Flynn sat down beside her and lowered his voice as Georgia watched Chris walk away. “He’s sensitive about being the oldest. Especially since Jimmy has decided to compete against him this year.”
“Compete?”
“Doctor Williams is the strongman champion of Divide. He pretends he only does it to fundraise for the children’s wing of the Medical Center, but Jimmy thinks it’s more than that.” Georgia felt his warm breath on her cheek and shivered. “Which is why he’s signed up for next year’s games. Thankfully, he waited until I was around so we could both enjoy the old man’s response to a little healthy competition.”
Georgia watched Jimmy and Chris, their bodies strong and distracting as they bent to scoop up the snow around them. “I was wondering why you were all so huge.”
Flynn patted her knee…then left his hand there. “I come by it naturally. And I have no interest in rolling tires around mountainsides or tossing axes. I’m more into speed myself. Which is why I teach skiing and snowboarding, among other things.”
“Adrenaline junky?” Georgia snorted and glanced at him sideways. “I never would have guessed.”
“Have I said thank you for saving my life, Georgia?”
“Only a few dozen times since I’ve been here. And I keep telling you—“
“It was Roux, I know,” he interrupted. “It’s just, well I’ve never experienced a Christmas miracle before. It’s hard to get used to. Especially when it comes in such a beautiful package. A package I really want to unwrap.”
Georgia looked up at him in shock. “You do like to go fast.”
Roux , distracted by Chris tossing a snowball at Jimmy’s snowman, ran over to investigate. Flynn chuckled, watching her. “I do. Wasting time is pointless, especially when I’m not sure how long it will take the others to stake the claim I know they both want to.” He shrugged. “And I know you like them, but I know you like me too.”
Flynn stared at her with his lovely green eyes. “I want you. I have from the first moment I saw you, concussion notwithstanding. Life is too short to pretend I don’t.”
Georgia was having that moment. That moment when disbelief and shock warred with arousal and, well, shock, and combined to elicit a single, intense reaction based entirely on self-preservation. Flight. “I—I think I should go back inside after all. I’ll make cocoa. Yes. Cocoa sounds good right now.”
She hopped off the tire and walked as swiftly as her giant boots would let her, whistling for her dog before opening the door and disappearing inside.
That did not just happen. She’d had another fantasy. Only this time, she wasn’t waking up in Chris’s bed alone. She looked down at Roux. “What are we going to do now?”
***
“Are you trying to spoil us? Not that I mind, of course. Just curious.”
Georgia jerked in surprise, hot soapy water splashing on the front of her sweater. Her sweater. She’d come inside, showered and changed into her own clothes before heading into the kitchen to cook for her hosts.
She’d hardly spoken all night.
“Jimmy, you startled me. I was finishing up these dishes. Did you want more coffee?”
The tall officer walked over to the sink, grabbing an extra dishtowel and holding out his hand. “I’ll dry. I insist.”
She handed him a plate and studied the next as if it were the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen. “I’m so glad I got trapped in a house with its own generator. I can’t imagine riding out that kind of storm without hot water and power, let alone cooking my Grandpa’s famous Bayou Stew.”
“Georgia.”
His tone was concerned. Determined. She turned her head to meet his gaze and he frowned. “What did Flynn say?”
She tried to shrug, handing him another plate to dry. “Nothing. But speaking of Flynn, I was curious. He called Connie’s house the orgy palace. Any particular reason?”
Jimmy appeared startled, then one side of his mouth quirked up. “I think you know, don’t you?”
“I do,” she muttered, not liking the idea of people talking about her friend behind her back, whatever the reason. “I didn’t realize everyone in the state did too.”
Jimmy sucked in his lower lip thoughtfully and Georgia tried not to salivate. He had full, sensual lips. Not that she’d been staring.
He shook his head. “Not everyone in the state, no. But you just happened to be, trapped, as you put it, in the home of some people who do. We know about Simon and Charli and the others as well.”
Georgia knew her mouth had fallen open. “You do?”