Falling Free: What happens in Vegas... (The Fall Series) (10 page)

I burst through the door to his
bedroom. No Parker. I checked the bathroom, catching a glimpse of myself in the
mirror. I was a sweaty mess, but I didn’t care. He wasn’t there. I was on a
mission, and nothing seemed more important than finding Parker and pouring my
heart out to him. I had no idea what I would say, but I decided to say everything
and anything that came to mind the moment I laid eyes on him.

I started down the hallway that
lead to the living room. That’s when it happened. The sound of soft seductive
laughter stopped me in my tracks. I almost stayed out of view, but after what I
heard next there was no turning back. I had to see this so-called agent who wanted
to have a threesome with Parker. 

“We have unfinished business,
Parker. You left my office so fast we didn’t have a chance to
nail down
our
little play date.”

The fact that she emphasized
“nail down” wasn’t lost on me. I took a few steps forward and there she was,
Parker’s glamorous Las Vegas agent, Shay Roberts, in the flesh. She looked like
a showgirl from her flawless makeup to her jet black hair neatly secured with a
glittery silver clip.  Her long legs were curled suggestively to the side, her
designer shoes discarded on the floor in front of her. She looked a little too
comfortable to be conducting a business meeting, but then it was apparent that
this wasn’t the only business she was interested in. No wonder Mary Blackwell was
concerned about Parker getting involved with this woman. I think she called her
a “ruthless agent” and said something about her exploiting Parker’s bad boy
image. Now I knew why.

“Shay, I…”

Intent on getting her way, she
cut him off before he could finish. “Look, Parker, you’ve had a hard-on for me
since the first time we met, and Brandy is practically begging me to make this
thing happen. So what seems to be the issue? You have a long reputation of
taking on two women at a time, so that can’t be it. What is it then? Does the
fact that we’re lesbians intimidate you?”

Parker cleared his throat. She
had him squirming in his seat. The bad boy was clearly off his game today. I
was holding my breath waiting for his reply.
Hmm. Yes, WHAT is the problem,
Parker?

I’ll never forget the look on her
face when our eyes met—her face turned to stone. She jolted straight up in her
chair, squirming as she tried to pull her skirt down from the top of her thighs
where she had obviously felt very comfortable leaving it just a few seconds
before. Her mouth snapped shut, and she abruptly placed her feet on the floor
in search of her shoes.

Parker was facing her. When he noticed
the change in her demeanor, he followed her gaze over his shoulder to the
hallway where I stood.
THIS was his agent? Really? She was nothing but a
predator in designer shoes!
What the hell was I thinking anyway?
Parker
and I were obviously two different people now with two very different
lifestyles.
Parker had women like Shay in his face every day, and let’s
not forget about the prostitutes. That little walk down memory lane must have
made me temporarily fucking delirious.
Get it together, Lo!

“Oh, hey, Lauren.” Parker stood
up wide-eyed as soon as he saw me.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to
interrupt.” I swallowed the bile rising up in my throat, but my eyes were cold
as steel staring holes through her as I spoke. I had to get out of there. As
soon as I was out of view I ran back to my room, locking the door behind me. I
grabbed my phone from the nightstand and stomped into the bathroom where I locked
the second door for good measure.
Oh, Nina’s going to love this! It’s time to
come clean .Get ready for the big “I told you so”!  
She’s going to tell me
to catch to first plane back to Michigan, and right now it was just what I
needed to hear. In fact, I briefly considered calling Alex first so I could
tell Nina my flight was already booked.
No, Nina first. I really need to
hear her voice.

I dialed. Voicemail.
Damn it!
I
tried again. Voicemail again.
Fuck!

I couldn’t believe that for one
crazy moment I actually thought Parker and I would have a chance. I was so
fucking stupid. I really should be thanking Shay Roberts right now. Well, maybe
that was a little too much, but she did me a huge favor by knocking me off of
the fucking cloud I was floating on and bringing me back to reality.

Just then I heard Parker pounding
on the bedroom door.

“Lo, open the door!”

“Go away, Parker! I’m not in the
mood!”

“Lo, open this fucking door, or
I’ll take it down myself!”

“Go fuck yourself, Parker! Or
better yet, go fuck your agent and her lesbian friend. That’s just your style, isn’t
it?”

“Where are you?”

“I’m in the bathroom calling my
pimp’s office to book me the next flight out of this place!”

I jumped down from the bathroom counter
at the sound of the bedroom door shattering off its hinges, and before I had
the chance to think he was right outside door number two.

“I’m not fucking playing here,
Lo. Come out here so we can talk about this!”

“Hey, don’t let me stop you,
Parker! I’m just the hired help, and I’m actually going to be out of your way
before you know it. You should go catch before you’re all alone!”

“I’m going to give you about five
seconds to either open this door or get out of the way. Five, four…”

Trying to think fast, I sat down
against the door. “I’m sitting against the door, Parker, so don’t even think
about it!”

Silence. Then the sound of quick
footsteps. He was pacing. “Fuck! You don’t understand, Lo! Will you stop being
so hard headed for one fucking second and let me explain?”

“There’s nothing to explain,
Parker. You don’t owe me anything. Besides, SHAY explained it all pretty
clearly.”

“Damn it! She doesn’t mean
anything to me! There was a time when I thought about it, don’t get me wrong. I
think you know me too well by now to believe any different. But that’s as far
as it went. It was over before it started. Fuck! It was over the minute I laid
eyes on you again.”

