Page 49 of The Problem with Playboys

“I’m so sorry.” Parker pulled her into his embrace as tightly as he could, all while his heart felt as though it weighed hundreds of pounds. He felt so responsible for all of this. “How are you doing?”

“Horrible. It did not go well, even before she had the freaking heart attack. She thinks you’re just like your dad, and that’s obviously not good.”

He thought his heart couldn’t feel any heavier, but it was taking on weight like crazy. “I have to tell you something, Chloe. Something that might make you upset.”

“What?”

He ran his hand through his hair, peering down into the face that meant so damn much to him. “The photos from Little Black Book. It’s all my fault. I’m the reason they posted them. I’m probably the reason they spied on us at all.”

“How are you to blame? I don’t understand.”

“Here. Look at this.” He pulled his phone out of his pocket and showed her the text from last night.

All she did was shake her head impossibly slow, but he could feel her anger. It was radiating off her. “You were digging all along, weren’t you?”

“Not a lot. Just a little. My investigator, Jessica, is very good and incredibly discreet. And she didn’t find out much. I don’t even know how they figured it out.”

“I can’t believe you. Why did you do this when I expressly asked you not to?”

“Okay. Fair enough. I take the blame for it from before Miami. But after that, when they threatened you? Threatened us? I couldn’t let that stand.”

“Why not? A threat is just a threat. And they didn’t post anything the first time.”

“Which is exactly why I hoped they would do the same this time. That’s why I didn’t say anything last night.”

“I can’t believe you knew this was coming last night and you still didn’t tell me. You said all of those sweet things to me and now it’s all tainted.” She stepped away from him, turned and buried her head in her hands.

He followed, even when he sensed she wanted nothing to do with him. “I meant those sweet things, Chloe. Every word. I’m not just falling for you, I’ve fallen. I’m on my knees, begging you to take a breath and remember that we have a good thing. We can get through this.”

She turned back, her eyes blazing. “Something always told me you were going to break my heart. And I guess that’s where we are, huh? I don’t really know what to say to you right now. My mom hates the idea of you. We’re all publicly humiliated. My boob is all over the internet.”

“With a black bar over it...”

She held up a finger and delivered the sternest look he’d ever seen from her. “Let me finish. And my mom is about to go into surgery or at the very least have a serious procedure, and it was all prompted by your inability to listen to me, coupled with your dad’s inability to keep it in his pants.”

Parker struggled for words. She wasn’t wrong. And he felt so bad. “I never, ever wanted to break your heart. And we have the power to keep it together. The two of us.”

Chloe shook her head. “As for now, there is no two of us. There is only me and you, two separate people, who have too many reasons to not be together. We both knew in our heart of hearts that this wasn’t going to work. You don’t believe in this and neither do I.”

“I don’t think we’re those same people, Chloe. I really don’t.”

She blew out a breath. “Well, I feel like the same person. Everything is a mess, and everything I feared might go wrong did.”

He reached for her hand, but she pulled it away. “Don’t give up on us. I’m begging you.”

“Go home, Parker. Go be with Blue and scroll through your phone and find some other woman to occupy your time. I think it’s clear that we aren’t going to work and I think it’s best if we just cut our losses right now.”

He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Nope. I’m not going anywhere.”

“This is pointless. I’m going to be here all night.”

“I don’t care. You can’t make me leave.”

She shook her head. “Staying here won’t change a single thing between us, Parker. We won’t work. The sooner we both admit it, the less it will hurt.”