“I admit I had selfish motives when I agreed to look after Juniper," Shanley continued. “I didn''t want any riffraff getting close to her and distracting her from her studies. If it weren''t for Mr. Steele''s appearance..." He paused for a moment. "My n was to wait until she started college before I confessed my feelings. Until then, I''ve only treated her as a younger sister. Everything I''ve done has been perfectly appropriate."


    Except for that one time he''d pretended to be drunk, a ruse the little vixen had seen right through.


    Jimmie leaned back in his chair, his hands sped on the table. “Juniper isn''t just some girl you can mess around with," he said sternly. "I won''t let anyone hurt her in the slightest."


    Even if it was Shanley, a man with immense power. If he hurt his sister, Jimmie would stille after him.


    “Of course,” Shanley nodded. "This is the first time in my life I''ve ever had feelings for a girl. I promise, I will dote on her and keep her safe."


    "And rest assured," he added, a sincere look on his face, "I will wait until Juniper graduates to formally pursue her, and I will respect her decision."


    He would never cross any lines before they were officially together. However, if the girl decided to do something to him, well, he was powerless to stop her. After all, she had a mind of her own, and he couldn''t control her.


    "She might not even like you," Melvin interjected, throwing cold water on the situation. “Her school is full of handsome young guys. An old man versus a hot young stud... any smart person knows which one to choose."


    Shanley''s expression nearly cracked. He had to admit, Melvin knew exactly where to hit him where it hurt. He was, after all, nine years older than her. He couldn''tpare to the eighteen and neen-year-old boys.


    But he had money, and Juniper seemed to like money quite a bit. He would spoil her until she couldn''t imagine living without him.


    "You''d better," Melvin grumbled, standing up. "In that case, we''ll be taking our sister home now."


    With Shanley''s intentions out in the open, they couldn''t feel at ease leaving her with him. Besides, once she was away from him, she might quickly forget all about him.


    "Home?" Shanley rose slowly, his hands in his pockets, his expression cool. "Why don''t you ask the youngdy what she thinks first?"


    "Why do we need to ask?" Melvin said, walking towards the door. "She''ll be thrilled to live with her two brothers."


    Could her actual brothers really be less important than this stranger?


    Jimmie''s brow was furrowed, his expression unreadable. Thrilled? He wasn''t so sure about that. It seemed Shanley had cast some kind of spell on his sister, and he doubted she would be easily swayed.


    Outside the door, Juniper sat on a chair, asionally ncing back toward the conference room. Even her favorite chicken wings, sitting in front of her, couldn''t hold her


    interest. Just as she was about to get up, the door creaked open. The three men emerged, one after another.


    Juniper immediately shot to her feet and strode towards them.


    Jimmie and Melvin''s eyes widened, and they opened their arms in happy anticipation.


    The next second, Juniper breezed right past them and stopped directly in front of Shanley.


    Jimmie stood frozen. Melvin did, too.


    Juniper hafted before Shanley, her


    bright eyes carefully examining his face. His eyes and nose were still where they should be, and there were no new injuries. Good, His face was still pleasant to look at.