Her Marine Next Door - Aliyah Burke Page 0,59
the couch. Parker sprawled on his back, his left arm up over his eyes. Cullen lay asleep on his chest and Parker’s right hand held him there, making sure he didn’t fall off.
Without thought, she pulled out her phone and snapped a photo of the two of them lying there. They were tired and deserved to sleep. Plus she wasn’t strong enough to deal with Parker at the moment. She’d watched the recording to know it was as she’d expected—Gemma was putting nails by her truck and sabotaging her work. Little things here and there, like she was building up to see how much she could do without getting caught.
Skylar took a deep breath. Couldn’t worry about that right now. She had work to do. And that bitch wasn’t around. Might as well take advantage.
At least she’d have that picture when she no longer had them. Backing out, she retreated to the garage and opened the door. Then she went back around to grab Alpin and fed him.
She shouldn’t take his mother’s insults so personally, but she did. At this stage, she wasn’t sure why he didn’t tell his parents the truth.
Skylar looked over her shoulder in the direction the vehicle had gone with Dara and Gemma and sighed. Then again, perhaps she did know why he wasn’t telling them.
She got in another hour of work before she needed some food, so she and Alpin went in and found they were both awake.
“Mama!” Cullen ran to her, arms up.
“Skylar, Cullen. Call me Skylar.” Why she bothered to say anything she wasn’t sure, but part of her felt it pertinent to point this out to him, even though she loved hearing it. After lifting him, she kissed him and put him right back so he could love on Alpin.
Parker gave her a smile that made her realize this man had serious potency. Because if she could get pregnant from a smile, that just happened.
“How was your day?” he asked from where he worked on making some dinner.
“Busy, but good. Yours? How was PT?”
A shadow crossed his face. He had good days and bad ones. He popped a carrot piece in his mouth and rolled his shoulders before scraping the entire contents on from the cutting board of veggies into a pan on the stove.
“She’s brutal,” he admitted.
A loud crash happened.
“Cullen, take it outside. You can’t play so rough in the house.”
“’Kay.” He thundered out the door, and Parker crooked a finger at her.
Against her better judgment, or just common sense, she listened. He wrapped one arm around her and put their foreheads together before kissing her. Once.
One or ten times, with this man it didn’t matter. Stepping back to see if she could find her common sense in a pile on the floor, she rubbed her hand on her thigh.
He didn’t ask this time, just did something with the heat on the stove and grabbed her wrist, bringing her back to him. “Why didn’t you say your injury was still bothering you?”
His tone was deep and angry. Completely different from the gentle touch.
“It was a deep wound. Going to take a while to heal. I saw the doc today. He said I have to continue to be careful and not push it. Ask for help with moving heavier things. But I’m progressing, much better than I have been.”
Parker nodded. “That’s good.”
She smiled.
Seconds later, he scowled. “So, care to tell me who helped you unload the tables in the garage?” He pointed to himself and shook his head. Made a point of looking all around the house. “I’m not seeing the one who helped. Are they outside still?”
“Point taken.”
“Is it really, Skylar? I don’t like you ignoring the doctor. They’re trying to heal you and you need to listen.”
She took back her hand and nodded. “I’m not used to having someone around to help.”
His entire expression softened. “I’m here. Use me.” That flirtatious grin was back. “Please.”
“Aren’t you cooking?”
“I could be.” He stepped back and put his attention on the sautéing vegetables.
“Can I ask you something?” She moved to the fridge to get herself a drink and poured him and Cullen a glass of water as well.
“Anything.”
“Now that you know Cullen is your son, why aren’t you telling your parents the truth about us? Let’s face it, that dinner sucked.”
“I know. I’m sorry. I never expected that from them.”
His statement brought up the question of what he had expected, but she let it go. In the long run, did it really matter