Chapter 9

Everly almost laughed at the expression on Landry’s face when he saw all the cars in front of her Dad’s two-story house—a dozen parked bumper-to-bumper in the long driveway, spilling onto the street.

“I thought we were meeting just your father and brothers,” he said, a hint of alarm on his handsome face.

She took his hand and tugged him along the walkway toward the front door. “You are, but my three oldest brothers—Armand, Claude, and Giles—are all married and have big families. Armand and his wife have six kids, and usually use two minivans to keep the noise to a minimum. Then there are all my cousins. They moved here about ten years ago. They show up with their families whenever my dad cooks a big meal.”

“We’re having dinner?” He frowned. “I thought we were going out for dinner.”

Everly stopped in front of the door, turning to smile at him. “We are. Don’t worry. I already told Dad that we’re not staying. If someone tries to convince you otherwise, just point them in my direction.”

She closed the distance between them until they were only a few inches apart. His masculine scent was almost overpowering up close, and the urge to pull his head down for a kiss was just as strong. But she resisted. She had no doubt that several of her relatives were probably watching them through the big living room window. She didn’t mind kissing Landry in front of them, but she didn’t want to make that first impression more complicated than necessary.

“There are going to be a lot of names coming at you in there, but I don’t expect you to remember any of them,” she said. “I’ll point out my brothers, and of course, my dad—Florian. Beyond that, just smile, nod, and shake hands. My brothers will try to crush your hand when they shake, but that obviously isn’t going to be a problem for you. Oh, and my sisters-in-law are huggers. But that just means they like you. It’s when everyone stares at you that you know you have problems.”

Landry chuckled. “So, this is basically a test, huh?”

She moved another step closer, letting her breasts press into his strong chest as her fingers entwined with his. “For them—not for me. You’ve already won me over.”

Everly thought he was going to kiss her, but then he tilted his head to the side. “I hear giggling coming from inside. I guess we’re being watched.”

She hadn’t heard anything, but didn’t doubt that her nieces and nephews were watching. They probably thought the idea of their aunt having a boyfriend was quite hilarious.

“Shall we go in then?” she asked.

Everly didn’t bother announcing herself as she led Landry inside. The kids had probably let everyone know they were here.

As she expected, the whole extended family was in attendance, and they immediately crowded into the foyer to meet Landry. It was hard not to laugh as they all charged forward and gathered around them, but Landry slapped on a smile and greeted each person she introduced. It was like working a reception line at a wedding, but once Everly got Landry through her cousins and their kids, she finally had a chance to introduce one of her brothers.

“Landry, this is Tristan. He’s the youngest of my brothers.”

And my favorite, she almost said. But, of course, she couldn’t—even if it was true. That didn’t mean she didn’t like her other three brothers. It was just that they seemed so much older than Tristan—in temperament, if not in years. Of all her brothers, Tristan was the one she hung out with the most, even if he was ten years older than she was.

“Nice to meet you,” Landry said, extending his hand. “Everly has told me a lot about you.”

Tristan chuckled as he shook Landry’s hand. “Oh, I doubt that. But that’s okay. I’m just glad to finally have a chance to meet the man who saved her life.” Her brother smiled at her. “As you can imagine, my little sister is very precious to me—to all her brothers. It’s fortunate you were in that bank at the right time.”

Everly resisted the urge to cringe. She hated when her brothers called her their little sister, like she was still seven years old. And precious? What the hell was she, a ring of power? Her tall, good-looking brother could be such a dweeb.

“I’m glad I was there too,” Landry said. “I haven’t known Everly nearly as long as you have, but she’s very precious to me as well.”

Funny how hearing Landry call her precious didn’t seem nearly as corny.

Even so, she was about to remind Tristan that while she was his little sister, she could still post old photos of him as a goofy teenager all over the Internet. But before she could threaten him, her father walked into the living room followed by her three older brothers.

The room fell silent as the patriarch of their family came out wiping his hands on a dish towel. He still had a few traces of flour up near the tops of his forearms, meaning he’d probably been making fresh pastry crust for a dessert. Her father was magic with desserts.

He wiped off the last of the flour dust and handed the towel to his youngest granddaughter, Phoebe, asking her to run it back to the kitchen. Then he came closer, studying Landry openly. Her dad was over sixty, but looked younger thanks to few gray hairs and an unlined face. He was still tall and broad-shouldered, too. He wasn’t anywhere near Landry’s size, of course, but she could tell by the way he was eyeing her new boyfriend that he was deciding if he was a man worthy of his daughter. She could have told him that Landry was.

“Landry, this is my father Florian, and my other three brothers—Armand, Claude, and Giles.” She pointed out each of her brothers as she introduced them. But unlike Tristan, none of them extended a hand in greeting. They simply stood there behind Dad—waiting.

“You are a very large man, Officer Cooper,” her father finally said in his thick accent. “I can certainly understand now how you were able to deal with those bank robbers while protecting my daughter at the same time. Her mother would have approved as much as I do.”

Everly blinked. Her dad had always been blunt to the point of rudeness with the guys she’d brought home, but he’d never mentioned her mother to any man she dated. That had to be a good start.

