“Strawberry milkshake lipstick?” I leaned forward and stared at her lips. “I’m not going to lie, Sally, but even I wouldn’t have known you had on a strawberry milkshake lipstick. How are we supposed to know that?”
“He would have known if he’d kissed me.” She pouted and lay back down on her bed and sighed. “But he didn’t even look in my direction, let alone kiss me and try and feel me up.”
“No offense, but I’m glad I wasn’t here to witness my brother feeling you up. That’s not really something I want to see.”
“We’d keep it under the covers,” she said and I could tell from her tone she was grinning. “I promise you that.”
“Why, thanks. That makes me feel better,” I said and laughed as I jumped out of the bed. “I’m not showering,” I said and looked through my bag of clothes. I have no time to shower if he wants me in the kitchen in ten minutes.”
“I wish he wanted me in the kitchen in ten minutes. I wish he were bossing me around.” She sighed. “ ‘Sally, in the kitchen in ten minutes and no panties.’ ”
“Eww, you do remember he’s my brother, right?” I groaned as I pulled out my hairbrush and started brushing my hair. If I was going to be looking rough, at least my hair could be looking good. “Do you want to go lay out by the lake this morning?” I asked her. “I can just put on my bikini.”
“Yeah, let’s do that.” She grinned and sat up. “I brought a sexy black bikini that I got at Macy’s last weekend.”
“Macy’s?” I asked, surprised. Sally was a budding fashionista and she never shopped at Macy’s.
“Yeah, my grandma sent me a hundred-dollar gift card to use.” She made a face. “I was thinking I could get a pair of heels, but they were all so fugly. So I figured what else can I get? None of their jewelry was cute, but I saw this two-piece and tried it on and the top was made for my bust.”
“Lucky.” I pulled out the bikini that I’d bought at Target. “I can never find swimsuits that fit me well. My boobs are too big, so I always feel like I’m about to pop out.”
“You’re the lucky one.” She stared at my boobs. “I’d die to have 34Cs.”
“Um, so would I.” I laughed. “I’m 38D.”
“Oh, wow.” She looked surprised.
“And when I say D, I mean double D.” I laughed again and then groaned as I realized I only had about five minutes left to make it to the kitchen before Cody marched back to my room and started acting like some sort of tyrant. He could be so annoying sometimes, but I knew better than to call him out. Especially now, and especially about money. “Close your eyes.” I giggled as I pulled my top off and turned around. I quickly pulled my bikini top over my breasts and struggled to pull the material over all of my cleavage. “Argh.” I groaned. “This top seemed to be full coverage when I was in the store.”
“It looks hot,” Sally said as she opened her eyes again. “You should be proud to show off your body. Every guy at the lake will be staring at you.”
“Yeah, they will. They’ll be trying to catch a glance of nip.” I groaned and adjusted my bikini top to cover my breasts fully. “And nip is dirty, not sexy. Only skanks have their nipples showing.”
“True.” Sally nodded in agreement. “If they can see areola, they are seeing too much.”
“Should I change?” I glanced down at my top and frowned. “And look at my belly. Ugh, it’s hanging out like I’m pregnant.”
“Mila, please.” Sally rolled her eyes. “You’re far from pregnant.”
“Only because I haven’t had sex in months.” I made a face. “And you know there is no way I could be pregnant.”
“That’s true.” She giggled and then stopped when she saw my face. “Seriously though, you look fine. There are millions of women who wish they had your body.”
“Uh huh,” I said and then looked at my watch. “Okay, I’ll be back to put on the bottoms. I’m sure Cody is in the kitchen waiting for me with a cup of coffee in his hand and a frown on his face.”
“Tell him I love him and want him in my bed tonight,” Sally said as I made my way out of the room.
“Okay,” I said lightly as I walked through the door.
