A Beautiful Lie (Playing with Fire #1)

Parker awoke the following morning to the sound of Garrett pulling a pair of shoes out of his bag that sat in a chair next to the bed. She opened her eyes but lay perfectly still so she could watch him undetected.

He wore a navy blue button down cuffed at the elbows. The shirt was tucked into khaki dress pants and finished off with a thick brown belt. There was a frown on his face and a crease between his eyebrows as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and read something on it. Parker ached to crawl to the edge of the bed, curl her arm around his neck, and smooth away the worry lines with the tips of her fingers.

She longed to press her lips to his and taste him, feel him harden against her stomach, and watch his face when he found his release again. Parker knew all along that doing anything intimate with Garrett would be like bringing a lit match to gasoline, and she was right. His touch filled a void in her, and she wanted that feeling of completeness back.

Garrett tried to be as quiet as he could all morning so he wouldn’t wake Parker. Aside from wanting to just sit in the chair across from the bed and watch her sleep for as long as possible, he wasn’t ready to face her the morning after. He was uncomfortable with the fact they would have to act like it was no big deal due to the bugged room, but at the same time, he had no desire to discuss this with her and listen to her remind him it was just a job.

A small part of him wondered if that would still be the case after last night though. The words of encouragement she spoke, her moans of pleasure, the way her body felt in his arms when she came, it seemed impossible to Garrett that it was all an act. She would have never told him to keep going if some small part of her hadn’t wanted it – hadn’t wanted him.

Garrett wished they were anywhere but there right now. Somewhere away from this assignment, away from the stress and the sham of the game they were playing—alone in a place without bugs, lies, and ghosts of the past. For the first time, Garrett questioned why the things that happened between Parker and him on this assignment couldn’t continue when they went back to their lives. He wondered what would happen when they were free from the charade and could just be themselves.

Garrett’s phone vibrated in his pocket, and he pulled it out to see he had missed a call from an unknown number. That would make three in the span of an hour. Garrett knew he needed to focus and stop letting thoughts of Parker mess with his mind and ruin his concentration. He sent Brady a text asking him to try and trace the unknown number, pushing aside his frivolous thoughts of love and relationships when there were much more important matters that needed attention.

Garrett glanced up to take in Parker’s sleeping form again only to notice that she was staring at him. She was on her stomach hugging the pillow to her, the sheet draped down around her hips. Garrett’s eyes trailed down the smooth skin of her naked back and he decided to do something he wanted to do and knew he had to do for the purpose of the hidden ears that listened.

His eyes found hers again, and he kept his gaze locked on them as he wordlessly walked over to the bed, rested his hands and one knee on top, and leaned over towards Parker, pressing his lips to the skin of her shoulder. He should have backed away then, but he couldn’t help himself. Garrett moved further over her body and kissed her between her shoulder blades, down a few inches to the middle of her spine, finally ending at the small of her back, right where the sheet began.

Parker closed her eyes during the kisses, sighing lightly each time Garrett’s soft, warm lips made contact with her skin. She had been nervous things would be awkward between them this morning while she lay there watching him. She felt the wetness pooling between her thighs as his breath ghosted along her spine.

Garrett forced his mouth away from Parker before he pulled the sheet lower and kept going. He stood up from the bed and watched her slowly open her eyes back up.

“Good morning, sweetie,” he said cheerfully as he turned his back and sat down on the settee at the foot of the bed to put on his shoes. “Get your sleepy ass out of bed so we can get some breakfast.”

Garrett finished slipping on his shoes, got up, and walked into the living room without another glance in Parker’s direction.

To a stranger, Garrett sounded perfectly content and ready to start the day. But to Parker, the woman who knew him better than anyone else, his voice was strained, overly joyful and dripping with false affection.

