A Perfect Fit, page 3
“How about I just take you back to my place? You can sleep it off, and I’ll get you back to yours tomorrow,” she said. Ella looked up then, eyes full of gratitude as she calmed. Good job, Parker, we now have a plan.
“Put your seatbelt on, darling,” she said, shaking her head and smiling to herself. Ella clicked herself in place and Parker started out of the parking lot.
Chapter 4
In all of Parker Chase’s life, she would never have expected this situation. First, running into one of the most beautiful, captivating women she had ever met on a random night at the bar. Then, taking said beauty back to her place, but not for any sort of fun-time activities. She knew that Rob probably didn’t believe that she was helping Ella and not bedding her. Her glowing reputation and all that. As she looked over at the willowy, alluring blonde sitting in her passenger seat, she felt a sense of diversion from her usual intentions when leaving the bar with a woman. She felt protective.
Ella radiated an energy that seemed to mesh with her own. It was comfortable and enticing in equal parts, like they had known each other for years. But Parker didn’t believe in love or romance, not for herself anyway. Still, she couldn’t stop herself from sneaking glimpses at Ella during the drive.
“We’re here,” Parker said, pulling into her assigned parking space at the apartment complex. “How are you feeling? Ella?”
The ride home had been in companionable silence with Parker contemplating the interesting turn of events and Ella drifting in and out of sleep. Ella opened her eyes, turned to her, and smiled. “Yeah, I’m good, thanks,” she said.
Parker nodded, got out of the car, and walked over to the passenger side. She opened the door, and Ella clumsily turned herself to get her feet on the ground so Parker could assist with her exit. She laughed as Parker held her up, allowing her to find her balance before they moved toward the apartment. Thank goodness it was a ground-floor garden apartment because she was not sure Ella could make it up a flight of stairs. Parker unlocked the door and helped her over to the couch. Once Ella was settled and comfortable, she secured two ibuprofen tablets from a bottle in the kitchen cabinet and a bottle of water from the fridge before heading back to check to see how Ella was doing.
“Hey, you should take these and drink as much of this as you can,” she said, handing her the hangover-prevention accoutrements. Ella placed the small pills in her mouth and drank from the bottle as if on autopilot. That’s good. Hopefully, she won’t feel like absolute hell tomorrow. “Do you need to eat something? You said you hadn’t eaten much today. I have some leftover pizza. It’s just from yesterday, so it’s still fine. I can also make some noodles if you want?”
Ella looked up confused, before nodding in understanding. “Sure, a piece of pizza would be great. And cold is fine, you don’t have to heat it up.”
Parker smiled and repeated the cute hand signal from the bar, indicating she should continue drinking the water. Ella smiled and took another large drink before pointing again at her bottle and nodding, just as she had in response to her. Now, that was precious. She retrieved a piece of pizza and put it in a paper towel before bringing it back to Ella, who was resting her head on the back of the sofa and sipping the water. She sat down next to her and handed over the slice. “Here you go. It’s pepperoni and mushrooms. You’re not a vegetarian, are you?”
Ella took the pizza and hummed into a bite. “Nope. Happily carnivorous.” She smiled and winked at Parker, making her heart skip a beat.
“Good to know. That’s good info for our second date,” Parker said, returning the wink. Ella wrinkled her nose and finished chewing the second bite.
“You don’t need to do that overt flirting thing. Your tone changes completely. I prefer real Parker. Nice Parker. The Parker who takes someone home because she’s drunk off her ass and she doesn’t want to leave her alone. Gallant Parker. A Parker-in-shining-armor,” she said, chuckling to herself. Then, she reached out to take Parker’s hand. “Thank you so much, by the way. I can’t remember if I have said it already. So, just thank you.”
Parker looked down at their connected hands, and there was that spark again. It was like tangible light arcing between their fingers. “Oh, no, hey, it’s okay. I would hope anyone would do that for someone else. I mean, you hear horror stories about people leaving their friends. I just wanted to make sure you’re safe. Do I need to call anyone and let them know you’re here?”
