Rogue Ghost (CIA Ghost Series Book 1) (14 page)

“Of course I like you. What’s not to like?” he asked. “I mean, other than the killings, shootings, stabbings, and blowing things up,” he joked. “That part is a little scary, I admit.”

Parker laughed. “I guess that can be a little intimidating, huh?”

“Just a smidge,” Turner gestured with his fingers. “I’m actually a little surprised though.”

“Why?”

“I’m surprised a CIA agent would actually care about being liked. Didn’t think that was part of your DNA protocol,” he said.

“Well, even CIA agents have feelings.”

“Apparently so.”

“Especially with my upbringing. Like I told you, I don’t really have any close friends or anything. And I’ve been on constant missions in foreign countries for the last six years. I guess being back here makes me wanna be a little more normal,” she told him. “Maybe actually have a friend or two.”

“Well you can count on me as one of those,” he said, offering his hand to her.

Parker shook his hand and they stared into each other’s eyes. Parker thought about leaning in closer to him to kiss him. Just as she started to move, his phone went off, breaking up the moment. Turner started smiling as he was reading the text message along with the response he sent back.

“What is it?” Parker asked.

“Oh, nothing. Just my buddy, Mark. Haven’t seen him in a couple weeks so he just asked if he could come over tonight to hang out.”

“Oh. Kind of like a boys night.”

“Yeah. I guess so. We’ve been best friends since high school,” he told her.

“Well that sounds like fun.”

Turner’s phone went off again, this time from Vicki. She was asking about another double date with Marissa.

“You seem popular tonight,” Parker stated.

“Seems that way.”

“Mark again?”

“No. My sister,” he said.

“She coming over too?”

“No, she was just wondering if I wanted to go out with her and her boyfriend again tomorrow night.”

“Oh. Just the three of you? Seems kind of weird.”

Turner hesitated before telling her about Marissa. “Well, it wouldn’t be just us three. She wanted to include Marissa again.”

“Oh. Oh, how nice. She must really like you,” Parker said, stumbling through it.

“I guess so.”

“You should go. She seemed nice. Pretty.”

“Yeah. I suppose so.”

“You don’t seem so eager,” she noted.

“I dunno. I thought maybe you and I could do something tomorrow and keep getting to know each other better…as friends.”

“Well, I was planning on going to the beach tomorrow. Cole told me to take the day off and unwind and relax. Maybe you could call in sick and join me?” she offered.

Turner thought for a moment about whether he could actually take the day off. He had time available so he quickly decided he could. “That sounds fantastic.”

“Great,” Parker smiled. “Leave around noonish?”

“Sounds perfect.”

“Good. Gives me time to go shopping first.”

“Shopping?”

“You may find this hard to believe, but with all the missions I’ve been on, I don’t own a bathing suit,” she told him.

“Hmm.”

“Then we should be back in time for you to go on your date,” Parker said. She didn’t want to tell him not to go and make it sound like she was coming on too strong for him.

Turner text his sister back and told her he’d go on the date with them, even if he still wasn’t completely sold on the idea. Turner and Parker kept talking for a little while until his friend Mark showed up. Turner introduced the two of them and Parker could see why they were close friends since they had similar personalities.

“Well I’ll let you boys go so you can do whatever it is that guys do,” she said, letting out a slight laugh.

“It was really nice to meet you,” Mark told her.

“Same here.”

Ryan and Mark went inside his apartment and got a couple beers before sitting down.

“Wow. She might be the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen,” Mark stated.

“That she is.”

“And she seems so down to earth and friendly.”

“Yep,” Turner agreed.

“So have you tried to make a move yet?”

“Well right now I think she just wants to be friends so…”

“Oh, no. That’s awful. Tell me you’re laying the groundwork though for a future possible crazy encounter of some kind.”

“Well, you know, I’m uhh, yeah, yeah.”

“So you’ve got nothing, basically,” Mark noted.

“Yeah, yeah. Pretty much,” Turner nodded.

“You poor sap. Living next to her. That’s gotta be torture. Yet heavenly at the same time.”

“You have no idea.”

