Page 88 of Gift-Wrapped in a Kilt

Trevor's eyes narrowed. "Rory's investing in my business venture. That means he'd rather have me around than you. I'll have Jamie too, once she realizes her beloved brother prefers me."

Gavin made a derisive noise. "How dense are you? Jamie's my fiancée."

"She'll call it off, that's what she does. She strings men along until they're caught in her spider's web, then she cuts them loose."

"You're not even worth the effort to argue with." Gavin pushed past him to move onto the second step. "You're pathetic, man. Just pathetic."

Gavin started up the stairs.

Trevor's snickering echoed in the vestibule. "Jamie's a tease, Gavin. She loves a good shag, but commitment isn't her style. Once the novelty wears off, she'll be on the hunt for a new bloke to fuck her like the slag she is."

Fury exploded through Gavin, scorching and unstoppable.

He whirled around, vaulted the three steps to Trevor, and slugged the English Ass in the jaw.

Trevor staggered backward, floundering to grab the staircase railing to keep from tumbling to the floor. Half hanging from the railing, he massaged his jaw and glowered at Gavin.

"You'll pay for this," the English Ass snarled.

Gavin stalked toward the man and bent over to spear the guy with his best steely glare. He spoke in a hushed voice imbued with menace. "If you ever talk about Jamie that way again, I'll pummel you into the ground. Do you hear me? Stay away from her, stay away from this house, and go home to England where you belong."

He seized Trevor by the collar of his shirt, hauled him to the door, and yanked it open.

"Go," Gavin growled.

Trevor's lip curled. "You'll regret this. I have friends in very high places."

"Get out," Gavin snarled. "Walk or crawl, I don't care. But get yourself out the door in the next two seconds or I'll throw you out like the garbage you are."

Trevor scrambled outside on hands and knees.

Gavin slammed the door. The windows rattled.

Movement in the doorway to the hall attracted his attention.

Jamie hovered in the doorway, eyes wide, mouth open.

"Christ, Jamie," he said, scrubbing a hand over his face. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have —"

She rushed across the vestibule, flinging her entire body at him.

He caught her, the feminine scent of her enveloping him. "You're not mad, I take it."

"Mad?" With her arms clamped around his neck and her feet dangling above the floor, she pulled her head back to meet his gaze. "I could have sex with you right now, here in the vestibule with Rory waiting upstairs. No one has ever done anything like that for me."

"Not even Rory, your knight in shining armor?"

"No, Gavin," she said, her voice fierce. "You are my knight in shining armor. Thank you."

"All I did was punch one damn irritating son of a bitch."

"You chased him off. And you did it for me." She mashed her mouth to his in a quick, hard kiss. "You're my hero, not my brothers. You."

A throat-clearing noise from up the stairs made them both crane their necks.

Rory towered above them on the first-floor landing, his expression neutral. "Are we having our meeting, or would you rather skite your fist on Trevor's face again?"

"Hmm," Gavin said, "that is tempting, but no. I'll be right up."

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