Ella frowned as she took another drink of water, exhausting the bottle of its contents. “Look, I did it!” Ella high-fived herself, and Parker couldn’t help but laugh as she got up to retrieve a second bottle. Opening the refrigerator door, she made up her mind to press a bit.
“So, are you sure that Anna won’t miss you tonight?” Parker took the drink, shut the door, and went back to sit next to Ella who now looked a little pale. “Listen, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be pushy. You just kind of get nervous each time I mention her name, and I want to make sure that your bodybuilder girlfriend isn’t going to show up here tomorrow looking for a fight because you stayed at my place,” Parker said, nudging her shoulder.
Ella sighed and put down the remainder of the pizza. She turned to face Parker and paused a moment before making her revelation. “Anna is my daughter. She’s with her father this weekend so she won’t be expecting me home. This is my first time going out after my divorce.” Ella searched her face for any sort of reaction.
Parker raised her eyebrows. Now, this was unexpected. She didn’t date women with kids. But what she did with the women she brought home wasn’t exactly considered dating, either. She was always upfront with women she spent time with, and moms didn’t stay over. This could be a wrench in the works. But Parker knew there was something special between them from the first time she looked into Ella’s seafoam eyes, and she wasn’t ready to write her off just yet. “Oh, that makes sense. Well, I guess it’s a good thing I didn’t call, huh?” Parker said with a smile, trying to keep the mood light. No reason to try to have any real heavy conversations right now. Ella yawned and set the remains of the pizza down on the coffee table.
“I’m going to change into my pajamas. You can take my room tonight, and I’ll sleep out here on the couch. It’s super comfy.”
Ella smiled in response and mumbled a thank you before stifling another yawn. Parker retreated to her room to locate a simple pair of black cotton sleep pants and a white tank top. She dug out a faded gray T-shirt and a pair of yoga pants for Ella, tucking them under her arm and returning to the living room. “Here you go,” she said, handing the comfy clothes over. “I’m going to go to the bathroom and do my nightly routine. The bedroom is just down the hallway on the left.” Ella stood and took the clothes while Parker headed to change in the bathroom. It is important to give a lady her privacy.
“A kid?” Parker looked at herself in the mirror, cursing her luck. She wasn’t ready to play stepmom to a rugrat, that was for sure. But there was just something indescribable about this woman she couldn’t put her finger on. Parker was getting ahead of herself and thinking way too many deep thoughts for a first meeting. She would just let things play out and see where things went organically.
Parker opened the bathroom door and headed over to her bedroom to tell Ella good night and see if she needed anything. The room was empty. Perplexed, she turned to go back to the living room. Ella sat asleep on the couch with Parker’s clothes draped across her knee. Parker smiled to herself. Ella looked peaceful sitting there, but she wouldn’t feel very good in the morning having slept sitting up all night. Parker guided Ella down onto the couch, her body tingling every time their skin came into contact. She placed a pillow under her head and picked up her legs to position them in a more natural position for sleep. Ella mumbled another thank you from Dreamland. Parker smiled and shook her head before taking off Ella’s shoes for her and placing them on the floor in front of her. She pulled a comfy sherpa blanket from the back of the sofa and draped it over Ella, who sighed contentedly. Parker then took her phone from the arm of the coach and placed it on the coffee table so she could find it when she woke up. She paused and looked at the moonlight spilling over Ella’s forehead. Parker couldn’t stop herself from tucking a few errant strands of hair behind Ella’s ear or from bending over to kiss her forehead before retreating to her own room, hoping for an easy night’s sleep.
Chapter 5
Ella woke up the next morning to some rude sunlight blasting her right in the face. All she was doing was trying to sleep, and Mother Nature just wasn’t playing fair. Her neck felt sore, and her joints were stiffer than she was used to. She opened her eyes, looked around, and realized she had no clue where she was.
