“Whose stupid idea was that?”
Jack cracked his jaw. “It was the best idea ever. And it wasn’t even my own. Did you know that you can talk about things other than hockey?”
Dax stared at him, stunned. “Yes. The question is: why would you?”
“Maybe so someone will like something about me other than the fact that I play hockey professionally?” he snapped at his brother, exasperated.
Dax opened his mouth but closed it again after a second. “Wait. Did you just use the wordlike? YoulikePenny? But she’s…” He stopped when he noticed Jack’s hostile expression.
Dax had better think twice before finishing that sentence.
“Oh, shit. You do like her,” Dax said, taken aback. “So much so that you are glaring. Which, for you, is angry.”
“Yeah, I like her,” he growled. “And it would be nice if you could stop acting like this has never happened before. I like a lot of people.”
“Yes, but mostly you try to like people who aren’t walking disasters. What did you say the other day? We had so much drama during our childhood that it would fill three lifetimes, so you didn’t need anymore.”
Had he said that? He didn’t remember, probably because he had repressed those words as soon as he’d met Penny.
“It doesn’t matter what I said or when. I like Penny and you’re right, if people found out that we slept together, there would be a huge media circus that would mostly affect her. Women always come off worse than men in cases like this. Women in leadership positions even more so. So, I would be grateful if you could just keep quiet for the next few weeks.”
His brother wrinkled his nose in pain. “I don’t know…”
Jack glared at him in disbelief. “Are you serious? For ten years, I’ve kept to myself that we’re siblings, and you can’t keep your mouth shut for a month?”
Dax let out a gasp. “You don’t understand, Jack. I’m dating a bloodhound! Lucy’s job is to track down scandals and dispel them. She’ll be furious if I keep it from her. She’ll want to come up with a strategy for when it comes out.”
“It won’t come out.”
“Says the guy who just got caught by me?”
“Well, you always sneak around like a damn panther,” Jack replied angrily.
Dax laughed loudly. “Nonsense. An army of centaurs could have marched through here and you still wouldn’t have noticed.”
Yes, there was some truth in that. “Penny and I agreed to forget the night, okay? It’s not a problem anymore.”
Dax looked at him mockingly. “Right. Like animal attraction to a completely unsuitable person never causes problems.”
“Dax…please, just keep it to yourself.”
His brother groaned and buried his face in his hands but finally nodded. “Fine. It’s our secret. I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I do.”
“Liar,” Dax muttered and patted him on the shoulder sympathetically before moving on to his room.
Yep, he was right about that.
Jack sighed heavily and rubbed his face. But what could he do? Staying away from Penny was impossible.
Thankfully, his cell phone vibrated before his thoughts could escalate any further. An unknown number from L.A. flashed, but Jack had little doubt who it was. He didn’t feel like confronting another problem in his life right now, but he had asked for the call, so…
“Jack West,” he said, holding the keycard to the lock of his hotel room, which obediently clicked.
“Hello, Mr. West. This is Bridget from the St. Clair Nursing Home. You said we should contact you as soon as your father arrived.”
His shoulders tensed and he hastily slammed the door shut. He didn’t want Dax to catch him on the phone. “Yes, that’s correct. So, he…arrived safely?”
