Title: SINGLE Volume 3 (Single, #3)
Author: Lyra Parish
Genre: Erotic Romance
Release Date: August 17, 2015
Synopsis
While she is having the time of her life, she is catapulted into a lonely pit of sabotage that she may not be able to escape. The truth is some relationships aren't worth salvaging.
Her fairytale quickly transforms into a nightmare.
But no matter what happens, memories were made and no can ever take those away.
Find out if Roxane and Parker will have their happily ever after in the final installment of the Single Serial.
Chapter One
© Lyra Parish 2015
I parked my car, stepped out, then swung my
computer bag over my shoulder and grabbed my badge to scan into the
building. My heels echoed across the tile floor as I walked to the
elevator with a bounce in my step. Everything was quiet—almost too
quiet—but that was to be expected at 5:45 in the morning. Most
people arrived at work between seven or eight, but today I wasn’t
most people. Today, I felt like a changed woman; a woman who knew
what she wanted in a life, and was fully determined to keep her
personal and business lives separate from one another.
I stepped into the elevator and, as I turned
around, I saw Parker enter through the sliding doors. He hadn’t
spotted me yet, so I took the time to admire him. My eyes narrowed in
on the navy suit, those blue eyes, and that messy hair. He held two
coffees in his hands and a smile on his face.
Why the hell was Parker so early?
As the elevator door began to close, I placed
my palm out, causing the doors to shoot open. That was when he
noticed me. After his eyes lingered over my body, he gave me a
questioning look with his eyebrows scrunched together, then glanced
down at his watch as he stepped in. The air seemed to evaporate from
the small space, and my heart pounded in my chest. When Parker looked
at me that way, it was so powerful the entire world around us seemed
to stop. This was survival of the fittest.
“Rox. Morning,” he said with a wink, and
handed me one of the steaming cups of coffee. He didn’t even have
to comment on how early I was, because we both knew the oddity of it.
“Parker.” When his name left my lips, a
smile met his eyes.
The smells of his soap and freshly-roasted
coffee filled the elevator, and every emotion and feeling that I
tried to forget over the weekend came back in full force. I’d say
it was easy to forget him while we weren’t together, but that would
be a lie. And with him practically shoulder-to-shoulder with me, even
the thought of it was out the door. The elevator was empty and he
used the time to get scandalously close. Any closer and my lips would
be all over his, but I had to stay strong. Things had changed between
us and, if this ride to our floor was an indication of how things
would be today, I was completely screwed. Maybe that was a good
thing.
Stop it, Rox.
"I thought since you never gave me the
coffee date, that I'd bring it to you."
The outside of his pinky grazed mine, which
caused a humming sensation to shoot through me. His touch forced such
a whirlwind of emotions upon me that, when the elevator door opened,
I couldn't move. I just stood there frozen. He turned around and gave
me a cute little smile. “Coming?”
I was getting ready to rebut that little
comment and pick my emotions from the elevator floor when my father
rounded the corner.
“Roxane?" My dad glanced down at his
watch, then back at me. “You’re early.”
“Not as early as you, Jeffrey.
I know you woke the sun before you came in.”
He nodded his head and glanced over at Parker.
“Morning, Parker.”
A smile met my father's lips and touched his
voice, but it didn't stop my guilty conscience, which conveniently
spoke loud and clear.
“We both have work that needs to be done
since we were in New York last week,” I said calmly. It made sense,
but the real reason was I couldn’t sleep.
Parker sipped his coffee and walked to his
office with a huge grin on his face. I shook my head and walked to
mine as my determination slithered down the drain.
The weekend passed like a blur; a smudge in
time that almost seemed unreal. Parker mother effing Williams was a
time thief, stealing my thoughts, dreams, and memories, and replacing
them all with himself. I couldn't stop thinking about the softness of
his lips or how warm our bodies were when pressed together. It was
almost hard for me to not mention the amazing sex. Parker was what
every woman fantasized about. Damn it. I had to stop thinking about
it, stop thinking about him.
Even though Parker promised to never leave me
like he did in New York, I had to make sure that I would never allow
a man to make me feel so vulnerable again. Ever. I reminded myself
why I was single. Because being single meant no heartbreak. Didn't
it?
Just the thought of never speaking to him or
having the opportunity to touch him again made me feel hollow
inside. Though it was hard to admit, I couldn't end it now. His
talons had found my heart and pierced through it, claiming it as his.
Which meant Stacey was right about my having it bad. To my defense,
it wasn’t like I could make all the emotions stop with a snap. Even
if I could, would I?
Parker agreed to give me time to think
everything over, and it had been two full days since I’d felt his
lips against mine. It would have been so easy to fall back into the
routine that we had in New York. Our weekend could have been spent
lazily tangled together in bed, but I refused. I had to pull the
reigns back and prove, not only to myself, but also to Parker, that I
had control.
I sat behind my desk and spun around with my
coffee in hand. Being at the top of the building made it easy to
stare at the purple bruised sky with glowing fluffy clouds. I sighed
thinking about everything that happened, and turned when I heard my
office door click closed.
"Pumpkin, I know you're lost in the
clouds, but I need to talk to you about your mother."
"Dad. No. No.
Talk to me about it later. Don't ruin my day."
"This can't wait, hon. She'll be flying in
today and will be here to pick up the keys to the ranch around lunch.
Tonight I'd really like for you to join us for dinner around eight
p.m."
A small tap echoed on the door, and my father
and I both watched as Parker crossed the room with a file folder full
of papers.
"Dad, I'm not going. That's final. It's
not a discussion."
"Here are a few amendments with signatures
that will need to be reviewed before the one o'clock meeting today."
