FourWeekFiancéHelen

CooperandJ.S.Cooper

ThankyouforpurchasingFourWeekFiancé.Pleasejoinmy

MAILINGLISTTobenotifiedofallnewreleases.

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Thisbookisaworkoffiction. Any resemblance toactualpersons,livingordead,or actual events is entirelycoincidental. Names,characters, businesses,organizations, places, events,and incidents are the productoftheauthor’simaginationorareusedfictitiously.

Copyright © 2015 by

Helen Cooper and J. S.Cooper

Cover Design byLouisa Maggio of LM BookCreations

Editing by LoreleiLodgson

Whatwouldyoudoifthehottestmanonearthmadeyou an offer you couldn’trefuse?

What if it was theoffer of a lifetime? The sortofofferthatwouldmakeyoublush as he offered youwhateveryouwantedtomakeyouaccept.Whatiftheoffersweresospicy,sonaughty,so

scandalous thatyouwouldn’teven want to tell your bestfriend?

If you were me, youwouldsayyes.

Thereare three thingsyoushouldknow.

His name is TJWalker. He’s 28, hot as canbeandhe’smybrother’sbestfriend.

TJaskedmetobehisfiancéforfourweeks.

I’m hoping to make

theengagementreal.Iknow.Ican’tbelieve

iteither.WhatamIthinking?Therearesomanythingsthatcouldgowrongbyacceptingto beTJ’s fourweek fiancé?But,Ican’tstopthinkingthattherearealsosomanythingsthatcouldgoright.

AcknowledgmentsTheysay thatnoman

isanisland.AndIsaythatnowriter does it all bythemselves. Four WeekFiancehasbeen in theworksfor years. It was originallyintended to be a four booknovella serialandnow it isafull-lengthtwo-bookseries.

Iwanttothankallthereaders thatmessagedmeforMila and TJ’s book

throughout the years. If itwasn’t for yourencouragement and want ofthis book, I’m not sure itwouldhavehappened.

Iwouldliketowhole-heartedly thank my betareaders: Tanya Skaggs,Katrina Jaekley, KathyShreve, Stacy Hahn, BarbaraGoodwin, EmilyKirkpatrick,Cathy Reale, Cilicia White,Chanteal Justice, KanaeEddings, and Tianna Croy,

for all of your help. Yourfeedback and support hasmeant everything to me andhas helped me to write abetterbook.Iconsideryouallreadersandfriends.

TothemembersoftheJ. S. Cooper and HelenCooper Street Teams, thankyou so much for everythingyou do to support meemotionally, mentally andphysically as a writer. Itmakes me feel amazing to

know I have so manyawesome women in mycorner.

Tomycoverdesigner,LouisaMaggio,thankyouforall you do and for being afriend.

To the readers, thankyou for reading my books.Thank you for loving mycharacters and for emailingme and telling me so. It’shard to be a writer andwaitingforfeedback,butitis

the reason why I love goingtoworksomuch.

To all the bloggersthathaveshowedmesupportand helped to promote mybooks, thank you for whatyou do for me and otherauthors. You read becauseyou love to, but you spreadthewordbecauseyouwanttohelpandyou’reexcitedaboutbooks. Keep being excitedand keep spreading the joythatyoufeel.Iknowallofus

authorsappreciateyou.Andlast,butnotleast,

thanksbetoGodforallofmyblessings.

JaimieXOXO

TABLE OFCONTENTS

ANotetoMilaPrologueChapterOneChapterTwoChapterThreeChapterFourChapterFiveChapterSixChapterSevenChapterEightChapterNine

ChapterTenChapterElevenChapterTwelveChapterThirteenChapterFourteenChapterFifteenChapterSixteenChapterSeventeenChapterEighteenChapterNineteenChapterTwentyChapterTwenty-One

ANotetoMilaThe sun sets late in

thecornersofmymind.I thinkofyouwhen I

gotothelake.I thinkofyouwhen I

closemyeyes.Ithinkofthegirlwho

changedmyworld.I think of the

heartbreak that changed yourworld.

And I’d make onewish to take all your painaway.

TJWalker

PrologueTJ

PresentDay“I can’t make your

decision for you, Mila.” Myvoice was deep, some mightsay husky, as I looked downinto her wide eyes. She wasgazingatmewith aquestioninherbigbrowneyesandherlips were slightly parted.“What’syouranswer?”

“Why are you doing

this?” sheaskedmesoftlyasshe stepped towards me,licking her lips nervously.Her long blond hair hungaround her shoulders andsmall runaway wisps blewinto her eyes. I leaned overand moved them gentlybehindherear.Sheblushedatmy touchand Imade sure tolet my fingers linger on hercheek for a few seconds. Icouldfeeltheheatemanatingoff of her skin onto my

fingertips.“I want you to

experience thehappiness, thejoy, the goodness that youdeserve.” My voice soundedtoo serious and I wasn’taltogether sure why I’dchosen those exact words. Iwasn’t really surewhy Iwashere myself, with her, aboutto do something I knew Ishouldn’tdo.

“IwishIcouldcontrolwhathappensnext,”shesaid,

her voice breathless. I gazeddown into her eyes and myheart stopped as I saw theemotion there. She waslettingme in,baringher soultome in a naked, vulnerableway. Her eyes reminded meof a young, innocent doe I’dseen in the woods one yearwhen I’d gone deer huntingwithafriend’sfamily.I’dfeltguilty then and I felt guiltynowaswell.

“There’s not much

thatisgoingtohappennext.”I sounded harsher than I’dintended. I didn’t know howto tell her that I wasmad atmyself, not at her. Shewouldn’tunderstandmyinnerturmoil.“We’regoingtokissand then you’re going todump that loser of aboyfriend.”Iputmyhandsonher waist and stilled themfromgoinghigher.

“He’s not myboyfriend,” she squeaked out

as she closed her eyes andlifted her lips up to me,waiting. Her shoulders werethrust back indignantly and Istared down at the curve ofher breasts and down to herlonglegs.She’dgrownintoabeautiful young woman. Avery beautiful young womanthat I knew I shouldn’t letmyselfindulgein.

“You’re damn righthe’s not,” I growled beforebending down and lightly

pressingmylipsagainsthers.Theyweresosoftandsweet,and she kissed me backeagerly as her fingersfumbled with my shirt. Igrabbed her hands andclasped them in mine as Ideepened the kiss, allowingmytonguetoenterhermouthand taste the delicate hint offreshly picked strawberriesthat she’d just eaten. Shemoaned slightly as I suckedon her tongue andmy hands

let go of hers andmoved upher waist, making their wayuptoherbra.AllthoughtsofCody warning me to stayawayfromhissisterwerefarfrommymind.

“Oh, TJ,” she said asshe grabbed my hand andmoved it up and pressed itagainstherbreast.“Oh,yes.”

“Oh, no.” I stoppedand pulled back. Her eyesblinked open and she lookedat me with a slightly

bewildered and lostexpression. She looked hotand flustered and I loved it,though I kept my grin tomyself.

“What are youdoing?” She pouted. “Whydidyoustop?”

“You didn’t think itwouldbethiseasy,didyou?”I said with a smirk, feelinghot and bothered myself.“Nothing happens until I getyourdecision.”

“But, I just can’tpretend to be your fiancée,TJ. That’s not right.” Shelickedherlipsnervously.

“You can’t?” I saidsoftly,allowingmyfingerstotrace the curve of her lips.“Oryouwon’t?”

“I read the contract,”she said and swallowed.“What you’re asking—it’stoomuch.”

“Foryouorforme?”Iasked,myeyesneverleaving

hers. “What’s four weeks,Mila?” I saidas Ipushed thetip of my finger into hermouth and watched as shesucked it gently. She juststared at me, thinking, and Icould see her mind racing.She had no ideawhat to sayor do. I’d beaten her at herown game and she knew it.Now Iwas ready to takemyprize.AndIwasgoingtotakeit whether she became myfakefiancéeornot.

ChapterOneMila

September19th,2008DearDiary,I’m in love. Iwant to

marry TJ Walker. He’sCody’s best friend. He hasdark brown hair and biggreen eyes and he’s thehottest guy I’ve ever seen inmy life. He stayed over lastnight and I saw him comingout of the bathroom in only

his boxer shorts. I hadthoughts I shouldn’t have at15,butIdon’tcare.Hegaveme a lazy, sexy smile andruffled my hair like I wassome kid.Howannoying.Heonly sees me as a goofyteenager. He doesn’t knowthat I’m ready to date acollegeman.Evenone that’sstupid enough to be friendswith Cody, but I’ll forgivehim for that. One day,hopefully soon, I’m going to

makehimfallinlovewithme.And when that day comes,I’m going to show him thisdiary. Perhaps. Until thatpoint, I’ll continue to flirtwith Harry Jonas, my labpartner.He’s kinda cute too.Just not as hot as TJ. EvenTJ’s name is hot. And MilaWalker sounds a lot betterthan Mila Jonas. Oh, how Ihope to be Mila Walker oneday.Agirlcanonlydream.

Mila

XOXOP.S. Mom, if you’re

reading this, you are dead tome!!!!!

Thursday,TwoWeeksAgo

His name is TJWalker. He’s 28, hot as canbeandhe’smybrother’sbestfriend. Which means he isoff-limits to me. Some maysay 28 is too old for my 22years, but I beg to differ.Guysmyagearejustwaytoo

immature.Ineedaman,notaboy. And the man I want isTJWalker.Only,Icanneverhavehim.

Notthathewantsme.Tohim,I’mjustCody’slittlesister. I’m a girl in his eyes.Not a woman. And while Iwasinhighschool,Iacceptedthat maybe I was too youngforhim.ButnowthatI’moutof college and older, I’mwilling to do anything tochange his mind. At least, I

think I am. Imean, it’s easyto say you’re willing to doanything when there isnothingonthetable.Butwhoknows what I would do ifpresented with some realsituations?

I’m not exactly afemme fatale. Or at least Ihaven’t been up to now. Itdoesn’t help that TJ and Iconstantlyspareverytimeweseeeachother,or thatIwanttoslaphimasmuchasIwant

to make love to him. Yes, Iwant tomake love tohim. Ifyou saw him, you wouldknow why. He’s one of themostgorgeousmenI’veeverseeninmylife.He’s tallandstocky just like I like them,about6'2"and200poundsoflean muscle. He’s got short,silky dark-brown hair anddazzling emerald eyes. Hemust work out quite a bitbecausehislegsaremuscularand his arms are strong, and

would be capable of holdingmeinobnoxiouspositionsforlong amounts of time, if youknowwhatImean.

Yes, I have dirtythoughts,butI’veneverreallybeen able to act on them.Well,notyet.TheonlymanIwanttodoallthedirtythingsIhaveinmymindtoisTJ.Iwanthimtomakelovetomeuntil I can’t even remembermy own name. Or his.Though,let’sbereal,itwould

be very hard to forget TJWalker’s name, especiallywhen you’ve been crushingon him for as long as I’vebeen. Don’t get me wrong,though, I’m not just waitingaround for him to realize heloves me; not anymore, atleast. I have a plan that I’mhopingtoputintoaction.