He was playing a role. The one he came there to do. Parker was an idiot for not remembering that and for thinking anything different. She spent years training for things like this, and with one orgasm from the man, she forgot everything. She sat up, angrily flung the covers off of herself, and put the mask back in place as she walked to the bathroom. Halfway there, she paused, turned right back around, and marched across the bedroom and through the door to the connecting living room. Parker found Garrett sitting on the couch with his hands on his knees and his head in his hands. His head shot up when he heard her walk into the room. The look on his face would have been priceless and one she would have got a good laugh out of if she wasn’t so pissed off.

Standing in the doorway completely naked, Parker twirled a lock of hair around her fingers. When she reached the end, her hair fell from her fingers to rest against the top of her breast. She let her middle finger trail a path down her skin from her collarbone to one perfectly erect, pink nipple,where she circled it a few times for good measure.

“I’m just going to take a quick shower, baby. If you weren’t already dressed, I’d ask you to join me. Maybe later you can fuck me up against the shower wall.”

Parker turned on her heels and strode from the room, blocking her mind from the way Garrett’s eyes had trailed hungrily up and down her naked body while she stood there in the doorway. She was too angry to care that just the sight of her had given him quite an obvious erection.

She made it to the bathroom without swearing or kicking anything out of her way, and then turned the water as hot as she could handle it to try and burn the feel of Garrett’s hands and mouth from her skin.

Garrett didn’t think he would ever recover from the shock of seeing Parker walk into the living room naked. He had absolutely no idea what had possessed her to do something like that, but the image of her perfect, bare breasts and the heaven between her thighs that he wanted to sink his mouth into was forever burned into his brain. It was torture enough that he could still feel her heat on his fingertips and her body against him. Now he knew exactly what the parts of her body he touched the night before looked like in full, glorious living color. Garrett remained rooted in place with his mouth hanging open while Parker showered. As soon as she finished and got ready for breakfast, she bound into the living room. Giving him a kiss on the cheek, she pulled him up from the chair and told him how handsome he looked today, calling him sweetie, baby, hon, honey, love, and every other variation she could think of with every single sentence and a sickeningly sweet smile on her face as they made their way downstairs. Garrett wondered where Stepford Parker had come from and wished she would go back into hiding. He wanted to push her back into their room, lock the door, and kiss her until she dropped the act. He wanted to run his hands over every square inch of her beautiful body she put on display for him earlier. He wanted to tell her that the previous night had changed everything and he didn’t want to go back to the way they were, but he couldn’t do that.

A guard greeted them as soon as they exited the room and escorted them to a smaller dining room on the first floor, right off the kitchen. Parker had curled her arm through his and practically skipped down the stairs, rambling about how happy she was and how they should come back to the Dominican for a vacation when they were done with work. Garrett hated that his own fake husband act earlier had forced her to behave like this. He second-guessed his decision to focus solely on the assignment and realized belatedly that he should have just acted how he felt. Knowing there were people listening in on everything they did made him self-conscious and nervous about what he might let slip if he let his guard down. Garrett thought it would be easier to just be professional with Parker so they wouldn’t make any mistakes.

He should have known better. At this point, it would be impossible to be professional with her when all he could do was stare at her and think about how much he wanted her full breasts in his hands and nestle himself between her legs.

Garrett and Parker were seated at the table and a server was instantly by their side, informing them that they could order whatever they liked. Parker asked for a bowl of fresh fruit and yogurt, and Garrett went with a cheese omelet with toast and bacon. The food at the resort had been good, but it had been the Dominican’s version of American food. Nothing tasted exactly like it should have, and they were pleasantly surprised to find that the meals prepared at the palace were exactly like the ones they would have eaten at home.

They talked about photos Parker wanted to take during their stay, figuring it was a safe line of conversation. Parker remained in character as the dutiful wife and asked the server if someone could press one of her husband's shirts while she reached over and placed her hand on top of Garrett's.

Garrett had finally reached his fill of the saccharine wife act, so he wrapped his hand around the back of Parker’s neck and quickly pulled her to him, silencing her with his lips.

