Page 44 of My Brother's Billionaire Best Friends
“You didn’t,” I lie. “Smelled cinnamon.”
She gives me a sheepish smile. “Waffle bribery. Seemed safer than coffee.”
“I’m not dangerous before coffee.”
“No, that’s Jack. But I figured you all need it. God knows I do.” She laughs.
It’s the kind of laugh that hits in the chest. Not loud. Not forced. Just soft and self-deprecating and full of the warmth that’s been missing from my mornings for longer than I care to admit.
I pour myself a cup of coffee and lean against the counter. “You make these often?” I ask, nodding toward the waffles.
She shrugs. “When I have time. The kids love them. Lyra thinks waffles are magic. Levi only eats them if I cut them into triangles.”
“Triangular superiority, I’m with him on that.”
“Apparently, it changes the flavor.”
“Obviously.”
She smiles again, and I feel something shift in me. Like I’ve been carrying tension I didn’t know was there, and it’s just…loosened. We eat in silence for a minute. She drizzles syrup over her plate in precise lines. I douse mine like I haven’t eaten in days. Shewatches with mock horror. “You’re going to crash in like, twenty minutes.”
“Worth it.”
She quirks an eyebrow. “I thought you were a protein bar and black coffee kind of guy.”
“I contain multitudes.”
“Multitudes and maple syrup. Bold.”
“I live on the edge.”
She smirks, and there’s something twisted about a woman as soft as her smirking at me. “The edge? I’m pretty sure your boxers are dry-cleaned.”
“Think a lot about my boxers, do you?”
She snorts and blushes, and I watch her shoulders relax. “Sometimes.”
Well, that’s a good sign. “And as far as evidence of my edgy lifestyle, how many men do you know with a cock ring? Or have we become so commonplace that you don’t notice?”
Her cheeks flame. “Oh, I noticed. A lot. Nearly choked, actually. Okay, point proven. You are the edgiest CEO ever. Happy?”
That’s the question, isn’t it?
She’s radiant in the morning light. No makeup. No heels. Just comfort and presence and a glimmer of that sharp brain behind her eyes. And that’s the thing that keeps wrecking me.
It’s not just her body—though God knows that’s a problem too. It’s everything else. The way she thinks. The way she’s alreadymade herself indispensable and still doesn’t believe she belongs. I have to fix that. I have to stop being a chicken shit when it comes to this.
“There’s something I need to say, Parker.”
“I’m listening.”
“I’ve been holding back since the moment you walked into VT because I thought it would be safer. For you. For me. For the company. But the truth is, I’m fucking miserable pretending you’re just my assistant.”
Her eyes fly open.
“I’m not trying to scare you,” I add quickly. “But I’m also done lying to myself.”
She’s breathing faster now, her knuckles white against the edge of the counter. “You’re not trying to scare me, but I’m terrified.”
