“And I will protect her with my life,” Walker swore as the brothers cringed.
Miles rounded on him and slammed a fist into his chin. “She is my daughter, not your anything. I will protect her.”
Walker didn’t budge. He refused to. He absorbed the hit and let the pain fade with no reaction at all.
“To be fair,” Cade said hesitantly, “your daughter is probably the most lethal of all our kids. If Sophie could take care of herself, Layne could do it with her eyes closed. Though Sophie did have the help of the biggest badass ever helping her.”
“Oh, give it a rest,” Cy groaned. “Matt is a badass too.”
“Please, he just handled a drug dealer and politicians. My son-in-law single-handedly took down a terrorist organization,” Cade said, puffing up his chest.
“And Deacon stopped a sex-trafficking ring. He’s also a badass,” Marshall defended.
“But—” Cade injected before Cy rounded on him with a punch to the gut.
Cole Parker held up his hands as his silver eyes sparkled with amusement. “I don’t have a son-in-law in the game, but I think we should acknowledge Walker here just took a full-force punch from Miles without flinching. He has my vote of acceptance.”
“Mine too,” Pierce said, looking nervously back to the house. “I better check on Tammy. At her advanced age—”
All the brothers groaned. “She’s going to kill you soon, and I’ll help her bury the body,” Cy said with a shake of his head.
“What? Having a baby at her old age is very stressful to her body and—”
“And you’re supposed to be the genius,” Miles said, rolling his eyes.
“Whatever. Good luck, Walker. I approve of him, but I better get back inside.” The group watched as Pierce took off for the house as the young group including Ryan, Deacon, Nash, Matt, Colton, Landon, Jackson, Wyatt, and Jace came walking out of the barn and house carrying a variety of weapons.
“I’m withholding my vote until we see what you’ve got,” Cy said smugly.
Walker shrugged. “No problem.” He turned to Cade. “But what did you mean about Layne being lethal?”
Miles gave him a smile that sent a shiver up his back. “I trained her myself. You make one misstep, and you don’t have to worry about me cutting off your balls. My daughter will do it with a dull spoon.”
Walker felt his lips tilt up. He wouldn’t say it, but while he knew Layne was his equal personally, he really loved the fact she may very well be equivalent to him physically. “I don’t know about that. You know those Delta Force guys who are the Army’s so-called counterpart to us DEVGRU guys . . . they’re just a bunch of snake eaters. That’s why our units overlap, because someone has to come in and save the day.” Walker let his smile come then.
Miles, Cade, and Marshall glared, though Walker also noted the quirk of their lips. “I’d put my daughter up against someone whose whole basis of the English language revolves around the word Hooyah.”
“But Miles, he’s a hootin’, lootin’, parachutin’ Frogman. What did you expect?” Cy asked sarcastically.
“Hooyah!” Walker called out.
Marshall laughed. “He has my vote. I like him.”
“We vote on this stuff?” Wyatt asked, dropping two spoons on the ground. “Well, he already has my vote. Good luck with the spoons. Uncle Miles has weird knowledge on how to kill people with them. It would be frightening if you stopped to think about it.”
Knives, spoons, handguns, assault rifles, sniper rifles, bows, axes, grenades, and a pair of boxing gloves. Surely his training would help him with this . . . maybe.
* * *
Layne looked at her watch for the fifth time in twenty seconds. Time was moving slowly. Walker had been gone for an hour. Grandpa Jake said not to worry, most men who came to date Paige usually left alive. That hadn’t helped.
“He’ll be fine,” her mother said, coming up behind her. Layne looked out the back window as two explosions were visible off in the distance. “Maybe.”
People went on talking around her, but Layne didn’t hear them. She looked behind her, and no one was paying her any more attention. They were all cooing over Sienna and Tammy’s pregnancies. Her dad had always taught Layne to go after what you want, so that made the decision to break protocol easy. Layne slipped out the back door and ran silently through the night toward the explosions.