Ifyouhaven’t figureditoutasyet,I’marealistandapragmatist,whilealsobeinga dreamer. Don’t ask how

that works. I don’t reallyknow.My best friend, Sally,says that I’m an enigma. Itendtoagreewithher.Idon’teven understand myselfsometimes.

Butenoughaboutme,let’s get back to TJ. Like Isaid before, he’s hot. Likereally, really hot. Tall-dark-and-handsome hot. Or, asSally would say, take-off-your-pants-and-fuck-me-tonight hot. Of course, I

wouldn’t say that—well, notout loud Iwouldn’t.Though,I’vehadmanydreamswhereI’vesaidthatandmoretoTJ.“Takemenow,TJ,”beingthephrase most often uttered inmy dreams. And he alwaysrises to the occasion. If youknow what I mean. And it’snotjustabouthislooks,orthefact that he’s rich. I’m notone of those types of girls. Ilike TJ because he’s a goodguy.He helps feed homeless

people at Thanksgiving andhe’saBigBrothertothiskidwho is pretty bratty. And Iknow he’s not a psychopath,or at least I hope he’s not.I’veknownhimsinceIwasababy, so I would hope Iwouldhaveseenthesigns.

You may bewondering, if I like TJ somuch, why don’t I just goafterhim?Well,forone,he’smybrotherCody’sbestfriendandhasbeenfor20years.So

he’sknownmesinceIwasalittle kid with snot in mynose, and I guess thatmakeshim think of me as his littlesister. But I sure don’t thinkof him as an older brother.And I’m determined for himto notice me as more than alittlegirl.

There’s just oneproblem, though. There arepartsofhimthatIdon’treallylike. Imean, I thinkhe’s hotand sexy, and I have dreams

about him, but in real life,sometimes he’s an arrogantasshole who thinks he’sGod’s gift to women, thanksto themanyhotwomenwhothrow themselves at himdaily.

So, yeah. I have a bitof a moral dilemma on myhands. Should I go for it,knowing he’s an asshole, orshould I leave it alone,becausehe’sanasshole?Andtomake it perfectly clear,TJ

doesn’t care who knows thathe’s a player. That’s one ofthe reasons why Cody toldhimthatifheeverlaidahandonme,he’dfindhistwofrontteeth knocked out on thefloor.Thatdidn’texactlyhelpmycausewhenIwasyoungerandopenlyflirtingwithTJ.

So now I’m at acrossroadsandI’mnot reallysurewhat todo.Whyis itsoimportant for me to decidenow, you ask? Well, he’s

going to be spending theweekend with me and Codyand the parents at our lakehouse. It’s a tradition in myfamilytogotothelakehouseeveryfall,rightbeforewinterhits. And TJ always comesbecause,asIsaidbefore,he’spractically a part of thefamily.

I know, I know—Ishouldn’tbefantasizingaboutmy brother’s best friend likethis.Igrewupwithhim,he’s

an asshole who teased memercilessly, and I know he’sa player, but all I can say ishe’shotand Ican’thelp thatmy body catches firewhen Isee him. He’s all that I canthink of every night before Ifall asleep, and so I’vedecided to see if I can takeour relationship to the nextlevel. Imean,wedidshareaspecialkisswhenIwas18.Itwas hot. But it freaked himout. He was 24, and to him,

kissingmewasakin tobeinga pedo. However, I’m nolonger 18 and I want him toknow that in every waypossible. That’s why I’mplanning on trying to seducehim this weekend. It will behard with so many peoplearound, but I’ve come upwithaplan.

“That’s ourbestseller.” The sales ladybeamed at me as I fingeredthe sexy underwear. “It’s

called the Lacy Suspenderset. It’s guaranteed to getyour man all hot andbothered.”

“I can see that.” Igrinned back at her as Iplayed with the soft, flimsymaterial. “It’s very hot andsexy.”Anditreallywas.Theonly worry in my mind waswhatmyparentswould thinkif they saw me cavortingaroundinthisget-up.Itwasabit risky to attempt to wear

sexy underwear on a familytrip, but what option did Ihave?Itwasn’tasifTJandIhung out on the regular. Ididn’t really see him unlessthere was a family event hewas invited to, and Codydidn’t invite me to hang outwith him much outside ofthat.

“Yes, it is.” Shewinked. “But then again, allof our stuff at AgentProvocateurissexy.”

“That’s true.” Inodded as I looked backdown at the barely-there braand panties with matchingsuspenders.“Howmuch?”

“Only one hundredand ninety, miss.” Shecontinued smiling at me asmy stomach dropped. $190?For almost non-existentunderwear?Ibitmylowerlipas I stood there. That wouldalmost deplete my bankaccountandIknewIcouldn’t

use my parents’ credit card.Not here at a lingerie store.EspeciallybecauseIwasonlysupposed to use it foremergencies, now that I wasanadultandoutofcollege. Iknewthattheywouldn’tthinkthat seducing TJ was anemergency.“Willthatbecashor credit?” The sales lady’svoicewas sharp, and I couldtellfromthelookinhereyesthat she was worried she’djust wasted the last twenty

minuteswithacustomerwhomightnotbeabletopay.

“I’ll use my debitcard,” I saidandgrabbedmywalletfrommybag,myheartbeating rapidly. Bye bye,$200, but hello to TJ in mybed.

***“Sally,myparentsare

going to kill me. Nonno isgoing to kill me. This mightbe the last time you talk tome. I think they’re going to

sendmebacktoItaly.”“First off,whywould

this be the last time I talk toyou?TheydohavephonesinItaly.Andsecondly,howcanthey send you back to Italy?You’re not from there. Andlastly, your nonno is notgoing to kill you.You’re hisfavoritegranddaughter.”

“Yeah, I’m hisfavorite, butwhen he figuresoutwhat I did, he’s going tohave a heart attack,” I

mutteredasIstaredatmyselfin themirror. “He’s going towishhewasbackinNapoli.”

“He never lived inNapoli,”Sallysaidmatter-of-factlyandIgroanedloudly.

“You know what Imean. They are going to beupset.”

“Whatexactlydidyoudo?”Sallysaid impatiently. Icould imagineher rollingherblue eyes as she waited tohearaboutthelatestsituation

I’dgottenmyselfinto.“I went and bought

some sexy underwear, andnowI’mkindabroke,” I saidsoftly, dreading telling mystory.

“Sexy underwear?”Sally’s voice was dry. “Notfor this weekend with yourparentsatthelakehouse?”

“You know who willbe there. I need tomakemymovebeforeit’stoolate.”

“Mila.”Sallylaughed.

“Idon’tknowifthisisagoodweekend for you to try yourBasicInstinctmoves.”

“I wish I had BasicInstinct moves.” I groanedandwonderedifIhadtimetowatch themoviebefore Igotmystuffreadyforthetrip.

“Anyway,whywouldyour nonno know and careabout what you boughttoday?”

“Because I put in arequest to get an advance on

mynextpaycheckassoonasI left the mall.” I sighed.“And of course, Codyemailedmebackaskingwhyand asked if I needed somefinancial and accountingclasses.”

“He is the accountantat your parents’ business,Mila.” Sally laughed. “Whodid you think would belookingatyour request?Andwhy did you ask for anadvance?”

“I have rent due,electricity, cable, carinsurance.” I sighed. “It alladds up, you know, and Idon’thaveahugesalary.”

“You’retrainingtobein acquisitions, right? Didn’tyou get a raise?” Sally said.“Havetheyletyoumakeanypurchasesyet?”

“Yes, I’m inacquisitionsnow.Dadhadmein reception forever,butnowhe has rotated me into

acquisitions, but that stillhasn’t equaled a pay raise.I’m still on twenty-fourthousand a year, as that iswhat all new graduates startwith at the company. Nonnosaid that Dad doesn’t wantpeopletothinkI’madvancingduetonepotism,butI’mlike,‘Come on, Dad, I’m yourdaughter and you own thecompany—whatdoyouthinkpeoplearegoingtothink?’”

“Yeah, twenty-four

thousand isn’t a lot, but stillshouldbeenough,right?”

“I guess.” I sighed.“NonnothinksDadwantsmetomovebackhome,butItoldhim I’m an adult and Dadwill be waiting a long timefor me to come back home.I’d rathermove to a cheaperplace thanmove back home,withtheminmybusiness.”

“Or you can move inwith me,” Sally suggestedhalf-heartedly.

“Thanks, but nothanks,” I said and laughed.Sally and I had been bestfriends since kindergarten,butwewere exact opposites.She was a clean-freak and Iwas messy. She was goodwith her money and I wasspend-happy. We were bestfriendsandlovedtohangout,but we didn’t live welltogether. We’d learned thatthe hard way as roommatesour sophomore year in

college.“So, what do you

think Cody’s going to do?”Sally asked eagerly. She’dhadacrushonmybrotherforyears.However,Sallywasn’tas bad as me. She hadn’tdedicated her life to gettingCody.Shewasofthemindsetthat if it worked out, itworked out, and while shewaswaitingshewasgoingtohave fun. And boy did shehave fun. Some of the guys

she dated almost put TJ toshame. I wasn’t sure whereshe found a continual supplyofhotties.

“He’s most probablygoing to question me allweekend.” I sighed andcollapsed onto my bed. “‘Whatareyouspendingyourmoneyon,Mila?ThisiswhyMom and Dad don’t trustyou,Mila.Whydon’tyouletNonnosetyouupwithaniceItalian boy so you can get

marriedandhavekids,Mila?’”

“Nonno still talkingabout his best friend’sgrandson?” Sally asked withalaugh.

“Um,yes.” Igroaned.“His name is Milo and no,I’mnot joking.Nonno thinksit’s a sign from God. MiloandMila.Itoldhimhellno.”

“Andthenhetoldyouto watch your language,”Sallysaidwithalaugh.

“You know Nonno.‘When I was growing up,girls didn’t use badlanguage,’ ” I said in a deepvoice, imitating mygrandfather. “ ‘They learnedhow to make pasta fromscratch and how tomake thebestmarinarasauce.’”

“Oh, Nonno,” Sallysaid, giggling. “I miss him,”she said softly and I feltwistful as I lay back on mybedandspoketoher.

“Me too,” I saidwitha small sigh. “I don’t get toseehimasoftenasI’dliketo.Maybe we can take him todinnerinacoupleofweeks.Iknowhe’dlovetoseeyouaswell.”

“Of course,” Sallysaid. “That sounds great.Hopefully your folks won’thave packed you back to themotherlandbeforethen.”

“Well, you know, iftheyfindaniceRomaboy...”

Isaid,myvoicetrailingoffasI thought about all the timesmy parents had threatened toship me off to Italy to getmarried.WhichIthoughtwasprettyhilarious,seeingasmyfather wasn’t even of Italiandescent. His ancestors werefrom England, and Nonnohadtakenawhiletowarmupto him when he was wooingmymomasateenager.

“Haha, imagine youliving in Rome?” Sally

laughed. “I’ve got to go,though. Are you going to beokay?Ordoyouneedtotalksome more about your sexyunderwear and how you’rehorriblewithmoney?”

