

I took my hands from my face, my embarrassment and shame turning into a nag. “Why are you looking at me like I’m unbelievable?”

He shook his head, chiding my insolence. “Because you are. Was Clarke the only one who knew of this?”

“No.” I winced. “I was in the toilets and heard the bitches talking about me.”

“Carla?” he pushed determinedly.

Was he kidding? “Do you think I would have a job if she knew?”

He seemed to calm down a little after hearing that and returned to his tie. “Okay. Don’t worry. I’ll lift the suspension. Take the day off. Stay here and—”

“I don’t want to stay inside.” I could never sit and do nothing. I needed to keep busy so I didn’t have time to think. Parks didn’t understand that.

“I don’t want you outside.” It was a caution, a demand, and an abrupt way to try and cut me off, leaving no room for discussion.

“You can’t keep me in.” Did he think I was going to be a good little girl and do as I was told? Hell no.

“Hell if I can’t,” he scoffed. Evidently it really was his way or no way, and I was slowly learning just that. Learning it or not, that didn’t mean I would be following it.

“You want me to stay home just so you know where I am? Don’t you trust me?”

Ignoring me, he sauntered his firm, delicious backside into his wardrobe. I heard the clank of aftershave bottles, then he came out smelling divine and sexy.

Obvious deterrent.

“I just want to be with you whenever you leave this apartment, Evelyn.”

I breathed in his scent when he reached me, the scent that discharged my senses, scattering them all over the place like they were on Red Bull. “But—”

He bent down to kiss my pouting lips. “No buts, Evelyn. You are in recovery, you’re suspended from your job, and you have a drug dealer after you. You’re not stepping foot outside this apartment without me. I’m doing this to help you. Understand?”

“What if I
had
to work today?” I snapped.

“You would be in a secure building, travelling to and from work with
me
.”

I decided arguing with Parks was never a means to an end, so I fluttered my eyelashes and played the devoted woman. “Okay.”

His surprise was obvious when I relented, even if he did try to hide it. “Good girl,” he whispered against my lips, then licked the curve of my mouth and slipped his tongue in, circling around mine until I was breathless. “I’ll see you later, Princess.”

I touched my lips when he turned, tracing where his tongue had been. “Can’t wait.”

I stayed in bed until I knew he was gone, then ran to my wardrobe, threw on yoga pants, a grey jumper, and trainers and got a swimming bag together. The hell I was going to behave.

Using my intuition, I didn’t go out the front way. I slipped through an exit door that vacated at the back of the apartment, hoping the doorman at the front desk wouldn’t call Parks.

After getting into Central London, I made my way through the Underground and headed towards Starbucks first. I needed a coffee, and seeing as it was almost ten o’clock, I knew the shop wasn’t going to be that busy.

“Evey.” Keira, one of the Starbucks girls, called to me when I walked in. I waved and made my way over to the counter. “Where have you been?” She reached over it to give me an unexpected hug, ignoring my grimace.

“I’ve had some time off work. Could I have my usual, please—staying in, though?”

“Sure. Go sit down. I’ll bring it over.”

I made my way to an empty table but then changed course as I spotted Mindy mindlessly cleaning a
clean
table. She was in a world of her own and looked depressed.

“Is it that bad?” I teased her. Mindy was always loud, bubbly, and could talk my ear off. Today she was anything but herself. She stopped cleaning and glanced up at me with tears in her eyes.

“It’s as bad as a man wearing socks and Crocs.”

“Oh God.” I tried to suppress my smirk. But the last thing I ever wanted to do was talk to girls about problems. I’d hardly ever done it with Steph, so I sure as hell didn’t want to do it with Mindy.

I slipped into a seat at an empty table and placed my swimming bag underneath. Keira brought my coffee over, then glanced at Mindy, who was still in her own world.

“Oh, she’s still moping, is she?” She walked away on an eye roll.