When she got close enough to see, she hid behind a tree and looked out. Her cousins and most of her cousins-in-law were all standing off to the side, looking defeated. Uncle Cy and Walker were lying on the ground, lining up a sniper shot. So this was what they did? For some reason it made her mad. What would have happened if she’d brought Luke home or something? He’d have pissed himself and run as fast as he could away from here.
That thought of having her choices taken from her is what propelled her out of the shadows and marching straight for her family. “I get the winner,” she called out. It would have been humorous how everyone whipped around in surprise to find her ten feet behind them, except she was so mad right then she could hit someone.
“You’re not supposed to be out here,” Landon finally said.
“I beat the crap out of you before, and I’ll do it again if you don’t stand there and be quiet,” Layne snapped.
Cy looked from where he was looking through the scope. “No problem, Layne. I’ll be done with Froggy in just a sec, and then Uncle Cy will teach you a thing or two your dad couldn’t.”
“Do you need your glasses for the shot, Uncle Cy?” Layne asked sweetly. She was always the nice one, always there for people, the charity worker. But they’d gone and pissed her off now.
“Take your shot, sir,” Walker said, having ignored Layne the entire time.
Cy let out a breath and caressed the trigger. A second later Walker fired his shot at his own target.
“Winner, Walker,” Nash yelled a couple minutes later as he ran back from the targets set over a quarter of a mile away.
“Want a go at it?” Walker asked with a smile. He sounded as if he were having fun. But Layne had anger she needed to release, so she took Cy’s rifle and lay down on the ground. She adjusted the sight, zeroed in on the target, took a breath, and when she exhaled she pulled the trigger back with certainty.
“Your turn to go get it,” Nash told Deacon, who jogged away.
“What’s next?” Layne asked with determination to beat her uncles into the ground for what they were putting Walker and her through.
“Spoons,” Wyatt said, sounding very confused. “Can you kill someone with a spoon?”
“Yes,” Layne, Walker, and Miles answered at once.
“Layne, honey, you’ve had your fun. Let us guys get back to this.” Miles picked up a spoon and looked at the dummy target they had. “First one to get a kill shot wins.”
“Argh!” Layne ripped the spoon from Walker’s hand and rammed the handle up the dummy’s nose and into the straw brain. “Done. Next?”
“W-w-winner, Layne,” Wyatt announced, slightly stuttering over the words.
“For what it’s worth, I was going to go for the ear,” Walker said with a shrug before leaning forward and putting his lips near her ear. “You are sexy as hell when you’re mad and handling weapons. Has anyone ever told you that?”
Some of the anger left her as she smiled. “Sorry for having taken your spoon.”
“It’s okay, but I think you crushed your father.”
Layne looked to where he was silently holding his spoon. He looked like a sad boy who had broken his favorite toy.
“Winner, Layne,” Deacon called back, holding both targets. Layne looked over and saw Walker’s eyes widen. A smile returned to her father’s lips. And Uncle Cy looked ready to cry.
“What’s the score?” Layne asked happily.
“Layne, 2. Walker 7,” Wyatt said, obviously enjoying seeing the uncles losing for once.
“Great, what’s next?” Layne asked almost giddy now.
&n
bsp; “Hand-to-hand,” Nash said, stepping forward. “The last one goes to me.”
“My son-in-law is the biggest—”
“Badass. Yes, I know,” Layne muttered with concern. She grabbed Walker’s hand and pulled him away from the group. His limp was severe now. While he gave absolutely no indications of being in pain, his leg said it all. “Are you okay? Is that a bruise on your face?”
“What? Oh, yeah, I’m fine.”
“No, you’re not. Your leg is almost in spasm. I can see the muscles constricting from here. You can’t go up against Nash. This much activity will undo everything we’re working toward to get you ready for Jud.”
“But—“ Walker started.
“Do you want to fight Nash or Jud, because you only get one.” Layne put her hands on her hips and stared him down.
“Jud,” Walker said sadly. “But I have to finish this. If I can do that, I’m accepted. And Layne, you’re worth the pain.”
