his mouth claimed mine, his tongue demanding entrance. This time, I was ready. I didn't fight him. No, my arms found his shoulder blades, and I just hung on.
This was exactly how I'd imagined it would happen. Not in my laundry room, but with the same rushed breaths and bruising holds. Pax's mouth moved down my jaw, across my throat, and his fist in my hair gave him access. He took control in a way my body wanted, making me feel so alive.
I moaned, and he pressed his hips closer, making it clear he wanted more. He also didn't push. He didn't pull at my clothes. The man just kissed me until my back was leaned over the washer and I'd hooked a leg around his calf, needing to feel him between my knees.
One kiss became two. The laundry began to spin, but not even that stopped us. My lips were bruised and my breath was much too fast. I could feel the dampness on my panties, but I didn't want to stop. I wanted this moment to just keep going. To last forever. To make me remember that I was actually beautiful, and this delicious man agreed.
Just as his hand slid up my ribs, pausing right under my breast, the front door opened. A second later, Gabby called out, "Mom? Dad's here."
Pax smiled against my lips. "Oops."
"Shit," I breathed.
He immediately stepped back, but he couldn't stop the boyish smile. "Your hair."
"Your pants," I countered as I smoothed it back into place.
Without shame, he made an adjustment, then stepped around me to check the washer. "Looks like it's working."
"Mom?!" Gabby yelled.
I pointed at myself. "Do I look ok?"
"Yeah. Like nothing happened," Pax assured me. "I'm just fixing the washer."
So I leaned my head out into the hall. "I'm in the laundry room. Had a minor appliance breakdown, so Pax is here."
Gabby bounded toward us, swinging around the frame to wave at Pax. "Dad took me shopping, and we had dinner at the Cheesecake Factory. He wanted to see the house, so is it cool if I show him?"
"Of course," I told her. "It's your home too."
She rolled her eyes and dropped her voice. "Yeah, tell him that. He wants me to move back in with him because he's got a new girlfriend and is trying to show off what a great father figure he is. I had to do the daughter parade today."
"Be nice," I warned her.
So she looked at Pax. "Hey. I'm Gabby, since Mom forgot to introduce us. You're the neighbor, right?"
"One of them," he agreed.
She smiled. "Te dije que los vecinos son lindos." Reminding me once again that the neighbors were cute.
Pax ducked his head and laughed before replying in the same language, "Gracias, pero soy un poco viejo para ti. Soy más cercano a tu mamá."
At least he agreed with me that he was too old for her, but for some reason, hearing he was closer to my age than my daughter's felt a little shocking. Still, the way he said that made me feel just a little warmer, and I glanced at Gabby to see if she'd noticed.
Her mouth fell open, and her skin lightened one whole shade. "Uh... Dad's waiting."
"Oh yeah," I agreed. "Now's a good time to run for it. Might get that foot out of your mouth."
"Mom!" she hissed, but she didn't stick around long enough for more.
The moment she was gone, Pax lost it, shoving a hand over his face. "I wasn't supposed to understand that, I take it?"
"Pretty sure you weren't."
He caught my hip and ducked his head to brush a kiss across the side of my neck. "I also notice you didn't disagree. Want to introduce me to your ex-husband?"
"Um..." As if this couldn't get any more awkward. Never mind that I'd kinda kissed his roommate first!
"Don't overthink it," he told me. "None of it. I'm just the neighbor, and I just came over to..." He smiled. "Help."
We made it back to the living room just as Gerardo and Gabby came back down the stairs. Gabby was giving her dad a running list of all the cool things about her new house, but he didn't look as happy as she sounded. In fact, my soon-to-be-ex looked almost like he'd stepped in a little something. Probably because he had his foot so far up in it that he didn't know how to get it out.
Then he realized we weren't alone. "Hi," he said, offering his hand. "I'm Gerardo Castillo, Elena's