Parker didn’t protest, knowing there were servers currently watching them in two corners of the room, but Garrett’s action still surprised her. She was pissed at the way he’d so easily turned his emotions off this morning even though she knew it was necessary. She was pissed at herself for disregarding every single rule of being an agent and allowing her personal feelings to influence her actions.

Garrett instinctively knew she needed something to bring her back down to earth, and his kiss was the perfect remedy. He brushed his lips back and forth over hers before angling his head and fitting their lips together. Their tongues immediately met in the middle and Parker sighed into his mouth and returned his kisses, telling him with her lips that she was okay. The kiss ended before either of them wanted it to, but they knew a server was waiting to remove their plates from the table.

As their plates were cleared away, the man who walked them to their suite last night made an appearance. He informed them that President Fernandez had wanted to join them for breakfast but had been called away to a meeting. He left word that Parker and Garrett should enjoy the use of the pool today, and he would meet them for dinner. When Garrett noted that they hadn't brought any bathing suits, they were told that several pairs of new trunks could be found in the pool house and a large selection of bathing suits had been placed in their suite while they ate.

Having no reason to decline, they thanked the man and he left them to finish their coffee.

Parker and Garrett shared a look that clearly showed neither one of them liked the idea of someone being up in their room while they were out. Garrett knew they wouldn't find anything. The satellite phone and bug detector were safely secured in his pocket, and those were the only two questionable items they brought with them. He didn't like the idea that they might be adding something to the room, rather than looking for something though. He wondered if listening in last night hadn't been enough for them. Maybe they hoped to get a bird's eye view this time. Garrett realized that spending a day out by the pool might be the best option.

When they got up from the table, Garrett gave Parker a kiss on the cheek and warned her as quietly as possible not to change out in the open in the room. Parker gave him a smile and a barely noticeable nod of confirmation as she was led back to the suite by one man and Garrett was taken out to the pool by another.

Garrett had chosen a pair of blue board-short style trunks with white trim and dove into the deep end of the pool as soon as he got changed. The Dominican air was full of cloying, wet humidity, and the eighty-seven degrees easily felt like one hundred and seven.

He leaned his back against the wall of the pool with his elbows resting on the edge and the cool water covering him up to his waist. His head was tipped back and his eyes were closed as he soaked up the Caribbean sun.

Parker thanked the guard that escorted her out to the pool and tried not to let her jaw drop as she looked around. This wasn't a pool. It was a resort dropped into the palace's backyard. There were palm trees and tiki huts and outdoor couches draped in bright colored linens and pillows. She couldn't tell how big the pool was due to the twists and turns it made and the handful of stone sculpted waterfalls and bridges that decorated the oasis.

None of that compared to the beautiful man in the pool lounging against the wall with his sculpted torso covered in beads of water, his wet hair slicked back, and the straining muscles of his arms holding the upper half of his body out of the water.

Parker sauntered over to one of the many yellow and white beach chairs located around the edge of the pool and tossed her towel down onto it.

Garrett sensed rather than heard her presence and tilted his head up to find Parker looking down at her hands as she untied the belt of her white bathing suit cover-up.

Once untied, she let it fall to the side and Garrett caught a glimpse of what she was wearing underneath. He was grateful for the cover of water as Parker stared directly at him while she slid her fingers up the collar of both sides of the material, lifted it off of her shoulders, and then let it fall down her back, pooling at her feet.

Parker watched Garrett's Adam’s apple bob as he watched her disrobe. She stopped second-guessing her bathing suit choice at that moment.

True to the server's word, upon entering the suite, Parker had found a rack next to the windows of the living room filled with at least thirty different styles and colors of bathing suits on hangers, all in her size and all with the tags still on them.

Garrett stared slack-jawed at Parker as she stood by the edge of the pool in her pink string bikini. Her full breasts spilled beautifully out of the small triangles that held them in place. He let his eyes linger over her well-toned abs and the minuscule pink bottom that was tied low on her hips.