“Shouldn’t you be working?” I called over to Mindy before taking a sip of my coffee.

“I got too much on my mind to make coffees.” She flapped her hand. “Anyway, how are you, Evey? I haven’t seen you for weeks.”

“A week,” I corrected her before taking another sip. “I’ve had some time off. That’s all.”

“So
my
love life sucks. Tell me about yours.” Mindy always asked if I had a boyfriend, and normally I would give her a
back off
look, but instead I smiled and looked into my coffee cup. Not like me at all. Of course she picked up on it, almost throwing herself across the table to grab hold of my hand. “You have a boyfriend? Evey has a boyfriend,” she yelled over to Keira, making me cringe.

“You do?” Both Mindy and I looked up to see Tabby walking towards us with a tray full of dirty china cups ready to be washed. “Who’s the lucky guy?”

Weirdly, it always took me a moment to gather myself when Tabby was around. Her features and hair resembled an innocent porcelain doll’s. She was a beauty in a unique way.

“It’s nobody.” I brushed them both off and chugged the remainder of my coffee, hoping to leave sooner rather than later.

“You can’t say you have boyfriend and not tell me his name,” Mindy moaned. I rolled my eyes at her pushiness, but Tabby encouraged it.

“Yeah, come on. Tell us.”

I told them as quickly as I could. “His name’s Wade Parks, and that’s all you’re getting.” I pushed my chair back to stand up, but Mindy pulled me back down, saying what I was dreading.

“Wait. I’ve heard of him. He’s American, yes?”

“Yeah,” I agreed, trying to dismiss her before she thought about it too much. But I was doomed.

“Hot, sexy? Dark hair? He’s major. OMG,” she squealed, clapping her hands like a seal. “I’ve seen him in
Forbes
loads of times.” Then she quickly figured something out. “Wait, your Chanel watch. It was from
him
. Lucky cow.”

It was hard not to catch Mindy’s excitement. Especially when small pride burst open my chest from hearing such nice things about a man I was dating.

“Yep. That’s him. How the hell you know everything about everything is beyond me.” I laughed, but it was drowned out but the smashing off china cups Tabby had accidentally dropped from her tray.

“Shit.” She bent down quickly to pick it all up, gaining looks from customers. Mindy ignored Tabby as I got up to help her.

“I read tons of mags, honey,” Mindy teased.

“Yeah, you read but don’t do any work,” Keira called over. Mindy made a “yikes” expression and got up to help Tabby. “I’ll get the brush. But I need to hear all about Wade.” She said his name all giggly.

“Shut up and get to work.” I chuckled, bending down to pick up stray pieces of china. “You okay?” I asked Tabby, as she looked a little shaken up.

“It just slipped out of my hands.” She seemed extremely apologetic, almost like she was going to cry because of the incident.

“Shit happens.” I tried to lighten her mood.

“It’s my birthday today.” She came out with it randomly.

“Oh. Happy Birthday.” I smiled, getting to my feet. She picked up the tray and pushed her hair behind her ear with her free hand.

“You should come out tonight. I’d love for you to celebrate with me.”

Where the hell did that come from? “Oh, I don’t drink.” I threw my swimming bag over my shoulder and got ready to leave.

“Then just come for the laugh?”

Weird. “Um. Tabby…not to sound like a bitch, but I don’t even know you.”

Her cheeks flushed red. “I know, but I’m trying to make new friends because I don’t have many here in London. Please say yes. I don’t want to spend it on my own.”

Shit. She was guilt-tripping me. “Um. Where are you going? A quiet restaurant?”

“I was thinking more like Project. Just off Oxford Street. I have a membership.”

A nightclub? Shit. Maybe I could go for a little while. It would prove I could be around alcohol and not drink, but I would have to hide that I was going to a place like a nightclub from Parks. I trusted myself, but I wasn’t entirely sure he trusted me, and I had an image of his Hulkness coming out and him tying me to the bed until I agreed to stay in.