Ella sat up with a start and looked around, thinking hard. How drunk was she the night before? The good news is she was on someone’s couch, so she hadn’t had an intoxicated one-night stand. Ella found her phone on a small glass coffee table in front of her, and her shoes were placed under its edge. She also realized she had been tucked in with a nice, warm blanket over her. She leaned her head into her hands and rubbed at her face and head, trying to get her brain to work. That’s when she noticed the pizza crust and empty bottle of water, and something clicked.
Parker. She was on Parker’s couch. There was a lot she didn’t remember, but she did remember that Parker left her job early, taking her back to her own apartment since Ella couldn’t remember her new address. She also remembered Danna’s damning words about Parker’s reputation, but she couldn’t be all bad, right? It took a decent person to make sure a perfect stranger had a safe place to crash after getting drunk off her ass.
Ella didn’t hear any movement and had no idea where Parker’s bedroom was. She checked the time. Ten-fifteen. She wasn’t used to sleeping in. She kept teachers’ hours on the weekends as well and was used to getting up before the sun rose. But she was also used to getting in bed at a decent hour and not consuming enough vodka to drop a horse, if horses drink vodka, that is. She would have to Google that later when her brain was functioning.
Ella turned her phone on and saw she had multiple texts from her new gay best friend.
Danna, 1:04 a.m.: “Hey, are you good? You and Parker have been gone for a long time and her break was over 15 minutes ago. Maybe you guys rode off into the sunset together. If so, I’m super happy for you. But just check in, okay?”
Danna, 1:16 a.m.: “I checked with Robert, and he said you were sick, and Parker took you home. Hopefully you aren’t sick, and you scored! But, just in case, drink lots of water and call me tomorrow to tell me about it. Glad you’re safe and I’m so glad we met and hung out!”
Danna had real bestie potential. Ella needed more gay friends, anyway. She decided to shoot her a quick text.
Ella, 10:11 a.m.: “I’m fine, thanks for checking. I don’t remember a lot. I woke up on Parker’s couch, so I feel fairly assured my lesbian virginity is still intact. It looks like she was a perfect gentlewoman. She even set me up with some food, water, and ibuprofen before I went to sleep.”
She checked for a text or message from AJ but found none. Upon placing her phone down, she heard her text notification go off again.
Danna, 10:12 a.m.: “Wow, that’s really sweet. Let me know if you need a ride home or if you plan to stay over again…for other reasons.”
Ella half-snorted, half-laughed at the suggestion. No one likes to babysit a drunk. She was sure she’d ruined any chance she might have had with Parker with her behavior the previous night.
Ella, 10:14 a.m.: “I’m sure she will want nothing to do with the pile of embarrassment that is me. I’m going to go find her and thank her before I call an Uber to come get me. Thanks for the offer of a ride, though. We must hang out again soon.”
Danna responded with a .gif of a cartoon cat humping the air that caught her by surprise, and she barked out a laugh before she could stop herself.
“What’s so funny?”
Ella looked up to see a sleep-tousled Parker leaning against the door jamb in the entrance to the living room. She stood up, startled, before thinking the move through. It ended up being a bad decision, and the room took a quick lurch before she could gain her equilibrium. She closed her eyes and put out her hands to steady herself against, well, nothing, but that worked well enough. She opened them again and could not stop herself from staring. Even having just gotten out of bed and still wearing her pajamas, Ella found Parker to be the most beautiful creature she had ever seen. “Hey, so, oh! Nothing, just a funny thing my friend sent me,” Ella stumbled.
“Is this the same friend who you had your first date with last night whose name you couldn’t remember?” Parker teased, crossing her arms.
Ella chuckled. “That would be her. But I remember her name now. Danna. See, I’m a good first date,” she said before looking around, trying to think of something to make the moment less uncomfortable.
“Well, that’s good information to have,” Parker said, moving toward her small kitchen. “Would you like some breakfast? I’ve got eggs and toast. Or you can have more cold pizza if you want,” she chided.
Ella evaluated her stomach’s current state and sensing all systems were go, decided food was a good idea. “Sure, eggs would be great. Can I help?”
