Page 31 of The Problem with Playboys

“Do you think you two could be an item?”

Chloe’s immediate reaction was to wave off the very idea. It still didn’t make sense to her, even though she liked Parker a lot. “No. The history between his dad and my mom is more than enough reason to stay away from each other. And we’re both staunchly opposed to commitment.”

“He might feel like that, but do you? Really? I mean, you did get engaged to Kurt.”

“That was a mistake. He asked and part of me thought that it wasn’t such a terrible idea.”

“I hate to break it to you, but I think that part of you is still in there.”

Chloe stifled a sigh. “Maybe. I don’t know. Kurt was a mistake, though. Surely you can appreciate that sometimes we make poor choices when it comes to men.”

“Look, we’re not talking about me. And I’ve heard this story from you one hundred times, Chloe. It’s getting old. You’re not your mom. I hope you know that. And just because she’s had a bumpy road in that department doesn’t mean you’ll meet the same fate.”

“I’m amazed you can be optimistic about relationships at all.”

“If I don’t stay positive, I’ll drown in a sea of my own tears.”

Perhaps that was true for Alex, but Chloe remained unconvinced. “Doesn’t matter. I’m in zero rush to get serious again. Zero.” She had to wonder if coming here tonight had been a bad idea. She didn’t like big events like this. If she was going to meet people and shake hands, she preferred to do it in the comfort of her own office, preferably when the person she didn’t know was desperate for her services. It made for a much better dynamic. And then there was the issue of Parker. What did he want from her? What did she want from him?

“Oh, my God,” Alexandra said, grabbing Chloe’s arm. “Ryder Carson is here.”

“Oh, cool. You should go say hi.” Ryder was Alex’s brother’s best friend, but Alex had known him for years.

“Unfortunately, it’s not quite as simple as that.”

“Why?”

“I kissed him. On New Year’s Eve.”

“Wait. What? The party we were all at? Together?” Chloe, Alex and Taylor had attended a big New Year’s party hosted by Alex’s brother. “You never said a thing about that. How did I miss that?” Chloe certainly hadn’t been busy kissing anyone else. She’d gone home with a headache from too much champagne and a distinct lack of guys worth kissing.

“You know I’ve always had a thing for him. Like a big thing.” Alex bit down on her lip. “And we were standing near each other when the ball dropped and I don’t know, I guess I just lost my head for a minute. So I kissed him.”

“How did he react?”

“He was super into it for about two seconds and then I think he realized that my brother was in the same room. He said he had to go get a drink of water, but I never saw him again. He took off.”

“Your brother can be pretty intimidating. And he’s also very protective of you. I’m not surprised.”

“Maybe he was feeling like he’d violated the bro code. You know, where guys won’t date their friends’ sisters or their exes for that matter.”

“And you haven’t spoken to him since?”

Alex shook her head, but she had this wistful look in her eye as she watched Ryder across the room. “I haven’t.”

“Do you want to talk to him?”

“Sorta. I mean, I’m worried he’s going to tell me to go away or something, too.”

Chloe grabbed two glasses of champagne from a waiter who strolled past them. “Here. Take this for strength. A sip or two, then go say hello and see what happens. Worst-case scenario, he’s weird about it, but like most guys, he’ll probably just ignore the elephant in the room.”

“Maybe.” Alex seemed unconvinced.

Just then, Chloe spotted Parker again on the other side of the room. He was still chatting with the woman from earlier, but he was looking right at Chloe. Rather than waving, he cocked an eyebrow at her. It made her body temperature spike. “Go talk to Ryder. I’m going to talk to Parker. We’ll meet up later, okay?”

“Sounds good.”

Chloe began weaving past people so she could talk to Parker. All this conversation about people not knowing where they stand, it was all starting to get to her. She wanted to know what tonight was about. She wanted to know what in the hell Parker wanted from her. Unfortunately, when she reached him, he was still chatting with his admittedly beautiful friend. Chloe tried not to bristle at the jealousy creeping up inside her, but it was difficult to ignore. It registered deep, a dull ache that showed no sign of going away. If this woman was interested in Parker and he felt the same way, Chloe was going to need a while to get over that.