Colton Christmas Protector

by Beth Cornelison

  Leaning closer, she deepened the kiss, forsaking hesitation for the need that pulsed to life inside her. For a brief time, he let her set the pace, but when she sighed her pleasure and teased the seam of his lips with her tongue, he swept an arm around her and laid her back down on the couch. He took command of the kiss, alternately caressing and plundering. With his lips, teeth and tongue, he elicited sensations from her body that rocketed straight to her marrow. His hands stroked gently, and his fingertips tantalized sensitive spots she’d never known could be so responsive.

  Flesh-and-bone Reid surpassed her imagination in every way. Here was heat and skin, raw passion and sensual touch. The embodiment of excitement and temptation. Penelope savored the heat that pulsed through her, the connection and comfort of his embrace, the stir of tender emotions at her core.

  But beneath it all, she knew a low drumbeat of fear. Reid was a Colton. He came from a world of power and privilege she couldn’t imagine. Despite all his explanations and justifications, he still wore the stain of having administered the fatal injection that killed Andrew. He had a reputation for going through a string of casual relationships, discarding one woman for another the way one might discard dirty socks.

  Would he toss her aside when the danger from the shooter, the investigation into her father was over? Possibly. Probably.

  She told herself she could handle whatever happened. She wasn’t naive to Reid’s nature, so she could fortify and protect herself from heartache. She could savor this moment for the sheer pleasure of it and not let it draw her down a false primrose path.

  She arched her back, angled her chin up, giving Reid fuller access to the sensitive pulse point at her throat. She silenced the whispers of doubt as she surrendered to sensation, to need and sensual impulses.

  Eager to feel Reid’s warm skin against her palms, Penelope wedged her hands between them and began tugging at the buttons of his shirt.

  He shifted to the side, giving her room to work, and continued feathering kisses along her chin and cheek. “I have to tell you, Pen,” Reid said in a husky whisper, “I’ve wanted this for a very long time. You’re beautiful. I’ve always thought so.”

  She’d only fumbled through about half of his buttons before he grabbed the back of his shirt and pull it over his head. She helped untangle his hands from his sleeves, and he flung the shirt aside.

  And knocked over her glass of wine.

  Penelope gasped and wiggled free of him so she could sit up. She gaped in horror at the red liquid spread across the coffee table headed for the edge, ready to drip onto his carpet. “Oh, no!”

  She lunged off the couch to get paper towels, and he grabbed her wrist. “Pen, it’s okay. Don’t freak.”

  “It’s red wine, Reid. It’ll ruin your carpet.” She tugged free of his grasp.

  “I don’t care. If the carpet gets stained, I’ll replace it.”

  She paused only briefly to send him a look of disbelief. “Don’t be ridiculous.” She snatched the roll of paper towels from the kitchen counter and hurried back, wadding several in her hand. She started mopping wine and gave him a scowl. “Just because you have money to throw away, doesn’t mean you have to.”

  His blasé attitude toward a perfectly avoidable expense brought their differences front and center in bold unmistakable strokes.

  “What’s with you? I just don’t think you have to panic about a spill.”

  “Because you can afford to replace stained carpet.” An uneasy gnawing grew in her belly.

  “Yes. That’s part of it.”

  “But I can’t. Maybe when I was living with my parents I could have, but even then I wouldn’t have.”

  He covered her hands with his, stopping her as she sopped up the merlot. “What’s going on with you? What is this really about?”

  She bowed her head, feeling all the doubts she’d just so neatly cast aside for a few moments of bliss come crashing back down on her. “Every now and then, you say or do something that reminds me of all the differences between us. The reasons I always saw your family as arrogantly entitled and maddeningly extravagant. Wasteful, even. ‘Don’t bother cleaning up the wine—I’ll just buy a new carpet.’”

  “I was kidding...mostly. I just didn’t want to see you get upset over it.”

