Dirty (Unexpected Lovers #3) - J.B. Heller Page 0,12
room.
MJ shocks the shit out of me by yelling back, “You were meant to!”
I can’t help but laugh. The shy little wallflower is giving my pro-athlete brother shit, and I love it.
“I see what you meant now,” MJ says as I hand her a glass of white wine.
I open the cabinet beside the fridge and grab a bottle of Advil before dropping two in my palm and putting it back. I down them with a hearty swig of wine. “Yep.”
Bates returns—wearing pants, thank God—and frowns at us. “Where’s mine?” he asks, pointing at our glasses.
“You can get your own,” I mutter, then I grab MJ’s discarded shopping bags. “Come on. We can get ready in my room.”
“Oh, where are we going?” Bates asks, trailing behind us.
I snort. “You’re not going anywhere.”
“Come on, Lenny. It’s Friday night. I’m bored. Take me with you,” he pleads, throwing a pout in for good measure.
“Go hang out with Archer or one of the guys,” I tell him, standing in my doorway to block his entrance.
His shoulders droop, and he looks at his feet. “Don’t you want to spend time with me?” he asks in a pathetically forlorn tone.
“Nope,” I retort cheerfully then slam the door in his face.
“What was that all about?” MJ asks, her brows furrowed in concern. “Is he okay?”
I shrug. “He’s fine. He’s trying to get in your pants.”
Her big, brown eyes widen. “What?”
“You don’t honestly think he wants to spend time with me, do you?” I chuckle then sip my wine.
Poor MJ looks both intrigued and horrified. “He doesn’t even know me,” she murmurs.
“And that matters because . . .”
“How can he want to sleep with me if he doesn’t know me?” she asks, genuinely confused.
I don’t even remember a time when I was that innocent. I plop in the armchair by the window and throw a leg over one side. “MJ, babe, women throw themselves at Bates on the daily. You covered your eyes instead of ogling his man meat. You just presented him with something he’s never had before.”
She plonks on the edge of my bed and tilts her head. “Why do women throw themselves at him? I mean, he’s good-looking, but he’s no Zac Efron.”
“I take it you don’t follow baseball then,” I say.
She shakes her head slowly. “Not really.”
I grin. “Bates is the star batter for the Phoenixes.”
Her jaw drops. “Oh,” she breathes.
“He’s a player on and off the field,” I explain. “Not to mention, you’re freaking adorable. Pretty sure no woman has ever shied away from his junk before.”
MJ flushes again and gnaws on her bottom lip. “It’s not like I’ve never seen a naked man or anything. It’s just…I wasn’t prepared to walk in on that.”
“Dude, it’s fine. Neither of us was expecting to see my brother’s baloney pony. You have nothing to be embarrassed about,” I assure her. “If anyone should be embarrassed, it’s me.”
She frowns and sips her wine. “Why?”
“Because I brought you to my place to chill while we get ready for tonight, not so we’d both be scarred by the sight of my buckass naked brother.”
Her lips curve into a small smile. “I won’t hold it against you.”
We spend the next couple of hours getting ready and finishing off a bottle of wine. A soft knock on my door has my eyes narrowing. It better not be Bates again. I swing it open, ready to tell him where to go, but it’s Emory.
She eyes me up and down. “Lookin’ good, girl,” she says, taking in my black miniskirt with gold and bronze sequins that I’ve paired with a simple, black, fitted tank. “Where are you off to?”
Opening the door wider, I let her in then gesture to MJ. “This is MJ. I’m trying to poach her from her current agent.” Then I reverse the introduction. “MJ, this is my girl, Emory. She lives here, too, but not for much longer.”
They smile at each other and exchange polite greetings.
“I’m taking MJ to rub shoulders with some bigwigs in the industry tonight. It’s time to get this girl noticed,” I say, picking up my straightener and running it through my long, dark-purple hair.
MJ is wearing her new wedges with a cute, black, long-sleeved, skater-style dress that ends just above her knees. Her shiny blonde hair hangs in waves, brushing the tops of her shoulders and framing her face. She looks like an adorable badass.
“I’ll leave you two to it, then,” Em says. “I was just seeing what you were up to tonight.