Had she passed out? Was she dreaming? Why was that idea comforting? Why was it okay to do what she really wanted to in a dream but not in reality? Maybe it was the drinks talking, but Georgia wasn’t sure anymore. She sent a wobbly smile to Jimmy. “Thank you.”
Flynn glared at all of them. “Damn it, I staked a claim. Wasn’t that our old rule? We like the same girl, whoever stakes a claim first gets her and the others back off.”
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Georgia put her hands on her hips. “If you talk about me like a mining venture again you won’t like my reaction. No one can stake a claim on me. And I am not a competition to be won with snowmen or strongman trophies. I make up my own mind. I decide who I want.”
Jimmy took a sip of something that looked cool and frothy…and pink. Of course, in his hands, even a girly drink looked incredibly masculine. “But you can’t, can you, Georgia? That’s why you stopped me from taking our kiss further in the kitchen. That’s why you disappeared inside the house this afternoon. You can’t decide.”
“God, you’re good. Seriously, how do you do that?” Georgia was too tipsy to be anything other than impressed by his observations.
Chris let out a soft laugh behind her. “He read a lot of detective novels in his youth.”
Flynn nodded, still looking confused, but willing to play along. “He’s also watched Sherlock Holmes about a hundred times.”
Jimmy made a face. “People-watching is one thing Georgia and I have in common. She watches the three of us the way I watch a potential car thief. Either she’s doing research for a new story, or she wants us.”
“Us,” Flynn clarified. “Orgy palace-style us? Or metaphorically speaking?”
Chris came back into her line of vision again, placing her chin between his fingers so he could look her in the eye. “Is James right? Is that something you think about? Something you want?”
Georgia was sobering up faster than she’d like. She couldn’t tell him the truth. They’d think she was beyond perverse. Sure, they weren’t technically flesh and blood brothers, but still. “You can have fantasies and not have them come true. It happens to me all the time. It’s my vivid imagination. I know that’s not the way real life works.”
Chris smiled enigmatically. “It isn’t? You and I both know of several examples that say you’re wrong.”
“Wait, Chris, you’re going along with this? James is just trying to mess with our heads.” Flynn’s voice was shocked. But not angry. Not averse.
Jimmy looked up at the tall dark haired Flynn and shook his head. “No messing with anything, Flynn. Just observing. I think we should do as she says. Leave it up to her.” He turned back to Georgia. “Do you want to kiss Chris?”
How could she lie? She couldn’t. Not tonight. “Yes.”
He smiled encouragingly. “And would you like to kiss Flynn?”
She nodded, swallowing hard.
“Can we watch?”
He was the devil sent to tempt her. She should have known from the moment she’d seen him striding her way through the snow. And now it was too late.
“Yes.”
She took a breath and, before she could lose her nerve, grabbed the fabric of Chris’s shirt and tugged him closer to her. He was so tall she had to stand on tiptoe while he ducked his head just to reach him.
She hesitated, her lips hovering beneath his. “Can I kiss you, Doc?”
His pupils were dilated and his cheeks were flushed with arousal. He wanted this, she knew. Wanted to kiss her. Somehow she knew that the only reason he held back was out of love and loyalty to his brothers.
That only made her want to kiss him more.
She didn’t give him a chance to answer, straining her neck upwards and kissing his bearded chin, his neck. The divinely scented spot behind his ear.
He placed his hands on her hips and held her back, mischief sparkling in his brilliant azure eyes. “If I said no, you’d only call me a fibber again.”
And then he kissed her. Right in front of Jimmy and Flynn.
At that moment, Georgia was aware that she would never be the same again. And that she might be okay with that.
Chapter Five