“I don’t want to do that.” I shook my head. “It seems like it would be overstepping.”

“That’s not overstepping.” She sighed. “Maybe he can help.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Any word on Barbie?” she asked casually and I shook my head.

“I have no care to ever hear her name again.” I made a face and handed Sally her drink before downing mine. “No care at all.”

“Yeah.” She laughed and downed her drink as well.

Ding dong.

“I guess Cody’s here,” I said as I put my drink down and walked towards the front door. “You going to be okay?”

“I’ll be fine,” Sally said as she took a deep breath. “God, I hope I don’t make a fool of myself.”

“You won’t.” I grinned at her. “I’ll make sure you don’t.” I winked at her and then continued on my way and opened the door. “Hey, bro,” I said and gave him a hug.

“Hey, you.” He kissed me on the cheek and surveyed my face. “You look happy.”

“I am happy.” I nodded and then noticed that there were two guys standing next to him. “Hi, I’m Mila,” I said as I stepped away from him.

“Oh, yeah, this is Brody and this is James,” Cody said as he nodded to his two handsome friends. “I hope you don’t mind that I invited them.”

“It’s no problem.” I smiled at him, but inside I was shouting. I hoped I had made enough food.

“Great,” he said and grinned at me. I saw his eyes searching inside the apartment and then he stopped when he saw Sally. “Hey, Sally, I was wondering if you were going to be here.”

“She’s my best friend, of course she was going to be here,” I said, answering for her. “Are there going to be any other surprise guests tonight?” I gave Cody a look and he looked confused.

“Like who?”

“Barbie?” I hissed.

“Oh, she’s got a boyfriend.” He shrugged. “I guess she’s dating some rich, older dude.”

“What?” I frowned. “Already?”

“I don’t know the story, but she had my watch and I wanted it back and, well, she said her ‘rich, older boyfriend’ wouldn’t appreciate me coming over to get it.”

“Okay.” I shook my head but didn’t continue the conversation. I didn’t want Sally to hear us talking about Barbie and be reminded of his dalliance.

“Hi, guys.” Sally did a sexy strut towards the four of us and I could see that all of the guys’ attention was on her and her long legs in the heels she was wearing.

“Hi, I’m Brody.” The tall, stocky blond guy stood forward and shook her hand.

“Hi, Brody.” Sally gave him a dazzling smile. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too, my dear, you too.” He was grinning at her and continued to stand close to her.

“And this is James.” Cody looked at Brody with an annoyed expression on his face.

“Nice to meet you, James.” Sally smiled at him as well and he gave her a soft smile before turning to me.

“Hi, I’m James,” he said, his big blue eyes sparkling as he gazed at me.

“Mila. Cody’s sister, if you didn’t figure that out yet.”

“You’re much prettier than him,” he said, and I laughed.

“That’s good to hear. Thank you.” I blushed as he continued to smile at me.

“You’re very welcome,” he said as he ran his hand through his short, wavy brown hair. “Thanks for having us.”

“You’re very welcome,” I said.

“He’s very welcome for what?” TJ’s voice came booming into the room.

“For Mila being so gracious as to have me over for dinner,” James spoke up, his eyes never leaving mine.

“Sorry, who are you?” TJ frowned as he gazed at James and then at Brody.

“TJ, this is Brody and this is James. They are in my baseball league. We were batting earlier and I figured they could come for dinner as well. The more the merrier, right?” Cody said nonchalantly and I could see TJ’s eyes narrowing at him. Hmm, I wonder what was going on there.

“Sure.” TJ shrugged and walked over to me and kissed me on the lips. “I hope you didn’t miss me too much.”

“I didn’t.” I smiled up at him and his eyes narrowed.

“That’s what you say now,” he said softly, then turned back around. “Okay, who wants a drink?”

“I thought you wouldn’t ask, bro.” Brody laughed and then looked at Sally. “What are you drinking tonight, beautiful?”

“I think I’m sticking with vodka-Sprites for now.” Sally beamed at him and I could see Cody frowning at their exchange.

“And what about you?” James looked at me. “Actually, let me guess.”

“Go on, then.” I smiled as we all walked farther into the apartment. TJ was standing to my left and James was standing to my right.

“I think you look like a white-wine girl. Am I right?” He stared into my eyes with a teasing expression and I laughed.

“Actually tonight I’m drinking vodka as well.” I smiled back at him and I felt TJ’s hand on my arm.

“And she prefers red wine to white wine,” TJ spoke up. “Nice guess, though. What do you want, James?” TJ had a smile on his face, but his voice was slightly gruff.

“I’ll take a whiskey neat,” James replied, a huge smile still on his face. “What is cooking, by the way? It smells amazing in here.”

“I’m making my famous roast chicken with roast potatoes and baked macaroni and cheese with a salad.”

“Oh, my God, that sounds amazing.” James licked his lips. “Marry me.”

“Hahaha,” I laughed and blushed.

“Mila, let’s get the drinks,” TJ said and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the kitchen.

“Okay,” I said, annoyed at his attitude. “What do you want, Brody?”

“I’ll have a whiskey as well.”

“I’ll take a beerski,” Cody said and I saw Sally giving him a quick glance.

“Sounds good,” I said and walked over to the fridge.

“Are you paying attention to the food?” TJ said as I took a beer out.

“Sorry, what?” I looked at him, confused.

“Maybe pay more attention to the food and less time to flirting,” TJ said as he grabbed his decanter of whiskey. “I don’t think any of us want burnt food for dinner.”

“I am paying attention to the food,” I said, annoyed. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m just making sure,” he said as he put two ice cubes in his glass and poured.

“Well, thanks for making sure,” I said and left the kitchen and handed Cody his beer. “Here you go.” I handed it to Cody, but he wasn’t paying attention to me, as he was too busy watching Brody flirting with Sally, who was laughing her head off at something he was saying.

“Here are the whiskeys.” TJ followed me out and handed a glass to James and Brody. They nodded their thanks and both started sipping their drinks.

"So are you guys hungry? I have bread and cheese for an appetizer.” I looked at James and Brody.

"You had me at ‘cheese’," James said and I smiled at him.

"Well you're easy to please, then." I laughed. "And to clarify, it's French bread and brie."

"Even better." He grinned. "Tell me that you have strawberry or raspberry jam as well and I'll be an extremely happy man."

"I think we do." I laughed. "Though I'll have to check."

"I have strawberry jam," TJ said thinly. "Mila just moved in with me, so she doesn't know the complete contents of my fridge yet."

"You guys roommates?" James asked curiously.

"Something like that." I laughed and TJ scowled.

"What do you do, James?" TJ asked him, stepping closer to him. “Dustbin man?” he said under his breath, and I gave him a quick glance.

“Sorry, what?” James asked with a cheery smile.

“What’s your job?” TJ asked again and his eyes looked at me as he spoke.

“Oh, I’m an attorney. Patent litigation.” James grinned. “You’re in business, right? Cody was telling us.”

“Yeah.” TJ nodded and then smiled. “Mila’s in retail therapy.”

“Sorry, what?” James looked at me and half-smiled. “You work in retail?”

“Somewhat,” I said and tried not to glare at TJ. “I work for my family company.”