“Don’t you dare tell him that, Mila,” she shrieked as I closed the door behind me and I just laughed. The corridor was quiet as I walked towards the kitchen. I wondered if Barbie and TJ were up yet. I also wondered what had gone on last night. I didn’t think much would have gone on, but I knew TJ had been drunk and seemingly a bit horny based on his comments. Oh my! His comments had kept me up all night. All I’d been up to think about was him holding me up and sliding into me. Even as I walked to the kitchen I could feel my face flushing. Oh, what was TJ doing to me? It was like he knew I’d come here with an agenda and he was trying to one-up me.
“There you are,” Cody said as I walked into the kitchen. His face was flushed and angry, and I frowned. Why was he flushed? He’d just gotten here. Was he already working himself up to go off on me?
“Morning, Mila,” TJ said, and I looked over by the fridge and saw him standing there with a carton of milk in his hands.
“Morning,” I said, looking back at Cody, whose jaw was tense. “You’re up early.”
“Early to bed, early to raise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise,” he said with a grin.
“You didn’t go to bed early,” I said and rolled my eyes. “You making coffee?”
“Cody put it on. It’ll be ready in a minute,” TJ said, and I saw Cody clenching his fists. What had gone on between them?
“So, what do you want Cody?” I said, walking up to him and glaring. “I thought this was a vacation. I didn’t think I needed to deal with my boss on my vacation.”
“Funny, Mila,” he said, not smiling. “You need to be smarter about how you spend money. I can’t believe you seriously called me and asked me for a raise.”
“I was joking,” I lied.
“No, you weren’t.” He shook his head and sighed. “What’s going on, Mila? Why did you need the money?”
“Do we have to have this conversation in front of TJ?” I said and glared at him. “I like my private business to stay my business.”
“I’m like family, Mila,” TJ said as he walked over with a mug and handed it to me. “Cody can say anything in front of me.”
“Exactly!” Cody said loudly. “Remember you’re like her brother.” He looked over at TJ, who just walked away.
“Well, he’s not my brother and I like my business to stay my business.” I made a face. “And I don’t want to ruin my trip by talking about money.”
“You know the business isn’t doing well, Mila,” Cody said gruffly. “We need to be careful.”
“I didn’t know we were doing badly,” I said and paused. “Are we in trouble, Cody? Like serious trouble?” I looked up at him and frowned. Why was he acting like the world was going to end? My paycheck wasn’t even that high. Certainly not high enough to be causing this much stress.
“We need to be careful.” Cody nodded. “Things aren’t great right now. Dad is trying to figure out the best plan of action.” He sighed.
“But?” I said, my voice timid and slightly scared. Maybe this was more serious than I’d thought.
“But Nonno is challenging him.” Cody looked away from him. “Nonno doesn’t like Dad’s plan.”
“What?” I frowned, not believing what I was hearing. “But Nonno lets Dad run the company. He trusts Dad, doesn’t he?”
“Nonno has other plans now.” Cody sighed. “Look, I can’t say much more. I’ve already said too much. Just make sure you’re careful with your money from here on out. I can’t be giving you advances on anything, okay? If you’re in trouble, let me know.” His eyes peered into mine in concern. “Are you about to get evicted or anything?”
“No.” I shook my head. “Nothing like that.” I thought about all my bills coming up and I felt my stomach dropping. I was worried, but I didn’t want to worry Cody. He already seemed like he had enough on his plate.
“Good.” He leaned over and ruffled my hair. “I’m not that flush right now myself. After buying the house and the Beemer.”
“Yeah, I understand,” I said and bit on my lower lip. I could see TJ staring at me from the corner of the room, and I felt embarrassed. And slightly ashamed. I wondered how he felt knowing that our family business wasn’t doing so well and that we were on the way to the poor house while he was the son of a billionaire. I wondered if it made him feel uncomfortable. Was he going to feel like we were going to ask him for money if things went badly?
“Want any breakfast, Mila?” TJ asked softly and I heard Cody inhaling. What was his problem? I glanced at Cody to see what he was annoyed at now, but I saw his face moving to the kitchen door, his eyes alert and a small smile on his face. I looked towards the door and my stomach sank as I saw that it was Barbie who had caught his attention and not Sally. Barbie sauntered into the kitchen in a white tank top, with no bra and short black gym shorts that were practically just underwear.