Well, crap. That began to melt her resolve until she saw Uncle Cade pumping Nash for the fight. “I like you too much to see you hurt. It’s not a fair fight, and you know it.”
Layne left Walker there to hobble back as she stopped in front of her family. “Y’all love me, right?”
“Of course,” came the immediate reply.
“And if Nash loses the fight, you’ll accept Walker as my boyfriend and will stop this macho shit?”
“Well, what do you mean, stop?” Marshall asked confused. “Like all the way?”
Layne stared him down.
“If Nash loses, we’ll welcome Walker to the family. That is if he’s intending to stick around for a while,” her father replied, looking past her to Walker. Layne looked behind her to find Walker standing there. He put one hand protectively on her shoulder.
“As I told you before, sir, I plan on sticking around, and I’ll protect Layne with my life. Although, after seeing her kill a dummy with a spoon up the nose and a clean shot to the brain of a target, she may be the one protecting me.”
Layne relaxed upon hearing him, sounding proud as opposed to insulted that a girl beat him.
“Done. However, I refuse to stop calling him Froggy,” her father said stiffly. Layne felt Walker chuckle behind her.
“Good.” Layne bent and picked up the boxing gloves and pulled them on her hands.
“What are you doing?” Nash asked, looking confused.
“As Walker’s doctor, I can’t let him further injure his leg. So I’m his fill-in. The deal was if Nash lost, not who won.”
“You can’t do that,” Cade cried.
“She can. Good luck, honey.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Layne turned to Walker who tied the gloves on.
“Are you sure about this?”
“Absolutely.”
15
“Where have you been? We were so worried!” Morgan cried when the entire group traipsed back into the farmhouse twenty minutes later.
“Nash,” Sophie gasped. “What happened to your face?”
“Your cousin punched me.”
“Why would Ryan punch you?” Sophie asked, jumping up to look at the black eye.
“Not that cousin. Layne,” Nash told Sophie.
“You punched my husband?” Sophie asked, wide-eyed.
“I did a hell of a lot more than that,” Layne said with a grin. “I beat the biggest badass of them all.”
The uncles, except for Cade, snickered. Her father was beaming. Her grandmother was too as she slowly stood up and made her way to an equally beaming Walker. “Well, now that’s all settled, why don’t we sit down for dinner and you tell us all about yourself, young man.”
“Happy to, ma’am. I believe you’ll find we have a common connection.”
* * *
Layne sat next to Walker at the table that stretched from the dining room into the living room. Her uncles and aunts were on one side and all the cousins were on the other. All of whom were quiet as Walker and Layne filled them in on why Walker was in Keeneston. The uncles, who had already heard this, were interjecting their ideas on how to move forward, while Aunt Annie looked thrilled to be involved in a dangerous mission again.
“Well, it’s a good thing we know you can handle yourself,” Grandma Marcy said, setting out three apple pies. “But how is this a connection to me?”
Layne reached under the table and squeezed Walker’s knee. This was going to be something of a shock for her. He placed his hand over hers and patiently waited until her grandmother took a seat. “Well, ma’am, you know I told you my doctor friend, Gavin, helped me and connected me with Layne?”
Grandma Marcy and the rest of the table except her parents nodded.
“His last name is Faulkner. He’s your grandnephew.”
The uncles erupted in anger. Grandpa Jake put a hand on Grandma Marcy as she went white.
Layne looked to her father who put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. “Let them finish. There’s much more to this story.”
Layne smiled at her dad, then turned to her grandmother and explained how she met Gavin and how they found out they were cousins. She left out the part about hitting on him, though.
“My mother hated me so much she told them I was the one who left them?” Tears welled in her eyes and Layne instantly regretted causing her pain.
“It seems the family rift wasn’t caused by your brothers at all. I’m sorry, Grandma. But you have family who want to meet you. They want to meet all of us,” she told the table.
“I didn’t know they had grandkids. Please, tell me about them,” Grandma Marcy requested as Walker filled her in.
