if the situation arises for a couple of you to get her in the middle, I think it might be a good way to start. Two is a lot easier than five."
"What if we scare her off?" Trent asked.
Ian sighed. "Then it wasn't meant to be, but I'm telling you guys, she's perfect for us." Then he chuckled. "Well, for Lane, at any rate."
"And poor Lane barely gets to talk to her," Trent teased. "His balls have to be blue as fuck by now."
"I don't want to scare her off," Lane grumbled. "And I get so stupid when she's around."
"Not as stupid as Ian," Trent joked.
"Fuck off. You're not any better," Ian shot back. "Look, all of you are into her, and when was the last time we agreed on a woman?"
"It's been a while," Pax said.
Ian laughed. "Exactly. Doesn't that say something? And I like her kid. Not just tolerate, but I honestly like Gabby."
"She's a good girl," Lane agreed. "You know the Whelan boy's into her?"
"Yeah, already warned him," Ian said. "I made it clear that he should treat her as if she were my own daughter. I think that boy's balls vanished into his asshole."
They all laughed again before Trent added, "And I'm going to make sure Gabby gets the part she wants in that play. Come hell or high water."
"Good," Ian told him. "Sounds like she could use a dad in her life, and I don't know about the rest of you, but I kinda like how that sounds."
"Yeah," Lane agreed.
The rest mumbled some variation shortly after, and I decided that was all I needed to hear. It seemed that third glass of wine had gone right to my eyes, and things were starting to get blurry. The emotional kind of blurry, because five guys were sitting outside in their hot tub talking about wanting to be a father figure for my little girl, and I didn't even care about the rest.
I eventually would, and I knew it, but that one little thing was my main criteria in a man. I wanted someone who would accept my daughter as his own. It seemed I'd moved beside an entire house filled with potential candidates, and they had no interest in making me choose. I was either drunk or in heaven. Either way, I seriously needed to sleep this off before I had to be at work in the morning.
CHAPTER 23
When I woke up, I couldn't be completely sure the whole thing hadn't been a dream - if only because what I'd heard had been a little too perfect. So, I decided to ignore it. So far, that had worked best for me, and why ruin a good thing, right?
But work wasn't any easier. Still, when the guys passed through the office, I made a point of smiling at them. I also decided that if Ian asked me out again, I'd say yes. Mostly because I'd promised Gabby I would. Partly because I wanted to see if there was a catch before I was too involved in the idea of five hot younger men all wanting me.
That afternoon, Gabby told me she not only had her first official boyfriend, but also her first kiss. When I'd asked how that went, she blushed brilliantly and made up an excuse to escape. In other words, better than she'd expected. I made a mental note to meet this boy if things lasted longer than a week, and then promptly passed out early.
Wednesday, the rush from the ad finally slowed to a manageable level, but it wasn't until Thursday before we finally got caught up. I'd almost been working at Wolf's Run for three weeks when Ashley dropped a stack of files on my desk with a wicked smile.
"Those," she told me, "are the declines."
And it wasn't a short list. From the looks of it, at least ninety percent of the people who'd applied to live in Wolf's Run had been refused. Not that I was surprised. This place was advertised as the most exclusive community in existence, which meant plenty of people would be turned away. Some would try just for bragging rights. The fun was going to be letting them all know.
Before I started calling, I opened up the first one and read through it. I remembered these people. Mr. and Mrs. Brown oozed wealth, and their credit score was almost perfect. I'd been sure they'd be a shoo-in, and yet they'd been declined. I was just about to ask