“Hi, Reid,” an unfamiliar voice said.
He froze in the act of dropping his sweatshirt, swore silently, then shrugged the shirt back into place. He sucked in a breath, then turned to look at the bed.
Two women lay there. Two blond, pretty, young women. They’d pulled back the covers, fluffed the pillows and stretched out naked on his sheets.
Totally naked.
He barely glanced at their bodies before returning his attention to their faces. He recognized the twins. The three of them had had a weekend together and then the twins had gone on CNN to promote some damn book. They’d also taken a couple of pokes at him.
The one on the right sat up then crawled toward the end of the bed.
“Are you mad at us, baby? We were bad. Very, very bad. Do you want to punish us?”
Her large, perfect br**sts hung down, swaying gently with each movement. Her skin was pale, her ni**les nearly red.
The one on the left smiled. “You could spank us. Wouldn’t that be fun?”
Several feelings crashed in on him, but the overriding one was complete and total panic. What if Lori walked in on them right now? What would she think? There was no way in hell he could explain these two. He didn’t want to explain them—he wanted them gone.
“Let’s have some fun, Reid,” the first one said, her blond hair falling over her shoulders. She licked her lips. “Really hot, naked fun. You’ll like it. I promise.”
“Me, too,” her sister said.
He couldn’t get out of there fast enough. Not caring if he looked liked an idiot, he turned and ran from the room, then sped along the hall and raced down the stairs. He found Lori in with his grandmother and asked to speak with her.
Lori followed him into the hallway.
“What’s wrong?” she asked. “You have the weirdest look on your face. Are you hurt or sick?”
He didn’t know what to say to her. How could he tell her the truth? She wouldn’t understand. Lori had issues. Some made sense to him and some didn’t but he knew they were there.
He touched her cheek. “You matter to me,” he said. “You know that, right?”
Her eyes narrowed. “What have you done?”
“I haven’t done anything. I swear. It wasn’t me. It’s not my fault.”
“The eternal cry of the irresponsible male.”
“It isn’t. Dammit, Lori, you know me. You know that I’m a decent guy. I would never hurt you.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “Tell me.”
“I want you,” he said, knowing he was getting it all wrong, but not sure what else to say. “You mean a lot to me. More than a lot. I like what we have together and you like it, too. I would never do anything to mess things up.”
She raised her eyebrows. “But?”
He sucked in a breath. “I came home and went upstairs because you’re coming up and I wanted to take a shower. I walked into my bedroom and they were just there. I didn’t let them in. I’ve been gone. You know that, right? I’ve been at the gym. They were just there.”
He paused and waited, braced for the explosion.
“Who was where?”
“These two women. You don’t know them. They’re baseball groupies. Twins. I want them to leave, but I don’t know how to make them. I’m afraid they’ll take anything I say as encouragement.”
He couldn’t read her expression. Something flashed in her eyes, but it was gone before he could identify it.
“They’re upstairs?” she asked.
“In my bed. Naked.”
Her eyes widened. “You have two naked women in your bed?”
He nodded frantically, then grabbed her arm. “You have to help me. I swear, I didn’t contact them. I don’t want them here. I don’t want any of this.”
One corner of her mouth twitched. “Is the big bad baseball player afraid?”
“Terrified.”
“You expect me to go up there and throw them out?”
“That would be great.”
“I’m assuming you’ve slept with them.”
He glanced down and shuffled his feet. “It was a long time ago.”
“Both of them? At the same time?”
He nodded glumly.
“Impressive.”
He looked at her. Okay, maybe he wasn’t the best judge of women, but if he had to guess, he would say Lori wasn’t totally furious with him.
Her mouth twitched again. “What did you want me to say to them?”
“That we’re together. That you don’t stand for this sort of thing. Not ever. You could tell them I’m not interested, if you want. Because I’m not. You’re the only woman I want in my life.”
“All right.”
She turned and walked up the stairs. He followed, not sure how this was going to go, but relieved to have Lori take charge.
She walked through the living room and into his bedroom. The twins were still sprawled naked on his bed.
The one on the right smiled when she saw Lori.
“Hi. We’ve never done a foursome before. This could be fun.”
Lori glanced around the room, then walked over to the neatly folded clothing on the dresser and picked it up.
“Aren’t you two a little old for games like this?” she asked. “Showing up naked in a guy’s bed seems beneath you. You’re attractive women. Do something with your lives. Go to college, have a career. Be more than your bust size.”