Page 7 of Slow Burn

“I had no idea who you were. With your subpar flirting skills,” she swatted back at him. “You just learned my name. I was going to tell you, but Nash showed up. And to be honest, I’m a little annoyed with him. I was looking forward to being the one who popped the bubble and told you I was the brother you were expecting to meet.”

Elijah gripped the shaggy black hair on top of his head for a minute. While he appeared to be contemplating his life choices, she finished her food.

“It’s not like anything happened.” He was likely only reassuring himself. “We just talked for a few minutes. It was harmless.”

Harmless wasn’t exactly how she would have described it. Their intense connection was about to step into a PDA moment with a kiss at the bar. Wincing, Georgia tossed back the last of her whiskey.

“You wanted to kiss me,” she reminded him.

He peeked over her shoulder, making sure no one else was joining them in their little nook at the back of the bar. “It was a lapse in judgment. Fuck, I thought George was his brother, and Brooks was his sister.”

“Quite the mistake.”

“Do me a favor and please do not bring this up to anyone. Especially Nash.”

Georgia was a nice person, but the panicked look on Elijah’s handsome face didn’t make her want to play nice. “What’s in it for me?”

She brought her hand to Elijah’s glass to drink his last sip of whiskey, but he grabbed her wrist. “Nothing is in it for you. This is so your brother doesn’t rag on me from here until eternity that I slipped up and wanted to kiss you. If I need to barter with you not to be a tattletale, you can finish my drink.”

Yanking her hand out of his grip, she glared at him. “Keep your drink, asshole.”

“Is that better or worse than an anal gland?” He smirked.

Georgia rolled her eyes. “Worse. And I refuse to keep a secret from my brother. If he asks if you flirted, I won’t lie.”

Elijah darkly chuckled. “He won’t ask.”

She stood, ready to scour the bar for her friends. “Why do you sound so sure about that?”

“Because I don’t fuck women who live in Landmere,” Elijah started to tell her, but she cut him off with a harsh laugh.

“Who do you think you are, God’s gift to women?” Georgia was disgusted. It was a crime to have a man this sexy be such an, well, for lack of better words, an anal gland.

He reached for her, but she swatted him away.

She turned her nose up at him. “Do not touch me. I’m still recovering from all the ick that I wanted your hands on me when we first met. Luckily, the moment has passed. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I see my best friend has arrived, and I refuse to waste any more time on you.”

She stomped off into the sea of people to give Sophie a much-needed hug.

Elijah could go screw himself!

WANTING TO FUCK his best friend’s little sister wasn’t on his to-do list. This was karma biting him in the ass as a reminder not to fuck anyone in his damn zip code.

“Why do you look pissed?” Nash asked as he slid onto the seat his sister vacated.

Elijah raised his shoulders, not certain how to say he almost broke his cardinal rule about hookups, and it was with Nash’s sister.

His friend ordered a round of shots from Patrick. “Come on, man. George is finally home. Try to lighten up and have some fun.”

“Her name is Georgia,” Elijah corrected him.

Nash gave him a pointed look. “Thank you, Captain Obvious.”

Patrick returned with six shots of tequila, a saltshaker, and slices of lime. Elijah did a quick headcount since only four people were out tonight for Georgia.

“One for George, her awful best friend Sophie, Anna, you, and me. The last one is for Roman, who should be here any minute,” Nash explained as if he read Elijah’s mind. “Did you know Anna is George’s other best friend? Her, the devil, and Anna grew up together.”

Anna Andrews was a paramedic at the station and damn good at her job. Elijah remembered she was about thirty, which meant Georgia was, too. She was too young for him anyway. He liked women who knew the score and that their time together was about orgasms. Nothing else. Georgia would probably expect an engagement ring after one night.