Tyler pinched the bridge of his nose. “Forget I said anything.”

“Hey, hey,” James said quickly, raising his hands in surrender. “Alright. Fine. If this ‘friend’ really likes the lady, maybe he should try being honest. Drop the games. Sometimes that works better than all the... you know, mysterious billionaire stuff.”

Tyler snorted despite himself. “You really think honesty works?”

“Worked for me,” James replied with a grin.

“You’ve been single for three years.”

James winced. “Low blow, sir.”

But Tyler’s smirk faded as he leaned back in his chair, contemplating. Honesty. The idea seemed almost... simple. Too simple.

James took that as his cue to leave, though not without...