I wasn’t sure why I was such a crybaby around Reese. Was it a side effect of my fears for Georgie? The uncertainty of the life ahead of us? Finally coming face-to-face with the brother who never wanted me? Or was Reese perhaps breaking down walls I’d created so long ago, I didn’t even realize they were there?

Reese’s tender reassurances were whispered into my ear on and off the whole night through. His big strong arms and legs wrapped around me and kept me warm and safe. It wasn’t until early morning when we were startled awake that I realized he’d actually stayed in the bed with me the whole night instead of moving to the floor.

The front door banging open woke us out of a dead sleep.

“Where the hell are you, goddammit?” The old lady’s angry voice broke through my dreams, but by the time I was alert enough to open my eyes, all I saw was Reese’s hairy armpit.

He’d thrown himself in front of me and every single muscle in his body seemed coiled for action.

“Who the hell are you?” he challenged. While his voice was sleep-worn, it was commanding and fierce. My morning wood was not at all hindered by the intruder when my bedmate was talking like that.

“Get out of my way and put that thing down,” the lady snapped. “Is this him? Move your ass.”

At that moment, I heard footsteps scrambling on the wooden floor, and I recognized Phoenix’s voice stammering apologies to Reese. The image of the large African-American bodyguard begging Reese’s forgiveness made me giggle inappropriately.

“Reese, man, I couldn’t… I mean, what did you expect me to do… she’s a little old lady,” Phoenix continued.

“Little old lady, my ass,” the woman spat, slinging her giant purse into Phoenix’s gut.

“Who is she?” Reese barked.

It was the old lady who answered. By this time, I’d moved my head enough to catch sight of her past Reese’s bare arm. All I could see was a short, chic hairstyle more salt than pepper and a powdery, wrinkled forehead above eyes of steel.

“Matilda Marian. Not that it’s any of your damned business, shit-for-brains. Let me at him,” she said.

“Over my dead body,” Reese growled. He really meant it.

More dick hardening.

“Aunt Tilly? Jesus fuck, get out of there,” a familiar voice pleaded. “Can’t you see they’re naked in bed?”

Reese shifted uncomfortably, and lowered his weapon. The new arrival was none other than the jerk whose biological parents I shared.

“Griff?” Reese asked. “What’s going on?”

I nudged Reese to the side so I could see the melee in front of us. Griff’s face was creased with worry, Phoenix’s eyes were wide with incredulity, and the little old lady was mad as a hornet.

“Nothing,” Griff said. “Sorry to bother you. Tilly, let’s go.”

Without even looking over her shoulder at him, the woman named Tilly scoffed. “Not until that fucker gets a piece of my mind.” Her beady eyes were laser beams of hatred straight into my soul.

“Sam,” Griff called in a desperate voice. “Sunshine, I need you.”

“Coming,” I heard Sam call out from somewhere in the cabin. “Can’t get past all these—”

Just then three more men piled in the room. I recognized Cain, along with Maverick and Beau, the guys who’d brought Princess Kitty to the vineyard. Beau’s grin was contagious.

“Good morning! It’s practically noon on the east coast. Y’all wanna come get some breakfast with us in the lodge?”

Reese’s jaw dropped.

Another two old ladies shoved Maverick to the side until he stumbled against a wall for support.

“We’re here. What’d we miss?” one of the ladies asked breathlessly.

“Where’s the video button on this thing?” the other mumbled into her phone.

Another laugh bubbled up from my diaphragm, and I clapped my hand over my mouth, forgetting that hand had a hard fiberglass cast on it.

I must have let out a whimper of pain. When I fell back onto the mattress to catch my breath from the blow, Reese turned and lay down next to me to assess the damage.

“Baby, shit. Are you okay?” The fear in his eyes would have been sweet as hell if I didn’t feel like I’d been socked by a baseball bat.

“OH MY GOD THEY’RE DOING IT! Reenie, get that camera going,” one lady screeched. “There’s a dick. No wait, it’s an arm. Holy hell, where are my glasses? I never have them when I need them.”

“Move outta my way,” another snapped. “Let me see. Gotta get in there. Whose butt is that? Now that’s a fine ass.”

“Tilly!” Griff begged. “Please leave. Can’t you see he’s hurt? Someone get some ice.”

“Griff, is that you? Did you say you need some rice?” Sam called from somewhere else in the cabin.

“Oh cheese and crackers, he has his flag out,” someone muttered.

“ICE! I NEED ICE!” Griff yelled back.

I snorted, accidentally shooting a spray of blood everywhere from the bloody nose I’d given myself.

