Page 48 of The Problem with Playboys

“Or maybe just stay on the other side of the house for a while. It’ll blow over.” Parker exhaled. Or it wouldn’t blow over. That was his biggest fear.

“Hold on. I think I hear him. Good luck, Parker,” she said.

“Bye, JoJo. Thank you.”

“Good morning, son,” his father said when he picked up the line.

Parker wasn’t about to beat around the bush with his dad. “A photo was released today on a social media account called Little Black Book. It’s of you, kissing a woman I don’t know.”

“Why would anyone care about that? I’m single. I can kiss anyone I want.”

“It’s time-stamped. From the day you married Eliza Burnett.”

The other end of the line went quiet. “Oh. I see. Did the woman have dark hair?”

“Does that mean it’s true? That you kissed more than one woman on the day you got married?”

“First off, that was technically before Eliza and I got married. It was at the hotel in Vegas. I went down to the casino to get in a few hands of blackjack while Eliza was getting ready and I ran into an old flame.”

“Old flame?”

“A cocktail waitress I’d had an on-again, off-again thing with over the years. I told her I was getting married, and she expressed her disappointment that I’d never considered her for commitment.”

“So you tried to kiss it away?”

“Not exactly. We went down a hall so we could talk privately and she grabbed me and kissed me. I guess it was just for old times’ sake.”

“So you weren’t having an affair?”

“Whatever you might think of me and my love life, I have never been unfaithful to a woman I was married to. Never.”

Parker had never been entirely sure on that point, but he’d worried that the opposite might be true. “Good to know.”

“I don’t totally understand why you’re calling me about this. I don’t pay attention to social media, and Eliza and I are divorced now, so that doesn’t matter either.”

“But Eliza does matter. She matters to her daughter, Chloe, and Chloe is my girlfriend.”

His dad snort laughed. “You’re kidding.”

“It’s not a joke. Eliza was already predisposed to hating me, and now it’s one hundred times worse. And I really don’t want to lose Chloe.”

“Do you want me to call Eliza and explain everything? She might hang up on me, but I’ll do it if it will help.”

Parker wasn’t quite sure what to make of the offer, other than he was legitimately shocked. His dad didn’t intervene to help others, even when he expected it of them. “On any other day, I would say yes. But unfortunately, Eliza apparently had a heart attack when she saw the photos. I guess it was right after Chloe finally told her that we were involved.”

“Oh, no. Is Eliza okay?”

“I don’t know exactly. I’m on my way to the hospital right now to be with Chloe.”

His father let out a heavy sigh. “It sounds like your life has turned upside down, son. I’m sorry for that. Please send Chloe and Eliza my best. And call me if you need to talk.”

It wasn’t much consolation, but at least Parker had a few more answers now. And he took some comfort in knowing that not every conversation with his dad had to be contentious. Hopefully that would continue. “Thanks, Dad. I appreciate that.”

Parker hung up the phone and raced out of the car as soon as Benny pulled up to the emergency room entrance. Inside, it was mayhem, but a nurse kindly looked up Eliza’s information and directed him to a waiting room on the third floor. One step off the elevator and he saw Chloe. His heart squeezed tight when she looked up and their gazes connected. She ran to him, and he to her. And it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

“What’s the latest?” he asked.

“It was definitely a heart attack. They’re doing a bunch of tests right now. Best-case scenario, she has an angioplasty and can go home tomorrow if she’s stable. Worst case, we’re talking a bypass and a major recovery.”