Shit.
I inhale deeply, then immediately realize it’s a mistake because she smells so damned good and feminine and … Daisy-ish.
Measles, mumps, rubella … roseola, varicella …
“I’ll go with you, silly,” she says as she opens my collar. “Hmm, one button or two?”
I continue holding my breath while she leans back and surveys my chest, then loosens another button and regards it again.
“Did you trim your chest hair?”
“What?” My voice cracks, and my ears heat up.
“I like it,” she remarks with a smirk before she reaches out to pat the skin she’s exposed. “Two buttons it is.”
Respiratory syncytial virus, laryngotracheobronchitis, pertussis …
“What’spertussis?”
I straighten in my seat. Have I been saying that out loud?
“Uh, it’s uh … whooping cough.”
“Why are you whispering about whooping cough?” she asks again, her expression amused.
I shake my head. “It’s … something I forgot to chart earlier,” I lie. Which I’m not supposed to be doing. But I also cannot under any circumstances explain my default method of deflection to her. The very idea that I need a distraction would be all the encouragement she needs to start tempting me on purpose.
“See—all the more reason to let loose tonight,” she continues, finally moving back to the passenger side, to my relief.
“Yeah, I guess,” I mutter before getting out of the Jeep and going around to open her door. Daisy smiles happily as she wraps her hands around my bicep, and I remind myself that I’m not allowed to enjoy the feeling of her at my side as I lead her on to the gathering in the back.
“Well, fancy meeting the two of you here …together,” a familiar voice drawls. I yank my arm free and look up, my stomach immediately twisting into knots when I see Blake approaching.
“Did we miss anything?” Daisy returns cheerfully when he makes his way over, and my eyes scan the crowd for my sister. She’d never let me hear the end of it if she were to see us walking in arm-in-arm.
“It just got a helluva lot more interesting from where I’m standing, that’s for sure,” Blake proclaims with a wide grin. “So what are you doing out here, Lando?”
I shove my hands in my pockets. “You know … official roommate business.”
“The kind that requires you to get dressed up and escort your roomie to a work party?” He leans in and brushes a kiss over Daisy’s cheek. “You look lovely tonight, by the way.”
I grunt but don’t say anything. “What, I figure someone ought to compliment the young lady, in case her date forgets to do it,” Blake replies with a sly grin. Daisy casts a remorseful glance my way before thanking him.
“You’re awfully quiet, brother. Don’t you have anything to say for yourself?” Blake asks after a while.
“I’m not your brother,” I grumble.
“Ah, that’s where you’re wrong, Doc. I happen to be well-versed in the law. And the fact that your sister and nieces bear my last name, share my DNA, and sleep in my bed definitely makes us brothers by law.” Blake tilts his head from side to side before he brings his drink up to his mouth and takes a sip. “Kinda the same way you and Dr. Rowan would become legal bros if you and Daisy were to end up tying the knot one day.”
Daisy’s eyes grow wide, but I clench my jaw, too annoyed to panic with her. “Technically, Loren wouldn’t share your DNA unless she developed fetal microchimerism and the twins left behind your half of their genetic material,” I say automatically.
“Sperm transfers DNA, doesn’t it?” Blake poses.
“Yes,” I answer hesitantly.
Blake cocks an eyebrow. “Well, then she’s definitely walking around with a healthy dose of my genetic?—”
“Enough,” I interrupt him, my blood starting to boil. Whatever it is that makes me so powerless against Daisy has got to be the same stuff that Blake’s always used to get under my skin. I may have learned to tolerate and respect my brother-in-law, but that doesn’t mean I’ve stopped imagining how satisfying a right hook to his chin would feel most of the time.