“Whatever, Sally.” Igiggledandsatup.“I’mfine.I’lltalktoyoulater.”

“Okay, bye.” Shelaughed.“Trynot tobuyanywhips or anal beads beforetomorrowmorning.”

“Funny—not!” I said

and hung up. I looked at thestack of clothes on my bedand then atmy suitcase, andgroaned.Iwasn’tsurewhatIwas going to wear and Iwasn’t sure exactly whatactivitieswe’dbedoing,butIneeded to minimize theamount of clothes I wastaking. The pile was high,evenforme.

ChapterTwoMila

July14th,2011DearDiary,I am going to marry

TJWalker.Yes,Isaidmarry.I am predicting that I, MilaBrookstone, will one daymarry TJ Walker. Yes, I’monly18andyes,we’renotina relationship, but I know itwillhappen.HowdoIknow?Because last night was the

mostmagicalnightofmylife.Last night TJ Walker kissedme. Yes, he kissed me. Notongueandnotforlong,butitwasthemostperfectkissI’veever had in my life. Evenbetter than kisses withChanning Tatum. Not thatI’ve kissed him, but I’vethought about what sort ofkisserhewouldbeandIthinkthatTJisbetter.Youheardithere first!! I’m going tomarry TJ Walker. That is, if

he doesn’t annoy me toomuchfirst.

MilaXOXOThursday, One Week

AgoIstaredatmysuitcase

with a happy smile. I wasfinally packed. Well, I hadtwo stacks of outfits: onestackwascausal-sexyandtheother stack was sexy-sexy. Iwas trying to decide if Ishould try and go full-out

seduction mode on TJ or totry and play it a little bitcooler. Sally advised that Iplay it cooler because shedoesn’twantmetoembarrassmyselfifitdoesn’tworkout.Because yes, now she iscomingaswell.Sallyalwayshas an open invite to come,but this year she thoughtshe’dbebusywithwork,butthreedays ago she foundoutshehas the timeoff.Sonowshe’s coming to the lake

houseandshe isplanningongoing into cool seductionmode thisweekend, only notwith TJ—thank God. She’saftermybrother,Cody.Eww.ButwhoamItostopher?

Myonlyproblemis,ifbothofusaresuccessfulwithourseductionplans,whataremy parents going to think isgoing on? We can’t justdisappear, and there is noway we can have sex at thelakehouse.Theroomsarenot

soundproof.Imean,Icantryand be quiet, but if TJ is asgood a lover as he is in mydreams,it’sgoingtobehard.And let’s just say that Sallywill have a bigger problemthan me. I lived with her incollege and trust me, shedoesn’t know what the wordquiet means. I giggled as Ipicked up two differentbikinis and tried to decidewhich one to take with me,whenthephonerang.Iknew

theweatherwouldbeslightlycold and the water would beeven colder, but I knew mybody temperature adjustedprettyquicklytothewater.

“Hello, Mila here,” Isangintothephone,assumingit was Sally. I looked at thethongbikiniandthrewitbackonto the floor. I wasn’t surewhy I’d even contemplatedtaking that. That was notappropriate for a family trip.Ifmydadsawmeinthat,I’d

beonthefirstplaneoutofthecountryforsure.

“Mila?” The voicewas deep and gruff, andtinglesranthroughmyarmtomyfingers.

“This isMila,” Isaid,my voice sounding like adeep croak. “Mila,” I saidagain, almost singing myname,inmynervousness.

“It’s TJ.” His voicesounded amused.“Auditioning for The Voice

orsomething?”“No,” I laughed,

excited to be talking to him.“I’m trying out for The XFactor,actually.”

“Oh.” He cleared histhroat.“Iwouldhavethoughtyou would go for TheVoice!”

“Why is that?” I said,confused.

“Because they don’tseeyourfaceatfirst,”hesaidwithadeadpannedvoice,and

it took a moment for hismeaningtosinkin.

“You’reanasshole.”Igroaned at him, shaking myheadathisdiss.That iswhatImeantabouthimthinkinghewas my big brother. It waslike he and Cody had satdown one day and discussedthe responsibilities and tasksof being my older sibling.And teasing me was thenumber-oneduty.

“You gotta love it.”

He laughed as if he thoughthisjokewashilarious.

“Notreally.”“Aww, well, sorry to

breakyourheart,butthisisn’tTheXFactorcalling.”

“Uhhuh.”“Iwascallingbecause

Cody can’t pick you uptomorrow.He’sstuckatworkuntilearlySaturdaymorning,soheaskedifIcanpickyouandSallyupanddriveyouuptothelakehouse.”

“Oh, really?” Igrinned into the phone,slightly excited that we’d bealone together, but then Iremembered thatSallywouldbe with us. “I guess that’sfine.” I tried to soundnonchalant.

“What time will yoube ready?” He cleared histhroat.“Andanaccuratetime,please, not an ‘I’ll try to beready, but I’ll keep youwaiting for thirty minutes’

sortofthing.”“TJWalker, shutup.”

I groaned into the phone.“Thatwasonlyonetime.”

“It was one time toomany.”

“Whatever. I’m sureall your dates keep youwaitingaswell.”

“Yeah,butIknowI’mgetting something from themthatmakesitworthit.”

I gasped and helaughed into the phone. “So,

whattime,MiladySadie?”“Three o’clock, but

I’llcheckwithSally tomakesure she can make that.” Iignored his use of thenickname he and Cody hadcoinedformewhenwewereyounger. They had created arhyme for me that went,“MiladySadie,wenttobathy,and shegot a stupidnavy.Anavywavygoofybaby,thatisour Milady Sadie.” It madeabsolutely no sense, but the

nickname Milady Sadie hadstuck. I knew better than toget annoyed when they usedit anymore. It only fuelledtheirteasing.

“Okay,Milady Sadie.Call me back and let meknow.”

“You’re a child, youknow that, TJ?” I couldn’tstop myself. “Only a littleboy would call me anicknamefromwhenIwasalittlekid.”

“You’re still a kid,Mila.”Hisvoicewasdry.

“No, I’m not.” Igrowledintothephone.

“Oh, yeah. I forgotyou’re a college graduatenow.” He laughed. “You’reofficially in the big girls’club.”

“Whatever.” I rolledmyeyes,eventhoughIknewhecouldn’tseethem.

“Oh, yeah. I may bebringing a friend with me. I

spoke to Cody, and yourparentsdon’tmind.”

“A friend?” Ifrowned.

“Yeah, her name isBarbie.”

“No, it is not.” Igroaned into the phone andtried to ignore the swell ofdisappointment that rose upin me as I threw the bikinisdown onto the floor. Whatwasthepointofmetryingtoseducehimifhewasbringing

anothergirlup?“Yeah, it is.” He

laughed. “And she calls meKen.”

“Are you joking?WhyisshecallingyouKen?”

“IkindoftoldhermynamewasKenwhenIpickedher up at the bar two nightsago.”

“Oh, my God,” Igroaned into the phone,flopped onto the bed andclosed my eyes. “Please tell

methatisabadjoke.Shedidnotactuallybelieveyou?”

“Of course shebelieved me.” He laughed.“So, just let Sally know, I’mKenfortheweekend.”

“What are you goingtotellmyparents?”

“Oh, Cody told methattheycouldn’tmakeit.Hedidn’ttellyou?”

“No.” I sighed. “Noone told me anything.” Irolled over onmy side. “Not

myparentsandnotCody.Soyou’re telling me that thisyearthefamilyget-togetherisgoingtobeme,Sally,Barbieandyou?”

“You got it.” Helaughed. “And Cody will betheretomorrowmorning.”

“Great, that’s justgreat.”

“I think your dadwanted to take care of somebusiness stuff andyourmomwantedtotakeyourNonnoto

get some new sheets orsomething.”

“I’m glad my familyletyouknowwhatwasgoingon before they told meanything,” I said, feelingannoyed. I hated that theynever bothered to let meknow anything, like I wasstillsomekidorsomething.

“Don’t pout, Mila.You know it doesn’t suityou.”

“Thanks for nothing.”

I stuckmy tongue out at thephone.

“Anyway, go callSallyandthencallmebacktoconfirmthetime.”

“Yes,sir.”“I like that,” he

drawled.“Youlikewhat?”“When you call me

sir.”Helaughed.“Icouldgetusedtoit.”

“I’msureyoucould.”I paused. “But I guess you’ll

justhavetogetBarbietocallyouthat.”

“Don’t worry, Mila.You’ll have a guy to call sirsoon.”

“I already have aguy,” I lied,slightlyannoyedathiscomment.

“What?” His voicechanged and suddenlybecame brusque. “Whatguy?”

“Just a guy I’mdating.”

“You nevermentioned him before,” hesaidsharply.

“Well, it’s a newrelationship.”

“Hmmm.”Hepaused.“Ihopehe’snotanotherloserwho borrows money fromyouanddoesn’trepayit.”

“He’sgoingtopaymeback,”Iprotested,thoughwebothknew thatwasn’t true. Icouldn’t even remember theguy’sfullname.

“And try not to dateanother guy who dresses upin women’s clothing. That’susually a sign that he’s notthatinterestedinyou.”

“That’s not fair,” Iprotested, groaning as heremindedme of Richard, thelast guy I’d dated. The onewho was more interested inmywardrobethanme.

“Hey,I’mjustlookingoutforyou.”

“Yeah,sure.”

“You don’t want todateanotherloser.”

“Do you havesomeone better forme?”Myvoice was shrill as hecontinuedteasingme.

“I may.” He paused.“Ijustmay.”

“I’m going to go callSally now,” I said, changingthe subject abruptly, notwanting him to try and hookmeupwithanotherguy.

“You do that, Mila.”

Andwiththat,hehungup.I sighed and lay back

on the bed, frustrated andexcitedatthesametime.Thisis how it always went withTJ; we had a little flirting, alittle bickering, andultimately it endedupwith awhole heap of nothing. Andnow he was dating someperfect girl called Barbie,whoprobablygavehimheadevery night, and I was stillsingle—but now having to

pretend that I had aboyfriend. I groaned as Iclosed my eyes and picturedTJ’s handsome face in mymind. Ugh, it was sofrustrating. I justwantedhimtogivemearealchance,butIknew it was never going tohappenunlessImadeagoofit. I sat up and grinned as Irealized that my parents notcoming might not be such abadthingafterall.

