Page 74 of With Us

A quick scan had shown clothes, pajamas, books, and movies. Plus, five different bathing suits.

Five.

I had no clue why I’d need more than one bathing suit, let alone five. But since they were all cute or sexy, I’d found myself coming up with reasons.

When I’d looked at the packages, the cage dream had still been fresh in my mind. Seeing some of the things, however, made it easy to tell that Theo wasn’t trying to change me. The clothes were my style, comfortable and casual. All the books were the smutty romance ones I loved. Even the movies were the stupid comedies I preferred.

I could tell Theo had been expecting an argument. For me to fight him and demand he take everything back.

I hadn’t. Instead, I’d been filled with all the excited anticipation of my birthday and Christmas rolled into one day.

Well, my birthday and Christmas the years I’d been in a good house.

Maybe I’d made a mistake by accepting the stuff so easily. Maybe I should’ve refused it.

Maybe I was a bad person.

But as I glanced down at the sexy bikini I wore while sitting in the comfortable hammock that was surrounded by a lush garden and gorgeous pool, I couldn’t bring myself to care. Especially when there was aridiculouslygood-looking man inside who I knew would want to see me in, and then strip me out of, said bikini.

Tossing the hat and book down, I got up and adjusted my suit back into place. Black, rounded triangles covered my breasts, interwoven straps keeping them in place. The bottoms had the same kind of straps at the sides.

The white lace cover up I’d brought out was warmed by the sun, making goosebumps break out across my skin as I pulled it over my head. The dress had a deep V-neck that dipped to mid-abdomen. The hem ended well above my knees and had a slit up one side. For a cover up, it covered up very little. I wasn’t even sure what the point of it was. But since it wassosoft, and very sexy, I wore it.

Heading inside, I ignored Gus swatting at my feet. I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge before continuing through the house. Not finding Theo in the living room, I walked to the steps. There were five bedrooms upstairs, including his master, and two rooms downstairs that’d been converted into an office and home gym. As I put my foot on the bottom step, I heard muffled talking from down the hall. Following the noise, I realized he was in his office.

I lifted my hand to knock, but stopped when I heard other voices and realized he wasn’t alone. I knew he had work to take care of, but I hadn’t known that meant other people would be coming over. Dropping my hand, I began to step away but didn’t get far before the door swung open.

“Miss Kincaid,” Ben greeted. “Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s okay,” I said, feeling like I’d been caught eavesdropping.

“Dahlia,” Theo called from inside the office. “Everything okay?”

Stepping inside, I saw Theo sitting behind his desk, dressed in loose track pants and a white tee. A bunch of folders and paperwork were spread out in front of him.

I wish I was spread in front of him.

There were three other men in the room, along with Theo, Ben, Luc, and Tina’s husband, Gabe. Even though none of them could read my thoughts, I still blushed.

“Yeah, it’s great,” I said to Theo. “I was just coming to say hi, but then I heard you were busy, so…” I started to back out of the room.

“Not busy.” He jerked his head. “Come here.” When I got within reach of him, he grabbed my waist and pulled me onto his lap so I was perched on his thighs.

I sat stiffly at first, surprised Theo would be so intimate when he was clearly working. A quick scan of the room showed the same surprise on the three strangers’ faces, although two of them tried to hide it. Luc sat on a couch against the wall, smiling as he looked at his phone. Ben leaned by the door, his attention on his phone, too. Gabe grinned openly, and I could almost hear him telling Tina later.

“This is Jay, Dale, and Chris,” Theo said, introducing me to the suited men in the chairs in front of his desk. “This is my girlfriend, Dahlia.”

We exchanged pleasantries, everyone politely ignoring the fact I was in a revealing bathing suit and sitting on Theo’s lap.

“What’re you up to?” Theo asked me. “You smell like sun.”

I held up my water bottle. “Just grabbing a drink.”

An alarm chimed from the couch. “Reminder,” Luc said. “Don’t forget about the Children’s Hospital gala.”

Theo’s head fell back as he groaned in annoyance. “Ididforget. When is that?”

“Next Friday.”

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