Colters' Gift (Colters' Legacy #5)(14)

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 f**k 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 ass**le 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.”