thrilled about it, since she had plans with a few of the kids in the neighborhood, but I'd been waiting for this. I knew he wanted to see where we lived, most likely to make sure I hadn't lied to him. Well, that meant I needed to have the house clean before they got back. If I knew that man - and I did - he'd find a way to invite himself in.
The boxes were finally gone, yet all of my chores had fallen to the wayside while I focused on unpacking. Now, I had at least six loads of laundry to catch up on, not to mention dishes and all the other boring things that took up my weekends. At least Gabby wouldn't be making more of a mess.
That plan worked for a while - right up until the third load of laundry. That was when the washer started making noises and a warning buzzer went off. The damned thing was old, and I'd bought it secondhand, but I didn't need this today. Determined to force it to start working again, I stormed into the laundry room, then started poking at it. Yes, poking. I pressed buttons, turned dials, and made an attempt to reset the controls.
Nothing.
I was just about to scream in frustration when a random little thought popped into my head. The guys next door were supposed to be handy, right? They worked with construction and stuff, so maybe one of them could help? Besides, I was completely on board with the idea of being saved by some young, hot piece of muscle. More so with my daughter out of the house.
If I'd stopped and thought this through, I probably would've talked myself out of it. Instead, knowing Gerardo would be back in a few hours had put me in a mood. I wanted to make sure he knew that we were doing just fine without him and that I had other men more than willing to jump in and help. I wanted him to see me as more successful without him than I'd ever been with him.
That was how I ended up on the neighbor's front porch, knocking lightly at the impressive, solid-oak door. Behind the beveled glass, I could see someone moving, and a moment later, the door opened. It was Pax, and he looked like he was very confused.
"There's not even music playing," he told me.
"What?" Then I remembered our conversation on my first day in the office. "Oh. No! Actually, I was kinda wondering if one of you guys knew anything about washing machines?" I bit my lip and gave him my best needy look.
"Yeah." He ducked back for a second, but left the door partially open. Enough that I could see him reaching for shoes. "What's going on?"
"It stopped in the middle of a load, and every time I try to make it drain, it just beeps at me."
Bent over, cramming a foot into his shoe, Pax flashed a smile at me. "And it's completely full, right?"
"Yeah?" I mumbled, hoping that wasn't the wrong answer.
"Lane!" he barked into the house. "Heavy things need to be lifted!"
From around the corner, I heard the reply. "Yep. Need pants."
That made me groan. "I'm so sorry. I just thought maybe you'd be able to tell me - "
He didn't let me finish. "Elena, it's fine. Man stuff. Makes us feel useful or something." Again, he looked back. "Lane!"
"Fuck off," the big guy grumbled as he hurried to the door, still putting on his shirt, but covered from the waist down.
And my eyes took in that gap of bare, solid flesh at his waist, along with the light dusting of hair that ran across the expanse of it. Then there were the hard lines separating the various muscle groups, not to mention the sheer size of his arms. He looked even better in daylight than he had at night. My teeth closed on my lower lip of their own volition as I imagined how little he'd been wearing a few seconds ago. The only problem was that Pax noticed.
"Shoulda left off the shirt," he teased Lane before turning his attention back to me. "Lead on, little lady. Your laundry saviors have arrived."
Giving in, I headed back across the yard to my own house, overly aware of the two gorgeous men following me. I felt like I was giving a guided tour or something until I opened the door and invited them in. Apparently, they knew the layout