There was a loud crash and several gasps as the sound of a body hitting the floor stopped everyone’s shouting.

“What happened?” I tried to ask.

Reese’s eyebrows were so furrowed with concern, I reached out to smooth them.

“You have blood on—” I began.

“Stop,” he said, cutting me off. “Baby, stop talking. You’re hurt. You’re bleeding.”

Another groan. Another body crashing to the floor. My face must have registered my curiosity because Reese turned to look before glancing back at me with disgust.

“Maverick fainted. Twice.” He turned back around and demanded someone bring him a cold wet cloth to wash my face off.

“But he’s a vet,” I tried to say. I felt light-headed, and my pulse seemed to hammer in my eardrums.

“He’s faking,” one of the old ladies said. “He’s just acting all bloody to get out of the ass-whooping he’s got coming to him for hurting our poor Griffie’s feelings.”

I was pretty sure it was Tristan’s voice I heard next. Exactly how many people were in this bedroom with us?

“Granny, get out of here. In fact, all of you, get out. The man is bleeding. These two men are naked. And his poor sister is at the lodge asking for him.”

At the image of Georgie waiting for me among a large room full of strangers, everything suddenly came into focus. I lurched up and scrambled off the bed, not caring who saw my… flag. After pulling on my clothes as fast as I could and yanking the cold cloth out of someone’s hand to clean my face off, I strode through the crowd and out the front door.

I didn’t realize I had an entourage on my trek to the lodge until I heard Reese calling for me to wait up. I turned back and noticed at least ten Marians trailing us in addition to two of Ronan’s men.

When Reese caught up to me, he was still trying to button his shirt. A peek of his happy trail above the belt in his jeans reminded me of the way I’d have preferred to be spending the morning after with him.

“I’m sorry,” I said, stiffening my jaw and facing forward again.

Reese let out a soft chuckle. “For the interruption to our privacy? Do you have any idea how amazing it was when I realized that entire shitshow was because of you instead of me?”

I turned to stare at him before I fully comprehended what he was saying. “Gee, thanks. What a noble hero you turned out to be,” I said, trying to hide my grin and failing. I loved seeing him happy and easy like this. Once he’d realized our early morning insurgents were of the meddling family variety, I’d noticed his entire body relax. It was nice to see him let go a little.

Even if my crazy family situation was responsible for the epic cockblocking.

“Maybe it’s a good thing Griff didn’t want me,” I muttered. “This family has no concept of privacy.”

Reese pulled me off the walking trail toward a bench by the edge of the pond, waving everyone away from us and promising we’d meet them at the lodge in a few minutes.

“Georgie’s waiting for me,” I complained.

“She’s fine. No doubt she has at least three dogs and a stack of waffles to distract her until we get there.” He sat down next to me on the bench and took a minute to inspect my mouth and nose. “You’re lucky you didn’t bite your tongue. Probably just going to be a bit bruised and scratched from the rough surface of the fiberglass.”

“It’s fine,” I said, pulling away. “Stop fussing over me.”

Reese’s hands cupped my face and his eyes narrowed. “Get used to it. I have no plans to stop caring for you anytime soon.”

Our eyes stayed locked together while my heart took flight. I’d never once had someone give a shit about me that way. Not since my parents had died, anyway. It was new and almost a bit… terrifying. Could he really mean it? Or was he just in some kind of postcoital haze?

“Tell me what you meant about Griff not wanting you,” Reese asked gently.

“No, I don’t want to talk about this right now. It’s fine. It’s actually a good thing I ended up where I did. If I hadn’t… I wouldn’t have Georgie. Now, can we go? I want to see how she did last night.”

Reese studied me for a minute before nodding. I knew he was desperate for more information, but I couldn’t concentrate on anything at the moment. All I wanted was to have my girl in my arms again and make sure she was okay.

I started to get up, but Reese stopped me, leaning in and kissing me until I was breathless and panting. When he finally pulled away, I didn’t know which way was up.

“Huh?” I asked.

Reese’s smile was smug as shit. “Good morning, beautiful. Just because that crazy crew barged in on us doesn’t mean I don’t get my morning-after kisses.”

My body leaned into him like a magnet until my lips were on his again. He was so sweet and attentive, I knew I’d be happy kissing him forever.

He pulled away with another soft laugh. “Your stomach is growling. Let’s go get you some food and find a certain bug-loving little girl.”

As I followed him back to the walking path, I thought of something.

Everyone in our bedroom had seen Reese’s scars. Yet there hadn’t been a single moment he’d let all those nosey eyeballs stop him from protecting and taking care of me.