Page 21 of Silver Fox's Secret Baby

Kent laughs. “Did you really go that hard at the party?”

He hasn’t made a double-entendre on purpose, but that’s right where my mind goes. “Hey, when you have an open bar, it’s hard for me to pace myself,” I say, trying to remain light-hearted.

“So, you had a good time?”

A great fucking time.“I did. I’ve been missing out these past couple of years.”

“What about Victoria? I barely got to talk with her, I’m afraid,” he says sheepishly.

I swipe my hand through the air. “Don’t worry about it. You know she doesn’t take it personally.”

“I know, but isn’t it weird that I see her more on billboards and magazines than in person? Jeez, I remember when she was this high,” Kent says, holding his hand up to his shoulder.

I chuckle. She used to be such a squirt. Then she turned fourteen and had a growth spurt beyond reasonable measure. “Well, we can organize a dinner when she’s back in town.”

“Of course. She’s hard to catch.”

I sip my coffee and shake my head. “Just splitting her time now between LA and New York. I get her every couple of weeks.”

“You’re a good brother, Grant,” my friend says with a meaningful smile.

I try to smile back. I might be a good brother, but I’m a terrible friend.

“She still single?” he asks.

I gape at him. “Areyouasking?”

“No! Oh god, no, I’d never–” Kent clutches his heart and laughs. “I’d never do that to you. Never even…never even dream of it.”

I’m sure he’s dreamed of it at least once, especially back when she was a Victoria’s Secret Angel.

“I’m just asking. I have some new clients that I–well, I can’t disclose their names of course.”

“Are you trying to set my sister up with someone entangled in a lawsuit?”

Kent guffaws. “Anyone worth anything in LA is entangled in a lawsuit, Grant.”

If that ain’t the truth. Infinium is involved in several at all times. That’s just how the game works. Everyone always wants a piece of you.

“You know, it must be hard for her to date when she’s so well known, you know? I can’t imagine how you could ever be sure…” Kent trails off. “Well, I guess even for normal people you can never be sure.”

My heart twists in my chest. There he goes, thinking about Aileen. They had been married for almost twenty years. And then the rug was pulled out from under him by Malcolm Jenkins, a man he trusted. Someone we had known since we were eighteen.

Kent knows betrayal all too well.

And now, I’m the second friend who has betrayed him. He doesn’t deserve such crappy friends. Not when he’s got such a big heart.

“At least I have the girls. You know?”

Another stab. “How do you mean?”

“Well, you don’t know, I guess, but having kids is committing to allowing someone to always be growing and changing and…learning.” Kent sighs. “They’re never perfect, but I love them. There is no way they could disappoint me.”

Not like a friend could, I guess. And it makes sense. If Kent somehow found out that Harley and I had slept together, he would choose Harley. As he should. He’d see me as some sort of bad, older man. I can hear his voice now. “You should have known better. You’re so much older. She’s still so young, Grant.”

Younger women are tempting. I’ve thought that each year I’ve gotten older. But they areyoung. Some of them are immature. Others are still trying to find themselves. They’re all utterly naïve about what life is like as you get older. The last thing I’d want to do is interrupt someone’s growth. And until Hailey, the thought of being with someone younger had never crossed my mind.

And as I see it, one night with Harley is more than enough. That way, we can’t fuck anything else up. It was just sex. We were intoxicated with beer and fireworks. It was a fluke.

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