Four Week Fiance 2(51)

“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.”

“She kinda works,” TJ said. “She likes to shop a lot more. So any guy she dates should have a lot of credit cards.”

“TJ.” Sally spoke up for me and glared at him. “Stop being an *.”