Page 27 of The Problem with Playboys

“Yep. Just a quickie,” Taylor added.

Chloe made a mental note to threaten Taylor with the revocation of her brunch privileges if she was going to misbehave this way.

“Tell me the latest, Taylor. You too, Alexandra,” her mom said as she pulled a quiche from the oven.

Taylor launched into what Chloe already knew, that she was unhappy with her job as an events planner, and still doing everything to avoid men. Alex was the other side of the spectrum—she adored her job as a high-end floral designer, and was eager to have a real return to dating, but her love life wasn’t as simple as that. Since she’d canceled her million-dollar wedding and had her face splashed all over the pages of the tabloids, she’d found men to be gun-shy about being with her.

“So, I met a man,” Chloe’s mom said with an unmistakable purr in her voice.

“Mom. I was gone for two days. Are you serious right now? Don’t you think you should take a break?”

Her mother laughed—a sure sign that she was already head over heels. “There’s no dictating love, darling.”

Chloe was even more dismayed now. Her mom had used the “L” word. “And you just went through a nasty divorce.”

“Every divorce is nasty. Mine is no different. I think it’s time to move on.”

Chloe felt like she had whiplash from her mother’s ever-changing moods—one minute she was miserable and vindictive, the next minute she was sunny and willing to let things go. “I think you need to spend some time figuring out what you want.” Chloe tried to ignore the fact that she, too, needed to figure out what the hell she wanted. Her mind kept flying back to Parker. It felt like they had unfinished business. Or she at least wanted to get him out of her system. But she also had this sense that there was something else there. Something bubbling under the surface.

“What I want is to have fun, and you should try the same. It might help you loosen up a bit. You take everything so seriously.” Her mom slugged back her mimosa. “Now who’s ready to eat?”

The four women sat in the informal dining area off the kitchen and Chloe tried to focus on having fun with her friends and spending quality time with her mom. These were the most important people in her life, period, and she wanted to soak up all of that goodness. But she was worried about her mother, and about what she might do. Was there another marriage on the horizon? Chloe hoped to hell not.

After much discussion of careers and men, along with several mimosas and a whole lot of food, things began to wind down. Cleanup was quick with four of them there, and it was soon time to go. Alex and Taylor said their goodbyes first, leaving the final farewell to Chloe. She waited until her friends had left the room before she expressed her concern.

“Mom.” Chloe took both her mother’s hands in hers and peered into her soft brown eyes. Despite her mother’s many flaws, the love Chloe felt for her went deep. It physically pained Chloe whenever her mom was unhappy. “I hope you know that all I want for you is to be happy. That’s sincerely all I want.”

Her mom nodded. “I appreciate that, darling. I really do. I know you think I’m always getting in over my head, but this time is different. I’m having fun with my new guy. That’s all it is. If nothing else, he sure is helping me forget George. Everything that was bothering me about that split is suddenly fading into the background. It’s like it never happened.”

“Well, there’s definitely something to be said for that.”

“What about you?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Your love life. You never tell me a peep. I worry that you work too hard. It would be nice if you settled down at some point. Maybe made me a grandparent someday? That would be wonderful.”

Chloe was so far from marriage and motherhood that she wasn’t residing in the same hemisphere. “There’s one guy, but I’m not sure you’d like him. And it’s just a fling. Or maybe even less than a fling.”

“I like anyone you like. Without question. And as for flings, it can turn into more. It can also just be fun, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. I’ve learned that, as a woman, you need to learn to take what you want. Don’t sit back and worry about what the rest of the world will say.”

That certainly gave Chloe a lot to think about. “Okay, Mom. I should get going, but thank you for hosting today. It was really nice for everyone to get together.”

“Any time. I loved it.” Her mom gave her one more hug, then walked her to the foyer, waving goodbye to Alex, Taylor and Chloe as the elevator door slid closed.

“Spill it, Chloe,” Taylor immediately said.

Chloe had thought about it and decided this was info best kept to herself. Instead of answering, she held her fingers to her lips, turned an imaginary key and tossed it over her shoulder. “Sorry. I’m not going to kiss and tell.”

“Tequila,” Taylor said. “We need to get some serious liquor in you. Then you’ll tell us everything.”

The elevator dinged and they strolled out into the lobby. “Chloe doesn’t have to tell us a thing if she doesn’t want to,” Alex said once they were out on the street.

“Whose side are you on, anyway?” Taylor asked.

“The side of my friends,” Alex said. “Which means that I respect your wishes. No matter what.”

A black SUV pulled up to the curb. “That’s me. I’ll see you both soon,” Taylor said, kissing both Chloe and Alex on the cheek.