Rex grinned. “I resigned to pursue my passion. I didn’t get banned for life.”
“And we’re here to take you with us for drinks, little brother, that’s all,” Will said. “I have a ten p.m. curfew, so unless you have a very good excuse for ditching the best brother in the world and this very good man’s almost last weekend as a bachelor, you’re coming with us.”
“Glad that’s settled.” I pulled my bike pants, shirt, and windbreaker out of my bag. “I have a very good excuse.”
“There’s no excuse good enough for ditching me when I need my groomsmen,” Rex said. He crossed his arms over his chest. “Or maybe there is… Shit. You have a date. Is it a regular date or a hot date?”
“If it’s with his neighbor, it’s definitely a hot date,” Will added unhelpfully.
“You two seem perfectly capable of carrying on this conversation without me, so unless you want to watch me strip…” I shooed at them.
Instead of leaving, they stepped into my office, and Will closed the door.
“Unless you’ve recently gotten a tattoo, it’s nothing we haven’t seen before,” Will said. “What’s really important here is whether your neighbor will be getting a striptease later.” Will grinned. “Or better yet, giving you one.”
“That’s not what’s happening,” I said through gritted teeth. I was angrier at myself than at Will, though. He wasn’t the one who’d put the thought of a fling with my neighbor in my head. I’d managed that all by myself.
“I’m giving you a pass tonight as long as you promise to make it to boys’ dinner tomorrow night,” Rex said.
I held up a hand. “Fine. I’ll be there.”
“Good. Now that that’s settled, I need to hear the details about this woman.” Rex nudged his elbow into Will’s ribs. “If your brother’s not going to spill, Will…”
“Ah,” Will shoved his hands into his pockets and spoke in his litigator's voice. “One Ms. Katarina Hartmann, Kat for short. Works for the State Department—”
“Fancy,” Rex interjected.
“Just moved to New York from Europe,” Will said.
“Sophisticated,” Rex said.
Will turned toward his admiring audience of one. “She’s fostering a cat over the holidays.”
Rex glanced at me and screwed up his face. “Awww, so sweet.”
“And in conclusion, your honor, Ms. Hartmann is objectively hot.”
Rex waggled his eyebrows. “Oh, do tell.”
“Do not,” I told my brother. I pulled off my suit jacket and unbuttoned my dress shirt. “Again, time for you to leave.”
“Long red hair, big blue eyes,” Will said. “And a great—”
“William!” I glared at him.
He held up a hand placatingly. “Skin. I was going to say skin.”
“Really.” I arched an eyebrow. “She hasagreat skin?” I pulled on my workout T-shirt and grabbed my sweatshirt.
Rex slapped Will’s shoulder. “The million-dollar question is, how much of that skin does he plan to see tonight?”
“That’s it.” I unbuckled my belt and unbuttoned and unzipped my pants.
“We’re going,” Rex said. Then he grinned, and I knew I was going to regret it. “But just to clarify, her name is Kat, and she has a cat?”
“The pussy jokes just write themselves, don’t they?” Will could barely speak through his laughter, and Rex joined him.
“Gentlemen, I say this with both brotherly love and all due respect, you’re asses. Here are the salient points to remember about this conversation: One, I am not now, nor will I ever sleep with someone who lives in my building. Two,” I pointed at Will, “you should be too ashamed of that lame-ass joke to ever speak again.” I pointed at Rex. “And three, you need to get the hell out of the building before I call security anddoget you banned for life.” Not that I had that kind of power since his family still owned the place, but it got my point across.