  “Or the new laptop...or the way I used to see you go through cars when you were Andrew’s partner. You didn’t fix that engine problem with the SUV you had, you just ditched the car and got a new one.” She hated the emotional wobble to her voice.

  “The thing was a lemon! It had trouble from day one. Of course I replaced it.”

  “And you talked about new TVs, new fancy sports equipment and—”

  “You resent that I have money? Is that it?” he said gently.

  “—you replaced every girl you ever dated as soon as you decided she wasn’t shiny and new anymore, too!” As soon as she said the words, she wished she could reel them back in.

  She closed her eyes, bit her bottom lip and fought back the swell of tears in her throat. Damn!

  He didn’t say anything for long, heavy seconds, but eventually, she heard him rip off more paper towels, finish wiping up the spill and take the soiled towels to the kitchen.

  Like a coward, she hurried to the guest bedroom before he got back. She’d shown her hand, all but told him she was scared he’d leave her, that he’d use her up then cast her aside. Reid Colton could have any woman he wanted. He had looks, wealth and personality. Why would he want to burden himself with a middle-class single mother, whose father may have been responsible for heinous crimes against Reid and his family?

  No reason she could see.

  * * *

  Even after years on the police force, Reid was surprised—or maybe dismayed—how easily information that should be private could be breached. Outside parties with just the right amount of inside knowledge, deception and ingenuity could gather a frightening amount of personal data. Bad news for the public. Good news for him as he called Hugh Barrington’s bank the next morning.

  By providing Hugh’s bank-account number, date of birth and home phone number, he was able to convince the local bank employee that he was Hugh. He obtained a confirmation of the money transfer to the ME’s account, as well as a more recent transfer that boded ill. A large lump sum was sent last week, the same day as the shooting, to an account in a New Orleans bank.

  Reid thought on his feet. What was that transfer about? He cleared his throat and improvised. “That’s odd. My associate claims he never received the transfer. Maybe his name was misspelled? How do you have his name?”

  “It’s not a name, sir. It’s a business. Mareau Towing.”

  “Oh, that’s right! I’ll remind him to check his business account. Thank you. You’ve been most helpful.” Reid was typing Mareau Towing in New Orleans into the Google search box before he even disconnected from the bank.

  No such business existed that he could find. So...a dummy account?

  “Well?” Pen asked, looking up from playing blocks with Nicholas.

  He reported what he’d learned and chewed the end of a pen as he leaned back in his desk chair to process the information. “I think it is time I filled my family in on at least some of what’s going on.”

  Pen looked dubious. “Are you sure you can trust them?”

  He considered the question, turning his chair to gaze through the plate-glass window to the rippling waves on the lake. An egret stood in the shallow water of the inlet waiting for breakfast to swim or hop by. Puffy white clouds scuttled in from the west as the breeze kicked up.

  “A year ago, even six months ago, I’d have been leery. Seriously leery.” He puckered his brow as he reflected on the last couple months, the changes he’d seen in the family dynamic. “But ya know what? Eldridge’s disappearance has done interesting things to t
he family. Plenty of accusations and blame have been thrown around, most of it disproved, and yet I feel more like I can trust my siblings now than ever before. We’ve been through the fire together, and it’s strengthened family relationships.”

  “The proverbial silver lining?”

  He lifted a shoulder. “I suppose. I’d say a lot of the change has also come from the significant others in the family.” A strange ache filled his chest at that thought, and he spun his chair back to face Penelope.

  “What do you mean?” she asked as she carefully placed a block on the top of a tower. Nicholas immediately knocked the tower over with a gleeful chuckle.

  The ache eased to a warmth as he watched his two guests—guests who felt less like company every day and more like people he wanted as a fixture in his life, guests who made him want to be his best self, guests who made him hopeful about the future for the first time in many years. Recognizing that truth, he could easily see why his siblings had grown more likable, become easier to trust and developed a more genuine loyalty to the family.

