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Franc ran a hand over his face and shook his head. “That kid.”
“You would be lost without him.”
The tightness in his shoulders eased. “You’re right. He still drives me insane.”
“I gave him a little pep talk, so between that and the reward of Lainey’s cake, hopefully today will be pretty uneventful.”
“Speaking of Lainey. I heard through the grapevine you kissed her.”
“Jesus Christ.” I thrust my hand through my hair and turned toward the tasting bar. “Can anything in this godforsaken town stay under wraps?”
“You act like you just moved here yesterday. What the hell did you think was going to happen?”
I could hear the shift in his tone, that older brother, take charge to teach me a lesson, but also let me know how disappointed in me he is, tone.
“I made a mistake.”
“You know I don’t care who the hell you stick your tongue in, but Lainey?” He shook his head. “Off limits. She is too sweet and innocent for you to play with her heart.”
“I wouldn’t play with her heart.”
“You fucking kissed her. I’d say you made a play.”
“She let me, so I could prove a point to a stage five clinger.”
“Lainey isn’t someone you can use at your convenience.”
When he said it like that, he made me sound like some kind of monster. I didn’t force Lainey to do anything. She was always down to help me out. I’d admit the kiss was new, and maybe I went too far, but I couldn’t just stand there and listen to that woman insult her.
“I fucked up. Okay? What else do you want me to say?”
“That you won’t do it again. That you’ll stay the fuck away from her.”
My teeth ground together. “I’m not going to touch her again.”
“Great. And I say this with love, she’s too good for you. You don’t want forever. You never have. It’s not who you are. You get bored too easily. Move from one woman to the next. Lainey is family and I can’t stand back and watch you treat her like one of your side pieces.”
“I told you,” I snapped. “I’m not going to touch her.”
Franc patted me on the back as if this was a normal conversation and he didn’t just cut me open and force me to look at the dark crevices within myself.
I was a certified player who had a constant rotation of women coming in and out of my life. Nothing he said wasn’t something I didn’t already know.
I wasn’t honorable, like Laurent, who was about to marry the only woman he ever loved. I wasn’t respectable like Franc, who fell in love with his kids' nanny before taking her to his bed. Hell, when Quinn had walked into this tasting room for a job, I had been planning every way I could make her my next conquest. I’m happy Franc swooped in. I didn’t deserve Quinn. She deserved a man like Franc.
Every woman deserved better than me.
I was as heartless as my namesake.
“Look,” Franc said, pulling me out of my mind. “I love you. I just love Lainey too, and we’ve always looked out for her like she was one of our sisters.”
Lanes wasn’t like a sister to me. It was deeper than that. I couldn’t explain it, but the way I felt about her was different than I did my own sisters. Kissing her proved that and opened my eyes to something I’d been blinded to. “I know, and I appreciate that. I’d kill for that girl, so I get it.”
“I need to get going.” Franc hitched his thumb over his shoulder.
“Go. Don’t leave Quinn and Gio waiting.”
With a final pat to my back, Franc headed for the door.
