Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

C olton woke up to an alarm on his phone, but he wasn't at home and he wasn't at the station. The warm body curled up against him definitely wasn't Flint. He had Princess on one side and Cady on the other. Her head was on his shoulder. His arm was resting between her breasts as she snuggled it to her. Her naked bottom was pressed against his side as she wriggled closer to him. He felt a slight pressure on his chest and then felt kitty paws kneading him.

Colton opened his eyes all the way and was startled at the sight. George was on his chest, but Ginny was sitting on the headboard staring intensely down at him, her tail flicking as if she was on the hunt. No, she wasn't looking at him. She was staring at his morning wood growing under the sheets as Cady pressed her ass against him. "No," he warned Ginny, but he knew it would do no good.

Ginny pounced.

Colton liked to think he had fast reflexes, but he was trapped. Princess and Cady were pinning him in place and George was holding him down. There was no moving out of the way. That meant he was left with one option.

Colton yanked his legs up into a ball. Ginny meowed and landed perfectly on his shins. She wasn't giving up though. Ginny leaned over and batted at the sheet hanging from his curled legs, which did two things. It got George interested in what Ginny was hunting and woke up Princess.

George spun, sticking his cat butt right into Colton's face as he crouched, ready to pounce on whatever Ginny was hunting. Princess leaped up, barking, which made Cady burst into sitting, thinking they were under attack. They weren't. Colton's dick was. But now Colton had two free arms as he pushed Princess from the bed, George from his chest, and picked up the most dangerous of them all—Ginny.

"What's going on?" Cady asked as chaos ensued in the room with George now batting Princess's tail, which was wagging, and Ginny eyeing it like her next kill.

"If we ever want children or morning sex, Ginny isn't allowed in the room at night," Colton said, keeping Ginny in his arms as she reached a paw out for Princess's fluffy tail.

"What... oh!" Cady's gaze told Colton she'd spotted the issue. The damn woman giggled. Then she stopped laughing and screamed.

"That's not how you were screaming last night," Colton said, frowning.

Cady grabbed the sheet and held it to her. "There's someone on the patio," she whispered, pointing to the glass door.

Colton saw the shadow of a man move through the linen curtains. There was definitely a man outside her bedroom. But then, a second outline appeared. There were two of them. Princess began a slow growl. Hell, even Ginny did. Colton set the cat down and slipped from the bed.

"Get under the bed," Colton whispered as he kept to the walls, sliding around until he was beside the door.

Colton was outnumbered, but he was taught by the best—his father and uncles. Two on one wouldn't be a problem even if he didn't have a weapon. Colton reached down and slowly unlocked the door. He placed his hand on the handle and took a deep breath. He would do anything to protect Cady. He didn't care who was out there. He'd die before letting them get to her.

Colton yanked the door open and charged out. He spread his arms wide and tackled the pair who had been approaching the door.

"Nice hit, son. You were always a hell of a football player. But for the love of all things holy, can you put on some clothes when I'm coming over?"

"Dad?" Colton looked down at the face he was about to smash his fist into.

"There's nothing wrong with being caught naked with your girl. You inherit it from your favorite uncle," Marshall told him with a wink before rolling out from under Colton's arm and looking toward the sound of an engine approaching from the front of the house. "Shit, they're here," he whispered.

"Who is here?" Colton asked.

"Our wives," Marshall hissed. "Katelyn heard Cady adopted Kandi's cats and wanted to come see how they were settling in."

"And your mother has senses that Cy would be jealous of. She knows something is going on with you and Cady. It's an ambush. She wants marriage and grandbabies. And she wants them whether you do or not. We gotta move." His father grabbed his arm and shoved him back into the house. "Get your stuff. No time to dress."

Marshall was already pushing inside the bedroom. He grabbed Colton's clothes and shoved them into Colton's arms right as the sound of the car door closing reached them. "Tell Cady she can come out from under the bed," Marshall whispered.

"Cady, you can come out. Everything is good. You have visitors about to ring the bell. It's just a work thing. Gotta go. I'll call later and see you tomorrow," Colton called into the room as his father shoved him out the door.

"Princess," Colton whispered and the dog shot up from the floor and raced out. His father reached down, put his hand over her muzzle, and had her up in his arms as they ran for the woods behind the house. He was familiar with bearded collies. If they'd just run off, Princess would have happily followed, circling them, barking enthusiastically as if she were herding them. They'd be caught in seconds by Aunt Katelyn and his mother.

Colton followed after them, bare-assed, until they were deep enough into the woods where they could no longer be seen from the house. "Was this really necessary?" Colton asked as he finally put on his clothes. "Besides, my car is parked out front."

"Yes, it's necessary. Your mother will get her hopes up and it will crush her when you don't take this relationship seriously. I love Cady. I'd love to have her as a daughter. But you, Colton, are not a committer. You better not say a word to your mother until you're ready to get on a knee and beg someone as perfect, smart, and sweet as Cady Woodson to marry you. But we both know that's not going to happen. You're not ready for a serious relationship. You're not ready for love, marriage, children, and a lifetime of friendship and partnership with someone you love to the depths of your soul," his father told him.

Colton shoved his feet into his boots. "Why would you say that? I'm thirty-two. I'm ready for all of that."

Cade and Marshall looked at each other and then laughed.

"It wasn't three weeks ago that you sat at family dinner and told the entire family they had better luck pinning Cassidy down with a husband than marrying you off," his father reminded him. Oh, yeah, he had said that. Now though...

"And don't worry about your SUV. We moved it. It's right through the woods. I'm sure the women will stop at the fire station next," Marshall told him before turning to Cade and giving him a high five. "We haven't lost our touch, brother. That was a perfect extraction."

"Um," Colton said, interrupting their high fives. "What if Cady tells them about us?"

His father actually rolled his eyes. "Cady knows better. She's smart as a whip. She knows this is just a fling."

It felt like a punch to Colton's gut. He didn't want a fling. He wanted forever.

"Why would you think that?" Colton asked, growing angry with his father and uncle.

His father looked at him as if Colton had grown a second head. "Have you told her you love her?"

"Well, no," Colton admitted.

"Have you talked about a future together?" Marshall asked.

Colton frowned. "Not exactly. We're getting together tomorrow after the conference wraps up."

His father and Marshall snickered. "That's not the future," his father pointed out. "We're talking long-term future. Like, who is living where? You both have houses. What about children? Do you want any? Does she want any? What about family obligations? You know she'll be expected at family dinners."

Marshall then took over. "And what about accepting that you are in a dangerous job? Or you accepting that she's going to put this distillery first? It's her baby. Are you good with that since you've always been the center of attention with your dates? You will now have someone to check in with and to plan things around, like guys' night. Plus, she doesn't have family. How does she feel about suddenly becoming part of a very large family with no allowance for personal space? After being on her own for six years, she might not want that."

No joke there was no personal space. His father and uncle showing up right now proved that. And Colton hated to admit it, but his father and uncle gave him a lot to think about. He'd known Cady for years. He thought he might know the answers to these questions, but now he'd do what a boyfriend should do—talk to his girlfriend about it. But there wasn't a chance in hell he'd admit that to his father and uncles who thought he wasn't boyfriend material, never mind husband material. But they were wrong and he was going to not only prove it to them, he was going to prove it to the only person who mattered—Cady.