Page 320 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 5
She shook her head, not knowing what that word meant either.
“Kiddo, I just need you to promise me. For real this time. Promise me you won’t answer the door by yourself ever again.”
She looked down at her socks. “Okay. I’m sorry.” She sounded like she was going to cry. “I didn’t mean to, Uncle Matt. It was an accident.”
She was such a dirty little liar. But I hated when she was upset. I put my arms out. “It’s alright.”
She ran into my arms and hugged me. I stood, lifting her up with me. “Where did you say your dad was?”
“In his office.” She pointed toward the hall as if I’d never been here before.
The three of us walked to James’ office. I knocked on the door before opening it. “Hey.”
“Matt. What are you…oh, hi, Tanner. What are you guys doing here?”
James usually only wore his glasses when he wasn’t getting enough sleep. He looked tired and stressed. He looked how I felt. And clearly Tanner was wrong about my friendship with James. Because something was clearly wrong and he hadn’t come to me for help.
“I need to talk to you,” I said.
James nodded and then his eyes fell to Scarlett in my arms. “Scarlett, you’re supposed to be in bed. What are you doing down here?”
“I got thirsty.”
“Give me one second,” he said to me and lifted Scarlett out of my arms. “Pumpkin, it’s called bedtime for a reason.”
“I don’t know what bedtime means,” she said.
He laughed. “Yes you do.” He disappeared down the hall.
Tanner stepped into James’ office and started wandering around. He stopped at a picture of Mason, Rob, James, and me while we were at Harvard together. He picked it up and laughed. “That haircut is no good.”
“That surfer shaggy kind of style was in.”
He looked over at me. “But you’re not a surfer. Have you ever even been out on a wave?”
I hadn’t. And I was pretty sure he knew that.
He put the framed picture back down. “I’ve been through many a bad haircut as well. You wouldn’t believe how frequently popular haircuts come and go. It’s impossible to keep up with the times.”
Okay.I was pretty sure Tanner hadn’t changed his hairstyle once since I’d known him. Unless you counted the fake sightings Rob had of Tanner prancing around the city in fluorescent suits and a man bun. There was no way his hair was long enough for a man bun.I think.I shook my head.
“Scarlett opened the door for you guys, didn’t she?” James asked as he came back into the room.
I didn’t want to betray Scarlett’s confidence. But her safety was more important. “Yeah, she did.”
James sighed. “She’s as impossible as she is adorable.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “So what’s going on? I’m assuming the two of you didn’t just stop by to get Scarlett in trouble?”
“She said it was an accident,” Tanner said.
James laughed. “How was it an accident that she opened the door?”
“I don’t know, but she’s too cute not to believe.”
“That’s the whole problem.” James sat down on the edge of his desk. “I give in to her too much. With everything that’s happened over the past few months, I just want her to be happy.”
James’ family had been through enough devastation. And I couldn’t be the reason for any more. “I need to tell you something.”
“About Scarlett?”