Parker already had the fridge open, pulling out an awful lot of ingredients for simple scrambled eggs and toast. “You’re welcome to sit at the bar and keep me company if you want, but I figure if I’m trying to earn an actual date here, I need to show you I can cook a mean breakfast for the morning after,” she said, standing up with arms full of what looked like fresh herbs and heavy cream.
Ella choked on the water she had been sipping, and Parker giggled, satisfied her words had the desired effect. “Yeah, you have to stop doing that while I am drinking. I’m starting to get back memories from last night, and you need to work on your timing if we’re going to continue this friendship. Otherwise, you might cause me to choke to death.”
Parker looked at her, confused. “No one said I wanted to be your friend,” she said, straight-faced. Ella gulped. Parker broke her grave façade, belly-laughing at her face, which was as red as a stop sign. “It’s just too easy to mess with you, even when you’re not drinking. I like it,” she said, cracking eggs into a mixing bowl before adding the cream. She then grabbed a cutting board and a sharp-looking knife out of the dish drainer and commenced chopping the herbs.
Ella opted to change the subject to something of a slower pace while her brain completed the waking-up process. “That looks wonderful. But I must ask you, is there coffee? See, I’m generally not someone you want to be around until I have had my coffee,” she said.
Parker pointed to a cupboard with a knife. “Yeah, I know what you mean. Do you mind setting it up? I’m a little indisposed here,” she said, holding up herby fingers.
Ella gave two thumbs-up and headed into the tight space. She pulled down the coffee, expecting something off a grocery store shelf. But this was a single-origin French Roast out of Guatemala. She looked at Parker with confused surprise.
Parker looked up and shrugged. “I like good coffee.”
Without thinking about the implications, Ella said the first thing that came to her mind. “I could kiss you right now.” She sat the coffee down, placing her hands on the counter in front of her and lowered her head in embarrassment.
Parker didn’t laugh this time. “Well, you do still kind of owe me from last night anyway. But we can have breakfast first.”
Ella half-exhaled, half-laughed before turning to look at her. Parker was smiling, but it was the real smile she remembered from last night, the one that lit up her eyes with honesty and sincerity. Ella couldn’t stop herself from returning the smile, before returning to the coffee situation.
They fell into easy conversation over the next few minutes as Ella mixed their coffee with cream and sugar, and Parker produced some delicious-looking creamy eggs on toast with chives, field garlic, and goat cheese. They each took a plate and moved back to the bar side of the counter, taking up residence on the stools. Parker seemed to be waiting for her to take a bite before eating. Since there was no silverware provided, she picked up a piece of toast and looked at Parker with eyebrows raised in question. She nodded, and Ella dove in. Flavors poured over her palate as the herbaceous notes were forward, but not overpowering. The goat cheese was creamy and tart, and the toast cut the richness of everything in perfect balance.
“Oh my God, Parker, this is amazing,” she said with her hand over her mouth.
Parker grinned back at her, and it lit up the room. Ella took another large bite, and a small bit of scrambled egg fell, sticking just under her lower lip. Parker looked contemplatively at her while Ella finished chewing, oblivious. When she noticed the change in Parker’s expression, she paused with her mouth open in front of the toast.
“You have a…” Parker reached up as she trailed off. Ella furrowed her brow in confusion as Parker swiped her thumb across her lower lip to remove the bit of food there. Ella’s breath hitched at the tender touch, but then she realized what had just happened: Parker had wiped eggs off her face. She lowered the toast and closed her eyes for a moment. When she opened them again, her words caught in her throat as she realized Parker hadn’t removed her hand. She now placed her thumb across her lips, shushing her. Ella swallowed hard.
Parker reached to take her hand again, pulling her slowly toward that gorgeous mouth. This was happening, here in the middle of scrambled eggs and toast. Granted, they were amazing scrambled eggs. Fucking Gordon Ramsey-level scrambled eggs. But could eggs be sexy? Ella couldn’t wait to find out as she leaned in to meet her.
