Above the Law

Chapter Nineteen

Thirty minutes into the drive, Eden turned towards Parker. "So who's next on the list? Date rape Danny or the stalker guy?"

He glanced over at her, his brows pulled together. He shook his head slowly. "Eden, can we... can we not be those people tonight? Can we be a normal guy and a normal girl on a first date? Can we joke and flirt and pretend our lives aren't as fucked up as they are?"

Eden's mouth opened instantly, no words of protest followed. She wanted to ask what the point of that was. They were those people. They weren't normal. He wore a mask and she built walls too tall to scale. But she wanted him to break them down. She wanted to try for normal. "I'd like that, Parker."

The tension had been thick for the minutes that followed, but Parker strived for normal, strived to make her laugh. He sang off-key, told terrible jokes, flirted shamelessly. She like this version of Parker. She like this version of herself. It didn't feel like they were normal, if felt like they were different people. She was grateful for that. Grateful to forget everything and everyone besides him and her in that moment. Even if that was an enhanced version of themselves. Even if their personas were only temporary. Even if the wall they build around themselves crumbled.

Eden grinned as Parker pulled to a stop in front of a brick building called The Cheap N' Cheesy. "I promise it's delicious," he laughed. His hand found hers on the console and uncertainly intertwined his fingers with hers.

Eden didn't care if the food was good. She cared about being here with Parker. She smiled, leaned over the console and kissed his smooth cheek. "Thank you. For tonight."

He smiled down at their hands. "No. Thank you for tonight. I'm happy. I'm really happy." He looked up into her eyes. "You make me really happy, Eden."

"You make me really happy too," Eden said quietly.

His grin widened and he nodded towards the building. "Come on."

He placed his hand casually around her waist as they walked towards the building. She pretended the dip in her stomach was from hunger and not nerves. And lust. She cleared her throat. "How did you even know this was here?" Eden asked, eyeing the hole-in-the-wall brick building.

A soft smile pulled at his mouth. "I know the owner."

The delicate fondness in the way he spoke made her look at him. Really look at him. He looked wistful and sad, deep in thought. She found his hand and squeezed it.

Parker held the door open for Eden and two elderly women, then frowned and patted his pocket. "I'll be back in a second." He dashed to his car and Eden followed the women inside.

"Hold on to that boy," one of the women said to Eden. Eden glanced up to her wrinkly face and smiled. "My first husband wasn't much of a gentleman, he never held a door, that Mark. Hence, my first husband. Now my late husband, he treated me right."

Eden laughed politely, hoping her well-mannered-murder would walk back inside soon.

"Table for three?" a young man asked Mark's ex-wife, but his gaze drifted soon to Eden. He smiled.

"No, just the two of us," one of the ladies said.

The boy's grin widened even more at the woman's words just as the door opened behind her. Eden felt the pressure of Parker's hand on her back and his lips press gently to her cheek. She held a laugh in as she heard one of the ladies say something about Mark being a territorial male, too. "Hey, Trevor," Parker said.

Trevor's eyes danced between Eden and Parker, his eyebrows rising to his hairline. "You brought a girl," he said in such a shocked voice Eden was sure he was insinuating Parker was gay. But based on the way Parker was always looking at her, Eden assumed he was straight as a board.