“No!” all three of them said together.
I lowered my hands to see that the whole restaurant was looking at us. “All right, tone it down,” I hissed.
“I'm sorry I said that,” Gage said, not even glancing at the other customers. “Don't go, Indie.”
I stared at him. When had anyone said those words to me? Never. They were so sweet and a little sad. Enough to ring in my chest and send warm vibrations through my body. He wanted me to stay. Why was that so wonderful? This was the same guy who had just implied that I couldn't take care of myself. Or at least, couldn't buy my own clothes. I should be furious. But then I saw him—Gage. I saw the bravado and what it meant. It was his way of flirting with me. He was trying to tease me, not insult me.
“It's okay,” I said. “I know you were teasing. I'm just a little sensitive right now. Depending on others for anything makes me anxious and it pricks my pride.”
“Indigo, we don't want to take care of you because we think you're incapable of doing it for yourself,” Gideon said. “It's an instinctual thing for us. A way of showing our affection.”
“And a way of swinging our masculinity about.” Gage winked at me.
“You just apologized,” Garret huffed. “Don't go wading back into your bullshit.”
Gage grimaced. “Sorry.”
“No, it's all right. I'm starting to find his bullshit endearing,” I said. “And I'll try to see things from your point of view.”
“You're amazing,” Gideon blurted.
I lifted my brows at him.
He cleared his throat, glanced at the other two, then said, “You're so reasonable. And beautiful. And smart. I hope you're our mate.”
“I can't believe we're talking about this with her,” Garret said to the other two. “I always assumed we'd have to ease a potential mate into things.”
“You mean, hide it from her until after we were mated,” Gage said.
“Not for that long, but yes.” Garret looked at me. “I'm glad we don't have to.”
“I may not be the one,” I said.
“If you aren't, we can still enjoy our time together.”
I lifted my brows.
“Not sexually,” he hurried to add. “Just as friends.”
“And either way, we still want to take care of you,” Gideon said.
I winced.
Gideon laughed. “We'll ease you into that, Miss Independent. Think of it as us doing our jobs for now. Someone asked us to look after you. You're a friend of a friend.”
“Okay, thanks. That makes it easier. But you're right. I could use some clothes.”
“I call dibs on picking out your underwear,” Gage said.
I leveled a hard stare at him and said, “Too far, Gage. Too far.”
Then we all burst into laughter.
Chapter Eighteen
We went to boutiques all over Helena. I would have been fine with Ross or something like that, but they insisted on high-end stores. The clothing was very nice but also expensive, and that kept me from trying on the pieces I really liked. To which Garret caught on quickly.
“How about this one?” Garret took the dress I'd been eyeing off the rack.
