access, and the moment my lips parted, he claimed my mouth, tangling his tongue with mine even as his arm slid around my back to pull me even closer. The hand on the side of my face pushed into my hair, and then he grabbed it, tilting my face up just a little more.
"I was supposed to be planning a quinceañera," he whispered against my lips.
"Mhm," I agreed. "And accepting that you're going to be my dirty little secret that day."
"Oh, I can be dirty," he promised. "If there weren't kids in the other room, I'd set you on that counter and prove just how dirty I can be."
"And yet you still haven't been spending the night as much as the others," I countered.
He groaned. "Because I thought you were just being nice!"
"Oh, I can be very nice," I assured him. "Maybe you should come - "
The sound of the door opening made both of us look over just as Ashley shoved her head inside. "Elena, Kim's looking for you." Then she laughed once. "And you're both wearing the same lipstick. Fix that before you give the kids something to giggle about."
Then she was gone, but so was the moment. I quickly straightened my clothes. Pax grabbed a pair of tissues, then passed me one. Both of us cleaned off my lipstick, but my purse was in the other room, so I couldn't put it back on yet. Then, on impulse, I straightened his shirt where I'd pressed against it.
"I'm not mad at you about Karen," I assured him. "You were single. She was willing. It's not your fault that she had expectations, ok? There's a big difference between a good time and a relationship."
"And us?" he asked.
"You, Paxton, are my boyfriend. My mate." I couldn't stop myself from smiling when I added, "Mine. But you have to share with the rest. Me? Not so much. I get you all to myself, and I like it this way. I dunno, think of it as penance or something."
"Perfection," he corrected, settling his hand on my lower back to steer me towards the door. "And we all want to help pay for Gabby's dress, ok? Like, our present to her."
Heading up the hall, I didn't stop, but I did look back. "Pax, I'm getting paid enough. I got it."
"We still want to," he explained. "I told them what a quinceañera means to a girl, so let us help, ok?"
"Ok," I agreed just as I entered the lobby.
Kim immediately hurried over. "Elena, I don't have long because I have to head to work, but I was talking to Andrea Pearson, who lives next to me, this morning. She asked me if it's true that you refuse to socialize with the pack. It seems Karen talked to her this weekend and was saying that you made it clear that you only talk to the old families. If they aren't basically wolf aristocracy, then you don't have time for them, and you're annoyed that your mates are always off doing things for people who are beneath them."
"What?!" I gasped. "No!"
"I know," she assured me. "And I told Andrea the same thing. I said that not only is your own child not some high born wolf - which she said you're trying to mate up into a good bloodline to fix - but you spend most of your time helping this community grow with your work here. I made it clear that after the stupid crap Roman pulled, you're actually the reason he's had a second chance. Never mind that you just learned that we're real! Andrea seemed almost surprised though, and said that a lot of people are talking about it." Kim paused to lick at her lips. "But I don't honestly know if ‘a lot of people’ is just Karen trying to make it sound that way, or if Andrea's spoken to someone else."
"Fuck," Pax grumbled.
I whipped around and pointed at him. "Language. There are kids in here."
"Uh-huh." He flashed me a smile. "Pretty sure they've heard worse. Yeah. Let me go talk to Ian and the guys. We'll try to see what's being said, ok?"
"Thank you," I breathed.
He leaned in to steal a kiss, then headed for the door, calling behind him, "I see the bus!"
That had the kids scrambling for their bags, but Kim wasn't about to budge. For just a moment, the lobby turned into chaos as all of the younger wolves made their way out into the snow, chattering at