ChapterThree

MilaMarch18th,2010DearDiary,I’m a complete and

utteridiot.Thelaughingstockofthecountryclub.I’mgoingtokillSallyandI’mgoing tolock myself in my room forthe next ten years. I’m nevercomingoutagain.Never.Youwill not believe whathappened to me. I’m soEMBARRASSED!!!! TJ, thelove of my life, came home

this weekend with Cody. Heaskedme if Iwanted to playtennis with him. Of course Isaid yes. I called Sally andshe toldme thathedefinitelylikes me and that he wastesting the waters to see if Ilikedhim.Iagreed—whyelsewould he ask me to playtennis? I mean, every movieI’ve seen, the guy only asksthe girl if shewants to hangout if he likes her. I mean,yeah he’s in college and I’m

in high school, but thatdoesn’t mean he couldn’thave fallen forme.Anyways,Iworeasupershortskirt,asperSally’sadvice,andIworea push-up bra and stuffed itwith toilet paper and cottonwool. Well, the push-up brawas too loose and the toiletpaper fell out of one side ofmybraasIwasplaying.Yes,itfelloutontothecourt.Yes,Ihadonedouble-Dboobandone B-cup. No, TJ was not

impressed. He startedlaughingatme in themiddleof the game. Like literallystopped moving to point outthe toilet paper on the courtandthenhesaid,andIquotehim verbatim, “Your rightboob fell out, dorky. Youmight want to fix that.” Inearly died. I would havedied, but I think God wassaving me so I could getrevengeonSally first forherbad advice. I’m never

listening to her again. Orplaying tennis with TJ.Well,maybeI’llplaytenniswithTJagain if he asks. Which Idoubthewill.Idon’tthinkhelikes me. If he liked me, hewouldn’t call me a dork,wouldhe?

MilaXOXOP.S. I officially lost

the tennismatch, if youwerewondering.6-2,6-2.Pitiful.

Friday, One Week

Ago“Hey, dorky, where’s

Sally?” TJ stood outside myfront door looking like somehunkymodel in a TV ad formen’s cologne or boxerbriefs; very skimpy boxerbriefs,Imightadd.

“She’sonherway,” Isaidandusheredhimintomyapartment, trying not to lethimseehoweagerandhappyIwasthathewasthere.

“I thought you said

that you’d be ready to leaveat three?” He frowned as hestood next to me. His eyesbored into mine with animperious glance and Imademyself stand there, nottouchinghisgloriousbody.

“I’m ready.” Ifrownedbackathim.“It’snotmy fault that Sally isn’t hereyet.”

“Barbieisgoingtobeupset,”hesaidandpulledouthisphone.

“Why?” I cocked myhead to the side and studiedhis face. “Did she getperoxideinhermouth?”

“She’s a naturalblonde,”TJsaidwithasmallsmile, his lips curving up atthe side, even though I knewhewastryingnottolaugh.

“Sure she is,” I saidsweetly. “That’s why herpubic hair is darker than thehaironyourhead.”

“You’re gross and a

brat, you know that, Mila?”He started laughing then. “Isthere something you want totellme?”

“Huh? What?” I saidand swallowed hard.Was hegoingtoaskmeifIwasbeingbitchybecauseIwasjealous?

“Are you intowomennow? Is that why you’re sofamiliar with the femaleanatomy?” He lookedme upand down. “I guess thatexplains why you look so

butchtoday?”“What?” I screeched

andlookeddownatmyoutfit.“I don’t look butch.” But Ididn’t look particularlyfeminine, either. I waswearing baggy blue jeans, abig T-shirt and had my hairback in a bun. I certainlywasn’tinanyseduction-modeoutfit,butthatwasbydesign.Iwantedtolookscruffynow,sothatwhenIwentintofull-on seduction mode in the

evening, TJ would be takenby surprise. I had to plandifferently,nowthatIknewIhadaBarbietodealwith.

“I’m not a lesbian,asshole.”I turnedaroundandwalkedtowardsmybedroom.“ItoldyouI’mseeingaguy.”

“Ohyeah,youdidsaysomething about some putz,”hesaid,followingmeintomybedroom. “Where is he?Hidingunderyourbed?”

“He doesn’t need to

hideunder thebed.” I turnedaroundandglaredathim.

“Oh?” His eyesnarrowed and he looked atmy unmade bed and thenbackatme.“Don’tyoumakeyour bed anymore, Mila? Itlookslikeamess.”

“You’re not my dadand yes, I do make my bed.Just not today. I had a latenight,” I said, which wasn’ttechnically a lie. I did makemy bed. Every time I knew

my parents were comingover, or when I was havingfriends over— except forSally. I didn’t bothermakingmy bed every time I knewSally was coming over. Shedidn’t care that Iwasmessy.Well,atleastnotnowthatwedidn’tlivetogether.

“Alatenight?”“Yes,withmyman,”I

said emphatically and felldown on the mattress andclosedmy eyes, letting out a

loud sigh as I rolled aroundonthedisheveledsheets.“Wehad a really late night. Sorryif I didn’tmake the bed thismorning,butIwaswornout,”I croaked out, lying likecrazy.Ihadgonetobedlate,but not because of any guy.I’d stayed up all nightwatchingepisodesofGRΣΣKon Netflix, whilesimultaneously stalking oneoftheactorsonInstagram.Ifthingsweren’tgoing towork

outwithTJ,theymightworkout with Scott MichaelFoster. He was a decentsecond option, if I ever hadthechancetomeethim.

“Hey,”IsquealedasIfeltTJpullingmeupabruptlyfrom the bed. My eyes flewopenandIstaredathisangryfacewith an emotion akin toglee. “That hurt,” I said as Istoodnexttohimandrubbedmyarms.

“Do you think it’s

appropriate for you to betalkingaboutyourcasualsexwith your unknown man-friendandthentoberelivingthe memories in your mindwhile rolling around on yourbed?”Hisgreeneyes flashedat me. “Do you think yourparents would approve ofyourbehavior?”

“Huh?”Isaid,myjawdropping. “What are youtalkingabout?”

“I’mtalkingaboutthe

littlemoansyouweremakingasyouwiggledaroundonthebedjustnow.”Hefrowned.“Idon’t want the image of youhaving casual sex in mymind,thankyouverymuch.”

“It’snotcasualsex,”Isaidwithaglare.“We’reinalovingrelationship.”

“Really?”TJsaidwitha smirk. “A lovingrelationship? Yet no one inyourfamilyhaseverheardofthisguy?”

“Of course theyhave.”Iputmyhandsonmyhipsandstaredathim.

“No,theyhaven’t,”hesaid with a self-assuredsmirk. “I asked Cody lastnight if he had met yourboyfriend. And he seemedvery confused and he askedyour parents and none ofthem had any clue you weredating anyone, let alone in alovingrelationship.”

“Whatever, jerk.” I

turnedaway,fuming.Ishouldhave known he’d ask myparents about my boyfriend.TJ was the sort of guy whoknew exactly what he wasdoing. You could never getthe best of him in anysituation. Hewas always tensteps ahead of me, evenbefore I knew to startcounting.

“I’mnot a jerk. I justwanted tomeet thisnewguyin your life. See if I thought

he was going to be a goodadditiontothefamily.”

“Yeah, right.” I rolledmy eyes, knowing thateveryone was going to becalling me soon to get moreinformationonmyparamour.IwassurprisedNonnohadn’tshown up already and donehis “I haveMafioso friends”bit.

“IseeIhadnothingtoworryabout.”TJranhishandthrough his dark hair. “Your

relationship isn’t thatserious.”

“Yet,” I said as Ireleased my bun and tossedmylongblondhair,whichI’dspent a lot of money gettinghighlighted at my localhairdresser’s. I tried not tothinkof themoneyI’dspent,especially because Codyhadn’t gotten back to meabout the advance yet.“You’re correct, of course,Troy and I were merely

bedroom partners in thebeginning, but now it hasbecomemore.”

“Bedroom partners?”TJ’seyesnarrowedagain,buthe looked unconvinced as hesurveyedmyface.

“Fuck-buddies,friendswithbenefits,hook-uppals—you get the drift,” Isaidwithasweetsmileashischin hardened. TJ wasstarting to look pissed, and Ilovedit.

“You’re telling meyou have a fuck-buddy?” hesaid, his tone edgy, and hesteppedtowardsmeagain,hisbrow furrowed as his eyesdarkened.

“What’s it to you?” Isaidsoftly.“Isn’tthatexactlywhatBarbieistoyou?”Isaidsoftly, and he growled andturnedawayfromme.

“I’mnotplayingthesegames with you, Mila. Grabyourstuff.I’llbeintheliving

room.” He stopped at mydoorand turnedback to lookat me. “And call Sally. I’mnot going to wait around allday for your best friend toshow up.We have places tobe.And I’m not planning onarriving late. You’re the onewhoconfirmed the timewithme.”

“Well, it’s not likeanyonewillbeupwaitingforus,” I said, annoyed at histone. “My parents, who still

haven’t called me, won’t bethereandCody’snotarrivinguntiltomorrow,right?”

“Barbie and I haveplans for the night.” Hegrinned.“Iwanttomakesurethey happen and I don’t fallasleepassoonaswearrive.”

“Well, maybe I canask Troy to drive Sally andme up,” I said, snapping athim. “I’m sure he won’tmind.”

“Troy?” He lifted an

eyebrow.“Myboyfriend.”“So Troy is coming

on this trip?” he asked, hisright eyebrow still raised.“Codydidn’ttellmethat.”

“Itwas going to be asurprise,” I said churlishly,fiddling with my hair againandwonderingwhereIcouldget a ‘Troy’ fromat this latenotice.

“Am I giving him aride as well?” he said, his

tone annoyed. “And is hechippinginforgas?”

“IsBarbiegoingtobechipping in for gas?” I said,annoyed. “And no, he’s notriding up with us, he’sdriving his own car up. HisMercedes-Benz sports car, tobeexact.”

“So, why aren’t youriding in his sports car, aswell?” TJ asked in thatmatter-of-factwaythatletmeknow that he wasn’t buying

in a million years that therewas a Troy or that he had aMercedes-Benzsportscar.

“Because…” Istammered, trying to thinkofareason.Mymindwasgoingblankand I triednot toglareat TJ. He was hot, butsometimes he was just soannoying. It was as if hedeliberately tried to tauntmeandmakemefeellikealoser.IwonderedifhehadanyideaoftheplansIhadforhimand

theweekend.Hewouldn’tbelooking so cocky and self-assured then.Hehadno ideathat ‘little Mila’ had grownup. I wasn’t some littleinnocentgirlthathecouldputdownandmakefunof.Iwasgoing to show him exactlyhowgrownup Iwasnow. IwasgoingtoshowhimthatIwas all adult. That wouldwipe that smug smile off ofhisface.

“Because he doesn’t

have a Benz?” He smirked.“What does he have? AHonda?Hyundai?”

“What’swrongwithaHonda?IhaveaHonda.”

“Yeah, you do,” hesaid, smirk still on his face,andIwantedtopunchhim.

“We can’t all affordRange Rovers,” I said andthen smiled sweetly. “Wedon’tallhaverichparents.”

“Nice try, Mila. Youknow I bought this car with

myownmoney.”“Whatever,” I said,

feelingverymuchlikealittlegirl again, or at least apetulantteenager.

“Sowhat’s going on?Is RoboTron coming?Where’sSally?”TJlookedathis watch and then back atme.“Idon’thaveallday.”

“HisnameisTroyandIalreadytoldyouthatno,heis not coming. Let me callSallyandseewheresheis.”I

grabbed my phone and triedtokeepmycool.

“Yeah, that would begood. I’d like to get out ofheresometimethisyear.”

“Cry me a river,” Isangandhelaughed.

“CallSally,dork.”“Holdon.”Iunlocked

my phone and punched inSally’s digits and listened tothephoneringing.

