Denying Mr. Parks (The Parks #1) (3 page)

“You know, it’s extremely inappropriate to shoot lustful stares towards an employee.” I had already said it in a manner that was meant to offend. And if he hadn’t looked at me that way and I’d just imagined it, I indeed was going to look a twat.

Parks stood with his back to the floor-to-ceiling windows with the London Eye behind him. His intense eyes glistened with hilarity as he spoke calmly, oozing confidence. “You know, it’s extremely inappropriate to cross your arms, accentuating voluptuous, perfect tits like that in front of the CEO.”

That was when my mouth fell open.

Ignoring my open jaw, he placed the glass down finely, turned flippantly on his black, wing-tipped shoes, pulled out a chair that was tucked under the table, and offered me a seat. I shifted, assessing the situation for a moment. I’d only just met Mr. Parks and he was already talking about my breasts. He was the firm holder, for fuck’s sake. I didn’t know him. He didn’t know me. If he had been a dirty old man instead of a damn hot male, I would’ve called him a disgusting pervert. I came to the conclusion that the situation wasn’t safe to be in for someone like me. It was insane.

“I think I’ll stay standing.” My words came out in bewilderment. I had never been stunned. Never gobsmacked. I had heard and seen some things in my time, but this one topped the lot.

His eyes narrowed as if he was trying to read me. If that was the case, he would be reading for a very long time. “Hm.”

I pursed my lips and involuntarily went to cross my arms again but then decided against it for obvious reasons. He grumbled in disapproval, but his conceited smirk remained. He moved the chair aside and leaned his backside against the edge of the oblong table, then put his hands into his trousers pockets and crossed his long, firm legs at the ankles. I let my gaze linger on his tall, lean, and powerfully built body. I could tell that under the expensive suit was a recipe for a woman’s hormonal eruption. It got me slightly hot under the collar.

Slightly? I scoffed to myself. Who was I kidding? I was burning up.

“How long have you worked here, Evelyn?” His striking green eyes scanned the length of my body leisurely, causing my stomach to tense abnormally.

“Four months, Mr. Parks.”

He shook his head, exasperated. “Evelyn, please, call me Wade.”

“I don’t think that would be appropriate,
Mr. Parks
.” By simply not complying, I seemed to have provoked him. His eyes narrowed, and the indignant growl that came from his throat made me frown. He obviously hated that I wouldn’t abide by what he was telling me to do. Well, tough shit.

The conference space was vast. The wide, long windows brightened up the whole black-and-white room, even with the murky clouds outside that were probably ready to unleash a week’s worth of rain at any moment. Standing there with Parks, however, made it feel enclosed and intense. I needed to take myself out of the situation. I couldn’t get a grasp on his intentions. Did he speak to all his employees like this?

“Is there anything else you would like? I really should get back to work.”

His gaze flicked down to my tapping, impatient foot, and his lips twitched before he answered me cryptically. “There is a lot I require, Evelyn. But for now, we are done.” He walked to the door and held it open for me to pass. I left the room quickly and felt his eyes watching me the whole way.

When I was safely out of sight, I sagged monumentally.

Fuck. That was intense.

Clarke shot me a slab of paperwork when I arrived back downstairs. “Where the bloody hell have you been? Does Mr. Parks not realise we have work to do? Could you type up Mr. Richards’s summonses, please? And I need you to fax over an appeal to Mrs. Stance to take a look at.”

“I’ll get to it.” I shook my head, trying to shake myself awake, then gathered the piles of paper and got to work.

For the rest of the day, I busied myself with paperwork and typing up what Clarke needed. But my mind was on that introduction the whole time. Okay, Parks was extremely hot and incredibly intense, and the way he behaved towards me was, well, I still hadn’t come up with a word to describe how I felt towards it. What the hell happened? I meet the founder of the company and he pronounces I have perfect tits? Was that normal?

No. It was as normal as a chocolate teapot.

