Free Ours by Hazel Gower Page B

her.
    She chuckled at the thought of being worried about being
accepted by the Bears when only hours ago her men carried her kicking and
screaming out of a concert.
Sandy
hated to admit it, but their alpha ways turned her on big time. She would deny
it if anyone asked, but she’d loved that they’d claimed her in front of so many
people. She wasn’t one for Neanderthals, but Jake and Zack were changing her
mind. She wandered the house, getting more anxious the more she saw.
    Finally she found a door leading outside and opened it,
needing to get away from everything.
Sandy
wished she was home so she could snuggle in her own bed and get up and make
breakfast for her family. Finding a table and chairs that looked out at the
valley toward the grapevines, she sat and listened, watching the morning fog
lift, and tried not to think about last night.
    She didn’t know whether to be angry at Jake and Zack for
embarrassing her and probably getting her fired or grateful they saved her from
Mr. Grabby. Oh God, what would she do without a job? What was she doing full
stop?
    Bringing her knees up, she tucked them under her chin and
placed the phone she forgot she held on the table. Tears she’d been holding in
since she spoke to Zack’s mother slipped down her cheek. Fuck, her life was so
crazy right now. Dealing with being potentially unemployed and her boyfriends’
mothers not liking her was just too much to handle.
    Sobs started to rack her body and she couldn’t seem to stop
them. So much had happened in such a short time.
Sandy
didn’t know what to do.
    Closing her eyes she sat for a while and just let it all
out until she felt Jake’s hands come around her waist to pick her up and place
her on his lap.
    “Ah, Little Red, you’re breaking my heart. What’s wrong?
Don’t cry.”
    She hit his chest. “I’m angry with you.”
      He hugged her
tighter. “Why? It’s not like you to cry when you’re angry at someone.”
    “Ha, what do you know? I’m usually very sweet, considerate,
and never bossy. Well, that is before I met you two. You and Zack bring out the
redhead in me. The only other people who can do that are my brothers and dad.”
    Sandy
hit Jake’s chest again as his body shook with
laughter. “Hey, don’t laugh at me. I’m telling the truth.”
Sandy
growled deep and pushed at him to get
off, but he just held tighter.
    “Oh sorry, Little Red, I’m just trying to imagine you as
sweet and never bossy.”
    Zack came out, his hands full of plates with toast,
pancakes, and fruit. She felt heat cover her cheeks, and she moaned as memories
of the last night flashed before her.
      “Who’s sweet and
never bossy?” Zack asked.
    She elbowed Jake in the chest. “Me. I’m sweet and never
bossy.”
    She watched as Zack placed the plates on the table. His
eyes lit up and his whole body shook like he was trying to contain his
laughter. He sat on a chair and pulled her from Jake’s lap. “Firebird, you’re
very sweet.” He nibbled on her ear and a shiver racked her body. “And as for
the bossy part, I like a woman who can stand up for herself and knows what she
wants.”
    Sandy
groaned as Zack’s mouth come down on hers and
his hand slid up under her shirt. The ringing tone of The Doors’ “Light My
Fire” pulled her away from the kiss and the blissful state she was getting to.
When it went unanswered after a couple of times, she narrowed her eyes on Zack.
    “Why aren’t you answering your phone?” She watched him give
a fleeting look at it then shrug.
    “It’s no one important.”
    Curious, she reached for the phone and answered, only for
his mother to say, “I just wanted to check that girl that I spoke to give you
my message. I know the type of woman you usually go for, the ones with half a
brain. This one sounded at least like she could follow orders, but I didn’t
want to chance it. I know when they leave in the morning you don’t see them
again. Which is good because I already have one