Dirty (Unexpected Lovers #3) - J.B. Heller Page 0,2

poor assistant hates it when my brother and Archer are in the office at the same time. Something always manages to get broken, and he’s the poor sucker who has to clean it up. Unluckily for Clay, I’ve taken to booking them in together so I don’t get stuck alone with Arch for too long.

Archer scoffs as he offers Bates a hand. “Of course he does.”

“Yeah, everyone loves us,” Bates chimes in.

“Someone really needs to get those egos of yours under control,” I mutter.

“Whatever. We’re fucking awesome, and you’re just jealous,” Bates says, returning to his seat.

“So jealous,” I say, deadpan.

“Knew it.” He offers Archer a fist to bump.

“That was sarcasm, bro,” Archer tells him, wrapping a hand around my brother’s fist and pushing it back to him.

Bates shrugs. “Doesn’t mean it isn’t true.” He smiles big and bright, causing my own lips to curve. His happiness is contagious.

My brother may be a dumbass, but he’s my dumbass. And I love him.

Lennon thinks bringing Bates and me in together means she can avoid too much one-on-one time with me. Silly little spitfire, I am so onto her. As if that would be enough to deter me from my pursuit.

I’m all over this shit. When Bates stands to leave, I get to my feet too, acting like I’m ready to roll. I follow him all the way to the elevator and wait for him to get inside. “Shit, man, I forgot to tell Lenny about that chick who keeps blowing up my social media inboxes with titty shots. She knows how to block that shit. I’ll catch you at Mulligan’s tonight.”

Bates pulls a face. “I don’t know why that’s a problem, dude. But whatever,” he says with a shrug as the metal doors slide closed in front of him.

There is no chick, but he doesn’t need to know that. Bates hooks up with cleat-chasers every other weekend and finds half of them through the nasty pics they send him on his socials. I, however, haven’t touched a woman since I was with Lennon over a year ago.

It’s been a struggle—not turning down the diamond dolls, but keeping my hands off Lennon. She is temptation personified.

I slide into her office like a ninja—'cause I’m a stealthy motherfucker—then shut and lock the door quietly behind me. She’s sitting at her desk, looking all sexy and shit as she glares at her computer screen.

Goddamn she’s beautiful.

My lips rise as I watch her. I’m being a total creeper, but this is nothing. I’m willing to go to extraordinary lengths to win Lennon over. Whatever it takes to get my spitfire standing by my side—instead of facing off against me at every damn turn—I’ll do.

I clear my throat, alerting her to my presence, and she jolts in her seat.

Her hand flies to cover her heart as her eyes narrow to slits on me. “What the hell, Arch?”

“How long did you think double-booking me would work for?” I ask conversationally as I approach her.

She licks her lips and averts her gaze. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Right, and I don’t love cheesecake, but we know they’re both lies.”

Her blazing gaze returns to me, scowl firmly in place on her stunning face. “What do you want, Archer?”

I blink at her dumbly as I step into her space and spin her chair toward me. Tilting my head, I lean in and brace my hands on the arms of her seat then get right in her face. “You, Lennon. I want you.”

Why is he doing this?

I swallow hard, pushing down the words that want to bubble forth from my very soul—I want you too. But I’ll never admit it to him. I can’t. Not only is Archer my client—and that right there is a huge problem all its own—but he’s also my brother’s best friend.

He’s so close right now I can smell him, and goddamn, I like it. I should shove him away, tell him I’m seeing someone, something, anything. But I don’t do any of those things. I sit there and stare at him.

His gaze searches mine. I know what he’s looking for. I just can’t give it to him.

“Lennon,” he breathes, edging nearer.

I close my eyes. I can’t handle the way he’s looking at me. It weakens my resolve. I grit my teeth and straighten my spine. “You need to leave,” I say, still keeping my eyes firmly squeezed shut.

Unsurprisingly, Archer doesn’t listen to me. He does, however, halt his advancing lips, hovering a mere inch