Free Claimed by Three by Rebecca Airies Page B

to cover it.
    “Will they be able to do the job today? It makes me furious to see it there. I’d rather they attacked me instead. At least then I’d be sure it wasn’t some mistake.” She ran a hand through her hair.
    “We’ll ask the cleaners about that, but they seemed to understand you would like this off your home and walk.” Berenger strolled over and stood beside Kassius.
    When Teague stopped on the other side of Kassius, she knew they wouldn’t delay the discussion of her leaving their house this morning any longer. She sighed.
    She planned to call them from the bakery this morning. After she’d slipped out of their home, she’d thought she would be at the bakery by the time they located her. They wouldn’t have been able to argue there. She expected them to have time to cool down before they were able to talk.
    “Before they get here, we will talk.” Teague’s hazel eyes glittered, appearing harder than she’d seen them before. “Who was the man who picked you up this morning?”
    She leaned back away from the intense stare. “He’s a friend I thought would be awake at that time. How did you know it was a he who came to get me? Did someone see him?”
    Maybe one of them woke up and saw Jack drive her away. She didn’t know if there was some type of alarm that was tripped when Jack piloted his skimmer through the orchard. If that was the case, she would have expected them to get to the front of the house before she managed to get into Jack’s Duce.
    “We saw him on the security video.” Berenger stared at her. “Who is he?”
    “Jack. He’s an artist. He’s been a friend of mine for years.” She shrugged.
    “Have you ever dated him?” Kassius asked. His tone sharpened, and he took a step toward her.
    “No.” She gaped at Kassius.
    “Has he ever shown interest in you?” Berenger reached out and took her hand.
    “No.” She shook her head. “I’m not his type.”
    “And what is his type?” Berenger’s eyebrow arched in obvious doubt.
    “Thin and tall, usually, but certainly anyone who doesn’t make fun of his artistic moods and angst.” She smiled as she thought about Jack.
    “And you make fun of those artistic moods?” A smile kicked up the corners of his mouth.
    “Yes, he sometimes takes the artistic moods too seriously. There are times he goes overboard. I’m one of the friends who yank him back to reality.” She relaxed once her answer seemed to alleviate their concerns.
    “All right, that’s taken care of, but we will speak to your friend. Don’t think we won’t.” Kassius nodded. “Now, I want to know why you left.”
    She grimaced. Damn, he was persistent. Not that she expected him to let it drop, but she’d had some hope when they’d relaxed after she’d told them Jack wasn’t interested in her.
    “I was uncertain and perhaps scared too.” She took a deep breath and hoped they’d understand.
    “You’re scared of us?” Berenger looked astonished and horrified.
    She winced as she saw his expression. She couldn’t let him think that. It wasn’t true. “Not scared of you. Scared we moved too fast, that I messed up our chance to be together.”
    “So you were scared and you left? You didn’t think you should talk to us? Maybe try to find out if there was anything you should be scared of?” Teague took a step closer to her.
    He stood right at her side. If she looked up, they’d be nose to nose. “I know I panicked, and I was already having doubts about leaving on the way home. I had to think. If I stayed there, I wouldn’t be thinking much. We went from our first date right into sex. That’s fast for me.”
    They’d moved from first date to intimacy insanely fast. It could have happened faster. She’d been tempted to have sex with them the night they’d asked her out. She was honest enough to admit it. If he’d asked her, she didn’t know if she’d have resisted.
    Berenger smiled, the expression wide and full of masculine smugness. She was