Nodding, I did take a drink then, mostly just to cover my face. There was a 100 percent chance my cheeks were flaming red.
“No wonder you don’t want to date me.”
He said it so matter-of-factly, with zero bitterness and laughter in his voice, that I could not resist a reply.
“That actually has nothing to do with it,” I said after swallowing a big gulp of iced tea. “Seriously. If I were to go on a date with anyone, honestly, it would be you.”
Maybe a little too much honesty? But it was true.
Sure, the “nice guy” thing could be a facade, but Pia knew him well. And he’d been friends with Mason a long time. I’d heard Parker referred to as “the nice one” before, and it seemed to be with good reason.
He was also hot, easy-going, had a nice ass, was funny, and did I mention seriously freaking hot?
“Oh, man.” He shook his head. “I still can’t believe this one.” Parker smiled. “You might have pharmacist/patient confidentiality, but thankfully, I don’t and can’t wait to tell the guys this one.”
“You would out your father like that?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely. Sorry for the swearing,” he said immediately.
“No apologies necessary. I have a potty mouth too.”
“Don’t think poorly of me, but my father has been a pain in the ass for as long as I can remember. This is very much on brand for him, and the guys won’t even be a little surprised. The fact that he couldn’t go one weekend without it,” he sighed. “Dad met a woman the night before at O’Malley’s.”
“Pia mentioned your parents were divorced.”
“Yeah. Unbelievable.” He shook his head. “It’s too bad this isn’t a date. Would have been one hell of a first one.”
Seemed like he didn’t want to talk about the parents, which was okay by me. “It really would have been,” I admitted, oddly relieved the medication was actually his father’s.
Which made no sense since this wasn’t a date.
Because I was no longer dating.
Such a shame…
10
PARKER
When I’d gotten back from lunch, Mason was nowhere to be found. I tracked down Pia, who was in her office with no idea where her fiancé had gone off to. When she asked about lunch, I laughed, asking if she’d talked to Delaney yet. Pia admitted her friend had texted when she was finished, but Pia had been on a work call that had just ended.
I told her to call Delaney immediately and left a bewildered Pia behind.
“Hey, buddy.” I found Beck in the kitchen. “Have you seen Mason?”
“No, why?”
“Pop Tarts? Are you ten?”
Beck pulled the tarts out of the toaster. “These things are damn good. Want one?”
I pulled a water from the fridge. “I’ll pass. Thought you gave them up when you lost your abs?”
“First of all, I didn’t lose my abs. Not all of them, at least.” Beck took a bite.
“And second of all?”
He finished chewing. “Second of all, I never intended to give them up forever.”
