They both had the same golden-brown hair, which was more often than not a mop of unruly curls. They both had the same towering height, the same features that were entirely too handsome. But where Drew’s eyes were black as pitch, Warren’s were a light lime-green like Thomas’s. And where the ladies adored Drew for his winsome charm and boyish manner, they were wary of Warren with his brooding cynicism and explosive temper—but not wary enough, obviously.
Warren was, without a doubt, a cad where women were concerned. Georgina pitied any woman who succumbed to his cold seduction. Yet so many did. There was just something about him that they found irresistible. She couldn’t see it herself. His temper, on the other hand, she saw all the time, since that was something he’d always possessed, and had nothing to do with women.
Reminded of Warren’s temper, she replied to Drew’s remark with, “That’s easy for you to say. D’you think they will listen to an explanation before they kill me? I rather doubt it.”
“Well, Clinton won’t listen for very long if he detects that ghastly English accent you’ve picked up. Maybe you ought to let me do the talking.”
“That’s sweet of you, Drew, but if Warren is around—”
“I know what you mean.” He grinned boyishly, remembering the last time Warren had chewed off a piece of his hide. “So let’s hope he’s spent the night at Duck’s Inn and won’t get his two cents in until after Clinton’s laid down his verdict. It’s lucky for you Clinton’s home.”
“Lucky? Lucky!”
“Shh!” he hissed. “We’ve arrived. No need to give them warning.”
“Someone will have told them by now that theTritonhas docked.”
“Aye, but not that you were on her. The element of surprise, Georgie, just might let you have your say.”
It might have, too, if Boyd weren’t in the study with both Clinton and Warren when Georgina entered, with Drew right behind her. Her youngest brother saw her first and bounded out of his chair. By the time he got through hugging, shaking, and throwing questions at her so fast she had no chance to answer any of them, the two older men had recovered from any surprise she might have given them and were approaching her with looks that said the shaking had only just begun. They also looked as if they just might come to blows to see who could get his hands on her first.
What little confidence Georgina had that her brothers wouldn’treallyhurt her, not seriously anyway, departed upon seeing them bearing down on her. She swiftly extricated herself from Boyd’s hold, dragged him back with her so he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Drew, and wisely placed herself behind them.
Peeking over Boyd’s shoulder, no easy matter since Boyd, like Thomas, stood nearly six feet tall—but was still half a head shorter than Drew—Georgina shouted at Clinton first, “I can explain!” then to Warren she added, “I really can!”
And when they didn’t stop, but came one around each side of her barricade, she squeezed between Boyd and Drew to run straight for Clinton’s desk and around it, though she remembered belatedly how a desk hadn’t stopped someoneelsefrom getting at her. And it appeared that she’d only made Clinton and Warren angrier by running from them. But her own temper was sparked when she saw Drew grab Warren’s shoulder to keep him from following her, and just barely manage to duck a blow for his effort.
“Blast you both, you’re being unfair—”
“Shut up, Georgie!” Warren growled.
“I won’t. I’m not answerable to you, Warren Anderson, not as long as Clinton is here. So you can just stop right there or I’ll—” She picked up the nearest thing within reach on the desk. “I’ll clobber you.”
He did stop, but whether in surprise that she was standing up to him when she never had before, or because he thought she was serious about braining him, she didn’t know. But Clinton stopped, too. In fact, they both looked kind of alarmed.
“Put the vase down, Georgie,” Clinton said very softly. “It’s too valuable to waste on Warren’s head.”
“Hewouldn’t think so,” she replied in disgust.
“Actually,” Warren choked out just as softly, “I would.”
“Jesus, Georgie,” Boyd was heard from next. “You don’t know what you’ve got there. Listen to Clinton, will you?”
Drew glanced at his younger brother’s blanched expression, then the two stiff backs in front of him, then his little sister beyond them, still holding up the vase under discussion as if it were a club. He suddenly burst out laughing.
“You’ve done it, Georgie girl, damned if you haven’t,” he crowed in delight.
She just barely spared him a glance. “I’m in no mood for your humor just now, Drew,” but then, “What have I done?”
“Got them over a barrel, that’s what. They’ll listen to you now, see if they don’t.”
Her eyes moved curiously back to her oldest brother. “Is that true, Clinton?”
He’d been debating what approach to take with her, stern insistence or gentle coaxing, but Drew’s unwelcome interference settled it. “I’m willing to listen, yes, if you’ll—”
“No ifs,” she cut in. “Yes or—”
“Blast it, Georgina!” Warren finally exploded. “Give me that—”
