Free Designing Woman (The Sloan Brothers Book 2) by Jo Willow Page A

Admit it.”
    “I’ll never deny the chemistry, we both know that would be a lie.  But I will eventually settle down.  If you can’t see that in me, then you don’t know me as well as you think you do.  When I find the right man, I’ll settle down.”
     
    We finished in flames and fireworks like we always do, but I rattled him.  I could see it.  He moved to my side and pulled me into his body, curling into me from behind.  We dozed and he woke me up twice more before morning.  When the alarm went off at eight, he was gone.
     
    I came stumbling down the hall, fresh from the shower, dressed in Bohemian Chic.  My bell bottom jeans and tie-dyed shirt with the macrame belt around the middle, looked retro and reflected my mood.  A jumble of color with very little focus.  Anton had undone me last night and now I felt like I was standing on a quaking fault line.  It was always like that when he did a hit and run.  His sneak attack might mean that we were “on again”, or it might mean that I wouldn’t hear from him for another six weeks.  There was no way of knowing.
    As I rounded the corner, I heard Sean and Ayla at it again and two male voices laughing in the background.  A full house.  I smiled and shuffled into the kitchen.
    “Morning.”
    I said this with no real volume or enthusiasm as I poured myself a cup of coffee and took a seat for the show.  Ayla was focused on Sean who was denying something with vehemence and conviction.
    “I am not a whore Ayla.  I’m not ready to settle down.  So there’s nothing wrong with my random dating, I’m sampling the selection.  How will I find Mr. Right if I haven’t worked my way through a few Mr. Wrong’s?”
    “So that’s what we’re calling it now.  You’re right Sean.  You’re not a whore.  You’re a slut.”
    Sean shrugged and topped his coffee cup off.
    “Semantics.”
    Chase started rolling with laughter and raised his palm for a high-five from Sean.  I relaxed and took a deep breath.  If Chase and Austin were this comfortable with Sean, then we were probably going to be good friends.  Sean was the most flamboyant friend I had and I wouldn’t change him for anything in the world.  If anyone else wasn’t okay with him, they could find their way out the same way they found their way in.
    I caught Sean checking out Austin and Chase over his coffee cup.  The men were preparing breakfast for the masses and they were doing it wearing nothing but pajama pants.  Their chests were chiseled and worthy of book covers about hulking Highlanders or soul stealing Doms.  Chiseled and tan and tapered into those drawstring flannel jammie pants.  Sean caught my eye and he winked, putting his thumb and index finger together then pulling slowly in mid air. I knew exactly what he meant.  One good tug and it would be goodbye jammie pants.  We grinned and sipped our coffee.  Ayla watched us both and rolled her eyes.
    Chase cleared his throat.
    “So Mel’...I couldn’t help but notice someone crept through early this morning.  You don’t set an alarm?”
    I shrugged.
    “It was Anton.  He comes and goes.  I set the alarm when I remember, but he has the keycode.  He’s set off too many false alarms by forgetting to disarm the alarm system when he stealths in.  I got tired of paying the fee for his screw ups.”
    “You really should use the alarm and make him pay the fee if he forgets to deactivate it.  You set the precedence by letting him do as he pleases.  You’re better than that.”
    Austin’s words struck a nerve.  Something about him telling me that I was better than the person that allowed Anton open access whenever he wanted it, made me squirm.  I’d been wondering that about myself a lot lately.  Last night at the bar, Austin and I had a spark.  He felt it just like I did.  Anton was so jealous he showed up in the middle of the night to make sure that spark didn’t turn into a flame.  He needed to remind me who I belonged