Maya Banks - Colters’ Lady

So no, I haven’t given any thought to Lacey’s job.”

“Well, it seems to me it might be a godsend and fell into your lap at just the right time.” Seth’s brow furrowed as he stared back at his dad.

“Think about it. Dillon and Michael are here. They both have businesses here. You’re three hours away in Denver. How the hell is that going to work if you’re all trying to work things out with Lily?

“I know enough about your brothers to know they’re tenacious as hell. No way they’ll let Lily go back with you. They’ll want her here with them. Your only choice might be to compromise.” Seth swore long and hard under his breath. “You’re right. I mean, I know you’re right. But sheriff?

That’s always been Lacey’s job. I can’t even imagine her not there. She’s well liked and respected here.

She’s got tough shoes to fill.”

“If anyone can, it would be you. The folks around here would need a familiar, friendly face. They get nervous when outsiders come in and take over the job of protecting their interests. You lived here all your life. You grew up with these people. They trust you.”

Seth settled his elbows on the wood railing and pondered his dad’s suggestion. Leave his job on the force? Even after being shot, he hadn’t considered leaving, even for a moment. It seemed cowardly to quit at the first sign of adversity and come home to take a sheriff’s job that for the most part never involved anything more serious than livestock disputes or the occasional disorderly conduct.

“Let me ask you something,” Adam said. “What would make you happy? Staying in Denver in your current job, or coming home where your family lives, where you’ve lived all your life?” Put that way, it was pretty much a no-brainer. This was home no matter the years he’d spent away.

This was his life. His family. The people he loved. And now Lily. He didn’t want her back in Denver. She could have a fresh start here. With him. With his brothers if she so chose.

“Think about it and go talk to Lacey tomorrow. She’s going to be pissed when she finds out you were in town and didn’t stop by to see her.”

Seth grinned. “Yeah, but she’ll forgive me.”

“Here they come now,” Adam said, gesturing toward the trail.

Callie appeared first, keeping her horse to a sedate pace while Lily bobbed into view a few moments later, a ridiculous smile plastered across her face.

It hit Seth right in the stomach, and for a minute he forgot to breathe.

“Now you know why I couldn’t tell her no,” Adam murmured. “She’s beautiful, son. But skittish as a newborn colt. You’re going to have to tread a very careful path with her.” Seth nodded. “I know, Dad. Believe me, I know.”

When Lily and Callie hit the top of the trail that ended at the Colter barn, Lily saw both Adam and Seth standing by the fence waiting for them.

“Uh oh, you’re busted,” Callie muttered. “Seth looks like he swallowed a lemon.” As they approached, Seth’s gaze found Lily, and his lips twisted into a slight frown. Her horse came to a halt behind Callie’s and Callie slid easily from the saddle. Seth walked up and put his hands on Lily’s waist.

“You ready?” he asked. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

She smiled and reached down for his shoulders as he gripped her hips. She landed in front of him, nearly swallowed by his much larger frame.

“Where the hell is your sling?” he demanded.

“I asked your dad to take it off,” she said. “I didn’t need it, and I wanted to be able to move my arm.” Seth cupped her shoulders and stared intently down at her. “Honey, you were shot. You need the sling and you need not to be out riding horses. You should be inside on the couch.” Her nose wrinkled and she squinted up at him. “It’s a cut. If I’d hurt myself on a tree branch, or maybe a piece of glass, you wouldn’t be freaking out over this minor a wound. But because it was a bullet, it’s more dramatic. The end result is the same. I’m fine. I don’t need a sling. It actually feels better when I can move it around.”

“Michael’s going to have a cow,” Seth muttered.

She smiled. “No, he’s not.”

Seth framed her face in his palms, his thumbs brushing over her cheekbones. She had the crazy idea that he was going to kiss her, right here, right now, with his sister and father looking on.

She realized she didn’t mind at all.

This time she kissed him back. His lips slid over hers, feather light, and then he came back, harder this time, his tongue probing at her mouth to open.

She sighed and allowed her lips to part. His taste flooded over her tongue just as his warmth seeped clear to her bones. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her so close into his body that she felt absorbed by him.