Parker handed me the folder.
I gave him a brief smile, then narrowed my eyes
back on my dad who didn't budge. My heart felt like it would beat
straight out of my chest in anger at just the thought of seeing her.
She left me as a child. I didn't have a mother to help me get ready
for dance competitions, or a mother to guide me in my teenage years,
because she was so selfish. I wasn't one to hold grudges, but some
things just weren't easily forgivable.
I could tell there was something Parker wanted
to say, and the same with my father.
"I'll let you get back to work. I really
need you there." Dad walked out the door, and Parker stood there
with his hands in his pockets. I gave him a little smirk, then opened
my email. Parker sat in the chair across from me, and shot me a
little smile with an eyebrow cocked. "I've missed you."
How was it possible that those three little
words could be powerful enough to pull me from my dark thoughts?
I tried to hold back the thump in my heart and
the smile on my lips. "No you haven’t."
He stood and placed his hands flat on my desk,
then leaned across it. His face was only inches from mine, and his
breath painted across my cheeks. I looked up into his eyes, and that
was when his lips dipped down to gently brush mine. I wanted to get
lost in him, but I couldn't. Before the kiss could connect, I scooted
my chair back and stood.
"Parker."
He walked around my desk and put a finger over
my lips.
"Do you remember the first time we were
intimate in this office? Every time I step inside, I am taken back to
that moment. The look on your face. Your quiet pants in my ear. Do
you remember what I told you?"
I opened my mouth to speak, but he interrupted
me.
"I said to not ruin that moment. So don't
ruin this one."
He moved my hair from my shoulder and gently
touched his nose to mine. Then we were kissing—kissing like we
couldn't breathe without the other one, kissing like it was our last
moments on earth. Everything seemed to be at a standstill. When our
lips broke apart, I was almost gasping for air, then a sense of loss
overcame me.
"Parker, we can't do this here."
"Roxane, you can't deny me."
I whispered, "It's against my rules."
"I've already broken all your rules, and
I'll keep breaking them over and over again. I'll never give up on
you, and I'm not going anywhere. I'll give you all the time that you
need to think. I'll give you all the space you want. But being around
you is a challenge, because all I want to do is lay you down on that
couch and make love to you. I want to taste you. I want to smell your
skin on mine. You do this to me, Rox."
Parker somehow knew exactly what to say to halt
my words. I swallowed them down and my face softened. "Parker."
A knock rang out on my door and the door
clicked open. Parker took a step back, and I straightened my hair as
Jane entered. A smile immediately hit her lips when she saw Parker,
and a big grin took over her face when she looked at me.
I cleared my throat, then said, "Yes?"
"Mr. Williams, I wasn't aware you were in
here. Roxane, I need to speak to you about the new secretary."
Her insinuations sliced through the air. See, the thing about Jane
was not much got past her. She was like a hound dog. She knew all of
the gossip, and what was real and what wasn't.
"Mr. Williams was just leaving. Please,
have a seat."
Parker sent me a silent message that said this
wasn't over, and I knew that was true. My face was flustered, and I
knew his words were written all over my body. When the door snapped
closed behind him, Jane interlocked her fingers and scooted close to
my desk. She narrowed her eyes at me and opened her mouth, then
immediately closed it.
Please, Jane. Please don't ask me about
Parker.
"How was New York?" Her question was
simple, and my answer would have to be as well.
"Great. The weather was nice. Jason McCaul
was an ass as always," I said.
I could tell her wheels were turning, and that
she wanted to pry. But she didn't. Thankfully.
"I won't keep you much longer. I set a
meeting, but forgot about your New York trip. About Christina . . .
she comes in late and refuses to listen to instruction. She doesn't
care about deadlines or dress code. She just isn't secretary
material."
I thought back to her interview and how well
she spoke. For sure I thought she would be a homerun. What had
happened? I glanced over at the clock on the wall and realized it was
a little past seven.
"What time is she supposed to be here?"
I asked.
"In the next five minutes," Jane
said.
"I'll take care of it. No problem. Thanks
for coming to me about this. I really appreciate it."
She stood and smiled at me. Her hair was in a
messy bun, and she tucked little strands of grey hair behind her ear.
"I've heard your mother will be here around lunch."
I swallowed. She knew my feelings on the
subject. Jane had helped wipe away many of my teenage tears. "I'll
let you know when she's here, okay?" It was her little way of
protecting me.
"Thank you, that means a lot to me. I
really don’t want to see her. At all." She smiled, then turned
to head out. Before she opened the door, she said without turning
around, "I told you he was a looker."
SINGLE, Volume One
Since becoming the President of VanBuren Investments, she knows how important it is for her professional and personal life to remain separate from one another. If the two were to mix, the rumors could possibly ruin her reputation, which is bad for her and bad for business. To avoid that, Roxane allows rules to define and guide her every move. Unfortunately for her, Parker Williams is determined to break them all, one at a time.
SINGLE, Volume Two
Parker Williams doesn’t take no for an answer, not that Roxane would deny him anyway.
He has his own set of rules that must be followed while hers are being crossed through like a to-do list.
When a person falls in love, it’s supposed to be easy but it’s much more complex than either realized it could be.
Roxane’s control is slipping along with every opinion she had about love. This time, it feels different. This time, it finally feels right.
Slowly she realizes how much is at stake, but she is only concerned about losing one thing—her heart.
About the Author
Words make the world go round. I love to write, travel, and sing really loud at the top of my lungs in the shower. Sweet love stories (along with the dirty ones) make me gush. I am firm believer that a person can never have too many cats or cups of coffee.Forget the beach! Give me a gel pen, a stack of blank paper, and beautiful mountains!
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