Parker returned from shopping around ten o’clock and immediately went to Turner’s apartment to see if he was ready. He opened the door and was surprised to still see her in regular shorts and a t-shirt.

“Thought you were out getting a bathing suit?” he asked.

“I did,” she replied, holding up a bag. “I figured I could change in here before we go if you don’t mind.”

“Mind? Of course not.”

“OK. So I got two because I couldn’t decide what was better. So maybe you can tell me which one you prefer.”

“If there’s one thing I’m an expert at, it’s female bathing suits,” he joked.

“OK. Be out in a minute,” Parker said, going to the bathroom to change.

While Parker was changing into her bathing suit, she was hoping that he’d really like what he saw. She wanted him to fall for her and hoped that this would drive him wild. She came out a minute later in a white bikini, while also holding a tiger print bikini in her left hand. Parker put her hands out on each side to give him a better view of everything. Turner stood there with his mouth open, not moving a muscle, not quite believing what he was witnessing. He couldn’t believe a woman this beautiful was standing in front of him, and with so little clothing to boot.

“So what do you think?” Parker wondered.

Turner was so focused on looking at her body that he completely blocked out everything else and didn’t hear a word she said.

“Ryan?”

“Huh?” he said, still not taking his eyes off her body.

Parker smiled, confident that her plan seemed to have worked, and not minding for a second that he was mesmerized. “What do you think?”

“Uhh, looks…great. Yeah, really, really good,” he replied.

“So you think I should stick with the white one?” she asked. “Or the tiger print?” holding it up for him.

“Hmm. I dunno. That’s a tough one. Maybe you should try that one on so I can see, you know, tough to say without seeing it on you,” he inferred.

“OK. Be back in a sec.”

Turner watched her intently as she walked back to the bathroom. All he wanted to do right then was just scoop her up in his arms and kiss her passionately while laying her down on the sofa. He tapped his cheek and shook his head to try and get the dirty thoughts out of his mind.

“Keep yourself together Ryan. You’ve seen girls in bikinis before,” he told himself. “Yeah, but they weren’t this pretty and standing in your living room before either,” he replied.

Parker returned a few minutes later, enjoying the affect she seemed to be having on him. She could tell he was enjoying the view and liked what he saw.

“So how do you like this one?” she asked.

“Uhh, looks great,” he said, waving his hand. “But you could make anything look great.”

“I doubt that.”

Parker waited a minute for him to say which one he preferred but Turner forgot that he was supposed to be judging which suit he liked best. He was too focused on just looking at her.

“Ryan?”

“Yeah?”

“So which one?” Parker asked.

“Which one what?”

“You’re supposed to say which one you liked better,” she told him, loving that she was making him absent minded.

“I am? Oh yeah, I am. Uhh, gosh, such a hard decision,” he said, putting his hands on his hips. “Umm, I really like both of them.”

“Well I can’t wear both at once.”

“If only that were possible. You know, I think I like the white one better, just a little bit.”

“So should I change back into that one?”

“Please do,” Turner replied. “I mean, yes, yes. If you want to.”

“OK. Be right back,” she smiled at him.

“What torture,” he said, watching her walk away again.

Parker returned after a minute and wanted to know how she looked, even if she already knew what his answer would be.

“You look incredible,” he told her. “You’re gonna have to beat the guys away with a stick.”

“Maybe you can do that for me.”

Parker put a pair of grey shorts over top of her bikini bottoms as they got ready to leave. Cole was sitting outside on his porch as he saw the two of them leave Turner’s apartment. He nodded at Parker as they walked toward Turner’s car.

“I wonder how long it’s gonna take for the two of them to…ahh, never mind,” he said to himself. Cole went back inside his apartment and started doing some work on his computer. His screen went black as he noticed a video message was coming in.

“Cole,” Burnett said.

“What can I do for you, ma’am?”

“Just checking in to see how things were progressing.”

“Good. Everything’s on track.”

“Where’s Parker?”

“She, uhh, just went to the beach,” he told her.

“The beach? Do you think now is really the time for sun and sand?”

