I heard movement behind me and stifled a curse. Chloe's gaze shifted to somewhere past my shoulder, and her jaw dropped. I didn't turn around, because I already knew what she had spotted – a certain naked blonde who, at this rate, I'd be strangling any minute.
I tried again. "Chloe–"
Whether she heard me or not, I'll never know, because another voice, sounding sly and possessive, drifted out the open doorway. "Oh," Brittney said. "It's you."
I turned to look, and there she was, standing within arm's reach. Yeah, it was bad, but not quite as bad as I'd originally feared.
From the distant shadows, all I had seen was bare skin. Now, up close, I saw tiny sheer panties and a matching bra. The bra was so thin, I could see the pink of her nipples poking through the nearly transparent fabric.
Knowing Brittney, I was supposed to be aroused.
I wasn't.
Instead, I was royally pissed off. I glared down at her. "You were supposed to wait upstairs."
She blinked up at me. "Oh. Was I?"
"And where the hell are your clothes?"
She raised her arms in a slow, seductive stretch. "Mmm…I dunno. Upstairs?" The way it sounded, she didn't mean upstairs in the guest room. She meant upstairs inmyroom, like we'd just been screwing or something.
A low, strangled sound broke into my thoughts. I turned to see Chloe turning away, like she was making a break for it.
Desperately, I grabbed her elbow. "Chloe, wait! Please?"
She whirled back to face me. Her face was flushed, and her breathing was ragged. "Sothisis why you invited me here? To throwthisin my face?"
I gave her a pleading look. "There's nothis."
Ifthiswas anything, it was a fucking nightmare. I had to make it go away. Now. Before I lost Chloe for good.
I turned to Brittney. "Go on. Tell her. Right now."
Brittney gave me a slow, sleepy smile. "Tell her what?"
My fists were tight, and my muscles were bunched into hard, angry knots. So help me, I wanted to hit her. Through clenched teeth, I said, "You tell her right now why you're here, or the deal's off. Got it?"
She lifted a bare shoulder. "Whatever you say."
"And for God's sake," I said, "put on some fucking clothes, will ya?"
Her lips formed a pout. "But they're dirty. And besides, it took herforeverto get here."
I was still holding Chloe's elbow. Her body was trembling. And somehow, I knew that this time, it wasn't because of the cold.
I turned back to Brittney. Through gritted teeth, I said, "You've got five seconds."
"Oh alright. Fine." Brittney looked to the ceiling and mumbled, "I'm here to apologize."
As an apology, it sucked. Still, I looked to Chloe, hoping that if nothing else, it had bought me some time.
Chloe's gaze was still locked on Brittney. I knew what she was seeing – the long tousled hair, the sleepy smile, the see-through panties that hid nothing – and I meannothingconsidering that Brittney wasn't a fan of pubic hair.
Brittney's half-hearted apology hung in the air, unanswered until Chloe said, "In your underwear?" She made a sound of disgust. "Yeah. Nice story."
I turned to give Brittney a warning look. "Brittney, you can do better than that."
But it was Chloe who spoke next. "Don't bother."
