The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [236]
Gabe looked at his wife, all decked out in snowy white, her beautiful red hair hanging in long curls down her back. He wanted to get the damn reception over with so he could get her alone.
“Uh, Gabe, your lust is showing.”
Gabe considered flattening his brother, but then he saw Lizzy smile and she looked so happy, he knew he had to give in gracefully. “All right, so she can be your assistant. I guess I can hire someone else.” He had taken Sawyer’s advice and opened a shop in town. He had more business than he could handle, but he enjoyed it so he wasn’t complaining. He’d thought Lizzy would work with him, but she’d opted to sign on with Jordan, and he had to admit she had a way with animals.
She was so special she made his heart swell just looking at her.
“So magnanimous,” Jordan uttered dryly. “I had no idea you had these caveman tendencies.”
“I didn’t, either, until I met Lizzy.”
“She got a fantastic grade on her thesis. Did she tell you she’s been approached about adding it to a text?”
Gabe scowled. “She’s my wife. Of course she told me.”
Jordan laughed, then quickly held up both hands. “All right, all right. Quit breathing fire on me. I’m sorry I mentioned it.”
Thank God she’d kept his name anonymous, Gabe thought, disgruntled by the instant popularity of her Mystique of Heroes. He snorted. What a stupid subject. But evidently not everyone thought so; Lizzy had received several calls from men wanting her to interview them. Gabe would have liked to hide her away somewhere, but watching her bloom was a distinct pleasure, so he put up with all the other men ogling her and tamped down his jealousy.
After all, she’d married him.
Jordan nudged him with his shoulder. “She’s getting ready to throw the bouquet. This always cracks me up the way the women fight over it.”
Ready to get back a little of his own, Gabe said, “I noticed all those women lining up are eyeing you like a side of beef. You’ll be next, you know.”
Jordan shook his head, then downed the rest of his drink. “You can forget that right now. I’m rather partial to my bachelor ways.”
“You just haven’t met the right woman yet. When you do, I bet you get knocked on your ass so quick you won’t know what hit you.”
Jordan was ready to refute that when suddenly the women all started shouting. He and Gabe looked up to see that Lizzy had thrown the bouquet, but her aim was off. It came sailing across the room in a dramatic arch. Right toward Jordan.
He almost dropped his drink he was so surprised, but when the flowers hit him in the chest, he managed to juggle everything, and was left standing there holding the flowers.
Gabe laughed out loud, Lizzy covered her mouth with a hand to stifle her giggles and Jordan, seeing a gaggle of women rushing toward him, muttered, “Oh, hell.”
Gabe looked at his wife and winked, then whispered to Jordan, “You better make a run for it.”
And he did.
Gabe smiled as Lizzy headed toward him, looking impish and beautiful and so sexy he decided the reception was well and truly over. He kissed her as soon as she reached him, then whispered against her lips, “That was a dirty trick to play on my brother.”
She grinned. “I was tired of all the women here looking at you with broken hearts. It’s time for Jordan to be the sacrificial lamb.”
Gabe shook his head with mock sympathy. “Damn, I feel sorry for him.”
Startled, Elizabeth leaned into his side and asked, “Why?”
Taking her by surprise, Gabe hoisted her up in his arms, which left her delicate white gown loose around her legs, giving everyone a sexy peek. Over the sound of the raucous applause from all the attending guests, Gabe whispered, “Because the prettiest, sexiest, smartest female is already taken—and I have her.”
Elizabeth laughed. “You are a charmer, Gabe.”
He started out of the room, holding her close to his heart. Right before he disappeared through the doorway, he looked up and saw Jordan backed against a wall, women surrounding him. Gabe shook his head.
He wished his only single brother all the same love that he’d just found.
The women