Page 185 of Santa Daddies

He's always been protective of her, but if she shuts him out–

Beeping from the front door stops my pacing and thought spiral.

Loren looks ready to fight when he storms inside. “Why won’t you just leave?”

I hold my hands up. “We have to talk about our path forward.”

“You mean your path out this door?” He steps aside and motions behind himself.

“Are you willing to lose her?”

He gives up, looks out the window, shoving his hands in his front pockets.

I keep my tone calm. “I love her.”

“You barely know her.”

“It doesn’t change my feelings. What about you… doyoulove her?”

“It’s complicated. Our parents are–”

“Don’t blame this on your parents.”

“You’re an ass.”

“Do you love her?” I restate my question slowly.

“Yes.”

Even in the brevity of the answer, I hear the relief that he finally admitted it. That’s my way in.

“If you make her choose, someone’s going to get hurt.”

“If you had stayed away, she wouldn’t have to.”

“Loren, I was going to meet her at some point.”

He shakes his head. “Just like you meet all of your other one-night-stands.”

“That’s not fair.”

Loren scoffs. “What, the truth isn’t fair?”

“No, your assumption of the truth isn’t fair. Have I ever boasted about how many women I’ve dated, or how many notches I have on my bedpost as you’ve assumed?”

“No, but you go on a lot of dates.”

“And just like I always told you, I dropped every one of those women off after dinner because I could tell there was no attraction. Most of them were just after my money.”

“You really dropped them off?”

“Yes.” I move into the living room and take a seat, signaling for him to do the same. “Be honest with me. Why did you wait for the auction? Why didn’t you tell her how you felt sooner?”

“I didn’t know she was in the auction until right before it started.”

So he didn’t plan for the auction, wow. “In that case, I’m grateful you stepped out of your comfort zone and saved the day.”

He furrows his brows. “What’s that supposed to mean?”