Page 9 of Claiming Tessa

She sat up on the side of the bed and noticed the guys had brought in her duffle and backpack, so she had a change of clothes.Most of her things needed to be laundered, but she’d deal with that later.

After her shower, she dressed in faded jeans and a t-shirt.She brushed her hair out until it lay in a soft curtain down her back.

She made the bed and cleaned the bathroom before pulling on her socks and tennis shoes.She snatched up her backpack and duffle before heading out.

“Good morning.”

She’d been looking down at her phone, checking messages, and hadn’t realized she stopped in front of the kitchen where the men sat.

Her head jerked up.“Hi.Good morning.”

Diego stood up and grabbed a coffee cup.“Would you like some coffee?”

“You mean, do I want the juice of life?”She chuckled.“Absolutely.”

Both men laughed.

“Come and sit down and eat,” Gavin said, and pulled out a chair.

“I-I don’t want to be a bother.You guys have done so much for me, and I can’t thank you enough.But there is a lot I need to get done today.”

Diego lifted the bag from her hands, grabbed her backpack, and put it on top before nudging her to the table.

She stared at the plate of food they set in front of her.She hadn’t realized she was hungry until that moment.

“You guys didn’t have to do this,” she said, trying to keep her emotions concealed.

Diego placed a cup of coffee down in front of her.“We knew you hadn’t eaten for a while.”

“This is a lot of food.”

“Don’t worry,” Gavin said and grinned.“It won’t go to waste.”

“Thank you.It looks delicious.”

“Baby, it’s just French toast and bacon.”

She looked at Gavin.“I’ve been out of the country.I haven’t seen this type of food in years.”

Gavin sat down next to her.“What were you traveling so long for?”

“I had just graduated from college in the States and then took a year overseas.After that, I had no plans, so I decided to travel.I helped out at the colleges over in England, Scotland, and Australia.About a year ago, a friend got a grant to work on this excavation site in Egypt and asked me to help.”She took a few bites and washed it down with coffee.“The grant ran out a few weeks ago, so I came home.I could have worked at some of the colleges, but I missed the States, and I was sick of living out of a suitcase.”

Both men studied her, and it made her conscious of eating in front of them.She wiped her mouth with a napkin.“What?”

Diego sat back in his chair.“Why did you leave in the first place?”

She sighed.“My dad died when I was thirteen.He and I were extremely close.My mom isn’t a nice person, so he and I stuck together.After he was gone, she treated me badly.”God, that was an understatement.“I decided to work hard and graduate early so I could go off to college and away from her.”

Tessa pushed the plate away from her.“I went to Penn State and one in England and got my doctorate in psychology, and a master’s in archeology.”

“Wow,” Gavin said, impressed.

She shrugged.“I didn’t have anything else to do, so I studied.”

“Do you plan on doing any more traveling to archeology digs?”

“No.I’m done with traveling.I want to put down roots somewhere.”

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