by Maya Banks
He was going to need something stronger than the diner served for this occasion.
Traffic had increased on Main Street. Old pickups making stops at the feed store. Cars pulling into the grocery store at the corner.
Most noticeably was the crowd at the diner.
There was no way in hell he was going to have a conversation about Lauren in the middle of a crowded diner.
He glanced back at Liam and then headed for the sheriff’s station. When he pushed in, there was a woman manning the front desk with the phone surgically attached to her ear. She held up one finger and mouthed I’ll be with you in a second.
Noah waited patiently for her to finish her call, and then she looked up, a bright smile on her face.
“How can I help you?”
“I need to see Seth Colter,” Noah said.
He reached behind him, took Lauren’s hand and pulled her up to stand beside him.
“I need to leave her with the sheriff.”
The woman blinked, and then her eyes widened. “What’s she done, sir?”
Noah stared at her in confusion. “She hasn’t done anything. Can you get the sheriff for me?”
When he glanced sideways at Lauren, he saw her face was beet red, and she looked as though she wanted the floor to swallow her up.
Hell.
The awkward moment was saved from growing even more awkward when Seth walked out of his office. He frowned when he saw them and came to a full stop.
“Is something wrong?” Seth asked. “Noah, isn’t it?”
Noah nodded and then shook his head. “Nothing’s wrong. We need to leave Lauren with you until we get a few things straightened out.”
Seth blinked. “Here?”
Lauren made a strangled sound. “This is so ridiculous. Let me go to Lily’s. You can drop me off there. I’ll spend the afternoon with her.”
Seth frowned. “No, it’s fine. Just caught me off guard. You can sit in my office if you like. If I’m called out, there will be plenty of other people here to keep an eye on you.”
“I feel like a damn criminal,” Lauren muttered.
Liam leaned over, kissed her temple and then pushed her in Seth’s direction. “We’ll be back for you in just a bit. Sit tight, okay?”
She sent an unhappy look in Liam and Noah’s direction before she walked toward Seth. Seth put his hand on her shoulder and guided her back toward his office.
“Come on,” Noah muttered, heading back out the door.
Instead of walking toward the diner, he crossed the street back to Lauren’s apartment, leaving Liam to follow. He jogged up the steps and went in, pacing around the living room while Liam closed the door and went to sit on the love seat.
“I’m guessing you’ve made your decision,” Liam drawled.
Noah stopped pacing and spun around, pinning his friend with a glare. “No, the hell I haven’t. How am I supposed to make that kind of decision in a split second? Have you even considered the difficulties in what you’re proposing? Have you thought past the fact that you want her?”
“Why are you so pissed off?” Liam asked mildly. “You didn’t want to talk about it when we could have in New York, when Lauren wasn’t anywhere around. You wanted to wait. Well here we are. So talk.”
Noah gripped the back of his neck and took in several deep breaths. Then he hunched down in the armchair, shaking his head.
“This is some kind of goddamn joke to you, isn’t it?”
At that, Liam surged forward, his eyes darkening with anger. His jaw bulged and Noah realized he’d gone too far. His friend was close to ripping Noah’s head off.
“Lauren isn’t a joke to me,” Liam said through tightly clenched teeth. “You’re the one with your head up your ass. I was trying to do the right thing. I knew you had feelings for her and you’re my friend. I also know that we can protect and take care of Lauren. Together. I don’t want her to come between us. We’ve been through too much and we have history. Your friendship means a lot, but I’m not going to let you fuck things up for me with Lauren. With or without you, I’m here for the long haul. What you decide is up to you. I shot you straight. I leveled with you. I gave you time to think it over.”
Noah stared at him in astonishment. “All bullshit aside, you really think this can work? You really think that just because people she knows are in a nontraditional relationship that she’ll be all okay with it for herself?”
“If we can’t decide between us that it’ll work, we’ll never convince her that it will,” Liam said quietly. “Maybe it won’t. But how will we know unless we try? She does it for me, man. I can’t explain it. I’ve heard all kinds of stories about how when a man sees a woman he just knows she’s it. But I’ve never experienced it until now. I’ve met plenty of women that I was interested in. That I was attracted to. Women I enjoyed spending time with and having sex with. But I’ve never met a woman who I’ve had a more powerful reaction to than Lauren. I can’t even describe to you what I felt when I saw her the first time. I wanted to go find the asshole who hurt her and take him apart. And then I wanted to take her in my arms and swear to her that nothing bad would ever touch her again, and that I’d spend the rest of my life making sure she was happy. Now if that sounds stupid to you, so be it, but it was like that for me.”
“It’s not stupid,” Noah murmured. “It’s not stupid because it’s the same way I felt. Even when I told myself I was being ridiculous.”
Liam nodded. “Now you tell me this. With you having that strong of a reaction, are you really contemplating stepping aside?” Then his eyes narrowed and he stared hard at Noah. “Unless you’re expecting me to.”
He leaned forward on the couch, his expression suddenly dark and formidable.
