Maya Banks - Colters’ Lady

He didn’t say anything, but then Ryan had never been particularly verbose. He simply waited for Michael to say what was on his mind.

“I’ve met a woman,” Michael said, surprised by how nervous he was having this conversation with his dad. Thirty years old and he still felt like a teenager crushing on his classmate.

Ryan lifted one eyebrow in Michael’s direction. “You say this like it’s a bad thing.” Michael ran a hand through his hair and blew out his breath. “It’s complicated.” Ryan chuckled. “Meeting a woman is always complicated. So, tell me about her. How in the world did you manage to meet a woman when you spend more time with your animals than you do people?” Michael shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels. “I met her when I went down to Seth’s yesterday.”

At that Ryan frowned. “What were you doing down there? Is anything wrong?”

“No. I wanted to talk to him about Callie. Talk him into coming up so maybe he could find out what’s going on with her.”

“And did he?”

“Yeah, he’s in town now.”

“Your mom’s worried about her.” Ryan’s eyes flickered, and he focused his gaze on the distant patch of land that was Callie’s namesake. “I’m worried about her.” Ryan turned back to Michael. “So where did you meet this woman? She must have made a hell of a first impression if you only just met her and she’s got you tied in knots.”

“There’s no easy way to ask this,” Michael muttered. “I wanted to know about you and the dads. And Mom.”

Ryan shot him an inquisitive look but didn’t interrupt.

“I met Lily at Seth’s.”

He stared at Ryan, waiting for his dad to make the connection.

Ryan’s lips came together and understanding dawned. “Ah. Damn. I take it this woman is important to Seth.”

“He just met her too,” Michael said in frustration. “The day before I did. Christ, this is complicated, Dad. You have to know, none of us have ever batted an eye over the way we grew up. But none of us ever imagined that we’d go the same route. I mean, it sounds crazy. Two days ago I would have laughed in your face and said not only would it never happen, but it would never work. And then I met Lily, saw how Seth was with Lily, and I knew that neither of us is going to back down an inch.”

“So you want to know what? If it works? If we threatened to kill each other in the beginning? What?”

“I want to know what kind of fucked-up gene you passed on to your kids,” Michael grumbled.

Ryan threw back his head and laughed. He sighed and slapped Michael’s shoulder then squeezed.

“It’s not funny. What the hell am I supposed to do?”

“The question is less about what you’re going to do and more about how Seth is handling this.” Michael sighed. “He isn’t any happier about it than I am.”

“Seems like you’ve got a problem then.”

“Anyone ever tell you that you have a gift for understatement, Dad?” Ryan chuckled. “Your mother might have accused me of not being overly helpful in the conversation department.”

“Did you and the dads have…problems? In the beginning? When you met Mom, I mean.” Ryan shook his head. “We already knew, I mean before we met your mom, that we’d have the same wife. I can’t speak for Ethan and Adam, but well, we just knew. I can’t really explain it. It sounds pretty damn stupid now, but when we were much younger, we formed our business, lived together. It’s the kind of situation we grew up in, so it just seemed inevitable. That and we didn’t really form any strong interest in a woman, well beyond sex. Shit, I’m not having this conversation with my son,” Ryan muttered.

Michael winced. “God no, I don’t want to hear about your sex lives before or after Mom.”

“Look, I understand you didn’t expect or even want this. But what you have to ask yourself is if this woman is worth it. If neither you nor Seth is going to budge then either she has a choice to make or you do.”

“You make it seem so simple.”

“It is. The decision is the easy part. Making it work is the hard part.”

“I always remember you and the dads and Mom being so…in love. Did you have problems in the beginning?”

“Other than your stubborn mother deciding she needed to leave us in order to protect us?” A scowl darkened Ryan’s face. Michael smiled. Even after so many years, it was guaranteed to piss off the dads to talk about the past.

“We went into the situation with our eyes wide open. We knew what to expect. We also knew that we had to do more work than even your mother because while we only one had spouse to please, she had three very distinct personalities to contend with, and we didn’t want to overwhelm her. It required some patience, some tongue-biting, but most of all it required compromise on all our parts. We all wanted time with your mom even with our unusual arrangement so each of us had to be sensitive to that and not be an asshole when one of the others wanted time with your mom away from the rest.”

“You knew she was the one. I mean, the moment you saw her.”

“Yeah. Kind of a cross between an ‘I’m fucked’ and a being struck by lightning sort of thing.” Michael’s lips twisted into a rueful smile. “Yeah, that about describes it.”

“So when do we get to meet this woman?” Ryan asked casually.

“It’s complicated.”

“So you’ve said. Anything I should know about?”

“She’s homeless.”

Ryan’s face darkened. “What?”

“She’s homeless. Seth served her in the soup kitchen where he volunteers. He about lost his mind over the idea of her being on the streets. Took her home with him and then I showed up the next morning. She disappeared. We went looking for her, and she took a bullet in some drug dealer war downtown.”

“Well, hell,” Ryan muttered. “So you two don’t know anything about this woman.”

“About as much as you knew about Mom when you pulled her out of the snow,” Michael said pointedly.

Ryan held up his hands. “Point taken. I just think you should be careful.”

“That’s all well and fine to say, but I’m already all rolled up in this thing, Dad. It’s crazy, but from the moment I looked at her, I recognized her. She’s mine. I can’t walk away.”