  “Everybody’s getting engaged and married, becoming parents,” he explained. “Funny how being in love, sharing life with your soul mate can change a person. I guess falling in love, being truly happy brings out the best in the Coltons.”

  “Love brings out the best in everyone.” She gave him a smile that burrowed to his soul.

  “Yeah, I suppose.” He scoffed a laugh and shook his head. “Even Fowler and Marceline have been nicer lately.”

  She made a choking sound and coughed. “What? Fowler? Even my mother said she thought he was a putz. And that was when he was just a teenager.”

  “Good ole rotten Fowler. He’s always been as mean as a riled Texas rattlesnake toward me and the other kids in the family. But he’s mellowed in the past month or so after proposing to his longtime love.”

  “Wonders never cease. And Marceline...” She bit her bottom lip as she narrowed her eyes in deep reflection. “My main memory of her is when your family came to our house once for a dinner party and she kept referring to us as ‘new money.’ Her tone made it clear that in her mind that was synonymous with pond scum.”

  Reid snorted. “Our family fortune is ‘new money.’ Eldridge and his brother had nothing as kids. Eldridge was a two-bit criminal who married money, got lucky in oil and capitalized on key investments.”

  “Oh, I do believe she was including your father in her denigration. She bragged about her real father having come from old money. From the ‘establishment.’ She made me feel so...unworthy of our wealth.”

  “No wonder you hated our family.”

  “I had a long talk with my mother that night. She told me a person’s worth and value is in how they treat other people, how they use their resources and work at making the world a better place. How well they love others.” Her expression reflected a mellow tenderness, a longing.

  Reid tried to remember what he could about Pen’s mother. She’d largely been overshadowed by her vocal and obsequious husband whenever he’d met her. “I think I’d have liked your mother if I’d known her better. Your father, and my inattentiveness, made it easy to overlook her.”

  “Dad loved to keep her in the shadows. I think her more charitable views on topics and her love of rescuing animals embarrassed him.” She pulled her mouth into an ugly moue. “He was a jerk toward her when I was young but he was really unkind to her after she got sick. There were plenty of times I wished he’d been the one who’d gotten cancer, if only so he’d see how sick mom felt.”

  “You miss her.”

  She lifted her gaze to his and gave him an odd grin. “Of course. She was my rock as a child.”

  Reid cocked his head to the side, his thoughts swirling. Clearly Pen had her mother to thank for the gentle soul she’d turned out to be. “Why did she stay with Hugh if he was that awful to her?”

  “She wasn’t perfect. She freely admitted she liked the lifestyle Dad’s money afforded her. The nice clothes and spa treatments. And having his money allowed her to spend more on her animal charities. The rescues. My parents managed to lead relatively separate lives, pretending to be the happy couple when social obligations required.”

  He nodded. “I get it. In fact, before Eldridge disappeared, I’d have said that was how my parents’ marriage worked.”

  “And now? You don’t think so anymore?”

  “It’s weird, but...no. At least...my mother seems to actually be grieving for Eldridge.” He twisted his lips in a frown. “To an annoying degree. She’s quite the drama queen and prima donna, but I’m beginning to believe her feelings are genuine. I wouldn’t have said that before all this insanity started six months ago.”

  Pen dodged a block that Nicholas threw her direction and redirected her attention to her son. “No, Nicholas. Don’t throw your blocks.”

  Reid slapped both hands down on his thighs as he pushed out of the chair. “And on that note, I’ll go talk to the clan. I think we may need their help to corner your father. I’ve no doubt he’s suspicious of us, so any contact from us will be stonewalled. But if he still values having my family on his client roster, I’m betting he’ll be more ingratiating to one of my siblings.”

  She rose from the floor, as well, and followed him to the back door. “Anything I can do in the meantime?”

  He pocketed the Range Rover keys from the kitchen drawer. “Just wish me luck.”

