Up by Five by Erin Nicholas

goodness you made some dip,” Josh said.
    All the guys agreed and reached for more chips.
    “No offense,” Josh said to Conner.
    “None taken. Her dip is way better than mine.”
    Gabby hid her smile as she shuffled. She’d found a can of chili in Conner’s cupboard and added it to the cheese dip he’d bought and warmed it up. Big deal. But in her experience, if it was hot and served in a nice bowl, men thought it tasted better.
    Conner had nice bowls. Who’d have thought?
    She glanced at him across the table, then flushed when she realized he was watching her. She gave him a smile. He returned it. And her tummy fluttered.
    What the hell was that ?
    Conner was cute. He was funny and intelligent. He was heroic. She’d seem him save lives, for god’s sake, and while she’d been impressed, her tummy had never fluttered .
    Geez.
    She concentrated on the cards in her hands. The last thing she needed with her family sitting around was to send the cards flying in all directions while she tried to shuffle. They’d definitely know something was up then.
    And something was up…kind of. Not really. She wanted to help Conner break out of his one-night-stand rut. That was all.
    But after a few minutes in the bathroom with him and one tiny, not-even-quite-a kiss, she could see why women went along with it—everything and anything Conner wanted from them. Their common sense simply stopped working.
    A tiny brush of his lips and she’d been tempted to take her clothes off—or more, to take his clothes off. If he ever touched her with any kind of sexual intention, she’d be lost.
    Dammit.
    She didn’t want to be one of those girls, one of the girls Conner was so used to. She wanted to be different, to show him he wanted different, a woman who wouldn’t fall for his sweet-talking BS and would make him be real to win her over.
    “Fuck, they’re shuffled already.” Lance reached over and grabbed the deck of cards from Gabby. “What’s wrong with you tonight?”
    She looked around and realized she’d been daydreaming while shuffling.
    She never did that. Poker was serious.
    “Do you have a fever or something?” Josh asked.
    She frowned at her brother. “Would you all go home if I was sick?”
    No way. This was Josh. He hadn’t passed up a game of poker since he was sixteen. Ever since he’d learned that he could win candy bars, video games and, in one very memorable instance, a motorcycle. The motorcycle hadn’t run and their mother had put her foot down against it—hard and fast—before he could fix it up, but Josh had been thrilled.
    And hooked. From there on out, he took every opportunity to play and the pots had grown and grown.
    The problem was, he was good. He won more than he lost. And it fed his compulsion.
    “Hell no. That might be our only chance of winning some of our money back,” Jeff said, picking up his cards.
    Gabby sighed. The rest of the men in her family weren’t much better. Their love for chips and dip kept them playing and their competitive natures made them take it seriously.
    “If she was sick, you’d all get the hell out. Right after you made sure she was okay, right?”
    They all looked at Conner. He was frowning. At her brother Josh.
    Oh boy. They’d riled the protective big brother. Conner was mostly easygoing and funny but he didn’t joke well about his sisters and their well-being.
    Josh gave him a look that said Conner’s question was strange. “Gabby’s always okay.”
    “And bitchy when she’s sick,” Grant added.
    Conner swung his frown to her oldest brother. “You still make sure she’s okay, though.”
    Grant was unconcerned by the hard edge in Conner’s voice. “She doesn’t like fussing.”
    “Maybe because none of you fuss,” Conner said. “My sisters can all be bitchy too, but that doesn’t keep me from taking care of them.”
    “Hey, we told you, Gabby’s tough. She doesn’t ask for help because she doesn’t need help,” Grant said, his smile fading