Page 9 of The Proximity Factor

I knew what Ethan was thinking, and there was no way in hell I was going to let that fly. “Don’t even think about asking her out.”

Ethan grabbed a cold drink from the cooler and popped the top. “If you don’t like her, why do you care?”

I pinched the bridge of my nose and groaned. “When this experiment is all said and done, I want to cut ties with her completely. I can’t do that if one of my best friends is dating her. And I thought you were dating that professor. What’s her name?”

“Analise,” Ethan replied. “We’re on a break.”

Javon chuckled. “You mean she wanted a commitment and you weren’t ready?”

Ethan took a swig of his drink to avoid the question.

I shook my head. Ethan was a great guy, but he could never fish in the same pond for more than six months at a time. Which was another reason he shouldn’t ask Lanie out. “Just stay away from Lanie. She doesn’t deserve to be one of your flings.” Not that any woman deserved to be a fling.

Ethan tilted his head. The corners of his lips ticked up. “So, you do like her?”

“Obviously I don’t,” I defended myself. “We have nothing in common. I just don’t want our lives getting tangled up. I’m only doing this experiment for Daphne’s tuition money. Can we just leave it at that?”

Javon leaned back and peeked into the kitchen. “I hate to break it to you, but our wives will probably have something to say about it. They love her. Brynn went on and on about her in the car on the way home from the game.”

I scrubbed a hand over my face. Damn it.

“So, I guess it doesn’t matter if I ask her out,” Ethan goaded me.

In return, I gave him a scathing glare.

Ethan held up his hands. “Fine. Fine. I’ll leave her to you.”

“You’re not leaving anything to me.”

“Right.” Ethan didn’t believe a word I said. “You’re telling us you live with that gorgeous thing in there”—he pointed toward the house—“and you haven’t thought about all the possibilities? I don’t believe that for a second. You are still alive and can see, right?”

I could see, all right. See that Lanie was nothing but a train wreck waiting to happen, just like Maren. Maren had come off all nice and perfect at first too. Not that my mind hadn’t wandered where Lanie was concerned. I wasn’t dead. But ... “I’m not a pig.”

“No one is accusing you of that. But ... Parker, my man, you are one lucky guy,” Ethan commented.

I threw myself in the nearest deck chair. I was anything but lucky. And not just because I was stuck living with Lanie.

“Are those ribs almost done?” Anna shouted through the door. “We’re ready in here.”

“Just one more minute, babe,” Pete shouted back.

Suddenly, I wasn’t all that hungry, no matter how good the ribs smelled. I wasn’t ready for more Lanie. No doubt she would plant herself right next to me at the table and torture me with her delectable scent and her golden-spun hair, all while charming my friends.

And that’s exactly what happened. Although, to Lanie’s credit, she did try to sit a chair away from me, but Brynn grabbed her arm and deposited her right next to me with an impish grin. If she thought for one moment she was playing matchmaker, she was sorely mistaken.

Lanie coyly bit her lip. “Hey.”

My only acknowledgment came as a head nod. Her soft scent and the way she looked in her tight jersey tee rendered me mute, not to mention her smile and sun-kissed, creamy skin. Not thinking about it. We have absolutely nothing in common. I will not be a walking midlife crisis.

Ethan took Lanie’s other side, which admittedly ticked me off. It wasn’t because I wanted Lanie for myself. But I could tell she wasn’t the kind of woman who was looking for a casual relationship. The way she held Pete’s and Javon’s kids said she wanted some of her own. Honestly, it surprised me she wasn’t already married with children. Ethan wasn’t going to give her either of those things. And he hated Taylor Swift more than I did.

“I love this room. The mixture of patterns and those gorgeous velvet curtains are perfect,” Lanie complimented Anna on the formal dining room.

Not once had I noticed any of those things.

Anna beamed at Lanie as if she’d just praised her child. It was then I realized how far Lanie was willing to go to infiltrate my life. Why she would want to, I couldn’t fathom. Was this just a game to her?

As soon as everyone settled around the large table covered in a summer feast, all eyes seemed to land on Lanie and me.

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