“I’m sorry you left last night. I tried to get you to stop.”
Steed laughed. “What? I asked you if you wanted me to stay, and you stood there on the goddamn porch staring at me. If you had wanted me to stay, I’d have been the one watching Joe drive away. Not the other way around.”
“I was confused and emotional. Everything we talked about…and then that kiss. Joe showing up threw me, and then you had to go all caveman and hit him.”
“He grabbed you, Paxton!”
I shook my head. “I needed to tell him there was no future with him, Steed. He was getting the wrong idea, and I needed to nip it in the bud and make it clear to him.”
“I’ll say the fuck he was. How often does he come over?”
With pleading eyes, I softly said, “Not here. Please don’t do this here, Steed.”
His shoulders dropped. “There never seems to be a good time or place, Paxton.”
“Steed! There you are.” Gina hooked her arm around Steed’s, smiling. “Lilly has been searching all over for Chloe. Do you want to take the girls on the train together?”
Steed went stiff, and I was almost positive I was giving Gina the stink eye. I turned away, getting ready to excuse myself.
“Sorry, Gina. Paxton’s already promised me and Chloe she’d ride the train with us.”
My head snapped back to look at him. “Um, yes. Yes I did.”
“Paxton! I got a pretzel!” Chloe cried out as she ran up to me. Gina’s eyes about popped out of her head when Chloe called me by my first name.
“Lilly!” Chloe cried out as both girls hugged. “Guess what? Paxton is taking me on a mother daughter date, but she’s not my mommy, but she is Daddy’s old girlfriend and best friend now. But they like each other. A lot.”
My mouth fell to the ground, and I was pretty damn sure so did everyone else’s. Steed and I looked at each other, and I could feel Gina’s glare.
Where in the hell did Chloe get all that from?
“Well, oh my, I hadn’t realized you two were an item again,” Gina said as Steed and I still stood there speechless.
Amelia laughed. “You know what they say about true love.” She winked at me, and I opened my mouth to speak, but I had nothing.
Oh lord. Rumors were fixin’ to fly.
After Gina walked off with her daughter, Steed pointed to Amelia. “What in the heck was that?” Then he looked down at Chloe. “And why did you say Paxton and I liked each other?”
With a huge grin, Chloe giggled. “Cause Aunt Meli said you two liked each other. A lot.”
My cheeks heated as my gaze met Steed’s. We both looked at Amelia.
“What? She asked me if y’all liked each other still. Do you deny it?”
Pushing his fingers through his hair, Steed groaned. “Amelia. You’ve got to learn to keep some things to yourself around Chloe.”
“Really? Is that how things are going to be? How long are the two of you going to lie to each other. To yourselves?”
Chloe gasped. “Daddy! It’s not nice to lie!”
Steed looked exasperated. “I didn’t lie, pumpkin. I’m not lying.”
Amelia’s hands went to her hips as she flashed Steed a doubting smirk. My head was spinning. I wasn’t ready to admit anything to anyone, let alone myself. We’d barely just scratched the surface last night. There were so many things we needed to work out.
“Paxton, do you like my daddy?”
The air caught in my throat and burned, unsure of what to say or do.
Steed gazed at me with pleading eyes, just like last night. “Um, excuse me. I really need to go check on a few things.”
I spun on the heel of my cowboy boots and walked away. Covering my mouth with my hand, I attempted to keep myself in check. It appeared I was not only good at pushing people away, but I was great at running away as well.
“Do you know what we need?” Corina asked.
Looking up from my book, I asked, “What do we need, Corina?”
“A night out. Like a night out dancing and having fun. Let’s go to Cord’s Place.”
I chewed my lip. I doubted Steed would be there.
“Come on, Paxton. I need to rub up against a dick or two.”
My mouth dropped in shock. “Oh my gosh! Corina!”
She giggled. “I just want to do some silly flirting. Feel a guy’s hands on me. Please. It’s been forever.”
Her puppy dog eyes made me laugh. “Fine. I could use going out.”
We were soon ready. Our hair and make-up was done to perfection. I chose a mid-thigh, black, curve hugging dress, my favorite pair of black cowboy boots finishing out the look. Corina was wearing a light purple dress she had found in my closet. It was slightly low cut and showed the perfect amount of cleavage. Luckily, we wore the same size both in clothes and shoes. She rounded out the sexy look with a pair of teal cowboy boots. As we walked into Cord’s Place I felt eyes on us. I scanned the room and couldn’t believe how packed it was.