One hand splayed over her back, holding her against him, while the other cupped the side of her neck and jaw as he tilted her head for better access.

Where before he’d given her soft kisses, almost teasing, or restrained even, now he possessed her mouth. There was no other word for it.

Chill bumps raced down her spine and back up again, spreading over her shoulders and down until her nipples tightened and pressed into his chest.

Desire was a thrill ride she hadn’t been on in a long time. She’d forgotten the joy in a single kiss or touch, how her skin reacted to the gentle coaxing of a man. How her breasts swelled and tightened, and how much she liked to be touched there.

Or how much she simply loved to be kissed. And held. Some comforts were never forgotten no matter how long they were denied.

“You taste so damn sweet,” Seth murmured against her lips. “I want you so much, Lily.” He pulled away and then rested his forehead against hers. He ran the tip of his finger over the line of her jaw and let it linger over her lips.

Forgotten was his father and his sister, though when she glanced sideways she saw they’d already taken the horses into the barn, leaving her and Seth alone.

She raised her gaze to meet Seth’s, her thoughts jumbled by the morning’s events.

“Seth, Dillon kissed me earlier. I don’t understand why. I mean, he’d only just met me. But I also kissed him. I don’t know what’s going on. I’m confused by…all of this. But I thought you should know, that you had the right to know.”

Seth pulled away, his eyes troubled. But she didn’t see anger. Or jealousy.

“Come walk with me, Lily. There are a few things we need to talk about.” He put his arm around her and led her away from the barn down a stone path that led through a cluster of aspens. There was a bench in a small clearing, and he settled her onto it, but he remained standing, his body language tense and unsettled.

“You probably think we’re all crazy,” he said. “My family. My brothers. The way things are with my parents.”

She shook her head. “Not crazy. Just different. It’s obvious your fathers love your mother very much.

It works for them.”

“I want it to work for us,” he said bluntly.

She stared back at him, sure she hadn’t understood. He ran a hand through his hair and blew out his breath.

“Something happened when I met you, Lily. Something powerful I’m at a loss to explain. All I can say is that I knew you were meant to be mine. The problem is, the same thing happened with Michael and then Dillon.”

She looked down, uncertain how to respond. What did anyone say in a situation like this?

“You felt it too, Lily. I watched you with my brothers. You responded to them like you responded to me.”

“I don’t know what to say,” she murmured.

He knelt in front of her and took her hands in his. “I’m going to ask you for the same two things my fathers asked my mother when they met her. Your trust and a chance.” She met his gaze, her heart beating so hard, it made her lightheaded.

“There are things you don’t know.”

“And we’ll get to them. In your time,” he said softly. “I want you to be able to trust us, and more than that, I want a chance. Give us a chance to make it work.” The past still had her firmly in its grip, but what if this was her chance to change her future? She couldn’t change what was done, but she could not spend the rest of her life paying for her mistakes over and over.

But what if when they knew the truth they no longer wanted her? It was natural that they’d want a family. They’d grown up in a large family. That was the one thing she couldn’t give them. Could they accept that?

And then it sank in. She was sitting here calmly considering a relationship with three men. Three men she barely knew. There were so many unanswered questions her head hurt.

“I know you’re overwhelmed,” Seth said. “Hell, who wouldn’t be? But this is where the trust and the chance come in, Lily. We have a lot to work out, and it won’t be easy. But we can do it.”

“Can we?”

He stroked the side of her head, the curls springing back after he flattened them.

“I’m falling in love with you, Lily. I feel stupid even saying it, but it doesn’t alter the inevitable.” Her breath stuttered and hiccoughed until she thought she’d choke. Love? Even as she shook her head in mute denial, he was nodding, reaffirming his words.

His eyes were so serious. An intense blue that seemed to sear right into her soul.

How could he love her, or think he loved her?

“Oh God, Seth. You don’t know. You just don’t know.”

“Then tell me,” he said gently. “When you’re ready, I’ll listen, and we’ll face it together.”

“Something tells me that if I agreed to…try…that it would be taking the easy way out.”