  She moved close, surprising him with a quick kiss at the corner of his mouth. “Good luck.”

  His pulse did a happy dance as he made his way to his vehicle. If Pen was kissing him goodbye, opening up to him about her relationship with her mother and father, his luck was already changing.

  A smile tugged his lips. Talk about silver linings. If he won Pen’s heart in the coming weeks, all the chaos of recent months would have been worth the trouble.

  * * *

  Reid planned what he wanted to say to his family as he drove toward the ranch. How much did he reveal? Who had the best chance of winning Hugh’s trust and the skill to worm information from their cagey lawyer?

  In the interest of time, he pulled into a parking lot and let his car idle while he took out his phone and fired off a group text to his family.

  Family meeting in the main house living room ASAP. Urgent.

  If he didn’t have to wait for his siblings to gather from all over the ranch and town, all the better. He tossed his phone on the passenger seat and pulled back into traffic, headed to the ranch. Despite hitting every red light on the way home, he still reached the long driveway to Colton Valley Ranch within twenty minutes of sending the text. Plenty of time for most of his siblings to have assembled.

  As Reid strode into the main house, he encountered Marceline coming down the grand staircase from the area of the upstairs suites where she lived. She wore a little smile as she strolled down the steps, and if Reid hadn’t known about a certain ranch hand named Dylan, he’d have sworn that smile meant his half sister was up to her scheming ways. But he’d recently had a surprisingly candid talk with Marceline about her secret love for the “forbidden” cowboy, and her personality had improved greatly in recent weeks.

  “We need to have a family meeting,” Reid said, loud enough to draw Marceline out of her daydreams. “Now. In the living room.”

  “I know,” she returned, with a snooty lift of her nose. “I got your text. But don’t think that just because you fire off a clipped group message that I’ll always be willing to respond on command. I have my own life, my own things to do and people to see.”

  Reid arched an eyebrow and smiled despite his half sister’s curt tone. “And how is Dylan?”

  Just the mention of his name brought the grin back to her face. “Good.” She descended the last few steps, then cocked her head as she eyed Reid suspiciously. “You’re not teasing me about
him, are you? Because I have a right to be with anyone I—”

  He raised both hands. “Whoa! Chill. If you’ll recall, I was the one who encouraged you to do what made you happy and not let him get away.”

  His answer seemed to satisfy her, and with a toss of her hair, she headed into the living room. “Can we get this meeting of yours over with quickly? I have things to do.”

  He followed her into the living room and took a head count. Piper sat next to her new man, Cord Maxwell, alternately whispering to Cord and looking at her cell phone. T.C., his eyes closed and his head leaned back on the couch catnapping, was there, as was his mother, Whitney. Fowler, notably, was missing.

  Reid dialed his oldest half brother, who answered his phone on the fifth ring with a gruff, “What is it, Reid? I’m busy.”

  “Tough. We all are, but this is more important. Get your ass out here for a family meeting.”

  “What if I’m at the office?” Fowler grumbled. “I could have business meetings with overseas investors.”

  “Do you?”

  Fowler balked, fumbling, “Well... I—”

  “That’s what I thought. Family meeting. I have important news concerning the search for our father. You need to be here.”

  Fowler scoffed. “For the record, I resent being summoned like an underling. As the president of Colton Inc., I cannot just drop everything when you crook your finger, expecting—”

  “Just hurry. We’re all waiting on you.” Reid hung up before his older brother had finished pontificating and grousing about being called to the meeting.

  Alanna hadn’t shown up, either, and Reid’s next call was to the stable, where Jake McCord, Alanna’s new love, answered. “We’re on our way. Just cooling down the horses and putting our tack away. Five minutes.”

  We. Reid considered telling Jake the meeting was for family only but it seemed his family was growing. Since his siblings were pairing off and getting married, spouses had as much at stake as the rest of his siblings, he supposed.

  Reid paced the room impatiently. “Where’s everyone else?”