“Wassup,” she saidhappily as she answered the

phone.“I’m here with King

TJandhe’swonderingwhereyouare,”IsaidandgaveTJalook.

“I’montheway.”Shegiggled.“Ihad tomakeapitstop.”

“Pitstop?”“Lingerie.” She

giggled.“What?” I kept a

straightface,butmyfacewasburning.“Youtoo?”

“Yeah, you gave metheidea,”shesaid.“It’sgoingto be game-on thisweekend.I’mgoingtobeonCodylikea tornado hitting theMidwest.”

“Sally,”Igroaned,butI couldn’t stop myself fromlaughing. TJ was looking atme with a weird look and Icouldn’t stop the sly smilefrom crossing my face. Hehad absolutely no idea whatwas going to happen this

weekend. I stared into hiseyes and wondered what hisface would look like when Isaunteredintohisroominmysilkynegligeeandaskedhimwhat he thought of the look.He’d be drooling. I couldalmost picture the salivafallingfromhismouth,likeadogthathadseenabig,juicybone.

“Youokay,Mila?”TJfrownedatme.

“Yeah, why?” I

blinkedathim,feelinglikeanidiot.I’dtotallyspacedout.

“Why?” He raised aneyebrow. “You’re standingthere with a dumb look onyour face and I still haven’theard when Sally will behere.”

“TJ’sinagoodmood,isn’the?”Sallysaidinmyearandlaughed.

“Yeah, you knowhim,” I said in a snide tone.“Lifeoftheparty.”

“Well, we both knowthatyoucanchangethat.”

“True.” I giggled.“Oh, by the way,” I saidsoftly, looking at TJ as Ispoke,“Troysaidhemightbeable tomake it up there thisweekend.”

“Who?” Sally saidloudly and I quickly loweredthe volume of the speakerfromthebuttonsattheside.

“He’s just getting hisMercedes-Benz out of the

garage.”“Who’s getting their

Mercedesoutofthegarage?”Sally sounded confused.“AndwhothehellisTroy?”

“Yes, theysaid itwasan engine issue. Apparently,hewasdriving too fastwhenhewentracingtheotherday,”I continued on, with a smallsmile on my face. TJ wasstaring at me with aconcentratedexpressionandIjust stood there talking like

somefool.“Earth toMila,”Sally

said, “I don’t knowwhat thehellyou’retalkingabout.”

“I told Troy that hecansleepinmybedtonight,”Isaidandgiggled.“Itoldhimtomakesurethathe—”

“Oh,isTroyyourfakeboyfriend?” Sally said,laughing.

“Whyyes,Ithinkthatis true,” I said, trying not togiveanythingawaytoTJ.

“You’re trying tomake TJ jealous? Am Iright?”Sally said, acting likeSherlockHolmes.Sallywasadistrict manager for a localcable company and wasapplying to get herMBA, soshe liked to act like shewassuper intelligent, which shewas.

“Yeah, I think that isright,” I said and pressed thephone closer to my ear tomake sure that TJ really

didn’thearanything.“You’re so bad,

Mila.” She giggled. “OnlyyouwouldthinkofaTroy.”

“Yeah, so I think itcould get serious with Troyandme,” I saidwith a smileand I saw TJ’s eyesnarrowing. “I think he isgoing to ask me to move inwithhimthisweekend.”

“No way.” Sallyscreechedand I laughed.Shewas really playing her role

well. “Oh wait,” she saidsheepishly. “I forgot Troywasmade up for a second. Ithoughtyoureallyweregoingto be moving in with yourboyfriend.”

“Sally.” I tried not toroll my eyes. “So, we’ll seeyousoon?”

“I’llbe there inaboutten minutes,” she said. “Seeyouthen.”

“See ya,” I said andthenhungup.“She’llbehere

in tenminutes,” I said to TJandhejustnodded.Iwatchedas he pulled his phone outandmadeacall.

“Hey, sweet lips,” hepurredintothephoneandthistime Idid rollmyeyes.“Mybest friend’s sister iswaitingon her best friend, so we’rerunning a little late. Yeah,Cody’s sister.” He turnedaround and looked at me ashe listened to whateverBarbiewassaying.“She’snot

dressed up, so don’t worryabout it.” He looked me upanddownandIfeltmybodyshivering as his eyes stayedon my breasts for a little bitlonger than was necessary.“No, Barbie. We’ve neverhooked up.” He spoke intothephone,buthiseyesgazedinto mine. “She’s my bestfriend’skidsisterandshestillacts like she’s a teenager.You have nothing to worryabout.”

I glared at him as hespoke and then pushed pasthim and headed towards thebathroom, my face a brightred. Kid sister, my ass. Andhow dare he say I act like ateenager?Whothehelldidhethink he was? Father Brownor something? I was furiousas I slammed the bathroomdoor and splashed my facewith some water. I took acouple of deep breaths andfinallycalmedmyselfdown.I

wasn’tsure if Iwassoangrybecause he was essentiallycalling me immature, or if Iwasangrybecausehemadeitseemasifhewouldneverbephysically interested insomeone likeme.Like Iwassome sort of slob orsomething. I’d show him—and Barbie—that I, MilaAntoniaBrookstone,was notsomeonetobetakenlightly.

ChapterFourMila

September18th,2008DearDiary,My life ended today.

Officiallyended.Like,IcriedsomanytearsthatIthoughtIwasgoingtocauseafloodinmy room. I was going to besolelyresponsiblefortheendof the Earth. Noah wasn’tgoing to be able to build an

arktosurvivethefloodIwasgoing to cause. Why did mylifeend,youask?Why?Why?Why? I found out that TJWalker has a girlfriend. Andthat¸ashe said toCody, shehasthe‘biggesttits’he’severseenonagirl.Andheknowstheyarereal.Canyoubelievethat? I was shocked. He’sthere at college playing withgirls’ boobs and I’m here,basicallytellingHarryIcan’tgo to Homecoming with him

becauseI’msavingmyselfformy true love. And my trueloveisn’teventhinkingaboutme.IalsohateCody,too.HewasencouragingTJ.Heevenasked TJ if she was a goodfuck. I nearly went and toldmy mom, but then CodywouldknowI’dbeenlisteningat his door and then maybehe and TJ wouldn’t comeover sooften.Anyway, that’smy life now. TJ is going tomarry some girl with big

boobs and I’m going to bealone for the rest of my life.As longas it lasts,anyway. Iswear my tears will be theendforeverybody.

MilaXOXOP.S. I’m thinking

aboutgettingbreastimplants,but only if TJ doesn’t marryhis college slut of agirlfriend.

Friday, One WeekAgo

“I’msorryIwaslate,”Sally said from thebackseatas soon as TJ got out of thecar to go and get Barbie.“Why did he have such anattitude?” she asked softly,herdarkbrowneyescurious.

“You know TJ.” Irolled my eyes as I lookedback at her. “He’s asmelodramaticasagirl.”

“Hey,Itakeoffensetothat,”Sallysaidandlaughed.She leaned back in the seat

and stretched beforecontinuing. “You are notgoing to believe the outfit Igot.Itishot,hot,hot.”

“Well, I hope it’s notthe same outfit that I got.” Igrinned. “That would beweird.”

“I can’t believe thatyou’re going to seduce him.Withhisgirlfriendstillinthepicture,” Sally said, her jawslack as her eyes sparkled.“This is going to be a crazy

weekend.” She paused andgrinned at me. “Noticeanythingdifferent?”

“Different?” I said,unsure what she was talkingabout, and then I noticed herlong, silky black hair,hanging straight down herback. “Oh, my God, yourhair!Whatdidyoudotoit?”

“I got a keratintreatment.” She beamed.“That’swhyIwasreallylate;don’t tell TJ. I mean if he

knew I was getting my hairdoneandshopping,he’dhavea fit.” She laughed. “Doesn’tmy hair feel silky?” Sheleaned forward and I ranmyfingersdownherlocks.

“Wow, yeah,” I said,impressed. “You didn’t wantto be curly this weekend?”SallyhadgorgeouscurlyhairandIwasalwaysjealousthatIcouldn’tgetmystraighthairto have any sort of wave orcurl.

“Well, I might gocurlyifwegoskinny-dippingin the lake. Me and Cody.”She giggled. “Not you andme.”

“Duh.” I rolled myeyes and shuddered. “Andthat’sgross,bytheway.”

“It’s totally notgross.” She grinned. “I toldmy parents that we weregoing to the lake thisweekend and my mom justwinkedatme.”

“Oh,funny,”Isaid.“And let’s be real,

Cody and Iwould have suchcutekids.”

“Sally!” I raised aneyebrow at her. “You’remeant to be the reasonableone.

“I am.” She giggled.“Well,mostofthetime.”Sheleaned back and I stared ather caramel complexionaffectionately.

“Youlooklikeyou’re

glowing,”Isaid.“Makeup,orhaveyoubeeninthesun?”

“Oh, it’s some glowstick I got at Sephora.” Hereyes sparkled at me. “IwantedtomakesureIlookedmybest.”Hereyesnarrowedas she looked me up anddown. “I guess you had achangeofmind.”

“No.” I laughed. “Achange of plan, but not achangeofmind.”

“Oh, we’re so bad.”

Sally laughed, her eyessparklingasshelookedatme.

“Would we have itany other way?” I laughedandthensheleanedforward.

“No.” She laughedagain. “I blame it on theItalianbloodinbothofus.”

“Yeah, I wouldagree.” I grinned. “It’s thecrazyItaliano.”

“Yup.” She grinned.Sally’s father was second-generation Italian and her

mother was from Guyana, acountry situated on thecontinent of South America,just south of the Caribbean.She’dgottenthebestqualitiesfrom both parents and wasgorgeous. Men used wordslike ‘exotic’ to describe her,butshehatedthatterm.Asfaras she was concerned, herlooksweren’tasimportantasher brains. Though I don’tthink any of the guys shedatedcaredaboutherbrains.

“Bytheway,theTroyideawasepic,”Sallysaidinalow voice and leaned evencloser to me and whispered.“It sounded like TJ waspissed.”

“Oh, he was sopissed.” I grinned. “I justwishthatTroywasreal.”

“About that…” Sallylooked sheepish. “I havesomethingtotellyou.”

“What?” I asked hersuspiciously.

“I did something thatwill make everyone believethat Troy is real.” Shegrinned and my eyesnarrowed.

“Whatdidyoudo?” Iasked, but then I hushed heras I saw TJ and Barbieapproaching the car. Troydisappeared from my mindandmystomachdroppedasIgazed at her. She wasbeautiful, almost like somepicture-perfect image of a

Cinderella princess.Why didshe have to be so goodlooking? I was starting todoubt that I could convinceTJtogowithmewhenhehadsomeone like her. Grr, whydid he have someone likeher?

“Hi,” I said with awide—albeit fake, but stillwide—smile to the buxomblonde as she got into thebackseat.

“Hi,” she said, her

facelookingsour.“I’mMila.”“Like Mila Kunis?”

She looked up at me ininterest.

“Well, I guess, butI’mjustMila.”

