Chapter 28

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

Michael

"Thanks for taking me home to change first," Lara says, blowing into her latte.

I eye the drink. I'm not sure caffeine is the best choice right now, but who can say no when those big brown eyes plead with you?

"Can't have you wearing shorts all day, can we?" I wink, referring to the way Charlie's leggings had been far too short. At five feet nine and all leg, Lara never stood a chance.

She blushes at my words.

"It's not my fault. I should have just worn Sam's jeans with a belt."

"A belt wouldn't have helped."

Lara scrunches her nose. "Unfortunately, I don't have the ass she does to fit her pants. "

"I'm not talking about my sister's ass. Yours, however, is fair game." My foot nudges hers playfully. "I enjoyed what we did yesterday."

I will never tire of seeing her blush. Lara takes a gulp of her drink, eyes watering at the heat.

"Careful," I caution her.

"Hot, hot," she pants, putting her cup down.

Uncrossing my leg, I lean forward and pick up a napkin, touching it to the coffee on her top lip.

"You okay? Need some water?"

She shakes her head.

"You're sweet." She blushes.

I pinch her chin between my fingers. "Your safety and well-being are my number one priority. I thought I showed you that on Halloween." I try to cast her mind back discreetly.

Lara's eyes bulge, and she glances around as much as she can while I hold her chin.

"Shhh," she hisses.

"And I'll let what happened earlier go, given it's our wedding day, but when I tell you to stay inside, stay inside. Next time, I'll spank your ass before I fuck it raw."

Lara gasps, blushing as she vigorously nods. I shake her chin, stilling her movements, needing her to see that I'm serious.

"Yes, sir," she murmurs, her chest heaving.

My heart swells.

"Other than that yummy latte, what else do you need in town?" I ask, glancing down at my watch. After a quick call to Molly, our county clerk and member of my mother's book club, while Lara changed, we headed over to sign the paperwork before stopping for coffee. Our marriage license will be ready and waiting for us at three this afternoon.

The girls can plan a wedding afterward—anything Lara wants. I don't care. All that matters to me is that she's my wife by the end of the day.

"Nowhere," she answers quickly, too quickly.

I will find out what she's hiding.

"Princess, we have until three to do what you want. I'd like to go pack your things at one, enough for a few days, but if you need to go somewhere, we can collect your things after the wedding. When we're married." I stress the last three words.

"I . . ." She struggles to find her words, but I don't.

"This is happening, Lara."

Wetting her lips, she fiddles with her cup. "Marriage licenses take a while to get."

"They can," I agree, "but ours won't."

"We could just get the license today and wait."

"Lara," I press, "we're getting married. Our local judge is going to meet us there with my family at three. An unusual request, but one Judge Greene couldn't say no to." I lean forward like I'm sharing a secret. "I reminded him my father would be there. Judge Greene has had a small crush since they were young."

"He'll marry us . . . just like that?" She sounds as panicked as she looks—her pretty mouth drops open invitingly and her round eyes grow bigger, but it just highlights the way her pupils dilate.

"I told you this is happening. The county clerk's office will file the paperwork today, and it'll be rushed through. All sorted in a week, two tops before we receive the marriage certificate."

Lara swallows. "I'll be officially yours in two weeks."

I frown. "You're already mine, princess. And you'll be my wife when we say I do. Everything else is just a formality." I wave it off.

"Lara?" a male voice sounds behind me.

Recognizing the voice, I don't turn. My eye twitches at the use of her first name.

My girl blinks rapidly, glances at me, and then back at the doctor. "Dr. Moore, hi."

"You missed your appointment this morning," he tells her, his voice irritated.

Lara nods. "I know, I'm sorry. Something came up, and I couldn't make it."

"I heard. It's a small town, so good news travels fast. Congratulations, both of you." He grins, offering me a nod.

He may still be fairly new to the area according to small-town rules, having only resided here nearly two years, but everyone knows I prefer to avoid touching when possible. I give him a grateful nod back.

"May I?" he asks, glancing at Lara .

With my wave of approval, the doctor steps around the table to drop a kiss on Lara's cheek.

"I'm sorry about the appointment. We shouldn't have wasted your time," I say, hoping he will shine a light on what Lara's been hiding all morning.

"Oh, really, it's fine. After I heard about the wedding, I figured the two of you decided against taking those precautions." The doctor pauses, giving the server his full attention. Without him having to order, Shelby, a local girl and an old classmate of my sister's, places a black coffee down on the table. "After all, those kinds of decisions should not be made alone. It takes two to make a baby, so it should be two who decide not to, no matter the preventive measure chosen."

Shelby flushes.

A baby? My heart drops. There's no way she could have booked in for an abortion. It's far too soon . . . Plan B. My girl was looking to get Plan B or contraception.

Hurt flares inside me.

"Anything else?" Shelby asks, wringing her hands.

I don't answer, too busy having a silent war with my fiancée.

"No, thank you, sweetheart," Doc responds for us.

Lara looks away to smile at the server, who moves to a table close by, scrubbing at the clean tabletop.

I won. That round, at least . . . So why do I feel like I lost ?

"Michael Cromwell?" a female voice asks.

Spinning in my seat, I see Sheriff McCallister approaching with a tall woman who I don't know, an out-of-towner. Cooper stomps closer with them, his glee palpable.

"Are you Michael Cromwell?" she demands again, all business.

McCallister looks like he'd rather be somewhere else, anywhere else.

This isn't good.

Gripping the armrests of my chair, I push away from the table, addressing Lara, "You go straight to my parents' house."

Standing, I feel my blood pressure rising with every second she doesn't answer.

"Lara!" I snap, not able to keep cool.

Her eyes widen.

I raise my hands to shoulder height at the side of my body. The feel of cold steel closing over my wrist doesn't cause nearly as much panic as the hands that grab at me.

"I'll escort her to your parents' cabin," Dr. Moore offers.

"To Daniel or Kaleb," I manage to squeeze out.

My girl stands there, unable to move, watching as I'm cuffed.

A part of me prays she's horrified and upset, not hopeful and ecstatic.

"I'm FBI Agent Collins, you're under arrest for the murder of Darrell Cooper . . . "

Anything she says after that doesn't register because I'm too busy reminding myself to stay calm. Even Cooper's taunting words go unnoticed . . . almost.

Lara's hand covers her mouth as I'm led away. Dr. Moore and Shelby whisper words of comfort to her.

My girl visibly shakes, her whole body trembling as Dr. Moore leads her away from the coffee shop. The hands holding my arm cause pain, but nowhere near as much as seeing Lara's scared and panicked face.

"Your daddy can't save you this time." Cooper gives a fake laugh. "I forget, he's not your real dad, is he? You're the kid of some loser junkie."

Thankfully, we're far enough away that Lara doesn't hear. I'd rather her learn about my past from me . . . when I'm ready.

I keep my eyes on Lara until I'm in the back of the squad car.

Closing my eyes, I try to remember the feel of her body, the way it felt to have her skin against mine, but that's not enough. My shoulders, arms, and hands hurt where they touched me. My chest rises quickly, my knee bouncing uncontrollably.

"Awfully nervous back there," Agent Collins quips.

I don't respond.

"You touched him. I told you. I'm just grateful the big guy wasn't there."

Daniel. Lara will be safe with him. They don't have anything. It's Cooper. A final power play to scare me into showing my hand.

That's not happening.

But next time one of my brothers asks if they can kill Cooper, I might just let them.