“Not crazy,” Ryan said. “I know exactly where you’re coming from.”

“I just hope to hell I know where I’m going,” Michael muttered.

Seth poked his head into the small office to see Callie with her head bent over a stack of papers.

“Hey, kiddo.”

Her head whipped up and joy lightened the deep shadows under her eyes.

“Seth!”

She leaped up and hurled herself across the room at him. He caught her and staggered back, laughing at her exuberance.

“What are you doing here? Are you okay? How is your shoulder?”

“Whoa, one question at a time. And I’ll do the asking, missy.”

She frowned and stepped back. “Who ratted me out?”

“Take your pick,” Seth said. “They’re all worried about you, Callie. What’s going on? And what’s with you coming through Denver without stopping by? I didn’t even know you were home until one of the dads told me.”

She sighed and ran a hand through her long, dark brown hair. “I’m fine. Really.” Seth pinned her with his stare.

“Seth, don’t. Okay?”

“Don’t lie to me, Callie. Not me. I know you better than that.” Pain flashed across her eyes, and panic snaked down his spine.

“What happened to you, baby?”

Tears glistened for the briefest of moments before she blinked, and the vulnerability was gone, replaced by a hard shell.

“I’ll be all right. I just needed…I just needed to be home.”

“I understand that, and I’m glad you’re here. You know you can talk to me about anything.” She smiled. “I know. What about you? Are you home for a while?” It was then he remembered Lily, sitting at the bar by herself. He glanced at his baby sister, and whatever she saw in his expression, she latched on with both hands.

“Tell me,” she demanded.

“You hold out on me and then expect me to spill my guts?” She rolled her eyes. “I’m down, Seth. Not out. I need to get over it before I can talk about it. Now what about you?”

He sighed, knowing Callie would find out in a few minutes anyway. Better to prepare her now.

“I’ve met someone,” he began. “Her name is Lily.”

“You say that like it’s a bad thing. Mom will be over the moon. I can practically hear her breathing the word grandchild.”

“Yeah, well there’s a slight problem.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yeah. Michael met her too.”

For a moment her eyes were blank and then understanding flashed and her mouth rounded in surprise.

“Oh shit,” she breathed.

Lily shifted on her stool and leaned forward on the bar, keeping the arm in the sling pointed away. It actually bothered her more today than it had right after she’d gotten shot. She should have asked for more ibuprofen before she and Seth had left Michael’s cabin, but she’d been too nervous—and curious—about where he was taking her.

She’d picked up enough of Seth and Michael’s conversation to know that Callie was their sister, that she’d recently returned from Europe and that the entire family was worried about her.

Michael and Seth were probably the best big brothers on the planet. Everything she’d seen of them only cemented her opinion that they were generous to a fault and extremely caring.

The door to the pub swung open, and she yanked her gaze in that direction, surprised when a tall, muscular man with tattooed arms, a backward baseball cap and an earring dangling from his ear sauntered inside.

She didn’t know whether to be frightened or fascinated, but he hadn’t seen her yet, so she shrank against the counter, content to watch him from a distance.

He was a big man. Lean-hipped but broad at the shoulders. His tight T-shirt showed off a solid wall of muscle for his chest and the short sleeves cut into his bulging arms.

Intricate tattoos snaked down both arms and wrapped around his wrists. Other than the earring, he wore no jewelry or adornment, and his hair, which she might have expected to be long, was barely visible beneath his cap.

He was…delicious. That was the word that popped into her head before she could ponder the absurdity of the observation. Delicious and fascinating with vivid pale green eyes surrounded by lashes that would make a grown woman weep with envy.

Then he turned and saw her. Their gazes locked, and her lips parted in surprise—at what, she wasn’t sure. She felt immediately anxious, though she didn’t fear the man. Maybe she should, but Seth was in yelling distance.

The man cocked his head and studied her as intently as she studied him. Then he smiled, and she was mesmerized by the dimples on either side of his mouth. Perfect, straight white teeth gleamed and he winked at her.

“Hello, sweetness,” he said as he walked over to the bar.

Then he caught sight of her sling and a ferocious frown locked into his brow.

“What the hell happened to you? Are you all right?”

She glanced down at her arm, having totally forgotten that it was hurt at all. “I was shot.”

“Get out! Are you serious?”

He plopped onto a stool next to her, his big frame taking up so much more space than she did.

“What are you doing in here, anyway? Is there something I can do for you?”

“Not unless you have some ibuprofen,” she said ruefully as she raised her arm for reference.

He frowned. “I sure as hell do. Let me get you something to take them with. How about some OJ?” She blinked in confusion. “Do you work here or something?”

“Or something,” he said as he walked around the counter. “Actually I own it. I used to think I ran it until my sister barged in and sort of took over. I’m currently indulging her.” Lily’s eyes widened. “You must be Dillon,” she blurted.

He stopped in midpour. “Yeah, that’s me. How did you know? Are you a friend of Callie’s?”

“I haven’t met Callie.”

He shoved the glass of orange juice across the counter and then shook several ibuprofens into his palm. “Here, take these so you feel better.”

As she swallowed them down, he leaned forward on the counter until he was awfully close. He stared at her like he could see behind the layers and defensive walls straight to her heart.

She should look away but found herself mesmerized. He was just so darn cute.

“You have me at a disadvantage, sweetness. You know my name but I don’t know yours.” She swallowed. “Lily.”