I slumped down against the door
and heard the sound of his shallow breaths on the other side.
Ugh! Why won’t
he just go away!
I was in escape mode, even thinking about getting a hotel
room if there wasn’t a flight available tonight. As soon as he was gone I would
pack. I just had to get rid of him.

I was too numb to cry. I was too
numb to even argue.  The only thing I wanted to do was get away from him. “Whatever,
Parker. I think it’s time for me to go home. I don’t care about the money. I’m
breaking the contract, so just keep it. I’ll figure this out when I get back to
Michigan.”

“So that’s it? That’s how this
works? What the hell do I have to do to prove to you that I don’t want anything
to do with her?”

“Nothing! Don’t you get it,
Parker? It doesn’t matter!”

“You’re fucking crazy if you
think I believe that!” He started pacing again. “So, just like that, huh? You
think breaking the contract means it’s over? Is that what you think, Lo?”

 The next few minutes passed in
silence, and I wondered if he finally gave up. I leaned back against the door,
thankful it was over. That’s when I heard the unmistakable sound of numbers
being dialed on a keypad. He was calling someone.
On speakerphone?
What
the hell was he up to?

Every muscle in my body went stiff
when SHE answered the phone laughing. Now I was the one pacing.

 “What’s the matter, Parker? Is
your little girlfriend pissed? Did she leave you high and dry?”

The sound of her breathy voice
made me want to choke the air out of her.  

“Be at my place at seven. By the
time you leave you I promise you won’t even remember her name.”

That was the last straw. I wanted
to smash the door down myself.
Little girlfriend? Really?
I may not be
from the big city, but where I come from we know how to handle skanky bitches
like Shay Roberts, and she was about to find out. I was going to put her in her
place, but before I opened the door, Parker did something I’ll never forget.

“Not even close, Shay, if she
would’ve left because of you I’d be delivering this message in person, and you ought
to be thankful that’s not the case. So listen close. I QUIT! I don’t care what
it takes or how much it costs, get me out of the contract with American Rebel
Spirits! NOW!”

“Really? Just who do you think
you’re talking to anyway? You’re lucky I like you, Parker. I’m going to give
you some time to cool down before you fuck everything up.”

 “The only thing I regret is
getting tangled up with you in the first place, Shay. The contract is bullshit.
I’m not going to be told what to do and when to do it by anyone. Not them and
especially not you. So cancel the contract, and when that’s done consider us
done, too. You’re fired!”

This time her laugh sounded
wicked. “I won’t do it. I won’t let you make this mistake, Parker. You’re
throwing away millions of dollars, plus a foolish move like this could keep you
from getting any deals in the future, so you better get your dick out of your
ass and think about what you’re doing here. A reckless high maintenance client
who refuses the advice of his agent is not the type that ANY agent, or
corporation for that matter, wants to sign with. This could fucking ruin you if
it got out! Do you hear what I’m saying?”

“Isn’t that fucking rich coming
from an agent who tries to bed her clients by tempting them with promises of a
lesbian ménage a trios. Careful, Shay! If that ever leaked out, you’d lose
every married client you when their wives got wind of it. Do you hear what I’M
saying? I could care less about future agents or future deals. I play poker for
a living and that’s enough. So, we can drag each other through the mud if you
want, or you can just cancel the fucking contract and go our separate ways. The
choice is yours.”

“Fine! Have it your way, Parker,
but don’t come crawling back to me when you realize what a huge mistake you’ve made!”

He laughed. “I gamble for a
living, remember, baby? I wouldn’t put my money on it if I were you.”

I opened the door slowly to see
Parker Blackwell like I’ve never seen him before. His face was as white as a
ghost. His hair was standing straight up in the front, I imagined from dragging
his fingers through it as he exchanged blows with Shay. He looked completely distraught.
I had no idea things would get so out of control, and I felt a little guilty.
Who was I kidding?
Guilty
couldn’t come close to describing the range of
emotions I felt. But then again, I didn’t exactly trust myself in the emotion
department anymore.

“There. No more contract. Do you
believe me now?” He blinked up at me, looking more vulnerable than I’d ever
seen him before.

“You look like shit,” I said
softly hoping to somehow lighten the tension that hung in the air between us.

“Yeah? That’s how I feel,” he
replied as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

“I didn’t mean to screw up your
career, Parker. I can’t believe you did that.”

“Screw up my career? Is that what
you think this is about?” He dragged his hand through his hair and stared at me
in disbelief.

“I don’t know! Why don’t you tell
me? You just cancelled your million dollar contract and fired your agent in one
phone call, all because I wouldn’t open the door. Why would you do something
like that?”

“First of all my career is poker.
I’m a poker player, Lo. That’s it. The million dollar contract doesn’t mean
shit to me, especially when it comes with a whole bunch of strings attached.
And Shay? I should’ve known better than to get involved with somebody like her
in the first place. I NEVER SLEPT WITH HER. You have to fucking believe me.”

“It really doesn’t matter what I
believe. Either way, I’ll be out of here before you know it. This was only
temporary, Parker, and when I’m gone maybe you’ll regret all of this.”

“Lo, please don’t leave now. Not
like this.”

“I really don’t belong here,
Parker. We both know that. Things are just too different now. We’re too different.”