“Not this one, Noah,” he said tersely. “I’ve stepped aside before when I knew you were interested in the same woman I had my eye on. But I didn’t feel this way about them. I’ve never felt so strongly about a woman that I’d risk our friendship over, but I’m telling you right now, I’m not bowing out, and if you can’t or won’t accept what I’m proposing, that’s fine. But don’t expect me to sit back and watch you and Lauren together.”
Noah knew he had to find a way to defuse a potentially explosive situation. Liam was getting worked up, and if he wasn’t careful, the entire thing would blow up in Noah’s face.
“Just tell me this, Liam. Do you really think this can work? Forget the bullshit about not wanting to step aside. Put away your emotional reaction and think about this logically. Do you honestly think we can share the same woman without getting jealous or too demanding or getting pissed when things don’t go our way?”
Liam pursed his lips and then slowly nodded. “Yeah, I do. I can only speak for me, but I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make it work. Can you say the same? I’m not going into this with a hidden agenda. I’ve put my cards on the table. I can’t be any more blunt than I’ve been. But so far I’ve been the one doing all the talking.”
If anyone else were questioning him the way Liam was, the fight would already be on. But Liam knew him. Liam was the closest thing Noah had to a family. Hell, Liam’s family had all but adopted Noah when he was just a teenager.
He’d spent more time in the Prescott household than he had his own, and by the time he was sixteen, he’d moved in and the Prescotts had pursued legal custody through the courts. Noah’s mother hadn’t even bothered to show up.
The two boys had graduated from high school together. They’d joined the military together, and even though the Army had taken them in separate directions, they’d always stayed in touch. Noah had spent his leave time with the Prescotts, and one Christmas, he’d spent with them when Liam hadn’t gotten leave.
“What about your folks?” Noah asked grimly. “How are they going to take this?”
Liam shrugged. “I’m sure they’ll wonder if we’ve lost our minds. But they’ll love Lauren. Mom will love her and so will Dad. I think, as with anything, they’ll just need
time to adjust. When the time comes, we’ll take her to meet them and we’ll explain the situation. They aren’t going to disown us over it, Noah. You know them better than that.”
“I just don’t want to hurt them,” Noah said. “They’ve done too much for me.”
“I understand that. But you’re not giving them enough credit. They just want us to be happy. If Lauren makes us happy and you and I are at peace with it, then everything else will fall into place.”
Noah shook his head. “You’re disgustingly levelheaded about this whole thing. I’m usually the one having to talk you around on things.”
Liam shrugged. “I know what I want, and I’m willing to do whatever is necessary to get it.”
“Okay then we give it a try. I don’t even know where the hell to start.”
Liam laid his forearms across his knees and stared intently at Noah. “We start by being honest with Lauren about what we want, and then we ask her what she wants.”
CHAPTER 7
AFTER reading the same paragraph five times, Lauren gave up on trying to enjoy the book she’d taken with her into Seth’s office. Seth was in and out and thankfully hadn’t tried to engage her in conversation. He was kept busy with various calls, but it was one from his wife, Lily, that made Lauren’s heart melt.
It was so obvious how adored Lily Colter was. By all three of the men she called husband. Seth’s entire face lit up when he realized it was her on the phone, and his eyes had grown so soft with love that Lauren found it hard to watch.
They’d spoken about the baby and how Lily was feeling. Evidently Dillon was home with Lily and it was also obvious that Seth would rather be there instead of stuck in his office. Babysitting Lauren.
It had made Lauren uncomfortable because she felt as though she was intruding on something private and deeply emotional.
She turned away to stare out the window, wondering when Noah and Liam would return and what was so important that they’d had to dump her so they could speak privately. Noah had acted strangely ever since the two had arrived while Liam had acted . . . like he cared about her. Or maybe it was wishful thinking on her part.
She’d never wished for anything as much as she wished she could go back and redo the past year. So much of her time had been spent lamenting the choices she’d made, but she’d compounded bad decision making with yet more bad decisions. Would it ever end for her?
There was more she hadn’t told Noah and Liam. Or Max. Or anyone else. But she knew the moment she gave up her secret that she’d be forced to act on it, and she wasn’t ready to face her past. Maybe she’d never be ready.
She was a coward. She readily admitted that. But in no way did she ever want to see Joel again, and were she to confess to anyone what she’d taken away when she ran from Joel and begged her brother for help, there would be no way around having to face him.
Just the thought was enough to strike fear in her heart and send a chill down her spine. She shivered and rubbed her arms.
“Are you cold?”
Seth’s question jerked her from her thoughts. She yanked her head up to see that he’d returned to his office again and was staring at her.
She stilled her hands so they rested on her arms, and shook her head. “No, I’m fine.”
He took a seat behind his desk and riffled through a stack of papers, evidently finding what he was looking for. He sat back, studying it for a long moment, and then he glanced her way again.
Then he put the paper down and leaned forward so his forearms rested on his desk.
“You know if you ever need help, with anything, that you only have to ask.”
She nodded.
Seth hesitated a moment, fiddled with a pen on his desk and then looked back at her again, as if he was trying to figure out the best way to broach the subject he wanted to discuss.
“Noah and Liam . . . are these guys you’re comfortable with? I can talk to Max. We can work out something else if you’d rather they go back to New York.”
