Theirs by Eve Vaughn Page B

would get tired of sharing her and decide they each wanted their own individual woman. On top of that, they wanted her to move back to Bradfordville. She never wanted to see that town again, if she were being completely honest. Alex fully understood they couldn’t leave because of the factory and therein lay the problem.
    Thankfully she was well-rested so by the time she made it to work, Alex was able to concentrate on her tasks. Georgia was waiting for her at their spot in the cafeteria. The redhead smiled as Alex approached. “You’re looking much better today. You must have slept the night away.”
    Alex took the seat across from her friend. “Not exactly, at least not at first.”
    “What happened? Don’t tell me your mystery men showed up.” Georgia popped a french fry into her mouth.
    “That’s exactly what happened. All I wante d to do when I got home was take a long hot bath and go to bed. But Cash and Rusty were waiting for me.”
    “Oh, so that’s their names? Now I can stop calling them your mystery men. They sound sexy?”
    “You got that all from the names?”
    “They just sound like hot guy names and I figured they have to be good-l ooking considering all the men you’ve turned down over the years. I mean you’ve passed on some serious hunks.”
    Alex rolled her eyes. “That’s not true. You keep saying how all these men are after me but I’ve seen no evidence.”
    “Are you kidding me? That cute Oncologist on the eighth floor keeps asking about you and that guy is seriously hot. I swear if he showed the least bit of interest in me, I’d be all over that. You’re so oblivious when it comes to male attention.”
    Alex pulled an apple out of her lunch bag. “I still think you’re exaggerating but the truth is, what happened between me Cash and Rusty did quite a number on me.”
    “Are you ready to talk about it?”
    “It’s long story. Do you have the time?”
    Georgia glanced at her watch. “I got about forty minutes.”
    “Okay, the condensed version it is.”
    Alex took a deep breath before telling Georgia everything from how she’d grown up with Cash and Rusty, what it had been like to be friends with them in a town that judged her and how her grandmother had treated her. Except for sharing graphic details of her encounters with the Bradford men, she tried to be as forthcoming as possible. By the time Alex was finished with her tale, Georgia was caught up to the previous night. “And that’s basically it.”
    The redhead stared back at Alex open-mouthed.
    Alex raised a brow. “Are you going to say something?”
    “Whoa.”
    “That’s it?”
    “I mean what else can I say? That sounds like something out of a movie. I didn’t even know things like that happened in real life. That’s certainly a lot to process. It’s no wonder you’ve been a wreck these past few days.”
    “Yeah, you’ve only heard my story, imagine living it.”
    Georgia reached across the table and took Alex’s hand. “You poor thing. What are you going to do?”
    “I don’t know. I haven’t seen them in eight years and they just expect me to come home with them as if all this time hasn’t passed. I really like the life I have he re . I love my job, I like being in a big city where no one knows who I am and people don’t turn their nose down at me because they think they’re better than me.”
    “Sounds like your biggest issue is with the town and not with Cash and Rusty. Maybe you’re looking for excuses instead of taking another chance with them.”
    “Of course I’m scared. When I had to leave town abruptly I was devastated. And when they didn’t come after me, I was doubly crushed.”
    “But it sounds like they had a pretty good explanation to me for why didn’t get in contact with you and had you not fallen asleep, maybe they would have told you why they hadn’t been in contact with you these past eight years.”
    Alex shrugged. “Maybe so but what good would that do now. We’re not