Maya Banks - Colters’ Gift

But fuck it all. This whole situation was burning a hole in his brain. Liam had already made his move. And if Noah didn’t do some serious catching up, he was going to get left in the dust.

Liam had said for Noah to come back and see Lauren and then make up his mind. Hell. As soon as he’d laid eyes on her again and saw the shame and vulnerability in her gaze, he knew there was no goddamn way he was walking away from her. And Liam, the bastard, probably knew it.

“I don’t understand,” Lauren said in a faltering tone.

When Noah looked at Liam, his friend’s gaze was mocking. Challenging. It made Noah want to wipe the smug smile right off his face.

“Come sit down,” Liam said, gently herding Lauren to the love seat.

He settled her down beside him and then glanced expectantly back up at Noah. Noah had no choice but to take the armchair Lauren had sat in earlier.

Once he was settled and staring at Lauren, who was looking at him, expecting him to say what was on his mind, he struggled to find the words. How the hell was he going to explain this one when he didn’t fully understand it himself?

Son of a bitch, but he hated this uncertainty. He was a decisive person. He didn’t second-guess himself or his decisions, but he was paralyzed by the enormity of the situation. He and Liam hadn’t even fully come to terms with this . . . whatever the hell it was. How could he be expected to make Lauren understand what he wanted? What Liam obviously wanted.

“Lauren, will you excuse us for a moment?” Noah said bluntly.

Liam’s brows drew together, and then Lauren’s brow furrowed in confusion.

Noah stood and motioned for Liam. “We’re just going to go across the street.”

“And leave her?” Liam demanded.

Noah blew out his breath in frustration. “Come on, Lauren. You’re going with us. We’ll take her into the sheriff’s station.”

“What on earth is going on?” Lauren asked in bewilderment.

Her brown eyes were cloudy with confusion, and her mouth opened and shut as she glanced between the two men.

Liam put his hand over hers. “Noah and I need to work out a few things . . . privately. It won’t take long.”

“But why do I need to leave?”

Liam touched her cheek. “Remember everything that was just said when your brother was here? That wasn’t just talk, Lauren. For the next while, where we go, you go, and vice versa.”

She looked as though she wanted to argue, but then she closed her mouth and gave a resigned sigh. “Okay. Let’s go then. Let me get my book so I’ll have something to do. I’m going to feel pretty stupid just sitting in the sheriff’s station.”

As she walked to her bedroom, Noah leveled a stare at Liam. He was itching to say something. To break the building tension. He was ready to explode, but he didn’t want to have this conversation in front of Lauren. Not until he and Liam hashed this out between them. There were so many ways to fuck this up before they even had a chance with her. And that was assuming that Lauren wouldn’t run screaming in the opposite direction as soon as they leveled with her.

When Lauren returned, Noah abruptly got up and strode for her front door. Liam brought up the rear, placing Lauren in between the both of them. But then wasn’t this what it was all about? Lauren in between them?

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.”

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.