“Scott and Kevin are in a nursing home. They both have congestive heart failure, but they’re still managing it pretty well. Their children have moved away from Shadows Landing and live in Florida. But, all the cousins stayed in Shadows Landing. Gavin is a doctor. His sister, Harper, owns the local bar and grill. Wade is with the Coast Guard in Charleston and his brother Trent is a furniture maker. Then there’s Ryker, who mostly lives in Charleston and owns a shipping company. Lastly there’s Ridge, who is a luxury home builder and his sister, Tinsley, who is an artist,” Walker explained as silent tears fell down her grandmother’s wrinkled cheeks.
“And they want to meet me?” she asked hesitatingly.
“Yes, ma’am,” Walker smiled to reassure her.
Jake wrapped his arm around his wife and held her as she cried happy tears. The uncles shifted nervously. Grandma Marcy never cried. Never. The aunts were tearing up as well as they hurried to hug her.
“Thank you so much, young man. It was fate that you came into our lives and brought our family back together,” Grandma Marcy said, wiping the tears from her face.
“We have to keep him alive now,” Cade muttered.
“You know what you need to do,” Aunt Annie said matter-of-factly.
“Keep him hidden?” Layne suggested.
Annie snorted. “Likely chance of that. Riley already blabbed it to Aniyah.”
“Oh,” was all Layne could say.
“Oh? What does that mean? Who’s Aniyah?” Walker asked.
“Son, I have some extra body armor you may want to borrow before you meet her,” Miles said with such seriousness Layne actually laughed.
“Steel-toed boots would be more helpful,” Layne snickered. “She can’t hit an actual target, so she mostly shoots toes off. But, yes, I know what I need to do. I’ll send a text out tonight. But now, we need to go. I need to undo all the damage you guys inflicted to Walker’s leg tonight.”
“I’ll drive you home,” Piper offered. “It’s on my way.”
“Thanks,” Layne replied as she got up to hug her family goodbye. As they all followed Piper and Walker outside saying their goodbyes, Layne hugged her father. “Dad?”
Her father let out a huff. “You could do worse.”
Layne and her mother grinned at the ringing endorsement. “Thank you, Dad.” She leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek before hurrying to
the car.
* * *
Walker leaned heavily on Layne as they entered her house. FP bounded happily around them, and Walker felt a sense of home he hadn’t felt since his parents died. It also made him think of his sister—a sister who had been forced to bury him earlier that day. He wanted to call Edie desperately, but he knew Jud was probably counting on that.
“Do you realize what you called me tonight?” Walker asked as they maneuvered to the bedroom.
Layne actually blushed. “Yes. Sorry about that.”
“Why?” Walker asked. “I’m not.”
“I can’t treat you now, and I put a label on something we haven’t even discussed.”
“I’m pretty sure we discussed it with our bodies if not with words,” Walker said, stopping and pulling her near. He didn’t like the worried look on her face. “Layne?”
“Yes?”
“You’re fired.” Walker leaned down and captured her lips with his. Tonight he had no intention of stopping. For days, their attraction had been building. And when she went toe-to-toe with her shockingly scary and talented family, he had given up trying to restrain himself. Especially when he knew exactly what he wanted, and that was Layne. All of her.
Walker would have loved nothing more than to grab Layne and take her up against the wall, but he couldn’t with his leg. Instead, he kept his mouth eliciting moans from hers as he fell back onto the bed, bringing Layne with him. Her body was fully on top of his. He felt the press of her breasts into his chest, the V of her legs cupped his hard-on, and when she sat up he was in the perfect position to peel her top from her body so he could worship the breasts he’d been dreaming about.
“Walker,” she gasped as he twirled his tongue around a beaded nipple. Her fingers ran through his hair until she was grabbing handfuls while holding his head to her breast.
Walker pulled away and yanked his shirt from his body before practically shredding Layne’s jeans from her body. In a hurried mass of tangled limbs, heated kisses, and fondling hands, they were finally naked. “Oh God, you’re beautiful,” Walker whispered to her, and she straddled him. She was perfect. It was like she had been made only for him and he for her.
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