Page 100 of Knot Broken

“Bitch.”

A piece of paper was scrunched up and pegged at my head, but apparently the wolf had reflexes I didn’t. I caught it mid-air, then tossed it into the waste paper bin without even looking. A little more banter and then we locked in, working through morning tea and beyond, until lunchtime arrived.

“Stupid Australian Tax Office,” Helena groaned, stretching her arms above her head. “I need a coffee and a sandwich the size of my head, stat. Wanna hit that place on the…”

I looked up as her voice trailed away, only to see we had a visitor. Well, visitors. My pack stood in the doorway holding plastic bags full of food that smelled freaking amazing, as well as trays of coffee.

“Hey.” Why the hell did my cheeks start flushing? Probably because these guys were completely out of place in this environment. They were like a trio of wild animals. Sexy, sexy wild animals. I took in their work uniforms, the food, everything, and then gave into the sudden muscle tension, walking over to greet my mates. “What’re you doing here?”

“We were doing a quote for a job in the area and thought we’d come by,” Grey replied smoothly.

“More like we bumped up a job that was close to your office.” Ethan plucked coffees from his tray, handing me one, then Helena. “As soon as the walkthrough was finished, Tex started whining about coming past with lunch.”

“Didn’t whine.” The man himself stepped in closer, putting an arm around my shoulders. “I made a suggestion in a very manly fashion to go and make sure my woman had some lunch.” Why did I find that so hot? “Figured you’d need a break. We could hang out for a little while, have something to eat.” His lips brushed my ear as his voice lowered. “Or anything else you might need.”

That forced me to shove him away. It was bad enough my body started responding to them the minute they walked in the room outside of work, but in the office? I glanced around, as if all of my colleagues could see my nipples burrowing through my clothing, trying to get to Tex.

“I need to get this work done.” Sitting down at my desk, I found I had an audience. Three sets of silver eyes stared down at me, right before the bags were placed on my desk and each item unpacked. “Everything’s been piling up since I went on leave.”

“And you need to eat.”

Grey’s tone made clear he wasn’t going to take no for an answer.

“Yes, sir.” I sketched a little salute as a joke, only for him to go very still. Interesting. It seemed like he liked that a whole lot. I filed that little bit of info away for later, then grabbed one of the bundles at random. “Chicken and salad sandwich? Yum. Thanks for bringing this by.”

“We provide for our mate,” Tex said, pulling up a chair and sitting down in front of my desk before opening up his own sandwich.

A little movement beside me meant I glanced sideways to see Helena mouthing the same words with a jubilant expression on her face.

I was never going to hear the end of this.

“We also provide for our mate’s friends.” Ethan carried over the box of food. “So Helena, we’ve got roast beef, salami, chicken⁠—”

“Salami would be amazing,” she said, suddenly shy.

OK, so maybe there were some benefits to having the guys around.

“So how did the quote go?” I asked, sandwich in one hand, scrolling my mouse with the other. My inbox was filled with requests for different records, receipts or reports. A hand reached over, closing the laptop before Tex met my outraged expression with an unrepentant smirk. “I’ve got work to do!”

“Australian industrial relations law specifies that all employees are entitled to a lunch break,” Grey replied mildly, taking the last remaining seat and sitting down opposite me. “If your employer is not honouring that, I know a good lawyer we can talk to.”

“I’ve been away from work for days,” I spluttered.

“On medically approved leave,” Ethan said.

“The company is being audited!”

“And you will work hard to complete your tasks, after you’ve had something to eat,” Grey replied.

Sitting back in my chair, I scowled at the lot of them.

“You’re so cute when you’re grumpy,” Tex said, which had Helena spluttering, then coughing as she almost choked on a mouthful of food. “Just makes me want to kiss you until that little line between your eyebrows disappear.”

“Oh goddess…” Helena hissed, sitting down lower in her seat before conspicuously turning back to her laptop.

If she noticed what was going on, so would my colleagues. My eyes darted around the open plan office, trying to gauge the way other people were processing the appearance of my mates.

Just in time to see Christian the hottie approach our area. He tapped a sheaf of papers against his thigh, smiling confidently at every woman he walked past, only for that to disappear once he looked through the glass partition around us. Catching the moment his eyes widened as he took my pack in almost had me bursting out laughing. That impulse died as every single one of my guys turned to see what had caught my attention. That preternatural stillness, so much like the way big cats on the nature documentaries went quiet, right before they attacked, had me stiffening. The guys didn’t move, just stayed right where they were as Christian’s steps slowed and then stopped.