Unexpected Lovers Box Set by J.B. Heller

It’s beena week since Archer moved in, and I’ve successfully managed to avoid being alone with him since that night. My evasion skills have been on point.

Tonight, though, the boys are at a team meeting and shouldn’t be home till late. So, I’m planning on watching movies on the couch in my underwear.

I made a stop at the Chinese takeout down the block and grabbed all my favorites with the intent to gorge on yummy food, drink good wine, and watch sexy men in superhero costumes.

My night is looking good . . . until I swing open the door to my apartment and find some random chick riding my brother.

“What the fuck, Bates?” I screech. “You’re getting your love juices all over the couch!”

He sits up and peeks around the side of the chick. “Oh, hey. You’re home early.”

My eyes widen. “Is that all you have to say? You’re fucking some rando on my couch—which, by the way, you’re now replacing.”

The girl makes no move to cover herself or to climb off my brother. In fact, I’m pretty sure she’s still trying to roll her hips. I cringe. Gross.

“Could you give us a minute, Len?” Bates asks, looking hopeful.

I shudder. “I meant what I said about the couch—you’re replacing it. I’m going to Em’s. Call me when it’s safe to come back.” I turn on my heels and slam the door behind me. He is out of control. If he keeps this up, I’m going to have to do something about it.

A few minutes later, I stand outside Em and Sebastian’s apartment, knocking on the door.

A muffled, “Coming,” sounds before Sebastian swings it open. His hair is a mess, his glasses are skewed, and his shirt is half-untucked . . .

“Shit, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt,” I tell him. “I’ll just go.”

He bursts out laughing. “Lennon, it’s fine. You’re not interrupting. The girls are here,” he says.

“Ohhh,” I mutter. “Okay then.” I step past him and into their apartment where his nieces, Everly and Hazel, look as disheveled as Sebastian does.

“Lemon!” Everly cries when she sees me.

I chuckle. “It’s Len-non,” I remind the five-year-old who thinks she’s hilarious. “How you doin’, squirt? How’s that new baby brother of yours goin’?”

“He’s soo tute,” she says, beaming. “But he poops a lot.”

The smaller of the girls, Hazel, who is two, waddles over to me before wrapping herself around my leg. I pat her on the top of the head, and she giggles.

“She’s not a dog,” Em says. “She wants you to pick her up, not pet her.”

“I don’t hold babies; you know that.”

She rolls her eyes as she gives me a quick hug before picking up the toddler. “What are you doing here? I thought we were hanging out tomorrow night?”

“I just walked in on Bates boning a baseball Annie in the living room.”

“Eww,” Em says, her face scrunching.

I nod. “Yep,” I agree. “Mind if I hang out here until the coast is clear?”

“Of course not. But I’ma need you to share those egg rolls, mm-kay?” she says, eyeing the bag of takeout clutched in my hand.

“Fine,” I grumble, following her to the kitchen. “You’re just lucky I ordered more than I could possibly eat on my own anyway.”

Sooner than I expected, my cell chimes with a text from my boneheaded brother.

BATES: Sorry, Lenny. I’ll make it up to you.

LENNON: You can start by getting me a new couch.

BATES: I’ll have a new one delivered tomorrow. Promise.

I sigh, dropping my cell on the counter as I slide onto a barstool.

“That Bates?” Em asks.

“Yep,” I say, popping the P. “He’s buying me a new couch.”

Em chuckles. “As he should. That’s just nasty. I’m glad he didn’t pull anything like that while I was still there.”

I dig a piece of orange chicken out of my takeout container with a pair of chopsticks as I arch a brow at Em. “Silly, Emmy. He probably did, and we had no idea. You’re just lucky you were already pregnant or you might be carrying a baby Bates right now,” I tease.

She gags. “Gross!”

Laughter bubbles up my throat as her face scrunches in disgust.

A loud, pain-filled cry sounds from the living room, and Em and I rush to see what’s wrong. Everly is in the fetal position on the floor, clutching between her legs, and Hazel sits beside her, rubbing her head.

“What happened?” Em asks, crouching beside Sebastian and Everly.

“Hazel gave me a gina-shiner,” Everly whimpers.

I frown. “What’s that mean?”

Sebastian is clearly fighting against finding this humorous. A smile flits on and off his face, and he clears his throat. “Hazel tripped and headbutted Ever’s vagina,” he says in a rush.

My eyes widen, and suddenly, I’m feeling all kinds of sympathy for the little girl curled up on the floor. I drop beside her and stroke her forehead. “Oh, honey, I know what that feels like.”

Em’s eyes fly to me. “You do?”

I shrug. “Long story,” I tell her then turn my attention back to Everly. Tears shine in her eyes, and she shuffles closer to me. I reach out, slide my hands under her arms, and drag her into my lap. “Do you want an ice pack, squirt?”

She shakes her head as she burrows into my embrace, sniffling. I rub her back. That’s soothing, right? I’ve never been hands-on with kids—not that I’ve had the opportunity to be.

