Free Parker's Passion by Sabrina York Page B

to be hidden. “So tell me,” Kaitlin said, forcing her attention back where it belonged…on her clients. “How is Lily doing?”
    Susan sighed and gazed at her daughter who was playing with dolls in the corner. Dolls were helpful, Kaitlin found, in working through the pain. Lily held the boy doll up in front of the girl doll and then bashed them together making “ Kussssh Kussssh ” sounds. “She’s…okay.”
    “It will take some time.” Kaitlin nibbled on her lip. Possibly the memory would never be wiped away. “Any word?”
    Susan flinched.
    Kaitlin felt a thread of remorse for the question, but she needed to know.
    “He wants custody.”
    Kaitlin froze. She glanced at Lily, the adorable three year old, whose father had sent her to the hospital with a broken arm. Her cast was a brash reminder of his fury.
    Susan shook her head. “He doesn’t want custody. He wants power. Over me. But I can’t let him have her. I can’t.” Panic rose in her voice.
    “You’re safe here.” Kaitlin sent her a calming wave. “No one knows you’re here.”
    “But what if —”
    “He won’t find you.” She forced a smile. “That’s what we do here. We keep women safe.”
    “He has money. He has friends. He could track us…”
    “Then we’ll move you. Susan. Look at me.” Kaitlin touched her face, to the side, where the swelling wasn’t so bad. “You’re safe here. You need to focus on getting better. Let me help.”
    “I…okay.”
    Kaitlin stood and walked behind her and placed her hands on Susan’s slender shoulders and began to work.
    She forced all thoughts of Drew and Parker and everyone else from her mind and focused on this. On what mattered. On helping someone heal.
    The pain was excruciating.
    When she went home that night, she ate an entire chocolate bar. One of the big ones.
    Drew called just as she was getting ready for her date with Parker. If she hadn’t been so frazzled—changing outfits six times—she wouldn’t have picked up.
    “Hey, babe.” His warm voice flooded over the line. “What are you doing?”
    “Oh. Hi , Drew. I’m kind of busy.”
    “Yeah. Okay. So I was thinking about going to the island this weekend. Are you going to be there?”
    She juggled the phone as she tossed another dress onto the bed. Maybe this one was better? “I can’t this weekend Drew. I’m helping Emily prepare for a charity thing.”
    “Ug,” he snorted. “She roped you in?”
    These shoes? Or these? Kaitlin laid them out on the bed side by side and studied them. She tried to tap into Parker’s energy, to assess which he would prefer, but Drew kept chattering in her ear.
    “She’ s a storm trooper when it comes to those charity things. Which one is this?”
    “Teen Waystation.”
    “Oh yeah. I think she mentioned that this weekend.”
    “It’s important to her.” Okay. The black ones. Not too high of a heel, but not too casual.
    “So…what are you doing for dinner tonight?”
    “I have a date.” She winced as soon as the words left her lips. Good gravy. She could feel his hurt wafting toward her over the line.
    Silence. And then, “A…date?”
    Kaitlin sighed. “Yes, Drew. A date.”
    “With him ?”
    Really, it was none of his business. Except he was her friend. And he cared. And he deserved better than to be sloughed off or lied to. “I really like him, Drew.”
    “He’s a jerk!”
    “He’s not.”
    “Kaitlin, don’t go.”
    She took a deep cleansing breath and sent him a calming wave too. It didn’t work. The threads connecting them bristled with tension. “Drew, I really like him. He’s…different.”
    “Everybody’s different .”
    “Not like Parker.”
    Drew made a sound, something like a snarl. “I’m coming over.”
    “No, Drew, don’t—”
    But he’d disconnected.
    Kaitlin glanced at the clock and figured she had about ten minutes to get dressed and get out of the house before Drew showed up. It was probably cowardly to run like this, run and hide, but