Fix Her Up (Hot & Hammered #1)(91)

“Enjoy,” Travis rasped. “It’s the last thing you’ll ever get from me.”

Disgusted with himself for betraying Georgie, Travis turned to leave—

And ran straight into Stephen. With an uncapped beer in front of him on the bar, he’d clearly been there long enough to hear everything.

Travis couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe as Georgie’s brother gave him a look of pure revulsion, his eyes running the length of Travis, before he vanished from the bar.





Chapter Twenty-Seven


Can you believe him, Georgie?” Bethany cried, screeching to a stop at a red light. “My own brother. Warning the other realtors in town not to sell me a property. You know what I think? I think he’s afraid I’ll do a better flip.”

In hindsight, driving to the Tough Mudder with Bethany might have been a mistake. Her sister was hyped up and not in a good way. And honestly, her sister had every right to be pissed. But Georgie’s head—and stomach—just wasn’t into the bitch session today.

Travis never came over last night. He’d texted her around eight o’clock to say he couldn’t make it. No excuse or reason. Just I can’t make it, baby girl. She’d been half tempted to drive over to his apartment with a few cartons of lo mein but stopped herself. She was definitely new at this couple thing, but they weren’t required to spend every waking moment together. Maybe he’d just felt like watching baseball and scratching in places he couldn’t scratch in her company. No big deal, right?

Only she couldn’t shake the intuition something was wrong. Had he changed his mind about them? Maybe those declarations he’d made in the limousine were simply made in the heat of the moment. In the light of day, it was possible Travis realized he’d jumped the gun and made a mistake.

Would he even show up today?

“Wait, hold on.” Georgie lowered the sun visor and flipped open the mirror, so she could tie her hair into an even ponytail. “You made an offer on a property in town, but they wouldn’t sell, because Stephen warned them not to?”

“I can’t even get an appointment!” Bethany floored it through the intersection. “You really don’t listen at all. If you weren’t my sister, I’d probably date you.”

“You took that one step too far,” Georgie murmured, securing the hair on top of her head. “So they admitted this to you? Seems like that kind of treatment is illegal.” Georgie smacked the visor back into place. “Maybe it’s a misunderstanding. Is Stephen coming today?”

Bethany snorted. “Do you think Kristin would miss a chance to give him a heart attack? She’s doing the Tough Mudder with us.”

“Shut up.” Georgie gave in to her first laugh of the day. “Well, maybe you’ll get lucky and he’ll keel over. You can have all the houses after that.”

“Fingers crossed,” Bethany muttered, taking a turn off the avenue and bringing them onto an uneven road, trees hanging low on either side. “This is ominous.”

They bumped down the road for a few minutes, bright orange sign markers guiding their way, before finally reaching the clearing. Tents were set up, advertisements splashed across their canvas tops. Music boomed through loudspeakers. A starting line loomed in the distance. Nerves started to jangle in Georgie’s belly as they parked the car and headed for the checkin. She’d bought new running shoes for the occasion and spent the week breaking them in, and even though they were destined to be ruined with mud, she was grateful to have them upon seeing the other decked-out participants. People took this shit seriously.

Trying not to be obvious about it, Georgie turned in a circle while waiting in the checkin line, scanning the observation bleachers for Travis. Not there. She already knew he wasn’t there, because her senses weren’t tingling, the way they always did in his presence.

Don’t panic. He’ll be here.

“There’s Rosie,” Bethany said, nudging Georgie in the ribs. “Oh my God, she looks so cute. She should never wear any color but lavender.” She cupped her hands around her mouth. “Hey, queen!”

Rosie closed the passenger door of Dominic’s truck and waved. But she didn’t come join them right away. She lingered at the fender as Dominic, dressed in jeans and a fitted white shirt that showed off his heavily inked skin, sauntered around the front end of the truck . . . and whoa. Whoa. Animosity spiked in the air between husband and wife, but there was way more than just irritation there. Dominic looked Rosie top to bottom, sucking his bottom lip through his teeth. She tossed her hair a little, as if enduring the perusal, but even from a distance, Georgie could see the deepening glow of her brown skin.

Dominic stepped into his wife’s space and tipped her chin up with a jerk of his own, as if they had an invisible string connecting their movements. He leaned in for a kiss—but their lips didn’t quite connect, and both of their sides heaved once, twice, before Rosie pivoted and left Dominic standing alone. His fist pounded the hood of the truck.

“Jesus,” Bethany breathed. “I need to get laid after that.”

Georgie nodded. “Same. And I’m getting laid now regularly.”

“Braggart,” her sister scolded. “When am I getting sordid sex details, by the way?”

“I don’t know if that should be a thing.”