The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [283]
Gabe smiled as he explained. “My wife chose to work for Jordan in his clinic. Jordan knew that I wanted her with me, but he made up all these lame excuses and just swept her away.”
“That,” Jordan said, watching Georgia closely, “is only Gabe’s side of the story. Elizabeth has a knack with animals, a special rapport. She’s much better suited to being my assistant than she is playing receptionist for Gabe. That’s all he was referring to.”
Gabe shrugged. “Well, you did kiss her, too. Right in front of me.”
He snorted over that. “A brotherly kiss and you damn well know it.”
“Brotherly, huh? Well, in that case—” Gabe reached for Georgia, who quickly took two startled steps away from him. But he’d barely moved more than a foot before Jordan caught him by his collar and hauled him back.
“Not in this lifetime, Gabe.” The statement was low and mean, and made Gabe chuckle.
“That’s what I figured.” To Georgia, he said, “Can you believe he kissed my Lizzy? Not that I blame him. She’s about the most beautiful woman in these parts and pretty irresistible. You’ll see what I mean when you meet her. And luckily for Jordan here, I let him live because she turned right around after kissing him and agreed to marry me.”
Georgia gave a nervous smile. “I see.”
“No you don’t.” Jordan released Gabe and propped his hands on his hips. “Elizabeth had just helped me save all the animals in the clinic from a fire. It was a kiss of gratitude, no more.”
“Uh-huh.” Gabe pretended to think otherwise. “And what Morgan told me is that your Georgia here has incredibly pretty gray eyes. Now that I’ve seen her for myself, I agree. Very pretty.”
He and Georgia spoke at the same time.
“She’s not my Georgia.”
“I’m not his Georgia.”
Gabe said, “Oh, look. There’s Sawyer.”
They both turned and Sawyer nodded with a smile. “She’s doing fine. Incredibly well, in fact. Her doctor is a good man. I’ve always liked him.” Sawyer pulled out a card and handed it to Georgia. “Here’s my home number. Once she’s released, probably by the middle of the week, feel free to give me a call if you have any questions or if she has any problems, okay?”
Georgia’s eyes softened to pewter. “Thank you. That’s very generous of you.”
“You might want to share that number with the children, too, so that if anything like this happens again, they can give me a call if you’re at work.”
She nodded as she tucked the card securely into her bag. “They have my number at the bar, but Bill doesn’t always answer the phone at night during the show. We’ve argued over that several times.”
“I understand.” Sawyer glanced at Jordan. “Perhaps a pager would be good?”
Jordan saw the guilt flash across Georgia’s face and knew she couldn’t afford one. He spoke quickly. “Gabe, don’t you have an extra pager you’re not using anymore?”
Gabe looked dumbfounded for only a second, then nodded. “Oh, yeah. Right.” And with a grin: “Hey, it’s even paid up for the next six months.”
Georgia was already shaking her head, but Gabe slung an arm around her, which caused her to still immediately. “I insist. That’s what friends are for.”
She might have protested further, once she regained use of her tongue, but Sawyer chose that auspicious moment to tell Jordan, “Her mother wants to see you.”
“Me?”
“Yep. She was rather insistent on it.”
Georgia groaned. “Oh, God. She’s so overprotective….”
Jordan peered at the closed door with deep reservation. He hoped like hell this wasn’t the familial interrogation. At thirty-three, he was so rusty he had no idea if he’d know how to answer or not. Especially considering he hadn’t yet figured out what he felt for Georgia. Lust certainly, and compassion. But if there was more…
Georgia started to follow him in, but Sawyer gently caught her arm. “She specified that she wanted to see Jordan, and only Jordan.”
Jordan groaned in dread, mustered his manly courage and headed in. He wasn’t a damn coward. He could face one disgruntled mother, with or without all his thoughts in order. But