Page 26 of My Brother's Billionaire Best Friends

Silence. Just our breathing. The soft hum of the office behind the walls.

She leans her forehead against mine, still trembling slightly. I feel her pull away—not physically, not yet, but emotionally. Her posture shifts. Her eyes lose their haze.

She whispers, “Shit.”

“Parker—”

“No, it’s—this was—” She slides off the desk, reaching for tissues to clean herself, and then her clothes. “We shouldn’t have done this.”

I pull my pants back on slowly. “You didn’t seem to think that five minutes ago.”

“I know. I just—I wasn’t thinking.”

“Neither was I.” I button my shirt, slower than I need to. “You okay?”

She laughs—sharp and nervous. “No. I mean, yes, I’m fine. Physically, I’m great. But emotionally? Not even a little.”

I frown. “Did I hurt you?”

“No! God, no. You were—” She cuts herself off. “That’s not the point.”

“Then what is?”

She hesitates, clutching her blouse to her chest like armor. “Phil.”

I stiffen. Of course.

“This can’t happen again,” she says quickly. “He’d kill me. He’d killyou.”

“I know.”

“Do you?” Her voice rises. “Because we’ve been here before.”

I pause. And there it is. Déjà vu. That ugly twist in my gut. The memory I’ve been avoiding all damn week. Seven years ago. One night. One mistake.

Phil is going to kill us.

I couldn’t stop thinking about it forweeksafter.I couldn’t shake the memory of her regret, and now it’s back. “Parker,” I say carefully, “I’m not trying to hurt you.”

“I know that.”

“I’m not trying to make your life harder.”

“Well,” she mutters, wrangling her blouse into place, “too late.”

That stings. But I get it. To her, this probably looks like a pattern. Like I can’t help myself around her. Like I’m dragging her down.

The truth? She’s the only thing that’s made me feelrealin years.

“Do you regret it?” I ask.

She looks at me, and there’s so much in her eyes—panic, guilt, longing—that I don’t know which answer she’s going to give. “Yes.”

And then she adds, “No.” A pause. “It’s complicated.”

“I can handle complicated. That’s what we do around here.”

“Maybe you can, but can I?” she says. “I’ve got two kids. A demanding job. A brother who would implode if he knew. And now I’ve had sex with all three of my bosses.”