“Not Mila Kunis?”Barbie asked me and I shotTJ a look of surprise. Okay,maybe it was more a crossbetween, ‘who is thisdumbass?’ and ‘I’m reallytryingtobenicehere.’

“No, just Mila,” Isaid.“What’syourname?”

“Barbie,”shesaidandI watched as she flicked herlongblondhair.

“As in Barbie andKen?” I askedher softly, butshe just looked back at mewithadumbexpression.

“Hi, I’mSally,Mila’sbest friend,” Sally spoke upnext, her voice seeminglyreally happy to be meetingperoxideBarbie.

“Mila Kunis’ bestfriend?” Barbie asked her,looking excited, and Sallylooked at me with laughingeyesassheshookherhead.

“I’m afraid not. Idon’t know Mila Kunis orany Hollywood stars, to behonest.”

“Oh, you just saidyou’re Mila’s best friend.”Barbielookedconfused.

“She’s talking aboutme,”Isaid,aslightattitudein

myvoice.“TheMilayoujustmet.”

“Oh.” Barbie lookedat me with a boredexpression.“Isee.”

“I’mnotsureyoudo,”I said under my breath as IwatchedTJgetback into thecar,hisexpressionnotgivinghisthoughtsaway.

“Everyone okay?” heasked with a smile as helooked around, and I lookedawayfromhim.Ihadnothing

to say. Ididn’twant to seemlike I had sour grapes, but Ihad no idea what he saw inBarbie.

“Ken, honey, Ithought I was going to besitting in the front seat withyou?” Barbie said in a soft,sweet voice. I turned aroundtofacethewindowsothatnoonecouldseethelookonmyface.BarbieandKen,myass.I bit my lower lip to stopfrom laughing and then TJ

spokeupandIturnedaround.“Aww, sorry, babe,”

he said in a tone I’d neverheard before.My jaw almostdropped as I listened to himand then saw Barbie’s facelooking all soft and sweet. Iwas feeling confused as Ilooked at her almost angelicface. What had happened tothesour-facedshrewwhohadbeentalkingtoSallyandme?Barbie was looking like adifferentpersonasshebatted

her big blue eyes atTJ. I bitonmylowerlipasIstaredather,allbeautifulandflowery,andwaited for TJ to askmetoswitchseatswithhis latestparamour.

“But, babe?” Shepouted, suckingonher lowerlipasshegazedatTJ.

“Aww,next time,”TJsaid and gave me a quickwink. “Mila isn’t the sort ofgirlwho likes to give up thefrontseat.”

“Yeah, I’m not.” IlookedatBarbiewithasmallsmile and shrug. “I’m sureMila Kunis doesn’t like togiveupherseateither,ifthathelps.” I saw Barbie’s lipstwisting at my words and Iturned back around andturnedontheradio.“Let’sgo,James,” I said to TJ. “Wedon’twanttobelate!”

***The drive up to the

lake house was pretty quiet.

Normally, Sally and Ichattered on about what wewere going to do, but wewere both pretty focused onourownthoughts.

“So, when will Codyarrive?” Sally asked as wepulled off of the exit. Wewereabout tenminutesawayfrom the cabin and I kneweveryonewas ready forus toarrive.

“He said tomorrowmorning. He’ll join us for

breakfast,”TJansweredashedrummed his fingers againstthe steering wheel. “WhenwillTroybearriving,Mila?”HelookedatmecasuallyandI just smiled sweetly. Thatjackass knew that there wasnoTroyarriving.

“He’sgoingtocallmetonight and let me know,” Ianswered.

“Who’s Troy?”Barbie said, speaking for thefirst time since we’d left.

She’d spent most of the tripplaying with her hair andlooking at herself in hercompactmirror.

“Troy is Mila’sboyfriend,” Sally spoke up.“And I think he’ll be herfiancésoon.”

Iwanted to groanoutloadatSally’swords.Iknewshe thought she was helpingme,butIknewthatwhatshewas actually doing wasdigging me into an even

deeperhole.“You have a

boyfriend?” Barbie said,sounding surprised as shelookedatmeupanddown. Iknew I didn’t look my best,buttherewasnoneedforhertobesorude.

“Yes,” I said stifflyand looked at TJ,who had aweird smirk on his face.“What’ssofunny?”

“Nothing,” he saidandthenIfelthishandonmy

knee for a brief second.“Absolutelynothing.”

“Hmm,” I said, butdidn’t get into it furtherwithhim.

“So how’s business,RichieRich?”SallyaskedTJ,changingthesubject.

“Asgoodas it canbeinthiseconomy,”TJsaid,hisdemeanor changing. “I wantto introducesomechanges tothe company, bring ourcustomer service back to the

United States, increase thenumber of plants we have,change the automationsystem, and bring in a newmarketing company, butDadisresistant.”

“Oh, sad,” I said, andSally also made an ‘I’msorry’ noise. I was sure thatshe, like me, wasn’t reallysure what he was talkingabout. “Whywon’t your dadmake the changes?” I saidandgazedathimcuriously.

“He’s a cheapskate.”He sighed. “He’d rather savethe dollars now. I’m tellinghim that we need to spendmore to make more. That’show business goes. Andespecially now, we need toexpand.”

“Yeah,my dadwon’tlistentomeeither.I’mtryingtoconvincehimtoimportthisnew line of rugs fromMorocco,”Isaidwithasigh.“What’s the point of me

working in the buyingdepartmentifI’mnotactuallyallowed to make any largepurchasedecisions?”

“I forgot you gotmoved from being areceptionist,”TJsaid.“How’sthe change in departmentgoing?”

“Didn’tyouhearwhatI just said?” I frowned. “Notgreat. I still have no realresponsibility or real moneycomingin.”

“You just graduated,Mila. Be patient,” TJ saidwithanindulgentsmile.“It’llhappen. Ididn’tget towhereIamovernight.”

“What is it that youdo, again?” Barbie askedcuriously,andIsmiled.Ifshedidn’tknowwhathedid,theycouldn’tbethatserious.

“TJworks forWalkerEnterprises,” I answered forhim and turned around tolookatBarbie.

“Okay?” Barbieshrugged. The name WalkerEnterprises meant nothing toher.

“His dad is HudsonWalker,” Sally said. “TheHudsonWalker.”

“Hudson Walker?”Barbiesaidandthenhereyeslit up. “Hudson Walker, thefamous billionaire who datesall those actresses andmodels?”

“Yes,” I said with a

smile. “The very same one.He might even have datedMilaKunis.”

“Mila.”TJgaveme alook that indicated howannoyed hewas, but I didn’tcare.Lethimdealwithgold-diggingBarbie.Shewouldtryto get her clutches into himeven deeper now that sheknewhowwell-connected hewas.

“Yes, TJ?” I saidsoftly and then squealed as

we pulled off Old HarrisRoad and drove through thewoods towards the lake.“Ooh, we’re nearly there.” Ilowered my car window andstuck my head outside andclosed my eyes as the coolbreeze caressed my face. Itook a deep breath andbreathed in theair. “Canyouguysfeelandtaste thenatureright now?” I sighed incontentment.

“I can’t taste

anything,” Barbie said. Ididn’trespond.

“You really love thelake house, don’t you?” TJsaid softly as he pulled offand stopped in front of myfamilycabin.Iturnedtolookat him and I could see anaffectionate lookonhis face.Itwas a rare sight; normally,TJ and I spent somuch timesparring thatwedidn’t reallyexpress any other sort ofpositive emotion towards

each other. I smiled at him,happyinmyenvironmentandatmyplansfortheweekend.

“I do, I feel like it’sthis magical place. My ownprivate Narnia.” I grinned athim and then hopped out ofthe car. I ran up to the frontdoorandliftedupthebigredplant pot and grabbed thefront-door key. I opened thedoorandraninside,happytobe here, finally. I really didlovethelakehouse.Itwasthe

onlyplace thatmademe feellikeIwasonewiththeearth.It was also the only placewhereTJandIhadoncehadamoment that hadmademefeel like maybe, just maybe,there could be somethingbetween us. It had onlyhappened once and it hadhappenedsofastthatIwasn’tsureifI’dimaginedit,butthefact that it was even apossibility in my mind wasenough,fornow.

“Hey, you going togetyourownbagsordoyouexpect me to be your man-slave?” TJ shouted into thehouse as he walked in andlookedaroundthelargelivingroomwiththemassivewood-burning fireplace right in thecenter.

“I expect you to bemy man-slave,” I said andwalked up to him, my eyeslaughing at him. “Justbecause you’re the son of a

billionaire doesn’t exemptyoufromyourduties.”

“Hmm, my duties?”He cocked his head to theside.“WhatdoIgetfromyouin return for fulfilling myduties?”

“You’ll see,” I saidsoftly and stared into hiseyes. “Maybe somethingwonderful.”

“Wonderful?” he saidwith a small smile and wegazedateachotherforafew

moments, saying nothing. Imovedclosertohimandwasabout to lean in for a kisswhen he frowned. “There’snothingyoucangivemethatis good enough for me tobecomeyourman-servant.”

“Whatever,” I said,my heart dropping as Istepped back andwalked outof the front door, thankingGod I hadn’t embarrassedmyself by going for a kiss.“I’ll get my own bags, lazy-

ass.”“I’m not lazy.” He

grabbedmy arm as Iwalkedout and pulled me back tohim. His fingers gripped mywristandIlookedathimwithanangry,hurtexpression.Hestared at me for a fewseconds and then let go. Iturned back around andwalked to the Range Rover,myheart thudding.Whathadjusthappenedthere?Thathadbeen an awkward moment

and I didn’t know what itmeant.

“Is this where we’restaying?” Barbie looked atmewithanothersurlylook.Iswear, I wished the windwould hit her as she waspulling one of thoseexpressions so that her facewouldstaythatway.

“Whatdoyouthink?”IsnappedandlookedatSally,whowas trying not to laugh.“We just parked in front of

thecabin. Iwent andgot thekey and opened the frontdoor. Did you think I wasdoing it for shits andgiggles?”

“I was just asking aquestion,” she said, lookingirritated.

“Uhhuh, dumbass,” Isaid quietly, but obviouslymy voicewasn’t low enoughbecauseshegavemeadeadlylook.

“Let’s grab our bags

andchooseourrooms,”Sallysaidquicklyandshegrabbedher small duffel bag. “Andmaybe you can call Cody,Mila, seewhat timehe planstoarrive.”

“Yeah,” I said andgrabbed my small suitcase.“I’ll do that.” I walkedtowards the front door,feeling irritated,annoyedandout of sorts. Maybe thisweekend wasn’t going to goas well as I’d hoped. I wish

I’d known that peroxideBarbie was going to bejoiningus.Icouldn’timaginewhat TJ saw in her. She hadno redeeming qualities, butthen maybe the only qualityshe neededwas to lie on herback and keep her mouthshut. A dart of jealousyspread through me as Ithought about TJ and Barbiehaving sex. I tried to shakethethoughtfrommymindasitmademewant to throwup

and die at the same time. Ididn’twant tothinkaboutTJwith anyone else. I knew hewasn’t a virgin, I knew hewasn’tsavinghimselfforme,andIwasokaywiththat.Butjust the thoughtofhimbeingwith someone like her killedme. Especially after havingwantedhimforsomanyyearsandsavingmyselfforhim.