Feeling eyes on me, I glance up and find Em and Sebastian watching me with weird looks on their faces.

“What? Am I doing it wrong?”

Em shakes her head, wetness gathering in her eyes.

“What then?” I ask, panic rising in my veins.

“Go on, tell her,” Sebastian says to Em, curling an arm around her shoulders.

She swallows hard then says, “We want you to be the baby’s godmother.”

I blink at her, my eyes suddenly feeling stingy. “Why would you ask me? I suck with kids,” I say in a hoarse whisper.

“No, Len, you don’t.” She gestures to the little girl in my arms, a smile tipping her lips. “You’ll be the best godmother in the world.”

I take a deep, shuddering breath. I will not cry. I swallow the lump of emotion in my throat. “I’d be honored.”

* * *

I stand outside my apartment,staring at the door. I gnaw on my bottom lip and turn the key in the lock. Pushing in, I scan the room, grateful the girl is gone and Bates is sitting on the couch alone.

He lifts his head as I approach. “Hey,” he says, rubbing his palms on his thighs.

“We need to talk,” I tell him, grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge.

“I know,” he sighs.

I step around him. I’m lowering into my armchair when the thought occurs to me that he could have screwed that girl in my chair, too. I pause, crouched over the cushion. “Is my chair safe?”

“Yeah, Len, you’re good,” he says, glancing away from me. “Look, I’m really sorry. That shouldn’t have happened. I didn’t mean for it to go down like that.”

“Why weren’t you at the team meeting?” I ask, dropping the rest of the way into my seat.

“I was. It finished early,” he explains. “Me, Arch, and a couple of the guys hit Mulligan’s afterwards, and I picked up that chick. She was all over me, and I knew you’d be pissed if I banged her in the bathroom at a bar, so I brought her home. In retrospect, it wasn’t a great idea.”

“No shit,” I snap. “I don’t care who you have sex with, Bates, but I don’t want to see it. You can do whatever and whoever you like—in your bedroom. The common areas are strictly off-limits.”

He nods. “Yeah, I know. Fuck, I—I didn’t mean for you to see that. I’m really fucking sorry.”

I relax in my seat and throw a leg over the arm. Tilting my head, I stare at my brother. “What’s going on with you?”

He shakes his head. “Nothing.”

“I don’t believe you. Something’s up. I know when you’re keeping shit from me.”

“Speaking of keeping shit from each other, want to tell me what’s going on with you and Arch?” he fires back.

I choke on the sip of water I’d just taken. “What? Nothing’s going on. Why would you think there is?”

He snorts. “Right. I’m not stupid, Len. You guys have been fucking weird around each other all week. You haven’t been trading insults or deliberately stirring each other, and I haven’t seen you flip him the bird once since he moved in.”

Shit. In my mission to act like nothing had changed between us, I gave myself away.

“Exactly,” Bates says, standing. “Maybe when you’re ready to talk to me, I’ll talk to you, too.” Then, he walks toward the hall.

I drop my head on the back of my chair, groaning. I’m not sure how to act around Archer anymore. I think about him constantly, even when I’m actively trying not to. The bastard is everywhere.

“What’s up?” his deep voice startles me upright.

“Where’d you come from?”

His brows furrow. “I just got in.”

“Oh,” I murmur.

“You alright?”

I shrug. “Bates thinks something’s going on with us.”

His eyes don’t leave mine as he moves toward me, only stopping when he’s looming above me. He leans in, bracing his hands on the back of my chair. “There is something going on with us, Lennon. I know it. You know it. And Bates knows it. So why are you still fighting it?”

“Because I don’t know how to stop,” I admit. His nearness messes with my head, making it hard to think clearly. But the one thing I’m certain of is Archer isn’t going anywhere, and I’m not sure I want him to.

He brings one hand to my cheek, cradling it gently as his thumb glides over my bottom lip. “It’s easy, spitfire. You just have to trust me. Can you do that?”

I nod. “I already do.” My heartbeat thunders in my ears as his mouth draws closer to mine. My eyelids flutter closed when his breath whispers over my lips a beat before they brush against my own.

The kiss is featherlight. His hold on my cheek is not.

His hand trembles; he’s holding himself back, and I’m not sure why.

“Arch,” I murmur, curving my back, chasing his retreating lips.

“I’ve waited this long,” he mutters, more to himself than me.

“What?” I ask, the magic of the moment fading rapidly.

He shakes his head, smiles softly, and strokes my bottom lip one more time before releasing my cheek. “I want more than anything to throw you over my shoulder, take you to my room, and lay claim to your body the way I’ve been dying to since the last time you let me touch you,” he says.

“Then why aren’t you?”

Straightening, he adjusts himself as he takes a step away from me. “Because I don’t want you to regret it in the morning. You’re not sold on us yet—not completely. And I won’t let myself have you until you know with one-hundred-percent certainty that I’m it for you. Just like you’re it for me.”