“Hey, Holly.” He frowned. “Where’s your key?”
“I, uh, don’t have one.” She wrung her hands, wondering if it was too late to bolt back to her mother’s house and forget the obvious bullshit her friends had been pumping her up with.
He stepped aside and ushered her in out of the chilly evening. “Sorry about that. Here, let me get you one of our spares.”
“You better not. Maybe Trent didn’t give me one on purpose.” She hesitated on the threshold, wondering if she’d worn out her welcome already.
“Nah. Trent has been so preoccupied, he’s not thinking straight.” Lorenzo took her hand in his and led her inside, closing the door after her so she couldn’t bolt back into the night like a frightened jackrabbit. “Especially when it comes to you.”
Before she could insist—partially because she was trying to figure out what exactly he meant by that—Lorenzo had crossed to the kitchen and opened the junk drawer. She followed him in, trying not to notice how fluid and graceful his movements always were, almost like he was floating. She leaned her hip against the island, then asked, “So where is he anyway? Hasn’t he come home yet? There’s no way I beat him here.”
“He stopped in to change clothes quick, then took Moose for a run. Hardly said a word to me.” Lorenzo placed the key in her hand and curled her fingers around it but didn’t let go. “Is everything okay,xuxu? He usually only does that when he’s aggravated and needs to blow off steam.”
Holly winced. “I think I mashed his buttons.”
Lorenzo’s warmth surrounding her fingers was comforting, especially when he brushed his thumb over her knuckles. She leaned in and tried not to notice how damn good he smelled, like spice and leather. It was his insight she was after, not his admittedly fine body.
“That’s easy to do.” Lorenzo smirked as he guided her toward the couch and sat down beside her.
She tried not to think about what had happened the last time they’d shared the living room together, but it was no use. Especially not when he put his arm around her shoulder and encouraged her to lay her head on his shoulder as he soothed her with his gentle words and his utter calm.
She couldn’t imagine seeing him get angry. He just wasn’t that sort of man.
And right now she needed that steady, sure comfort he provided so naturally.
He rubbed her arm from her elbow to her shoulder as he explained, “Look, Trent is my best friend. He’s a great guy. But he’s also fucked up, if you hadn’t noticed.”
“Who of us isn’t?” She leaned into him, grateful for the sounding board.
“I am for sure.” Lorenzo surprised her by admitting it so easily.
“What’s your deal?” She made the mistake of looking up at him then, his stare faraway as his angular jaw clenched.
“Nothing as dramatic as Trent’s family disowning him or anything.” He shrugged, making her head rise and fall where it rested on his muscular shoulder. “I got left at the altar in front of all my friends and family back in Brazil. After that, I decided a traditional relationship wasn’t worth the trouble. Mostly, I stick to flirting with women at work. It’s fine to take their dollar bills, too. Sometimes it goes as far as making their night extra special, bringing them home to play with me, Trent, and Owen before taking them back to whatever group of friends they’re visiting Vegas with after we bring their fantasies to life. They get what they want and I have a bit of what I need, for a few hours anyway.”
Holly angled toward him more, resting her palm on his rock-hard abs when she looked up at him. “Call it what you want, but I hear what you’re not saying. Your ex broke your heart, and now you’re afraid to open up or date someone on your own. But you like the attention of all these women because it reassures you that you’re desirable.”
“I guess you could see it that way.” Lorenzo let his head drop back against the cushion. “Hell, maybe that is how it started even. But now…I like the way we do things. Together. We each have our strengths and it’s a rush to see what we can do to a woman together. Completely overwhelm her with pleasure and make sure she’s never going to leave unsatisfied. That she’d never need to find someone else to make her happy.”
Somehow it made her better to know that big, tough Lorenzo had his own weakness. Just like she seemed to have one for Trent and him and Owen. They reminded her of Moose, in a way, when she’d discovered him lost and wandering their neighborhood. They needed shelter, someone to show them how incredible they were, and suddenly she wanted to be that person.
“So what do you think about me? About how I’m hooking up with Trent for these three months, I mean?” Holly cleared her throat, hoping he couldn’t tell how much this part pained her. “It’s not so different from bringing someone home to share for a night. It’s short-term. Our relationship has an expiration date. Why shouldn’t we have some fun while I’m here?”
Whetherwemeant her and Trent or her and Lorenzo or her with all three of the roommates, she didn’t specify. Because while she’d originally meant Trent, now she was wondering if Andi and Kari hadn’t been right. They were grown-ass men and women with a mutual understanding.
Trent had explicitly given her the green light…
“I have to be honest.” He looked down at her, shaking his head slightly as he did. “You kind of scare me. You’re different and you mean something to Trent. Something more than just this inheritance bullshit.”
“Me?” She snorted. “I don’t think so. Otherwise he wouldn’t have bolted from dinner the moment my mom implied we had some kind of personal connection.”
“Ah, yeah. That’sexactlywhy he bailed.” Lorenzo huffed. “Because she’s right. Why else would he be keeping you to himself? That’s not how we operate.”
Holly blinked. “Well, I mean technically he hasn’t. Not entirely.”
Both of them glanced over to the chairs he and Owen had occupied while they’d watched her and Trent like it was the world’s most riveting spectator sport.
“Trust me. Nothing has been our same twisted sort of normal since you got here.” He looked away, and though he didn’t say it, she could feel his hurt radiating off of him.