“Then what’s with the frown?”
“I have some stuff on my mind.”
“Like?”
“Like stuff,” Parker repeated. They were men, for Christ’s sake, they didn’t talk about their feelings. “Let it go.”
Saying that to Solomon was akin to waving a scab in front of the fingers of a seven year old. It just encouraged the man to pick. “Then this has to be about a woman.”
“Why do you say that?”
“If it was about anything else you would have already spilled the beans. For some annoying reason you have an outdated moral code when it comes to chicks.”
“Horrible isn’t it?” Parker dryly said.
“Yes, it is.” Solomon agreed, missing the sarcasm all together. “Come on, I tell you about the girls I screw.”
“Much to my delight.”
“Exactly. Besides this—” Parker’s ringing cell phone halted Solomon’s inquisition.
Parker answered it without glancing at the number, happy for the interruption. “Speak.”
There was a brief pause followed by a rapid, “Arf, Arf.”
“Hello?”
“Ahh, much better.” Cyn’s amused voice filled the line. “I was afraid you were going to have me roll over and play dead next.”
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Parker went from annoyed to extremely pleased in the space of a heartbeat. “Can you hold on for a sec?”
“If this is a bad time, I can call you back.”
“This isn’t a bad time at all.” As if he was going to give her a chance to run again.
Parker placed his hand over the mouthpiece and lowered the phone. Addressing Solomon, Parker gestured with his head to the door. “Get out.”
Solomon grinned evilly and scooted further down in the chair, as if making himself more comfortable. “Don’t mind me, I’ll wait.”
“You have one choice. You either walk out or I’ll throw you out. Head first.” Even though Solomon was a few inches taller and more muscular, Parker would have followed through on his threat.
Instead of infuriating Solomon, Parker’s words seemed to have amused him. “It’s like that, is it?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’ll go, but only because you asked so nicely.” Solomon stood and set his beer on the desk. “But I’ll be back for the goods.”
“Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.” Parker didn’t care why he went, as long as he did. “Shut the door behind you.”
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” Solomon teased, closing the door as Parker requested.
Annoying prick. Parker sat down and took his hand away from the phone. “Playing hard to get, were you?"
“Me?”
“Yes, you. Why did you wait so long to call?”
“To be honest, I wasn’t sure if I should call or not.”
“Why?”
“I wasn’t sure exactly how I was supposed to go about addressing royalty.”
“Ahhh.” Parker smiled. So much for anonymity. “I see you found out.”
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Cyn didn’t say anything for a few seconds, but when she did, her voice was far less friendly. “You should have told me who you were.”
Parker’s smile slid away. He hadn’t expected Cyn to be excited he was a semi-celebrity, but he didn’t expect her to be upset either. “I did.”
“I think I would have remembered if you did.”
“I told you my name, Cyn.”
“Come on,” she said impatiently. “You knew I had no idea who you were.”
“I did,” he admitted, unashamed. “And let me tell you how refreshing it was. How refreshing it is. Besides, Cyn, you said it yourself. It isn’t what I do that matters. It’s who I am. Or at least I thought it didn’t matter to you.”
“It shouldn’t.”
“But it does.”
“A little,” she said softly.
That was not what he wanted to hear. “Why?”
“For many reasons.”
“Give me one.” Parker wasn’t going to walk away without a damn good fight.
“We don’t have anything in common.”
“We did the other night,” he reminded her.
“That was before I knew who you were.”
Sighing, Parker stood and walked over to the window. This is why he didn’t press the issue of his identity the other night. He knew, to the core of him, if he told her who he was and what he did, she would have bailed. “I’m the same person.”
“No, you’re the Prince.”
“It’s a stupid trumped up name.” One he’d never hated as much as he did right now.
“All of that stuff, Cyn, it’s all fake. The glitz. The glamour. The people. You never know there who really likes you for you.”
“Poor little rich boy syndrome.”
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“Something like that.” Parker turned his back to the Hollywood sign and leaned against the window. It was a telling gesture, in more ways than one. “Come on, one date.
You and me. Just like before. No titles, no interruptions, no bullshit.”
“That’s a lot of nos.”
“I was hoping if we get all the nos out of the way now, there wouldn’t be any tomorrow night.”
“Are you that used to getting your way?” The laughter was back in her voice, just the way he preferred it.
“Yes.”
“I can tell.”
“One date.” Parker didn’t know when to quit. “Tomorrow night.”
“I have to work.”
“Then Saturday night,” he persisted.
“I shouldn’t say yes.”
He had her. “But you’re going to.”
“Aren’t you worried I might be going out with you now because I know who you are?”
“No.” The very idea made him want to laugh.
“Why?”
“Because you wanted me the first night. Not the Prince, but me.”
“Just a tad bit cocky.”
“Do me a favor, Cyn. Never put tad bit and cock in the same sentence again. I have a reputation to live up to.”
“Or down.”
Parker walked back to his desk and sat back in his chair. He fumbled around his desk until he found an ink pen and his address book. “Give me your address. I’ll pick you up.”
“No, I’ll meet you somewhere.”
“Meet me?”
“Yes. I don’t know you well enough to give you my address.”
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Parker dropped his pen and leaned back in his chair. At first he was impressed with how cautious she was. Now that it was working against him, he was annoyed. “That excuse is going to get old fast.”
“But it’s not old now, so it’s good enough for me.”
“We’ll play it your way. For now.”
“I’m willing to accept