When I had a spare five minutes, I read the two emails Alex had sent. The first one informed me of how much he couldn’t wait for our date. I hadn’t replied as I was busy, so the second email contained panicked questions about whether I had received his previous email. I kept my smartphone off during work hours, so he emailed instead of texting. It was lucky he did, because I had completely forgot about the date.

“Where is the chap taking you tonight, my girl?” Clarke asked as I gathered my belongings at five thirty.

“To the new chicken place in town.”

Clarke almost choked on fresh air but tried to shrug it off coolly. Okay, it wasn’t very romantic, but I didn’t like romance, so it suited me fine.

“A chicken place?” Patricia stuck her nose in, upon overhearing our conversation. “Revolting. I, however, have been invited to a small tea this evening. It will be highly enjoyable, I’m sure.”

“Oh, you do have a very privileged life,” I teased her, my voice going posh. She raised her nose in disgust. Ignoring her, I pulled my flats out of my handbag and shoved them on, then stuffed my heels in their place. “I’m off, Clarke. See you tomorrow.”

“Cheerio, my girl.”

I was about to leave, but Mr. Parks came into the room then, making his presence known undeniably. His commanding American voice hit every nerve ending in my body, doing my sanity not of an ounce of good.

“Evelyn, could you step into the office one second?”

My eyes narrowed in confusion as he nodded for Clarke to go ahead and leave. Clarke glanced towards me with worried eyes, which didn’t make me feel any better.

What the hell did he want?

I walked into Carla’s office, sighing as Parks held the door open for me to enter. I sensed his green eyes burn into the back of me as he closed the door.

“Not that anyone will be disturbing us,” he announced quietly and walked slowly around the desk as I kept my eyes fixed straight ahead, not wanting to pay him any attention. He pulled the swivel chair away from the desk and carefully lowered his backside down onto the seat. Clasping his hands together, he studied me intently. I had no idea why he called me into Carla’s office or why he was looking at me inappropriately. I wanted to stay as far away from him as I could for my own stability. I trained myself to avoid situations like this. Yet there I was. I needed to get home, not just for my health but because I was going to be late for my date.

I sighed rather loudly out of irritation, and it made him smirk. “Do you have to be somewhere, Evelyn?”

Yes, home. “No. It’s fine. What do you want to speak to me about, Mr. Parks?”

He smiled that cocky, one-sided grin. “I wanted to have a one-on-one with you, Evelyn.” He pronounced
one-on-one
in a way that indicated hidden sexual meaning.

I crossed my arms, not caring if he stared at my chest. “Do you have many
one-on-ones
with your employees, Mr. Parks?” Shit. My mouth was getting carried away again.

His gaze shot up to mine in amusement before he casually leaned back into his chair and got comfortable. When he pulled his leg up to rest his ankle on his opposite knee, I almost choked on fresh air, my eyes widening inadvertently. Fuck! He had a supremely
huge
erection straining against his trousers. I could see it clear as day.

Oh my Lord. I pulled my gaze away from it immediately, but he’d already spotted me looking
.
Shit. My boss had a boner, and I’d been caught staring.

Why did he even have one? Because of me? Oh please.

With the tip of his tongue he slowly licked his bottom lip seductively, obviously indulging in my reaction. Yes, okay, I had a twinge right down into my stomach, and my clit was pulsing against my damp French knickers. But that was all.

“Do you see it, Evelyn? Do you see what you do for me?” His voice was sultry and seductive.

“See what?” I knew damn well
what
.

His smirk was small, almost appeasing. “Are you blushing, Evelyn?”

“Blushing?” My voice was hasty, almost astonished. “Parks, I have never blushed in my life.” It wasn’t a lie. I never did the blushing/drooling-over-a-man thing. Maybe I did blush that time, though.

“Hm. And as to your previous question, Evelyn, I am very particular about who I have a one-on-one with.” He smirked again, loving every second of tormenting me.

“Really.” I rolled my eyes. A man like Parks probably had a different woman in his bed every single night.

