Page 28 of Secret Baby for My Brother's Best Friends

But maybe date here is just a euphemism for sex. Maybe he's just trying to find a polite way to invite me back to his place for round two.

"Oh, um..." I shake my head. "I can't. Actually, I think it would be a good idea if we...you know, forget about what happened."

He raises an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I..." I sigh. "I know what I seemed like that night, but it really isn't me. That night was just...I was a different person."

"Really?"

"Yes," I say. "I wasn't drunk or anything, but I wasn't...I guess I just have. A hard time explaining it, but know that it's best that we forget that it even happened and we keep things between us professional. And let’s also not tell my brother, if that’s okay. Okay?"

He doesn't say anything, and in all fairness, I probably don't give him much of a chance before I take off to my office.

I halfway think he's about to follow me, but he doesn't. As I sit at my desk, I finally take a deep breath. That wasn't all the conversation was supposed to be. I was supposed to say a lot more, but staring at him made me lose my nerve.

They're so devastatingly handsome, and their presence is so consuming that it's hard to form a single coherent thought around them.

Anyway, I think I made my point, and hopefully he shares it with his two friends. Hopefully, this is the last I have to hear of it.

My brother does show up a few minutes later while I'm making my presentation for our next meeting. He has a cup of coffee, which I accept gratefully.

"You want to tell me what that was about?" he says.

"What?" I blow on the top of the cup.

"Don't feign ignorance. What happened between you and Jake at the party? He kept staring at you and talking to you like he knew you or something."

I shrug. The fact that he's asking means that Jake and the other men didn't tell him anything, which is a very good thing. "Nothing much. I was up in the room, and he came in looking for something. We flirted a little, and then I went home."

"Together? Because he wasn't there when I arrived, either, I'm pretty sure."

"How would you know? You were really drunk that night?"

"Fair point. So you're saying he was there."

"I don't know. As I said, I left shortly after, and I was in the room before that."

"So nothing happened between you two?"

"Nothing beyond flirting."

"Good," he says. "He's not the guy for you. I know that he's what you ladies call a 'beefcake'–"

"You ladies?" I snort. "What are you, eighty?"

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, as I was saying, Jake isn't the guy for you."

"Kind of an interesting thing to say about your friend."

"Well, it's because he's my friend that I know. He goes through women like they're t-shirts. Never commits to any of them and, to his credit, I don't think he promises them anything, but still. He breaks countless hearts, and he doesn't seem to care about any of them. Doesn't give a fuck if they have loving boyfriendseither." That last one was said with a tinge of bitterness that has me raising my eyebrow.

"That sounds a little personal."

"It is. You're my sister, and I don't want you getting hurt again. Okay?"

"Okay," I smile. "Rest assured, there will never be anything between Jake McCarthy and me."

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