Page 35 of Their Reluctant Catch

Todd’s easygoing and charming. I’m not. I’m a self-aware person. I am grumpy, slow to trust, and rough around the edges. But I also know my worth. I’m loyal, strong, and protective. And I wanther.

I shift closer, just enough to breathe her in. Her hair, silky against my skin, tickles my nose. I let my eyes drift shut, inhaling the scent of her while listening to the steady rhythm of her breath.

Todd is right. We need to talk.

Not just about the nightmares or the way I found her today—vacant, lost—but about the red-hot chemistry between us. The crackling energy that neither Todd nor I are imagining.

She must feel it, too.

She must be willing to explore it.

I will my body to relax. I need sleep. Tomorrow will be challenging, and I will need all my faculties.

Tomorrow.

Chapter15

Savannah

Warmth surrounds me, as I wake to a steady rise and fall and the heat of solid bodies bracketing me on either side.

I should feel trapped, but I don’t. Not in this moment.

The room is quiet, save for slow, even breaths—the kind that lull a person into rest. My body is heavy, but not with exhaustion. It is something softer, something unfamiliar. I can’t remember the last time I felt safe enough to sleep this deeply.

I should wake. I should move. But I don’t.

Instead, I burrow deeper, curling my fingers into the fabric beneath me, breathing in the scent of soap, salt, and something distinctly male. It’s comforting in a way I don’t want to analyze too closely.

Then my monkey brain kicks up a fuss, urging me to wake the fuck up.

My eyes snap open.

I am not in my room at the B&B.

I am not in Miami.

I am between two men.Two!

My breath stutters as my awareness sharpens. My left side is flush against Todd, his chest rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

Cautiously, I turn my head.

Colton is snuggled up against my right side, his arm slung across my stomach. His large, rough palm is curled—right over my breast.

“What the fuck!” I bolt upright, jostling both men.

They jolt awake as I struggle to untangle myself from the bedsheets.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Starling, calm down,” comes Todd’s sleepy rumble, but I don’t calm down. I push harder, kicking off at the covers and trying to scramble toward the edge of the bed.

“Savannah!”

The word on Todd’s lips snaps like a whip, and my body freezes, reacting to his dominance.

I hate that I go still just because he says my name.

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