“I insisted. I thought she was a little stressed and thought some time away would do her some good.”

“Are you keeping an eye on Turner while she’s gone?”

“Not quite. Turner’s with her,” Cole replied.

“Cole, is there something going on between the two of them. Are they romantically involved somehow?” Burnett wondered.

“No. It’s strictly professional with the two of them. Parker just wanted to keep him close to her in case Davis tried to contact him again at some point.”

“Very well.”

Parker and Turner had just arrived at the beach and put their towels down. She grabbed her phone and got close to Turner.

“What’re you doing?” he wondered.

“Just something to remember the moment,” she replied, snapping a picture.

“You’re taking a selfie?”

“Do you mind?”

“No. Not at all,” Turner smiled.

“Good.”

Parker sat down and rubbed some suntan lotion on her arms, legs, stomach, and chest.

“Could you put some on my back for me?” Parker asked, holding up the bottle.

“Sure.”

Parker moved her hair out of the way as Turner started rubbing the lotion on her back. As his hands moved around her back and shoulders it made him want her even more. They almost seemed like a real couple, he thought. It was definitely something he could get used to. He started daydreaming about being together and he suddenly stopped moving his hands as he thought about the two of them. Parker felt his hands stop and wondered what he was doing. Feeling his hands on her back felt so good to her, she didn’t want him to stop.

“You OK?” Parker asked.

Turner broke out of his trance once he heard her. “Yeah. Yeah. All done,” he told her, wiping the lotion off his hands.

They laid on their towels for about an hour, soaking up the sun, before Turner started getting restless.

“Think I’ll go jump in the water for a little bit,” he told her. “Wanna join me?”

“No, I think I’ll stay here for a little bit.”

“OK.”

A few minutes after Turner left, a rather large, muscular guy walked by and saw Parker laying there and approached her.

“Hey baby,” the man said.

Parker looked up at him but didn’t respond. She didn’t really like strange men calling her baby.

“How would you like to grab some lunch with me?”

“I’d rather not,” she answered.

“Come on now. You’re a good looking girl. I’m a good looking guy. Let’s get together.”

“Good to see you’re humble.”

“Hey, we got it, might as well flaunt it.”

“Really. Well, I have a boyfriend, he’s actually right over there, so I’m afraid I’ll have to pass on that really tempting off,” she sarcastically said.

“OK. Well, when you get tired of him, hit me up,” he said, handing her a piece of paper with his phone number on it.

“You keep your number on a piece of paper in your pants?” she observed.

“It’s the beach. Never know who you might run into. Not everyone has a pen or paper with them. Gotta be prepared.”

“Indeed. Good thinking. I’ll keep it in mind,” she told him. He then walked away, looking for other women to impress. “California’s such a strange place,” she whispered.

While Turner was gone, two other men approached Parker, trying to get a date with her. They were much nicer, and less egotistical than the first guy, but she shot both of them down just the same. They both left their phone numbers for her anyway just in case she changed her mind.

“I should have went with him,” she told herself. While she was a little flattered that a few men came up to her, she really wasn’t the type who enjoyed all the attention, unless it was from a guy she wanted.

After being gone for half an hour, Turner started walking back to their spot. Parker watched him come back and thought how good he looked wet. He had a nice body, she thought. Not too thin, not too muscular, but he looked like he had a baseball athlete’s build. Turner sat down and started to dry off, Parker helping him, drying off his back for him.

“Should’ve came, the water was great,” he said.

“I know. Especially since I broke my stick warding off all those guys you were talking about,” she told him, holding up pieces of paper.

“What’s that?”

“Phone numbers.”

“You got all those in the forty minutes I was gone?” Turner asked.

“Yeah,” she smiled.

“Wow. Well, you know, it’s not surprising with the way you look.”

“Oh yeah? Why?” she asked, wanting him to elaborate further.

“Well, you look gorgeous. Any normal guy who saw you, especially in that bikini, would want to get to know you better,” he said. “So uhh, are you gonna call any of those guys?”

“I dunno,” she said, know full well that she wasn’t. But she thought that teasing him a little wouldn’t hurt. “What do you think?”