Lila's Loves (Haven, Texas 1)

She hoped not. She really did.

Chapter Four

Gavin walked down the stairs. Lila was lying down in her bedroom, obviously exhausted. This last week had taken a lot out of all of them.

He stilled as he came to the bottom of the steps and remembered what today had been all about. Clay was gone. His foster father had molded him into the man he was today and he would never forget him. He’d taken a lost, sullen teenage boy in and turned his life around.

“I love you, Dad,” he whispered, before continuing on to the kitchen where Colin and Trace were cleaning up the last of the mess.

“Lila resting?” Trace asked as he tidied up the large room.

“Yeah,” Gavin said tiredly. “She’s tuckered out. God, imagine thinking all these years that if she did something wrong she’d be kicked out.”

“It’s our fault,” Colin said, his eyes stricken. “I can’t believe she overheard us.”

Trace shook his head, his face filled with guilt. “We deserve to be horsewhipped.”

Gavin sighed and sat at the table. “You were kids, you didn’t mean it. You have to let it go. Holding onto the guilt isn’t helping anyone, least of all Lila.”

“You’ve changed your tune,” Colin said with surprise.

“What we do from now on is what counts,” Gavin replied. “We have to make sure that she knows how much we love her. That she feels secure enough to be herself.”

“Today is the closest I’ve ever seen her throw a temper tantrum,” Trace mused.

“Exactly,” Gavin replied. “And how weird is that when we’ve known her since she was seven? She was always so good. Too good. The more she acts out, the safer she will feel.”

“So we can expect a brat, huh?” Colin asked his face pensive. Gavin worried over how his youngest brother would handle this. He’d been hurt badly in the past and Gavin knew he still carried scars. He just hoped that Colin didn’t end up tarring this relationship with his past pain.

“Maybe. We need to stick together and show her that this can work. She still has her doubts and she’s going to have them until she learns that she is the most important thing in the world to us and we will never let her go.” Gavin intended to ensure that Lila was as safe as he could make her, he didn’t intend to allow any risk of harm to her.

*****

Lila sat at the kitchen table the next morning and stifled a yawn. She’d lain awake last night thinking about the last week.

She’d cried a few times as she’d remembered Clay. She’d even dreamed about him. It had felt so real. In her dream he’d hugged her and told her he was proud of her. Then he’d said that sometimes it was harder to go for what your heart really desired. But if she took that plunge she’d find happiness far beyond what she could have imagined.

“Do you need to call and quit your job?” Gavin asked her suddenly.

She glanced up at the three men sitting around the table. “Ahh, no.” They stared at her quizzically and she realized she had to give them more than that. “I lost it.”

Trace squeezed her hand in sympathy. “Cutbacks?” he asked.

She nodded, feeling embarrassed. Even though it hadn’t been through any fault of her own, she still felt ashamed that she’d lost her job. But she’d been the newest employee at the museum; it made sense that they would let her go first.

Gavin leaned back in his chair, watching her intently. She blushed under his perusal, her nipples stiffening beneath her loose t-shirt. Her need for them was growing with every minute.

She couldn’t stop imagining the three of them touching her, teasing her. Why had she made that no sex rule?

Lila licked her lips, staring over at Trace hungrily.

“Sweetheart, you keep staring at me like that and I won’t be able to control myself,” he told her huskily.

“Maybe you shouldn’t,” she replied. “Control yourself, that is. I’m starting to think I was a bit hasty about the whole no sex thing.”

Her men drew their breath in sharply, staring at her as her pussy clenched fiercely.

Gavin shook his head. “Ahh, baby, you don’t know how much I long to just pick you up, take you upstairs and keep you in bed for the next week or two. But, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, you were right to insist we take this slow. When we make love to you we will claim you and there will be no going back. So you need to be very sure. And I’m not sure you’re there yet.”