5 Reasons To Love Again

Chapter 25

The whole table erupted into laughter. Lexine and I were laughing as well.
"Jake just got schooled by a little girl!" Brady gasped out. "Again! Remember how she managed to finish her dessert before you did?"
Jake shook his head and said, "OK Miss Lexi. You win again! Besides you are right. Never ever show your underwear to boys!"
Wyatt stopped laughing and said, "Oh God! That's not something I'm looking forward to. Boys sniffing around a teenage Lexine!" The other guys stopped laughing and started to mutter things like, "Oh, hell, that's gonna suck!"
I had to remind them things like that are years off. To change the subject and get them in a better mood, I offered them dessert.
Going into the kitchen I got the plates out, cut up the cake and heated the tangerine sauce up. I spooned some over each slice and topped it off with whipped cream. Preston came into the kitchen to help me serve it.
"I'll be the one taking you to your interview tomorow. I saw the address written down on the counter and it's not that far from here."
"OK, that's great. Will we be spending the day together?"
"Yes, we will."
"Good. I'd like to get to know you better."
He gave me a smile and took some plates out to the table. I followed him with more plates. Everyone seemed to enjoy dessert. Jake excused himself saying that there was some writing he needed to finish. A few minutes later Chase got a call from the hospital asking him to come in for a few hours. With a wave he left still talking on the phone. As we were cleaning up the table Brady got a text. He read it and let out a loud groan. He showed the text to Preston and gave me an apologetic smile. "Work emergency, Buttercup. Walk me to the door?"
He put his arm around me as we walked to the front door. When we got there, scooped me up in his arms with my feet dangling in the air and gave me such a sweet kiss. I melted into him and ran my fingers through his hair. When the kiss was done, he set me down gently.
"I'll see you tomorrow Buttercup."
"All right Brady. Be careful driving at night."
He smiled at me, turned and left the house.
Walking back to the kitchen, I saw Wyatt playing with Lexine in the living room and that Preston was cleaning the kitchen alone. I started to help him and he protested that since I cooked, I didn't have to clean.
"I can help clean Preston! You shouldn't have to do this by yourself." I smiled at him. "Besides, this way I get to spend some time with you..."
"The logic of a woman..." he looked amused. "I really can't argue with that."
"So Preston. Tell me about your work."
He told me about the various real estate offices he had around the Charleston area and owning buildings that he rented out. "...and that is how I stumbled across this place. The owner had run into financial problems and had to sell quickly. It was perfect for what I needed."
"You planned on living here with the guys? How long have you guys known each other?"
"We have known each other since we were young teenagers. We are pretty close with one another and consider ourselves to be brothers."
"That's great. You've formed your own family. You will always have them to fall back on." I said wistfully.
"Delphine, you and your daughter have become part of us in these past few days. I hope that the both of you will consider us your family as well."
Tears threatened to fall from my eyes. How could these men whom I only met days ago be so wonderful to us when our own family had treated us so badly? I blinked rapidly and turned away, not wanting him to see me cry. I felt his hands on my shoulders turning me around and pulling me close to him. Wrapping my arms around his waist, I buried my head into his chest. He rubbed his hands over my back soothingly. "Not now, but when you are ready, you can tell us everything." he said quietly to me. "We will be here for you. Always."
I nodded and whispered, "Thank you..." We stayed like that for a minute and then I straightened up and pulled away. He handed me a tissue from a box on the counter. I wiped my eyes and gave him a tremulous smile. He smiled back at me and said, "You are so strong Delphine. More than you know. And it doesn't hurt that you are beautiful." That got a little laugh out of me. We finished cleaning up the kitchen and went to the living room to join Wyatt and Lexine.

I don't know how but Wyatt took one look at me and seemed to know at once that I had been crying. He sent a questioning look over to Preston and seemed to understand a silent response. Lexine yawned and I looked over at the time. It was later than I thought so I decided to give her a bath and get her into bed. Plus I had all the clothes to go through and put away. We said goodnight to the guys and headed upstairs. Someone had brought all the bags upstairs to our room for us already. As I was running the bath for her I saw that there was a new bottle of Woolite on the counter next to the sink and there was a new rod to hang wet things in the walk in shower. Was there anything that these guys didn't think of? After Lexine was washed and in bed, I turned on my iPad and watched a movie as I worked on cutting tags and hanging clothes. When I opened the walk in closet, there were hangers galore! I shook my head in disbelief. Grabbing one of the Victoria's secret bags, I had pulled out a black lacy bra when I heard a knock on the door. I went to answer it and was surprised to see Preston standing there.
"I'm so sorry to bother you this late Delphine but as it turns out, I am needed in the office tomorrow. It seems that someone has made an error that only I can fix. I am truly sorry, I really wanted to spend the day with you." He looked upset. "Chase has gotten the day off tomorrow in exchange for helping out another doctor this evening. He will be taking you to your interview."
I reached out a hand to put on his chest and said, "You don't need to be sorry Preston. These things come up. I know that you wouldn't cancel on me if it weren't important. I'm sure that we will have another day that isn't interrupted by an interview."
He glanced down at my hand on his chest and that's when I noticed that it was the same hand holding the black bra. I blushed and started to pull my hand away from him. Preston swallowed hard and said in husky voice, "Black is my favorite color."
He pulled me out of the bedroom and into the hallway and shut the bedroom door quietly as not to wake up Lexine. Before I could say anything, he had me up off the floor and against the wall locked in a searing hot kiss with him. I locked my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck. Whereas Brady's kisses were sweet, Preston's was intense. I was breathless when he eventually pulled his mouth from mine. He was breathing hard and rested his forehead against mine.
"I couldn't wait anymore. I've been thinking about it all day." Preston said in a low voice. I noticed that his British accent was stronger right now.
"I'm glad that you did." I admitted to him. Then I felt horribly guilty that I had also kissed Brady today. Preston set me down and but kept his arms around me.
"Um...Preston?"
"Yes, Delphine?"
I bit my lip then blurted out, "I kissed Brady today. At the mall. And then again at home. I don't want to cause problems between you and the others. I can't break up your family. Maybe I shouldn't stay here. Are you mad? I..."
To stop me talking he put a finger across my lips.
"No, I'm not mad. As long as you continue to kiss me, I don't care which of my brothers you kiss as well. But only my brothers. No one else. As I said earlier, we are very close and I trust them implicitly."
"You guys won't be jealous of each other?" I asked in amazement.
"No, we won't. Maybe people find this unusual but what is normal anyways?" Preston shrugged. "Does this bother you?"
"Well... yes and no. I worry what people will think but I also like being around all of you. It's hard to choose just one of you."
"Well, maybe you won't have to choose then. Let's continue to get to know each other better. Give everyone some time with you and Lexine. Nothing has to be decided right away. I have a feeling that you have been through a lot and still need some time to heal. Let us help you. Believe it or not, the two of you are just what we have needed so you are helping us too."
I nodded. Maybe this was my chance for a family, and Lexine's too.