"We won't cause problems with your daughter," he promised, his voice a silken rumble.
Pax groaned, proving he was still in the room. "Let go of the woman, Lane, and put the washer back before you say anything else you'll regret." Then, without another word, he stepped between us, turned me to the door, and gently guided me into the other room. It had almost been fast enough for me to miss that one little word, but not quite.
Lane had said "we," and I had questions.
CHAPTER 16
When he got me to the kitchen, Pax didn't stop. He did let me go, and I leaned up against the counter to blow out a deep breath, starting to realize exactly how awkward this whole situation was about to be. Pax? He pulled open the fridge, took out a bottle of wine, and gestured to the cabinets.
"Glasses? Because I think you need some of this."
I pointed at the right one. "That pathetic, huh?"
"Let's go with overwhelmed. Lane tends to have that effect on people. Quite a few are scared of him just for his size." He poured half a glass and then passed it over. "You mind if I stick around for a while and make sure that keeps working?"
"The washer?" Although I had a funny feeling that wasn't what he was really worried about.
His amber eyes met mine, and he smiled. "Yeah, let's go with that. Unless you want to tell me how you feel about my giant of a roommate cornering you for a kiss?"
Unconsciously, I reached up to touch my lips, surprised they felt the same as they always had. A split second later, I realized Pax was still watching, so jerked my hand back down. How had one little kiss turned me into an idiot?
"You freaking out?" he asked.
"A little. Mostly about him saying 'we.'"
That earned me a chuckle. "Let's just say that we have a rule between the five of us. Chasing the same woman isn't a problem, and it seems we're all interested in the one next door."
"Me?" Thankfully, it didn't come out as a squeak, but I'd expected it to.
He just nodded. "Yeah, you. Now I'm just going to lay this out there as bluntly as Lane would, ok? First, we understand that when Gabby's around, we cannot be more than the guys next door. That's not even something you should worry about. Ashley made it clear that your daughter isn't ready for her mom to be single. We get it."
"We?" I asked again, completely stuck on that pronoun.
Pax smiled. "Yeah, we. All five of us. See, that's the second thing. It's not your responsibility to make sure we get along. All you need to worry about is dealing with a bunch of dumb guys who want to impress you. Lane kissing you doesn't mean you owe him a thing, or that you can't test other waters." He raised his voice a bit. "It just means he's an impatient prick who forgot the rules."
"Fuck off," Lane said from right behind me. "You act like she'd be scared to tell me off."
They both looked at me as if expecting a response. I quickly lifted my glass and took a very healthy drink. One that most people would call a gulp, but I needed a crutch and wasn't too proud to use alcohol to make this easier.
"You would tell me off, wouldn't you?" Lane asked, moving around to see me better.
I gave in with a sigh. "Two decades is a long time, ok? I've been with the same man for that many years, and you expect me to..." I just shook my head. "I don't know, sound like anything but an idiot right now? I don't... I just wanted to finish the laundry before Gerardo showed up, and I feel like my mind's still stuck on the towels."
"Your ex?" Lane asked.
I nodded. "Almost ex, technically."
"Elena," he said, moving closer. "I'm sorry."
I held my wine before me like a shield so that I didn't do anything else stupid - like throw myself at him. "It's ok, Lane. I'm just not used to men kissing me."
"You should be." But he stepped back. "I put the washer back in place. I should probably go, huh?"
I wanted to beg him not to. I wanted to ask him why he'd stopped. The problem was that nothing at all came out as I tried to figure out how the hell I was supposed to handle this when we weren't alone.