Breaking Bro Code (The Line Up #4) - Misti Murphy Page 0,6

shock paddles to the chest?”

“So you didn’t? Damn it.” My heart sinks.

Kiki snickers behind her coffee cup but taps away at her tablet, preparing to jot down any notes or tasks I need her to do. “The answer to both those questions is yes.”

I wiggle a finger at her. “You’re not supposed to take his side. You’re my assistant, remember? I can fire you.”

“As if you could take over the world without me.” She taps away on the screen. Her nails are a summery orange color.

“Unfortunately,” I tease as I study the itemized list we still need to work through before I meet with the Gladstone Group next week. She really is the best assistant I could ask for. “Talk to me about the chandeliers.”

“Kiki found a local supplier who can rush order them in.” Lewis steeples his fingers and rests his chin on the tips. “I’ve got the names of a couple of electricians and interviews with each of them lined up. We’ll be able to hit the ground running. Happy?”

“Yes.” I wiggle in my seat. All we need is final approval from the board and we’ll be ready to put the wheels in motion. “I could hug you.”

Chapter Three

Lily

My brother’s best friend blocks the entrance of Hudson and Jane’s house. One arm stretches above his head, his fingers gripping the wooden edging of the door frame while his sky blue eyes, framed by a pair of adorkable glasses, smile down at me.

His corded bicep flexes, the sinew defined under a sleeve tattoo of black roses and thorns and other details that most people haven’t had a chance to stare at for so long they start to stand out from the rest of the motif. Black cotton with the familiar Line ‘Em Up logo from the bar where he and my brother both work stretches across his torso. The hem rides up his hip, exposing bronze skin and hewn rectus abdominus and oblique muscles that still bother me when I catch a peek of them.

Vale Westerly. Bartender. Tech genius. The other pain in the ass older brother. Well, pseudo brother. It would be incredibly wrong of me to have had the fantasies I have had about him if we were related in any way. At all. But he’s one of my brother Hudson’s closest pals and he’s been around for almost half my life.

“Hey there, Lily, I didn’t know you were coming tonight,” he says.

“You are aware that he’s my brother, aren’t you? And this is our family dinner.” I roll my gaze at him like the teenage brat me used to do. Some habits die hard, and some don’t die at all. Extended family dinners and ribbing each other has always been part of our relationship. “If anyone should be surprised, it should be me at the fact that you still show up weekly.”

“Well someone has to,” he says. “You missed last week. Hot date?”

“Work.” I slip under his arm, nudging him in the ribs with the elbow he always points out is too scrawny. “Had to put the finishing touches on a presentation for a hotel I’m going to be refurbishing.”

“Oof.” He rubs his ribs as he shuts the door and gives me a mock pained expression. “When are you going to put some meat on your bones?”

“When are you going to get better looking?” I say tongue-in-cheek. I might be biased, but L.A. Models did offer him a contract at one point so I’m not the only one who thinks he’s incredibly attractive.

“How dare you?” He mock gapes at me as though he’s affronted.

“Someone has to keep you modest.”

The grin that follows is pure cheese. Thank God I’m not allergic to dairy as well as macadamia nuts. He loops an arm around my shoulders and squeezes me sideways. “I missed you, troublemaker.”

“It’s only been two weeks.”

He grins sheepishly and pushes his hair out of his face. “Any chance you want to help me fuck with your brother later?”

Now this I could get on board with. As much as I adore my brother, he can be more than a pain in the ass. “What do you have in mind?”

“Lily, you’re here.” Hud joins us. A beer in each hand, he glares over my head at Vale who has slunk behind me like I’m a shield.

Oh great. So this screwing with my brother has to do with me. What stupid shit has Hud been spouting now? I take one of the chilled bottles from his hand and hug