“Wow,” Sally said,interrupting my thoughts aswe watched TJ bringing in

Barbie’ssuitcase.Icouldfeelmyfacegoingredwithangerand even more hate andjealousy as I watched themtalkingandlaughingtogether.“Let’sgograbourroom.”

“Yeah,”Isaidandwewalked along the corridor. “Idon’t know what he sees inher. She has no redeemingqualities.”

“Who is she,anyway?” Sally said. “Talkabout abimbo. I didn’t think

shewashistype.”“I don’t know.” I

sighedaswewalked into thebedroom and I closed thedoorbehindusandlockedit.I fell downonto the bed andgroaned. “Do you think Ishould even go ahead withmy plan this weekend? Itseems like it would be awaste of time. I don’t evenknow when I’m supposed totry and seduce him if she’shere.”

“Girl, you have to goaheadwithit,”Sallysaidanddropped down on the bednext to me. “Do you thinkCody is going to bringsomeoneaswell?”

“I don’t know.” Isighedandturnedtofaceher.“Arewe thebiggest idiots intheworld?”

“Maybe.” Shegrinned,hersmilealittlesad.“We’ve been crushing ontheseguysforeverand,well,I

justdon’tknowthateitherofthemhaveevennoticedus.”

“Iknow.”Ichewedonmy lower lip. “I feel like, intheir eyes, we’re alwaysgoing to be the immaturelittlegirlsthattheyrememberfromhighschool.”

“Yeah,” Sally said.“Butatleastyouhaveaplan.Ohyeah,IwantedtotellyouwhatIdidwithTroy.”

“What do you meanwhatyoudid?”

“Well,I—”BANGBANG.“Girls, you in there?”

TJ interrupted us as hebangedonthedoor.

“Yes,” I said andSallyandIjustlayonthebedand waited for what he wasgoingtosaynext.

“I’m hoping you cantell me what room I shouldgiveBarbie.”

“Isn’t she sleeping inyourroom?”Isaidcattily.

“No,” he said simplyandIsatup,myeyesbright.

“No?”Ishoutedback,grinningdownatSally.

“That’s what I said.Mila, can you please comeandopen the door?”TJ said,hisvoiceannoyed.

“Coming.” I jumpedoff of the bed and ran myhandsthroughmyhair,tryingto make it a little bit morepresentable. I lookedatSallyand grinned as I walked

towardsthedoor.“HowcanIhelpyou,TJ?” I asked softlyas I opened the door andlooked at him with a blankexpression.

“Takemetomybed,”he said softly with a smallsmirkonhisface.

“What?” My heartstartedbeatingfastasIgazedinto his devilish green eyes.Was he finally coming on tome? Without me having towearmysexysuspenderget-

up?“Youwantmetowhat?”Isaidagain,nervouslylickingmy lips.Yes, Iwasn’t inmyrightmind.IfIwerethinkingstraight, I wouldn’t haveactually thought TJ wasaskingme to take him to hisbed and ride him like thecowgirlIknewIcouldbe.

“Takeme,” he leanedforwardandsaidevensofter.His lips were a mere inchfrommineandIcouldseethebrown speckles in his green

eyesastheydancedinglee.“Now?”Igulped.“Yes,please,”he said

and I swallowed hard. “I’mreadytogonow.”

“Readytogonow?”IsaidandIjumpedasIfelthisfinger on my cheek, lightlyrunningtowardsmylips.Oh,my God, I swear I nearlycameathistouch.

“Yes, please, Mila.”Hegrinnedandsteppedback.“I’d like to knowwhere I’m

sleepingtonightandsowouldBarbie.”

“Oh?” I said, feelinglike a fool as I realizedwhathe was saying. “But youknow where to sleep.” Andthen I frowned. “And whyaren’tyousharingabedwithBarbie?”

“I don’t want to bepresumptuous,”he saidashestepped back, his eyessearchingmine.“I’mnotsureyourparentswouldappreciate

Barbie and me sharing abed.”

“Yeah,most probablynot,” I said, though I wasn’tsure they would care. It wasonly me they seemed toworryaboutbeingproper.

“Okay, that’s good,”he said softly, bending downto whisper into my ear, “Iwouldn’t want to keepanyoneuptoolate.”

“Huh?” I said, myface burning. “What do you

mean?”“Imeanthesoundsof

the mattress squeaking andthe screams of passion andlust.”

“Idon’tneedtoknowabout what you and Barbiewill be doing,” I said with afrownandmovedaway fromhim.

“Who said I wastalking about Barbie?” hesaidquietlyandIgulpedasIfelt his hand on my lower

back. “I could be talkingabout any one of us, right?”hecontinued.

“Uh huh,” I said andwalked ahead of him,swinging my hips from sideto side and hoping I lookedsexy.IwasgoingtoshowTJWalker that he wasn’t theonly one who could be atease. Before this weekendwasdone,hewasgoingtobebegging me to take him inmorewaysthanone.

ChapterFiveTJ

Friday, One WeekAgo

I followedMiladownthe corridor, but my mindwas on her lips and herswinging hips. I was lettinghergettomeandIknewthatI had to ignore her innocentflirting.Shehadnoideawhatshewasdoingbyflirtingwithme.Shehadno idea that she

was playing with fire. Andthat I had promised herbrotherthatIwouldn’tletherdothat.HeknewaswellasIdid that I would burn her ifweweretoevergetinvolved.Not that that stopped thebulge in my pants fromhardening. Fuck, she wassexy. I wasn’t sure at whatpointshe’dbecomeawoman,butevenwithher loosejeansandbaggyT-shirt,Icouldseeher voluptuous figure. She

had perfect-sized breasts, anice little ass, and long legsthat could drive a man wild.Andthewayshekeptflingingher long hair around wasdrivingmecrazy.AllIcouldthink about was the feel ofher hair acrossmy chest andface as she rode me. Sheneeded to stop with her lip-bitingandlittlemoans.Whenshe’d fallen on her bed andstarted going on about her‘boyfriend,’I’dwantedtofall

onto the bed next to her andshow her how loudly a realman could make her moan.But of course, I’d resisted. Icouldn’tdothat,nottoher—but man, did she even knowwhat she’d done to me asshe’d rolled around on thebed,messinghersheetsup?

“I was thinking thatthis roomwould be good foryou.” Mila’s voiceinterrupted my thoughts.“This is the room you and

Codynormallyshare.”“It has two twin

beds,” I said, my eyes neverleavingherface.

“You want a doublebed?” she said, her facetensing as she gazed back atme.

“Thatwouldbenice.”Inodded,enjoyingseeingtherise of a blush in her face. Iwondered how red her facewould go if I told her thethings I wanted to do with

her.“ForyouandBarbie?”

sheaskedmesoftly,her toneslightlyoff.

“Yeah,” I said, mymind already gone fromBarbie. Mila was right, ofcourse, there was nothingaboutBarbiethatwasspecial.She’d been good the nightthat I’d met her and she’dgivenmeheadwithoutaskingfor much. We hadn’t evenfuckedandIdidn’tevencare.

I wasn’t even sure why I’dbroughther.Well, thatwasalie. I’d brought her becauseI’d been scared that Iwouldn’t be able to keepmyhands off of Mila if Barbieweren’there.AndasmuchasIwantedtobendheroverandhearhercryingoutmyname,I knew that Cody would cutmyballsoff if Imessedwithhis sister. And not justbecausehedidn’tthinkIwasgood enough for her. He

knew things thatMiladidn’t.He knew things I was into.Things I was capable of. Iunderstood why he didn’twant me with Mila. I evenagreed with him. But as shegazed at me with her poutylips,Iwasn’tsureIwasgoingto be able to stop whatseemed to be the naturalcourseofeventsbetweenus.

“Hey,TJ,canItalktoyou?”Barbiewalkedintotheroom,a frownonher faceas

shegazedatus.“Yeah, sure,” I said

andgavehera smile.“Comeonin.”

“Iwant to talk toyouwithoutMiley.”

“It’sMila,”Mila saidassherolledhereyes.“I’llbeinmy room.”Shegavemeapointed look. “Come and getmeifyouneedme.”

“Foranything?”Isaidsoftly, winking at her as shewalkedout.

“Whatdoyoumean?”sheaskedsuspiciously.

“Iwaswondering if Icould come and get you foranything, as you said ‘comeandgetmeifyouneedme.’”

“Within reason,obviously,” she said andplayedwithherblond tressesagain.

“Oh, it will bereasonable,” I said with agrin.“Seeyoulater,Mila.”

“Uhhuh,” she saidas

shehurriedoutoftheroom.“You’re totally

playing me, huh?” Barbiesaidassheclosedthedoor.

“Whatareyoutalkingabout?” I asked her with aweak smile, trying not toshowhermyimpatience.AsIlooked at her face, I wasn’tsurewhat I’d seen in her thenightI’dpickedherup.

“Does Mila knowwhat you’re up to?” Barbiesaidassheraisedaneyebrow

atme.“Whatareyoutalking

about?”Iaskedwithafrown,feelingannoyed.

“Does she know whyI’mreallyhere?”

“You’re not here tomake her jealous, if that’swhatyou’rethinking.”

“I’m not here to fuckyou, though, either. Am I?”Her eyes narrowed as shelooked down at the bulge inmypants.

“I don’t know whatyou’retalkingabout,Barbie,”I said, my brain starting towork in overload. WhatexactlydidBarbieknow?

“Yes, you do.” Shegrinned. “You know exactlywhat I’m talking about. Iwonder what Mila wouldthink if she knew. AndCody?” She tilted her headback. “What would they allthink if they knew exactlywhat TJ Walker had up his

sleeve?”“Whatareyoutalking

about?” I said, but my heartsank as I knew that this hadbeen a setup. Even themeetingat thebarmusthavebeenplanned.

“We both know whatI’m talking about.” Shegrinned. “So, you going tomake the move on Mila, orwhat?”

“I don’t know whatyou’re talking about,” I said

againasIglaredather.“She’ll be like putty

inyour hands.”She laughed.“And the poor girl has noclue.She’sgoingtothinkit’sallher,whenyou’vehaditallplannedout.”

“I don’t know whatyou’reinsinuating.”Igrabbedherwristsandsnarled.

“Sureyoudon’t.”Shelickedher lips, likeacat thathad just gotten the cream.“You’dbettermake sure that

things don’t get complicatedforyou.”

“They won’t,” I saidand pursed my lips. “I’llmake sure of that.” But as Istoodthereandthoughtaboutwhat I had planned, Iwasn’tso sure. Mila was going tocomplicatethings.Alot.Andnot justbecauseIwantedherinmybed.NotevenbecauseI wanted her to be my fakefiancée.No,Ihadtostepverycarefullynow. I had tomake

sure that everything wentsmoothly. And step one ofmy plan was already inmotion.