“That’s what I said, and I’m a man of my word, Evelyn. Oh, it’s okay to call you by your first name, right?”

“Yes, Mr. Parks. It’s perfectly fine.” The sarcasm in my voice was not stepping down. I needed to leave, and the longer I was here in front of him and his magnificent erection, the more I hated a tiny part of myself for wanting the arrogant fucker.

“Wade, Evelyn,” he protested on a growl.

“Excuse me?” I blinked.

“Call me
Wade
.”

He was extremely insistent, and I was extremely impatient. “Mr. Parks, will this take long? I do actually have to be somewhere.”

“Wade,” he insisted, sitting back comfortably in his chair. “You have a date, Evelyn? You’re dating?”

I shot him a look of surprise. My emails? He’d read my emails? No way. That was absurd. “That’s personal, Parks,” I almost barked at him.

“It’s company policy.” He shrugged. “I have to know what my employees are getting up to.” A wry smirk fluttered across his lips. His demeanour was ablaze with firm confidence. He had an intensely strong aura, and it pissed me off that I found it
extremely
attractive.

“Really? So you know all about Clarke’s back, sac, and crack appointment tomorrow morning?”

His eyes closed briefly, half of him mentally laughing at my comment, the other half shaking the image from his head.

“I advise you not to mix outside affairs with work. I run a high-profile business, not a dating agency. My company pays you to work, Evelyn. Not to email a man who is taking you out tonight. Especially when that man should be me.”

“Excuse me? You snoop through my personal emails, and then you have the nerve to tell me that I should be going out with you tonight? Mr. Parks, I need to leave. Right now.” I turned in haste, not giving him or his bulge a second look and headed for the door. As I clasped the handle I realised it was locked. “What are you doing?” I spun around in alarm, then spotted a remote in his hand. He’d locked the doors to stop me leaving. Jesus.

“You’re not going anywhere, Evelyn, not until you give me what I want.” His intense green glare was not taking any prisoners. But I was not going to stand for it.

“And what is it that you want?” I breathed, slightly aghast and slightly, annoyingly, turned-on.

“I think we both know the answer to that,” he purred, his smooth but strong voice ringing delightfully in my ears.

My body was betraying me, so I used my head like I had learned to do. “Open the damn door, Parks. We’re done here,” I added through gritted teeth.

Was this some kind of sick joke?

“It’s Wade, Evelyn, and I’m far from
done
. Do you really want to know why I brought you in here?”

“Please, do enlighten me.” My voice was laced with strained sarcasm.

He stood slowly from his office chair and strode towards me. He was as graceful as a swan yet had more authority than a lion, making me back away a little. His green eyes were burning into mine, capturing me. My breathing picked up as I watched his exceptional features closing in, and the sexual energy between us was unmistakable. My body was relishing in it, but I quickly cleared all thoughts of him from my brain. That was the right organ to listen to. No feelings. No emotion.

“To fuck you,” he growled, pushing me roughly against the glass doors with his stone-like body. Before I could object, his mouth was covering my lips ingeniously, his tongue forcing its way in, taking my breath away. He was so powerful. So dominant. I couldn’t budge. I wanted to push him off, but instead I kissed him back, if only for a second, then realised what a mistake I was making.

I bit down fiercely into his bottom lip, making him bleed as I pulled the flesh through my teeth. He quickly released my hands, freeing me, but his resentful groan shook through my bones.

“Fuck.” He licked the blood from his lip with the tip of his tongue. “You have a bad attitude, Evelyn. I think I need to teach you some manners.”

I shoved him away from me and jabbed a finger at him in warning. “You’re not teaching me anything, Parks. Now leave me alone and open the goddamn door.”

“Don’t deny it, Evelyn. You know you want this. I can see it in your eyes. I saw you wondering what I’m packing underneath my suit, and as soon as you walked into the room, I also pictured what delights were hiding underneath your clothes. I
will
unravel you.”