Free Beneath a Hot Tequila Sun by Catelyn Cash Page B

great big mother hen.”
    Kayla laughed, but she could see an element of truth in Jake’s statement. Even enjoying a meal with friends, Seth remained sharp and watchful as a hawk. “What made you pick archaeology?” she asked Jake.
    Jake pushed his plate away with an air of repletion. “I get to wear a cool hat and dig in the dirt. What’s not to love?”
    “You could be a farmer and do the same,” she pointed out.
    “True.” Jake stretched his legs out in front and linked his hands behind his head. “Okay, there’s nothing quite like digging up an artifact, knowing that no one has touched it for eight hundred years. It could be pottery or a piece of jewelry. And you hold it in your hand knowing that someone held it just like you. Not a king or a queen. Just an average Joe. I love that sense of the past, knowing that it exists all around us, that every single person who has ever existed has left some mark on the world.” He broke off, looking embarrassed.
    Kayla half expected Seth to crack a joke. But what she saw in the other man’s eyes as he looked at Jake was…sympathy?
    “Plus, I get to run away from snakes,” said Jake. “What about you?” he asked Kayla. “Are you really a sculptor? Or was that just a line to get us naked?”
    “Up until recently, I worked in an office. No snakes. But I intend to reinvent myself as a sculptor.”
    “Any particular reason?” asked Seth.
    She thought of the years her art had been consigned to a hobby while she tried desperately to make her marriage work. “It was time,” she said briskly, then changed the subject. “Does anyone have a phone I can borrow? Mine’s dead, and I should call my friends.”
    The men exchanged a look. “About that,” said Jake diffidently. “Seth and I were talking, and we wondered how you would feel about staying on for a while.”
    Spend more time in paradise with these two? How wonderful would that be? But, alas, reality beckoned. And for her, reality didn’t include threesomes with two hot men. “I have to fly home tomorrow,” she said wistfully.
    “We’re renting a cabin,” said Seth, just as diffident as Jake. “Not staying in tents like the students. It’s way more comfortable than the top of a pyramid.”
    Even one more night with them sounded blissful, but changing her flight would cost money she didn’t have. Besides, what would her friends think if she stayed on with two men she had only just met? And Jake’s students too. What would they think? No, tempting though it was, staying on would only delay the inevitable; if she didn’t leave now, she’d have to leave tomorrow. Or the next day. And the longer she stayed, she suspected the harder that would be.
    “I have appointments over the next few days to look at some studios to rent. Which means I need to get back. What about you two? How long are you staying?” she asked, already seeing herself curled up on her sofa in wintry London, drawing them living in the sun.
    “I have at least another three weeks,” said Jake.
    “Whereas I’ll be leaving at the end of the week,” Seth told her.
    “The thing is,” said Jake, “the world isn’t all that big.”
    “Meaning?” She glanced from one to the other.
    “Meaning that last night was pretty special. Seth and I were talking after you fell asleep, and we’d very much like to repeat the experience. I’m sure there will be times when all three of us are on the same continent. How would you feel about meeting up?”
    Kayla’s heart skipped, but she wasn’t clear on what he was asking. “Meet for a booty call?”
    “Actually,” said Jake, “we hoped it might be more than that.”
    “More?”
    “A relationship. What I felt last night…” Jake’s cheeks darkened in a blush. “It blew me away.”
    “Yes.” Seth nodded. “Me too. What he said.”
    “A relationship? With both of you?” An excited shiver passed through Kayla, making her scalp tingle, but she knew she must be missing something. They