She surged forward. “No! I mean no, it’s okay, they’re fine, I mean. It’s just that I was caught off guard. But really, they’ve been great. They were so sweet to me right after . . . you know, when what happened happened. Thank you, though. I appreciate what you and all your family have done for me.”
“You’re family, Lauren. And the Colters always look after family.”
She smiled. “I know. It’s one of the things I love the most about all of you. Max and I didn’t have that. I mean, we did, but it was just us and Mom for so long, and then we lost her. I was in awe of all of you when I first came here. To have such a large, close-knit family is pretty special.”
“You’re a part of that now,” Seth said. “Don’t forget that.”
Warmth filled her heart. It felt good to be a part of something as loving and wonderful as the Colter family.
Seth glanced toward the door and then turned back to her. “Looks like Noah and Liam are back for you. They’re out front. Come on, I’ll walk you up.”
She stood. “No need. Thanks for letting me stay and I’m sorry to be such a bother. Please give Lily my love and tell her I’ll see her when I can. I’m not sure how much freedom I’m going to have going forward,” she added ruefully.
“We’ll make it happen. She enjoys spending time with you and Callie. She won’t be able to go that long without getting together with you.”
“Thanks again. See you later,” she said as she exited his office.
Down the hall she saw Noah and Liam standing in the small reception area. They looked relieved when they saw her. Where did they think she’d go?
Noah reached for her hand as soon as she got close enough. To her surprise, he laced his fingers through hers, squeezed and then pulled her toward the door.
Liam followed them across the street, and Noah never let loose as they climbed the steps to her apartment. When he pushed inside, he kept ahold of her hand and led her to the love seat.
He seemed nervous. Ill at ease. Even Liam looked a little . . . unsure.
“Is something wrong?” she blurted. “You both look worried. Is it Joel?”
Liam got up, shoved her coffee table out of the way and dropped down onto one knee in front of her.
“No, baby. I don’t want you to worry about Joel, okay? We’re going to do everything in our power to make sure you never have to see him again.”
“We wanted to talk to you about something personal,” Noah said.
Her gaze swung to him and her heart began to race. She licked her lips nervously because she knew that whatever they wanted to discuss was going to be . . . huge. It was there to read in their expressions. They were focused intently. On her. Like she was the most important person in the world.
“O-okay,” she breathed out.
Liam slid his big hand over hers, warm and soothing. Noah took her other hand and turned it palm up, his finger tracing the lines to her fingers.
“The thing is . . .” He trailed off then ran his free hand over his head. “Hell, I’m making a total mess of this.”
“What is it, Noah?” she asked softly.
“Do you have feelings for us?” Liam asked bluntly. “Or are we way off base here.”
Heat seeped into her cheeks and she was mortified. Had she been so transparent? She’d tried her best to be indifferent toward them. She hadn’t even truly sorted out what she felt for them. They intrigued her. She’d allowed herself to fall into the fantasy that she wasn’t just a job to them, that their protection came not from their job description, but from a need that sprang from their attraction to her.
She’d gone back and forth with herself over whether she was genuinely attracted to two men or whether it was just a product of going from a man who abused her to men who treated her like she was . . . special. Like she meant something to them, and that they genuinely cared about her. Wouldn’t any woman fall for a man in the same situation? But did it make her feelings real?
Noah reached up to softly care
ss her cheek. “Please don’t be embarrassed by the question. We wanted—needed—to know because we have feelings for you, Lauren. And before we can proceed, we need to know if those feelings are returned.”
She swallowed hard, her pulse thundering in her temples. “You both have feelings for me?”
“Yes, we do,” Liam said in that same matter-of-fact tone.
She licked her lips, and suddenly Liam was there, his mouth covering hers in a heated rush. For a moment she had no idea what to do, but then she found herself responding, returning his kiss, opening her mouth to the thrust of his tongue.
There was nothing perfunctory about the kiss. She loved the roughness, how unsteady and eager he seemed. Almost like he was doing everything he could to hold himself in check. Joel had rarely kissed her, and when he had, it felt more like a punishment than a gesture of affection.
When he pulled away, his breath hiccupped over his lips and his eyes glowed warm and dark. He smoothed a thumb over the fullness of her bottom lip, now swollen from his kiss.
“I could so easily fall in love with you,” he said in a near whisper.
Her heart clenched and she soaked in the words like a parched desert soaking up rain.
Noah made a sound and she jerked toward him, suddenly numb with guilt. He immediately shook his head.
“Don’t look at me like that, sweetheart. You have nothing to feel guilty over. This is what we want to talk to you about. The thing is, we both care about you. We both want to see where our relationship will take us. But we have to make sure you’re on board for something like that. Plus, this isn’t the most ideal time to embark on any relationship, much less one with our particular elements. Our first priority has to be keeping you safe.”
“You want to have the sort of relationship that the Colters have,” she said, her mind whirling with the implications.
She’d known of the “different” marriage that Holly and Lily Colter had with each of their three husbands even before she’d ever met them. She’d learned of it from Max. She’d known what to expect, so when she’d witnessed firsthand the bond between the women and their husbands, she hadn’t been taken aback.
