Eli (Mallick Brothers 4)

There he was.

Looking like a goddamn male model in dark wash jeans and a lightweight navy blue sweater that hugged his perfect body way too nicely. I mean, you could make out some abs there. Or maybe that was my imagination. My filthy imagination, full of sex dreams of his naked body.

"Hey sweetheart," he said, spotting me before he even took a step inside.

His smile was sweet as his eyes dipped to give me a once-over.

In all my bralessness.

In an ugly old tee.

In baggy PJ pants.

With no makeup on.

And, because I think this part bears repeating - without a bra.

"Your sister didn't tell you she invited me, did she?" he concluded even as my head turned to shoot daggers at Peyton who was just grinning at both of us.

"She failed to mention which friend she was having over."

"Of course she did," he said, giving her a raised-brow look.

"What? It totally must have slipped my mind!" she insisted, not even trying to sound convincing. "But you're here now. And we have spaghetti with mixed veggies and garlic bread. And this lovely, lovely little girl right here," she said, stroking her hands down the fancy red wine bottle. "So you might as well stay. Or she will totally let me drink all of this myself. And when I drink whole bottles of wine myself, I tend to drunk-dial exes. That is never pretty."

"Aw, honey, who the fuck would be dumb enough to give you up?"

"Save that silver tongue there, Hottie Mc Death Row," she said, digging through a drawer to find a corkscrew, seeming completely unfazed by the charm.

Meanwhile, he hadn't directed a word of that at me, and I felt lightheaded.

That was Peyton, though. She didn't get all fluttery over compliments or sweet talk. It's why nine out of ten of her relationships failed. She hated the superficial. She needed a depth of which none of the men she had ever met seemed capable of.

"And use those big, manly muscles instead," she went on, handing him the wine and corkscrew. "Oh, yeah, slide into that glass you dirty little slut you," she cooed at the wine as Eli poured it into the three glasses she supplied. "Oh, dear Lord. What is this? I need a lifetime supply of this," she informed him as she turned away, sipping, and leaning down to check the progress of the garlic bread.

I had been watching her, still giving her the evil eye, and I had somehow missed Eli picking up one of the other glasses and making his way across the room toward me.

One second he wasn't there. The next, there he was. Right in front of me. I got to learn right then, too, that he not only looked good, but he smelled amazing as well. It wasn't overpowering either. Whatever he had on, be it cologne or just a good deodorant, it was subtle, making you want to lean in close and get a better whiff. Maybe while you licked his neck and...

Oh, God.

Okay.

I needed to shut that down.

"I wouldn't have come if I didn't think she'd cleared it with you," he offered, holding out the wine glass toward me. My hand rose, fingers curling around the glass, but he didn't immediately release it, his fingers brushing mine.

"She's a pain in the ass like that," I agreed, voice an airy whisper.

"Would you have had me if she asked?"

God, yes!

But also, maybe not.

I was way too mixed up about the whole situation.

"I don't know," I admitted.

"That's fair," he surprised me by saying, giving me a small smile as his hand dropped. "She likely wouldn't have taken no for an answer anyway."

"You are getting to know her pretty quickly," I agreed with a small smile.

"Oh, my ears are ringing," Peyton declared, slamming down the baking sheet onto the top of the stove. "Dinner's served!" she declared, going right ahead and loading up her own plate. "So I was thinking a little slashy-slashy fucky-fucky for a movie, but Autumn here is pretty hardcore against the slashy-slashy part." She took her plate and wine over to the accent chair, balancing the plate on her thigh, holding the wine in her hand, and reaching for the remote. "So... what? Comedy? I guess we could all use a little comedy. Especially with that crummy mood Autumn has been in all day today."

I was going to kill her.

She wouldn't have to watch any slashy-slashy.

She was going to friggin experience it for herself as soon as he left.

"Sorry to hear that," Eli commented, looking at me, and his eyes were full of regret.

"It happens," I brushed it off, moving past him toward the kitchen to put food onto plates for us, mostly because I wanted something to do. I wasn't the least bit hungry anymore.

"Oh! This one looked hilarious. Buddy cop, oh wait, maybe this is the wrong audience for that."