Page 30 of My Three Rivals

“Well, Little Fire?” Atticus said, turning his glorious, naked form to the side to offer me his beautiful, dimpled grin.

“Well, what?” I breathed, still struggling to even my heart rate.

He reached up to brush the tangled strands of hair out of my face, and for half a second, he didn’t look like a complete asshole to me. “Are we friends now?”

I snorted by rote but quickly covered it up with a nod and a silly laugh. “Yes,” I lied. “Of course we are.”

Our eyes clashed, neither one of us believing the other. Wyatt studied us both in his usual, quiet way, but he couldn’t have acknowledged this truce any more than I did.

Sex didn’t fix anything.

It had only been a really, really enjoyable distraction and potentially an upper hand in matters now.

It was a pity that Maverick hadn’t been there, too.

CHAPTER12

Atticus

Wyatt was the first to leave the bed, quickly followed by Tegan, who looked at me meaningfully as she found her clothes and hastily dressed. Without a word, Wyatt shuffled out of her bedroom, leaving Tegan and me facing off again.

So much for eliminating any of that attitude,I mused even before she said a word.

Predictably, her next statement was indicative of her fiery personality.

“I’m not serving you breakfast, if that’s what you’re waiting for,” she told me sarcastically.

“No? How about a sandwich then?” I mocked her.

Her green eyes flashed, but she maintained her half-smile. “Seriously, get out.”

Lazily, I rose, noting how she took in the angles of my still naked form, her eyes straining to get away but lingering on the curve of my ass as I bent over to grab my jeans.

“You just cost me a lot of money by damaging those machines,” I informed her.

“You’re going to cost me a lot of money by digging up my vineyards,” she shot back, unflinchingly.

I turned to face her, exhaling. “I thought you said we were friends.”

Her stiff shoulders lowered slightly but still didn’t relax. “My friends don’t move into my house and try to run me off my property.”

“Touché.”

Our gazes held, and I couldn’t help but admire her composure. She was holding up under the pressure, going head-to-head with us. But the girl still couldn’t stay.

“Tell you what,” I said. “I’ll still give you a fair price for your half of the land—without discounting the vandalism from the offer.”

Her shoulders moved back up again. “I’ll tell you what,” she returned evenly. “How about you get out of my room and go makemea sandwich.”

I gritted my teeth beneath my full lips, but I didn’t let her see how amused I was.

“Let’s try to keep this civil,” I said, heading toward the open door. “Stop messing with our business, and we’ll start working away from the vineyards… for now.”

Tegan threw up her hands. “Don’t you guys talk to each other? Your construction will screw with my production. It doesn’t make a difference if you’re digging up the vines or a hundred feet away from them: the plants can sense when the environment isn’t right.”

“Maybe it’s all your negativity that’s stressing them out,” I mused cockily before sauntering out the door. “You seem to be the common denominator.”

“My negativity wasn’t bothering you ten minutes ago,” she muttered, and I grinned, grateful that she couldn’t see me.

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