Dry

By Athena13

Sequel to Wet - A/N - This was done right after Wet, but I just realized it wasn't posted here.

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"I'm sorry." Michael's face was grim.

"For what?" Natalie asked.

Michael shrugged. "I'm not sure really. That was ugly."

"He was jealous."

"He was an asshole." Michael slid the towel off his shoulders and absently put it on top of the dresser.

"You just don't understand why when he was such a perfect girlfriend."

"I never said that. All I ever said is that." Michael stopped and frowned. His hand hovered over an open drawer of t-shirts.

"What?"

"I'm getting out of the advice and opinion business. I should've just kept my big mouth shut." He turned away and pulled out a shirt and began to put it on.

"So you keep saying." Natalie swallowed past an unexpected feeling of disappointment that he was covering his beautiful body. It was a shame he always looked like a dork in the clothes he wore.

"Go get dressed. I'll dig out some menus and we can order food. If you're still going to stay, that is," Michael said.

"I don't have anywhere else to be." Natalie put her hand up. "I didn't mean that like it sounded."

"I bet." Michael grinned and playfully punched her on the shoulder.

Conscious of her nudity, Natalie flushed and swiftly made her way into the bathroom with her scrubs in hand.

"Damn it." Michael let out the breath he had been holding and ran a hand through his wet hair. He wasn't sure who he was more pissed off at. Himself for getting in the way of whatever the hell it was between his brother and the woman he was obviously torn up about or his brother for his cruelty.

Michael had worked really hard to get over his resentment of his brother, but now it was back burning in his stomach. He'd always hated how John acted as if losing their father only happened to him. John's grief was his greatest defense and, as he just displayed, his greatest weapon. Michael hated him for it. It was weak and selfish and greedy.

But he would get over it once the first flash of anger passed. He knew John was irreparably damaged by the loss of his father, of Caitlin and whatever else happened at the FBI that he wouldn't talk about. And by Haver's targeting of Natalie, he could see now that it played a big part in his brother's complex relationships with Evangeline and the red head covering her sexy body in his bathroom.

And that was the other thing burning him up.

He'd always known Natalie was an attractive woman. He enjoyed looking at her and watching her move as much as any guy admiring something pretty. But since their exchange at the Diner, when he realized that mustard on fries wasn't so bad after all, he'd also realized that Natalie was more than just a pretty face. Every run-in afterwards had left him just a bit breathless and a lot turned on.

He wasn't dating Marcie.

Unbidden, the thought popped into his head again.

John was dating Evangeline. He said he didn't want her.

And Michael did. Want Natalie.

His heart pounding, Michael opened the drawer by the telephone and began sifting through menus. He didn't really know what Natalie liked to eat, he realized.

Or taste like.

"What do you want to order?" Natalie asked as she came out of the bathroom.

He turned and saw her, dressed in his scrubs, her hair tied back. She looked cute; and desirable.

"Um. I don't know what you like. Here." He thrust a messy pile of menus towards her.

"You don't do much cooking do you?" Natalie sat down cross-legged on the couch and starting organizing the papers.

"Don't have time." He tried to block out the image of her wet shirt plastered to her lush curves.

"How about Chinese?" She looked up at him and her smile slipped. She recognized the look.

Natalie pushed the menus off her lap and stood up. "I should go."

"You don't have to."

"You love Marcie. And I want John."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why do want John? Why don't you think you deserve better than to have a man who doesn't want you."

"He does want me. Was that not obvious just now in how jealous he got?"

"Natalie, he might not want you with anyone else, but he's not beating down your door claiming you for himself. He's with Evangeline."

"He doesn't love her." Natalie crossed her arms.

"You don't know that."

"I do." Natalie glared at him.

"And still, he's not beating down your door. You deserve better, Natalie. You deserve a man who appreciates your beautiful face. Your spunk. You. You're just not right for my brother."

"Who am I right for?" Natalie demanded.

Michael looked at her. And wondered.

End