“I don’t want to tell you,” Jack said. “But I’m going to, anyway.”
Ethan’s mobile was on the kitchen counter, so he couldn’t look right then himself. He considered going after Annie and hauling her downstairs to explain herself, but this was one of the parenting times he wasn’t sure what to do.
With a pained look, Jack held up his mobile screen for Ethan.
One reason Ethan had hired Jack as his brand manager was because the bloke was confident, smooth, and knew his shit.
But one glance at the screen and Ethan’s world went a bit topsy-turvy.
There on the screen was his Insta page. He didn’t manage it—Jack hired someone to do that. There on the post was Ethan from this morning, alone in his kitchen, still in his pajama shorts, cooking up banana pancakes for Annie’s brekkie.
He wasn’t wearing a shirt at all, and his hair was a right mess.
“Annie posted this?” he asked, standing still as a statue.
"Uh-huh,” Jack replied.
Also…
“Why is this still up?” Ethan asked.
“Well, see, that’s the thing,” Jack said, stepping inside the door and closing it behind him. “Your daughter is really smart.”
“Bloody hell, tell me about it,” Ethan said.
“She created what has become a trending hashtag…to find you a wife.” He said the last part so fast Ethan nearly didn’t hear it.
“How?” Ethan pressed his hand to his forehead, because maybe now he was the one who would be sick. “And why did she do it before I got dressed?”
Jack gave him a look like he really should understand. Drat, Annie was too smart for her own good. Her marketing prowess was spot-on.
“The hashtag went viral really quickly, so I couldn’t delete the post.” Jack was in business manager mode. “At this point, if we delete it, that sends a message in itself. We have to be careful here. This could be a great thing for you with the prospects over at Nosh. Or…not.” Jack pursed his lips. “I’m still working the angle.”
“What did Annie say in the caption?” Ethan took the mobile back and sat on the sofa, rubbing his hand in his hair.
Ethan Greene is my dad! I think he’ll delete this really fast. But he’s super great. And he’s lonely. He needs someone special, so he’ll be happy all the time and I need a mum. Is that you? - Annie Greene #DateMyCelebrityDad
His heart kind of hurt reading that. A heavy weight sat in his stomach like he was the one who was going to be sick. He scowled, though he wasn’t entirely sure what he was feeling right then.
Had he wanted this? Was that what this feeling was? No, bloody hell, he didn’t have time in his day for a girlfriend.
“I’m happy.” He handed the phone back. “Why does she reckon I’m not happy?” He glanced up the stairs, but the door to Annie’s room was still shut.
He was happy, dammit. His life was fine. He had his restaurants, his daughter, and the meeting today had gone well.
Hell, he saw women. He wasn’t a monk. He had friends of the female variety who offered benefits that, well, benefitted them both. And he was perfectly happy with that setup. He kept it away from his daughter, of course.
All together, he liked his life just fine. Bloody hell, hewashappy.
“I don’t know.” Jack shook his head.
“What does all this mean?” Ethan asked.
“You now have thousands of women messaging you privately.” Jack gave a subtle head shake. Jack couldn’t seem to meet Ethan’s eyes. Then he seemed to come to a kind of decision with himself because he stared right at Ethan as he said, “The hashtag has already been used hundreds of thousands of times. It’s impressive.”
“It’ll blow over. I’ve weathered worse.” He was sure.
Jack ran two fingertips over his eyebrows. “Yeah, this isn’t what you think it is.”