ChapterSixMila

October4th,2009DearDiary,Something really

weird happened today. TJaskedmewhatIthoughtlovemeant. Like seriously. For afewsecondsIthoughthewastryingtotellmehelovedme,but I don’t think he was. Ithinkhewas trying to talk to

me on a deeper level, like Iwas an adult or something. Isaid that love is lovingsomeone so much that youthinkof thembeforeyourself.He then asked if I thoughtthatwastrulypossible.Isaidof course. Then he justnoddedandsaidI’dgrowuponeday.Ihavenoideawhathemeantby that.But I thinkhe was saying he doesn’tbelieve in love. That makesme sad. For me and him. I

think that’s a sign that I’mgrowing up. Scary, but true.Thatdoesn’tmeanIwouldn’tscrew his brains out if I hadthe chance. Hahaha, I gotthattermfromabookSally’sbeen reading. I don’t reallyknow where it came from.How can you screwsomeone’s brains out? I’mnot sure, but maybe one dayTJwill teachme.AndmaybeIcanteachhimhowtofallinlove.Onecanwish!

MilaXOXOPresentDay“So, fun fact, Barbie

just barged into the bedroomwith TJ and me anddemanded to talk to him,” Isaidquietlyas Iwalkedbackintomybedroom.Sallysatupwithacuriousexpressionandaglintinhereye.

“So, what did shewant to talk to him about?”sheaskedeagerly.

“Well, I can’t readminds, and she asked me toleave before she startedtalking, so I haveno idea.” Ishrugged as I sat on the bednext to her. My mind wasspinningandallIcouldthinkaboutwasTJaskingmeifhecould come and get me foranything. What did thatmean? What was anything?Was he insinuating sex orwas he talking aboutsomethingstupidlikingdoing

his laundry? I could stillrememberthetimehe’dcomehomewithCody and offeredto pay me $10 to wash andironhisclothes.ThesadpartwasthatI’dacceptedhisoffergladly. I’d held his shirt tomyfacelikeitwassomesortoftrophyandthenI’dsniffedunder the armpits and nearlygagged. Maybe that wasn’tthesmartestideaI’deverhad.TJmayhavebeenthecollegeboy of my dreams, but I

wasn’tsurehe’dknownmuchabout deodorant in thosedays.

“You should havelistened outside of the door,duh.” Sally said. “Haven’tyou learned anything fromworking in corporateAmerica?”

“Um, I was areceptionist and now I’mbasically an assistant.” Ishook my head at her. “Iwasn’t exactly in the

boardroomdiscussingmergerandtakeoverplans.”

“You guys aremerging?” Sally asked in asurprisedtone.

“I don’t really knowwhat’sgoingon.Idon’tthinkwe’remergingwithanyone.”I bit my lower lip, my headthudding. “I don’t know thatbusiness is going great. Youknowhowthiseconomyis. Iknow Dad and Cody havebeen worried. That’s most

probably why Cody isworking late tonight. I thinkthey were going to go overthe books. I mean, don’t getmewrong,I’msurethingsarefine, but I’m not exactly intheknow.”

“Oh no, Nonno mustbe so upset.” Sally lookedsad.

“Yeah.” I bit mylowerlipandsighed.“I’mnotsure he really knows what’sgoing on.” I leaned back on

the bed. “That’s why I feelguilty about asking for anadvance. I’m sure Cody willhave something to say aboutit.”

“Yeah,” Sally said.“I’ll lend you whatever youneed. Just payme back nextmonth.”

“Youdon’thavetodothat.” I shook my head,feelingguilty.Ididn’twanttoborrow from Sally. Nonnohad always told me to never

lendandneverborrowfromafriend. And his advice wasusuallyspoton.

“I know that, but Iwant to,” Sally said with asmile. “That’s what friendsarefor.”

“You’re too kind.” Ilaughedandthenmovedoveron thebedcloser toher. ‘Doyou think I’m making amistake going after TJ?” Isaid softly. “Am I a horriblepersongoingafteraguywho

iskindaseeingsomeone?”“Not when that

someone is Barbie.” Sallyshook her head. “And notwhen the someone you’reafter is TJ Walker. You’vewantedhimforyears.Idon’tsee anything wrong in yougoingafterhim.”

“Isn’t that goingagainstthegirlcode?”Imadea face. I didn’t think I owedBarbie anything, but alsodidn’twanttobeoneofthose

shady girls who goes afterwhat shewantswithout eventhinking about the otherperson.

“Maybe.” Sheshrugged. “Though, it’s notlike Barbie is honoring anygirl code. She’s horrible. Idon’t know what any guysee’s in Barbie. She’s abimbo.”

“That’swhat they seeand like.” I sighed. “Bigboobsandpoutylips.”

“Ugh, I don’t evenwant to think about her.”Sallymade a face. “Let’s gointo the living room. Maybewecanfigureoutdinner;I’mhungry.”

“Yeah, I could eatsomethingaswell.” Inoddedand we headed out into theliving room. “I was thinkingmayberibsorsomething.”

“Ribs would bedivine.” She nodded eagerly.“Oohandsomepulledpork.”

“And smokedsausage,” I said,mystomachgrowling. “And bananapuddingfordessert.”

“Oh, man, rememberthat banana pudding we gotfromMagnolia Bakery whenwewenttoNewYork?Itwasso good.” Sally licked herlips.

“Um, how could Iforget?” I said, my mindgoingbacktothedrizzlydaythat had changed my life—

well,notreallymylife.Ithadchanged theway I felt aboutbanana pudding. It had gonefrom an okay dessert to a‘wherehaveyoubeenallmylife’ dessert. “That’s why Isaid Iwant it tonight,” I saidand I went quiet as I heardfootstepsheadingtowardsus.

“I could kiss you allnight long.” TJ and Barbiewalked into the living roomwith their arms around eachother. All happy thoughts of

banana pudding fled mymind. I tried not to gag as Isaw Barbie’s hands in hishair,pullingattheendsofhisdark silky tresses. “I couldkiss you and touch your hairall night.” Barbie almostpurredastheysteppednexttothefireplaceandstoodthere.

“Yeah,yeah,weheardyouthefirsttime,”Sallysaid,givingthemadisgustedlook.

“Well,don’tyouhavegoodhearing?”Barbiesaidas

she turned around. She gaveme a pitying look and thenturned back to TJ. “I’mhungry.Let’sgoandeat.”

“Sure.” He nodded,thesmileonhislipsnotquitereachinghiseyes.Infact,hiseyes looked like he wasslightly turned off. I tried tomake eye contact with him,but when he finally lookedintomy eyes, he looked likehewashavingthetimeofhislife.

“You girls hungry aswell?” TJ grinned as helookedatus.

“Is that even aquestion?”Sallylookedatmeandlaughed.

“Yeah,TJ,was that areal question?” I smiled athim, though I was feelinganything but happy as Iwatched Barbie running herhands down his back. “Ofcoursewewanttoeat.”

“SoIguessthismeans

the romantic dinner youpromisedmeisoff.”Barbie’svoice sounded annoyed andshe pouted. “You’ll have tomakeituptometonight.”

“Ofcourse,baby,”hesaid, his eyes never leavingmine as he grabbed Barbiearound the waist and kissedthe side of her face. “I’llmake it up to you all nightlong.”

“You’re a pig.” SallysaidwhatIwasthinking.

“Well, do you wantthis pig to feed you or not?”he asked with a raisedeyebrow.

“Let’s go,” I said,wishing I hadn’t spent somuchmoney on the lingerie.What had been the point? Iwasn’t going have anopportunitytotryandseducehim. It wasn’t as if I weregoing to slip into his room,knowing he andBarbieweregoing to be getting it on. It

made me sick just thinkingaboutit.

***Sally and I sat in the

backofthecaronthewaytothe restaurant. We sat insilence,liketwopetulantkidswhose parents had told themoff for something. I stared atthebackofTJ’sear,andallIcould think about was howmuchhe annoyedme. Itwasreallyquiteastonishing that Icould love him asmuch as I

did,knowingIcouldn’tstandhim so much at the sametime.ItwashowIknewIwasreally in love with him. Nomere crush would have keptmyattentionforsolong.NotforsomeonelikeTJ,someonewho frustrated me so muchthat sometimes I just wantedto bang my head against awall.

“So your dad isHudsonWalker?”Barbiesaidas her fingers ran up and

downTJ’sthighs.Iwantedtoreach forward and slap herhands away from his hand.Myheartbeatseemedtobeinsyncwithherfingersbecauseasherfingersgotclosertohiscrotch, my heartbeatincreased, and as they slidaway, my heartbeat gotslower.

“Yes,” TJ said, histone making it clear that hedidn’t want to talk about hisfatheranyfurther.

“He’s reallyhandsome,” Barbie said, hervoice light and giggly. “Andrich.”

“No shit,” Sally saidfrom next to me, her toneirritated. Sally really didn’tgive a shit what Barbiethoughtabouther.

“So, you work forhim?” Barbie continued,ignoringSally.

“Yes,”TJsaidandthetenseness of his yes spoke

volumes. TJ was an atypicalson for a handsome, famous,billionaire. While he washandsome and popular, he’dnever used his father’s nametogetahead. In fact, allhe’deverwanted to dowasmakehis father proud. Ever sinceI’dknownhim,he’dbeenanoverachiever—and notbecause his parents pushedhim, either—but because hewanted toprove tohis fatherthat he was just as brilliant

and capable as him. Yet, hisfather had never really givenhim the validation that heneeded. I didn’t think it wasfair. I hated his father. Notbecausehewasmeanorrudeand not because he didn’tlove TJ. He loved TJ like afather should love a son, buthe never gave him anythingextra. He never went aboveand beyond. He always saidthe perfunctorycongratulations, but he never

seemed super proud orovereager. He just assumedthat TJ would be intelligentand sporty because he was.And thatwas thecruxofmyissue with him. He alwayscompared TJ to himself. IFTJ got an A, he would havegotten an A+. If TJ wassecond seed on the tennisteam,hewasfirstseed. IfTJwonaleadingroleinaschoolplay, he was lead. And itwasn’t even as if he were

bragging to out-do TJ, thatwas just his way. TJ’s dadhad taken his father’sbusiness and made it into amulti-billion dollar industry.Hudson Walker was worldfamous, for his businessacumen and for dating thehottest supermodels andactresses in theworld. Itwashisway:heworkedhardandplayed even harder. Andsomehow TJ had gotten leftbythewayside.

“What do you do?”Barbie continued and the airinthecargrewtense.

“Let’s talk aboutsomething else,” I said tochange the subject. I felt badforTJand,whileIthoughthewasa jerk,Ididn’twanthimto have to go into the nittygritty of his job to someonelike her, someone I hopedwouldn’t last past theweekend. Ididn’t likeBarbieand it wasn’t just because I

was jealous.She seemed liketheworstkindofgold-digger,and I really hoped that TJwasn’tgoingtogetsuckedinby her good looks. I didn’tunderstand why guys couldnever figure out which girlswere the parasitic vultures inthe dating world. Did theyreallynot seeall the signsordid they just ignore thembecausethegirlswerehot?

“Whatever,” Barbiesaid, clearlyannoyed that I’d

cutheroff.“Whatever,” Sally

mouthedatmeandrolledhereyesandIhad tobitemy lipto stop from laughing. “So, Isu