Page 12 of Secret Baby for My Brother's Best Friends

It's been doing really well recently, so well that when he proposed a merger with my construction company, which handles residential and commercial buildings, I was completely for it. While I occasionally enjoy handling the organization of the company, I have to admit that we've grown a little too big for just our small team, and I really don't want to be in charge of hiring all the other people that we need. We also need a robust marketing department like the one he has.

So this merger works in both our favor, allowing him to expand his arsenal and also claim proximity to our company that has been a staple in the city for many years, and we get to retainownership while allowing him to handle the things we don't want to handle.

The actual shares in the company won't change much. It's currently an even split between Jake, Sam, and me. I operate as the CEO because Sam can't deal with people, and Jake has the attention span of a squirrel.

They're both for this merger, too, for obvious reasons, and when Jake and I show up at the meeting with James to discuss the particulars, he doesn’t voice any reservations.

At the end of the meeting, I say casually, "James, we never met your girlfriend at the party."

"You didn't?" He gives me a confused look. 'That's odd. She told me she saw you three."

"She was there?"

"Yeah. She arrived before you guys got there, sometime after I left."

"Odd. I don't recall seeing her there," I say.

"Hmm. Maybe you missed her because I told her to wait for me in one of the rooms?"

"There is someone we did see, though," Jake interrupts with a shit-eating grin.

"Who?"

A sexy siren," he says. "Body like you wouldn't believe, face like a sexy elf."

James gives him a blank look. "Yeah, I have no clue who you're talking about."

"What do you mean? You can't miss her."

"Look, there were a lot of girls at that party, and that could fit the description, and most of them I didn't know. Strangers kind of started arriving at some point, and I just went with it." He coughs. "Anyway, I got another meeting to prep for, so if we're done here..."

"Yup," I say, and we end it with a handshake and a mutual, "Welcome on board."

As we step out of the building, though, Jake is still disgruntled that James wouldn't tell him about the woman.

"Do you think he's hiding her from us?"

"Why on earth would he do that?"

"I don't know. I think he might still be holding a grudge after what happened in college."

"You mean after you slept with his high school sweetheart?"

"I didn't know who she was, man, and she came onto me."

"Still. That kind of things sticks with a person." I shrug. "Also, he may genuinely not know who she is."

"Maybe..." He didn't seem willing to accept that explanation, though. He releases a harsh breath and says, "Anyway, I'm going to head out. I'm teaching a boxing class in an hour."

I nod as he taps my shoulder in a goodbye before he takes off. I head to the coffee shop across the street to grab some overpriced brew before I head to my job.

But coming out is when I see it.

James, in the distance, hugging a girl with red hair and a short, curvy frame.

My heart stops.

This time, when she pulls back, it's her. A side profile, but her face, regardless.