“I thought we weren’t supposed to get involved with the members,” Jess said. She didn’t want to sound judgmental, making a bad first impression with a coworker, but Eva had been quite adamant on that point. What Lilah had done may have ended well, Eva had said, but it broke the rules.
“I swore I wouldn’t, but I couldn’t help myself.” Gillian took a few careful steps into the hallway and turned, running a hand over her perfect body with a sigh. “There’s just something about him.”
Gritting her teeth, Jess walked past her to get the wine, wherever it was. She didn’t care if there was something about him. She’d denied herself for years. Self-denial was her middle name. She’d keep on doing it, no problem.
Gillian opened an old, scarred wooden door in front of them. The letters TPC stood out. “You know what’s really scary?” She laughed softly. “I’d do it again in a second. Eva could be standing there threatening to fire me, and I wouldn’t care. He’s that good.”
With Gillian’s laughter echoing in her soul, Jess got the wine. The two of them went back upstairs without another word about Derry Stanton.
Jess Self-Denial Murphy, she thought to herself. No problem.
Her scent was so overpowering and all-consuming he could taste her in the back of his throat. How could you taste someone you’d never kissed? No amount of whisky was washing the distinct flavor away. He suspected the only way to get rid of this taste was to actually lick her. Kiss her. Probe and lave and drink from her. The mystery of the forbidden was his only problem. That was all.
Derry just needed to satisfy his curiosity. Then he would go back to baseline and all would be well and right with his world.
Right?
Carl walked past him, carrying a neat little plastic container with handles that he clicked open. Pulling off the top, the bartender reached in and began lining up small little red, green, and white items on a small counter behind the bar.
Intrigued, Derry approached. In the dim light of the Platinum Club, it was hard to make out what Carl was doing, and Derry’s shadow always preceded him. “A small mountain,” Gavin nicknamed him as a tiny cub, his body big and muscled, barrel-chested and hirsute now as a man. Standing at more than six and a half feet, with the body of a lumberjack, Derry tended to block out light. Sometimes even the sun. Just as he reached the bar, a familiar pair of voices called his name.
“Derry!” One a baritone, one a soprano. He turned to find himself greeting his brother, Gavin, and his future sister-in-law, Lilah.
Jess’s sister.
Gavin gave him a curt nod, but Lilah opened her arms and swooped up on tiptoes to give him a welcoming, warm embrace. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply.
No. Her scent was distinctly different. Jess and Lilah may be sisters, but there was none of Jess’s uniqueness in Lilah. As he pulled away from the embrace, he opened his eyes, startled to meet his brother’s deathly glare.
Oh dear.
No missing the meaning of that look.
The background jazz caught his attention as the smooth slide of a saxophone played a familiar tune. Too familiar. Something about Santa and reindeer. He watched Gavin’s ear twitch and an eyebrow go up in disgust.
“Already?” said his brother. “It’s not even Halloween yet. Why on earth is Eva playing Christmas music now?”
Lilah giggled, her voice like glass chimes being played with silk-covered mallets. “I love holiday music!” Gavin’s sour face went to neutral as she squeezed his arm and sighed. “I can’t wait to go to Montana and have sleigh rides and hot chocolate by the fire and make cranberry and popcorn garland for the tree.”
Derry bit back a laugh. Gavin’s idea of celebrating Christmas was peppermint-flavored vodka and a trip to Australia for the duration.
Falling in love changed everything.
“And I’ll knit us matching red sweaters!” she added. “With little colored ball ornaments you tuck into special loops. We could even do light-up sweaters, like the one my mom has!”
Derry’s laugh could not be contained.
Gavin’s glare sharpened.
“Did someone say Christmas?” Eva asked, reaching for one of the baubles Carl had just unpacked. It was, to Derry’s surprise, a fresh sprig of mistletoe.
Gavin groaned. “How cliché,” he ground out.
“How wonderful!” Lilah squeaked.
“I don’t need an excuse to kiss you,” Gavin growled and proved his point, dipping Lilah down to the ground with a kiss that literally curled the woman’s toes. He could see them respond through her translucent, fashionable shoes.
Breathless, she came up from the tongue acrobatics and gave Gavin a thousand-watt smile. “We’ll have mistletoe everywhere at the ranch, alongside all the Christmas decorations I have in storage at my mother’s!”
Derry crossed his arms over his chest and stopped trying to hide his glee at Gavin’s distress. Funny the things you learn about someone you fall in love with on a dime.
“Marry in haste, repent at leisure,” he said under his breath so that only Gavin could hear it.
As Gavin opened his mouth to reply, Lilah handed Derry the sprig. “You’re the tallest, Derry. Can you hang this?” She pointed to a small hook just over the walkway a few feet from the bar.
He did as told. She gave a cheerful, quiet clap and jumped up and down a few times, some members admiring the resulting jiggles from afar. He cut his own eyes. Time to think of Lilah as a sister.
Her sister, on the other hand, wasn’t really family…
Eva spoke to Carl in muted tones, then turned to the group. “We normally don’t decorate while guests are here, but a member survey indicates that people want to be part of the fun. If you move into the fireplace room, you can help with the tree and the mantle. We have hot toddies and peppermint margaritas available.” She gave Gavin a wicked smile.
“A triple scotch, Carl,” Gavin ordered. “Neat.”
“Yes, sir,” Carl said with a barely concealed smirk.
An image of Gavin and Lilah dragging toddlers to one of those mall Santas made Derry chuckle, the idea driving out thoughts of Jess for a split second. Good. He needed something to keep him from smelling her. To distract him from a body that began to throb for her. To make him stop the interminable dawning realization that these feelings, scents and sensations weren’t going away.
“Jess!” Lilah said excitedly, reaching for her sister. So much beauty in one hug. He saw Gavin admiring Lilah and then noticing him looking, too.
Gavin frowned and pulled on Derry’s arm. He didn’t budge an inch.
“Jess is off limits,” Gavin whispered.
Lilah took a step back from Jess and smiled, looking up. “Oh, look! Mistletoe!” Lilah’s eyes flitted between her sister and—
Derry.
Could his future sister-in-law be any more obvious? Were they ten-year-olds playing spin the bottle? Derry’s eyebrows rose with an insolent, languid look that he hoped covered for his eagerness to complete the silly ritual.
Even a fake excuse to kiss Jessica Murphy was better than no excuse.
Gavin shook his head slowly, giving Derry a stare that made him look remarkably like their bossy older brother, Asher.
Off limits, Gavin mouthed.