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“And trust me when I say Sophie finds you attractive.” Danny tipped his glass at Zane. “She’s just more subtle than the girls you’re used to. Today was a fluke. Once she spends a little more time with you, she’ll find you charming as hell, too.”
A fluke. His thoughts spiraled back to Julia. How he wished his sister’s text had been an accident. He’d texted back a few times to let her know he was thinking about her and that when she was ready to talk, he’d be ready to listen.
“Excuse me? Mr. Hollander?”
Zane turned and found a kid eye-level with him. The boy had bleach-blond hair and a sunburned nose. “Hey, bud.”
“I’m sorry to bother you, but could I get your autograph?” He handed Zane a pen and piece of paper, and then glanced behind him. Zane let his gaze hop over the kid’s head. A woman sitting at a table—the boy’s mom, he assumed—had her thumbs up and a reassuring smile on her face.
“Absolutely.” Zane met his young fan’s eyes. “Who should I make it out to?”
“Zane.”
Zane cleared his throat. Danny and Bryce choked. “Your name is Zane?”
The boy nodded.
A terrible thought ran through Zane’s head. He looked at the woman again. Late twenties. Pretty. But he didn’t recognize her. Not in the slightest. Sure, he’d been with a lot of women, but he didn’t forget a face. This boy standing beside him was just a kid who happened to share his name. Not his DNA.
“That’s partly why I’m a fan of yours. It’s cool we have the same name.”
“Thatiscool. I don’t think I’ve met another Zane before.” He handed the boy the paper and pen. “What’s the other part?”
“I like to surf. My dad taught me.”
The muscles in the back of Zane’s neck relaxed. “You’re lucky. My dad didn’t like to do things with me.”
“Thanks, Mr. Hollander.”
“Call me Zane.”
“Really?” The kid’s eyes widened.
“Really.” Zane mussed the mop of hair on the boy’s head.
“Okay. See ya.” He turned and ran back to his mom. It looked like he was giving her a rundown on their conversation, since she kept nodding and smiling.
“Jesus,” Bryce said. “Tell me you guys weren’t worried there for a second.”
Danny ran a hand back and forth across his chest. “I think I just had a mild heart attack.”
Zane downed the rest of his beer and waved the empty glass to Midge for another. The fact that they’d even thought he could have a kid out there running around confirmed he needed to reevaluate his behavior. He’d always, always been careful, but shit. Talk about an eye-opener.
It was definitely time to share more of what he had on the inside with the public and shed his image as nothing but a playboy. He just had to ignore his father’s voice inside his head telling him to keep his imbecile thoughts to himself.
“Looks like your fans come in all sorts of shapes and sizes.” The sweet voice over his shoulder had him jumping to his feet. Sophie Birch had a very distinct sound when she spoke. He pulled out her chair.
“Thank you.” She sat and extended her hand across the table. “Hi, I’m Sophie Birch.”
Bryce introduced himself, and Danny thanked her for coming.
It gave Zane a moment to look at her. She’d definitely arrived in business mode. She wore a sensible short-sleeved dark blue dress with a black belt, black pumps, and black-rimmed eyeglasses. In her lap was a small messenger bag.
Her light red hair was pulled back into a knot at the nape of her neck. The ends stuck out this way and that, though, and an unexpected jolt of awareness shot through him. The hint that she had a little playfulness in her made him smile.
“Can we get you a drink?” Bryce asked.
She noted the empty beer glasses on the table. “Uh. Sure.”
