Page 25 of Floodgates

“What?” Jennifer seemed confused.

“Really?” Ira groused at me, back from the bar long enough to hear what was going on. He passed out cosmos to all the girls and took a swig of the black and tan he’d gotten for himself. “Your brother the DEA agent had to come?”

“It’s because of Wednesday,” I told him. “He’s still being overprotective.”

He jolted suddenly. “Please tell me the partner isn’t coming.”

“They haven’t been partners for a while,” I informed Ira, “and to answer your question, no.”

“Oh,” Matt whispered, “is he? Is Cord coming?”

“I’m standing right here,” Eric reminded him.

“Is he?” Matt pressed.

“That guy is your brother?” Jennifer asked me as her breath caught.

“Ira, how come I didn’t know Tracy had a hot brother?” Courtney demanded to know.

“Ira, honey, you can date me,” Eric told him. “Because apparently your woman wants the brother, and mine wants the brother’s partner.”

“As if I could ever get Cord Nolan’s attention away from Tracy,” Matt scoffed. “That’ll be the day.”

“What are you talking about?”

He gave me a patronizing look. “Gimme a break, Trace, even you are not that oblivious.”

I squinted at him.

He stared at me for a minute, and then his eyes widened. “Oh shit, you really are.”

“What are you—”

“Excuse me,” Alex said as he reached the table, pushing around the women to step in front of me. “How’re you? You feel all right?”

“I’m fine,” I grumbled, glowering at him. “Now turn around and meet everyone.”

He stared at me.

I widened my eyes, and he followed my directions.

“Ladies,” he said, smiling.

All the men in my family but me were handsome. Somehow, as the middle child, I got my mother’s birdlike bone structure and lean frame. Whereas my father and two brothers were tall, with swimmers’ builds. I was shorter and skinnier, toned, with some definition, but no amount of cardio and weight training could make me into the perfect specimen of manhood that Alex Brandt was, or, even more so, Cord Nolan. Cord was hard all over, with cut, rippling muscles that—

“What about Cord?”

I snapped my head up and was faced with my brother’s smirk.

“What?”

“You said something about Cord?”

“No,” I said crossly, and then I took a breath. “I need you to be nice to Breckin when you see him, all right?”

He crossed his arms, which made his biceps bulge. “Why would Breckin be here?”

“Just don’t be a dick,” I warned him. “Go get a drink.”