Page 57 of Betting on Lizzie

“Lizzie plays her cards close to her chest. No pun intended. It’s unlike her to show much emotion or admit she has feelings for someone. I’d tread carefully, son.”

“Now that I think about it,” Adam said. “You’re the only boyfriend of Lizzie’s I’ve ever met. That should tell you something.”

“I feel like now’s a good time to warn you,” Dirk said, “that the Parkers come as a package. Date or marry one, and you get them all.” Everyone nodded in agreement.

“That’s…overwhelming.” Ben ran a hand through his hair.

“You get used to it,” Adam said.

“Oh, dear,” Jack said, looking at his phone. “Pretty sure I know why you got kicked to the curb.”

Ben stared and waited.

“Lizzie and Lucy were at the mall today. They saw you.”

“Saw me?” Ben asked.

“At the Pour House. Having lunch. With a woman?”

“Oof,” Dirk said.

“No wonder you’re in the doghouse,” Adam added.

Noah grimaced. “New or not, I know that’s bad.”

It took Ben a second to register what he was implying, but he got there. “Oh, shit.”

“So, to sum up,” Adam said. “Lizzie says she likes you—as far as we know, the only man she’s ever said that to—and then, a minute later, finds you on a date with someone else.”

“Okay, I see how this looks bad,” Ben said. “But we never said we were exclusive, and she had coffee with some guy a couple of days ago. Maya saw them yukking it up at The Drip.”

Jack texted the news and waited. A second later, his phone pinged. “Wednesday around three?” he said. “That was someone Lizzie was interviewing for a bartender spot.”

“Crap,” Ben said. “That woman I was with meant nothing. It was a date my daughter set up through an online dating site.”

“You’re on a dating site?” Dirk exclaimed, horrified. Jack texted furiously.

“This hole’s getting pretty deep,” Noah said.

“Technically, yes. But it’s not like I wanted to be on it. I didn’t even set it up,” Ben explained. “It was Maya’s idea, and she’s been running it. She’s terrified I’ll die of loneliness when she goes to college. Lizzie knew about it.”

“Huh,” Adam said.

“I didn’t want to go out with her,” Ben continued. “Maya talked me into it, saying Lizzie probably wasn’t serious about me, that she had a history of casual flings, and that I shouldn’t put all my eggs in one basket.”

And she had a point. Lizzie’s mankiller reputation didn’t exactly scream, successful, long-term relationship. Did Ben really think he would be the one to tame her roaming ways? Be the one guy to make her want to settle down? Maybe. Why not him?

Every time Ben spoke, Jack texted. He could only guess it was a verbatim relay of his excuses. Finally, he stopped and set the phone down.

“It’s bad, but surely not a death blow,” Dirk said.

“Lizzie is complicated,” Edward said. “She’s different from the rest of my girls, but just as special. She might take a little figuring out, but I’m positive she’d be worth it.”

“Lizzie only dates boys,” Jack said. “What she needs is a man.”

Ben looked up, dumbfounded. “What do you mean?”

“She goes out with these loser guys from the bar and then wonders why things never work out,” Jack said. “Truth is, I don’t think she wants it to. She keeps her distance from everyone, but men especially. And it seems like she does it intentionally to avoid getting too serious.”

---