Page 11 of Silver Fox's Twin Babies

“Ut…most…respect,” he gritted out. Then he continued. “You respect her…Chester asked me to care for her like my own.” I could tell he was worked up and the alarm on his heart monitor started sounding.

“Alright, Jake. No problem.” I squeezed his arm. “I’ll take care of her. Don’t you worry. She’s well taken care of.”

I barely got the words out before nurses were rushing back in. Erin appeared at the doorway and I stepped back from the bed. I had no idea why speaking of Amber made him get sonervous. I realized he hated the idea of me being in charge, and that was no one’s fault but my own. I had to prove myself worthy before he trusted me. But this was next-level. Why on earth would he be so worked up about me and how I treated Amber?

He was so adamant too, and it made his blood pressure and heart rate spike. This was something deeply personal. As I backed away, I started to wonder what sort of secret Jacob was keeping.

“Is he okay? What’s happening?” Erin rushed to his side and my mind whirred faster.

Was Jacob having an affair with her? Was that why? He was keeping this from Erin?

I remembered the gift—for Amber’s kid. Jacob bought her child a gift too…And Erin had made sure to send it with me. Did she know?

I walked into the hallway feeling even more confused and conflicted. If Jacob was sleeping with Amber, why had she slept with me? Did that mean her child was my brother’s child?

This was too much.

I needed air.

7

AMBER

Dinner was done and dusted by the time I struggled into the house. Parker and Nicky were playing video games while Vera sat on the couch reading, and Shelby sat at my dining table with a pot of tea and a half-full mug in front of her. She smiled as I shut the door and said, “I’ll grab another mug.”

Her feet carried her to the kitchen where I noticed she’d even done the dishes. I could kiss her. I was emotionally exhausted after today, and I desperately wanted a shower to wash Evan off my body.

It wasn’t that I didn’t enjoy it. I always enjoyed sex with him. It was the guilt I felt, the suffocating secret I kept from him. It clashed with the desire I had to run to him and pour out my heart. As I sank into the chair across from my best friend and she filled a mug for me, I started to think about how bad of an idea it was to keep that secret to begin with.

“How’d it go?” she asked then picked up her mug and sipped from it. I could see the sparkle of intrigue in her eyes.

I shrugged a shoulder and pulled my peacoat off. Working late hadn’t even happened. I gave him the files I prepared, butwe never broached the topic, which meant I’d likely end up working late again. Being in this position made me wonder if I’d ever get any work done again.

I couldn’t speak. I picked up the mug and sipped. I probably looked like a wreck. My eye makeup was all but gone. I noticed that in the bathroom mirror when I was washing the sex off my body. My lipstick was gone too. Most of it was on Evan’s face by the time I was done kissing him, though I hadn’t noticed it on his face when we were done. It probably got wiped off when he was between my thighs.

“Amber, what happened?” Shelby’s sincere concern etched her face and I looked down into my mug. Her hand rested on mine as she said, “Did he hurt you?” Her earnest tone surprised me. “Did he…”

“Oh, God, no…” I shook my head vehemently. “No, nothing like that.” Evan was not like that. He’d never force me to do that. I’d done it willingly.

“Then what?” She sat back and narrowed her eyes at me.

My gaze flicked to the children who were engrossed in games. Then I sighed and looked back at her. She was my best friend. Jacob wasn’t exactly accessible, and I hadn’t had a sitter or time to go see him even if he was awake, which I knew he was now that Evan told me. Mom would kill me, so Shelby was my only out. I felt deep shame as I confessed to her.

“So we … uh. We?—”

“You didn’t.” She almost squealed and I put a finger to my lips and jerked my eyes toward the twins.

“I did.”

“Deets, oh my God.” She leaned over the table and grinned at me, but I felt like I’d throw up.

“Look, we have chemistry. That’s all it was. I just. I can’t control myself around him. I knew this was bad. I can’t believe it. And he doesn’t even know about—” I stopped myself short.

“Know about what?” Shelby was a smart woman, but I had never said a thing. Never once had she even asked about the twins’ father. It was a secret I kept buried. I told her the relationship ended and I moved on, and she was content with that.

But the way my gaze lingered on them while they played video games probably gave it away. We sat there for a long time while I watched my son, who was the spitting image of Evan. I didn’t know how she couldn’t see that, except that Evan wasn’t around much. I’d never seen him at headquarters, though his picture did hang on the wall next to his father’s and Jacob’s.

When I turned back to look at her, she was staring at the kids too. Her eyebrows were high when she looked back at me. “You dated him almost eight years ago?” she asked. I nodded. Guilt was already snaking around my throat. “And they’re seven…” I could see her wheels turning. She was putting it all together in her head while shame was flooding my entire body. “That means…”

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