Page 92 of Decidedly Off Limits

“That’s not going to happen,” I said with a groan.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because Liam won’t find out what happened, because there’s nothing to find out. Trent ended things with me.”

Time for a change of topic. Thinking about Trent was causing my heart to sing cheesy ’80s love songs—especially those by Debbie Gibson (something mom had played a lot of while I was growing up). The last thing I needed was for “Lost in Your Eyes” to play on repeat mode in my head while at the charity event.

I smoothed the front of my dress with my hands. “How do I look?”

Erin wiped her thumb under my eyes, no doubt fixing the makeup I’d just ruined with my tears. “That’s better.” She smiled, the gesture genuine. “You look amazing.”

Then she let out a long slow breath. “So tell me about this.” She handed me the photo and I told her everything that had led to the last time I’d seen Trent—the modeling, the photos, the charity event, and the calendar.

Once I was finished, her face brightened. “Can I see the other photos?”

“Are you sure you want to see them?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I mean unless Trent’s naked? In that case, I’ll pass, thanks.”

I laughed. “No, he’s definitely not naked.” I grabbed my laptop from my desk, started it up, and showed her the photos I had taken of Trent.

“Wow, you did this?”

I nodded.

“That’s amazing. No wonder they wanted it for the calendar. Women would be willing to drop their panties to see it.” She made a face at the thought, given that we were talking about her brother.

I then showed her the other photo that Luke had taken of Trent and me together, my naked breasts pressed against Trent’s chest.

Her mouth opened and she gawked at the photo. “Ohmigod, this is seriouslyhot. You guys are seriously hot.” She tore her gaze from the laptop and glanced up at me. “And they wanted this for the calendar?”

“Yes.”

“And you were okay with that?”

“I wasn’t sure at first. But it’s not like you can see anything that would cause my grandma to go coffin shopping.”

She smirked, but then the one-sided smile faded. “What about your job? What will they say? Or are you hoping they won’t see it?”

“They’ve seen it. I made sure it wouldn’t be a problem. I didn’t want to risk my job over it.”

“Smart move.”

“Not that it matters. Trent was against the idea, so no one will see the picture anyway.” I shut off the laptop. “So you’re okay that I’m in love with your brother?”

Another long exhalation—never a good sign. “To be honest, I don’t know. I love you like a sister, Kelsey. I just don’t want you getting hurt.”

Too late.

Possibly seeing those two words stamped on my face, she hugged me, letting me know it would be all right. At least when it came to her and me. When it came to her and Trent, that was a different topic.

“You don’t have to worry about me getting hurt,” I said, swallowing back the lie. “Trent doesn’t love me, and I never expected him to fall in love with me. I knew better than that. So you can’t blame him for what happened. We were very clear at the beginning that there were no strings attached. What we had was just for fun.

“And you don’t have to worry about me going all psycho bitch on you,” I added. “That’s not going to happen. Promise.”

She gave me a sad smile. “I know. So when’s Prince Charming due to pick you up?”

“Anytime now. I should go downstairs.” When Owen didn’t forget he had to be somewhere, he was always punctual.