“I wish I could have met her,” Landry said softly. “From what Everly tells me, your wife must have been an amazing woman.”

Her father glanced at her, surprise clear in his blue eyes. He might never have mentioned her mother to any of her boyfriends, but neither had she.

He smiled at Landry. “Yes, she was an amazing woman. Speaking of my wife, where are my manners, I haven’t even welcomed you into our home. The place is nearly a perfect replica of the farmhouse we had in France, with a few improvements. Come. I’ll show you around.”

Everly followed in shock as her dad led Landry toward the kitchen. He’d never given her previous boyfriends a tour of the house either—first date or not.

The rest of the family must have decided the drama was over because everyone went back to talking and laughing. That was a relief. The hum of conversation made it hard to hear what her dad was saying to Landry though. She glanced at Tristan and saw him smile. She smiled back.

Up ahead, Landry and her dad had stopped in the hallway outside the kitchen. Her father was describing the Italian marble there, and Landry was nodding politely. Armand, Claude, and Giles stood directly in front of her and Tristan, making it hard for Everly to even fit down the hallway.

Her father turned and pointed at the monstrously large mirror that had been mounted in their home since they’d built the place. As far as Everly knew, her family had brought the overly ornate thing with them from France. She hadn’t really cared that much for it. The gaudy thing seemed more like it belonged in the Palace of Versailles than in a simple American home.

“I brought this mirror with me from France,” her father said. “It was made in the mid-fifteen hundreds. It is priceless, to my family at least.”

Everly reached Landry’s side just as he turned and glanced at the mirror, the silvered glass reflecting that familiar flash of gold in his eyes. But he looked away before she could truly appreciate it. She’d never seen his eyes reflect in a mirror before. The late afternoon sun coming through the kitchen windows must have bounced off the mirror and caught the color at just the right angle.

Figuring she’d better tell her dad they needed to be leaving so he wouldn’t try to cajole them into staying for dinner, she turned back to him, but the words died on her tongue. Her father and all four of her brothers were suddenly looking at Landry like they’d rather shoot him where he stood than share a meal with him.

Her stomach clenched.

“Dad?” she prompted.

Her father’s features hardened. “You were wrong to bring this man here, Everly. He needs to leave—now.”

The house was so quiet Everly was sure she could hear a pin drop—if anyone was dumb enough to drop one. Landry threw a quick, confused glance in her direction, but she couldn’t offer any explanation because she was just as baffled as he was. He hadn’t done or said anything in between her father pointing out the antique mirror, and now, to make them dislike him. Why the sudden cold shoulder?

“Look Dad, I don’t know what the issue is, but if you want us to leave, that’s fine,” she snapped. “We’re out of here.”

She grabbed Landry’s hand and started for the front door, her face red with embarrassment as the rest of her family stared at them. How could her father humiliate her like this? She only thanked God Landry didn’t complicate the situation by making a scene and demanding to know what her dad’s problem was.

But then her brothers circled around, stepping between them and the front door. There was a hatred in their eyes she’d never seen before. This was like something out of a nightmare. Had everyone in her family completely lost their minds?

“Get out of the way,” she demanded.

Armand lifted his chin. “Can’t do that, Ev.”

Everly clenched her jaw. They were spoiling for a fight.

“You aren’t leaving with Officer Cooper, Everly,” her father said sternly from behind her and Landry.

The angry fire that had been building in the pit of her stomach a moment ago became a raging inferno. She spun around to glare at her father. “I most certainly am leaving with him.”

“No, you are not,” her father said firmly. “He’s not the man you think he is, and I don’t want you seeing him again.”

This was why she hated bringing guys to meet her father. It invariably turned to crap. No one was ever good enough in his eyes. He’d been rude to a lot of her boyfriends before, but this time he’d crossed the line.

“I’m twenty-eight years old, Dad,” she shot back. “You don’t get to tell me who I can see anymore. You haven’t been able to do that for a long time.”

Her father didn’t blink. “I most certainly can. You will not see him again. I forbid it.”

She would have laughed if anything about the situation had been funny. What was this, the fifteenth century?

Everly wanted to scream. Either that or walk over and smack her dad for being so blasted archaic. She’d almost died in that bank robbery, and instead, stumbled across the most amazing man she’d ever met. Hell, a few hours ago she’d admitted to Megan and Jayna that she was in love with Landry. And now, her dad thought she would stop seeing him because he forbid it? That was never going to happen, and she needed to make that abundantly clear to him and everyone else in the room.

“I’ll see whoever the hell I want, Dad. And if you don’t like it, too damn bad.”

Tightening her grip on Landry’s hand, she turned and headed for the door again. For a moment, she thought she might have to shove her brothers out of the way, but they must have seen the determination on her face because they stepped aside. Apparently, they weren’t willing to get into a fight in front of everyone. That didn’t stop them from glaring daggers as she pushed past them.

Ignoring them, she yanked open the door and walked out on her family. Considering the way she felt right then, she wasn’t sure she would ever walk back in.

“I’m sorry about that,” she said to Landry when they got to his Jeep.

“It’s okay.”

“No, it’s not,” she insisted.

Landry sighed as he helped her into the seat. “What the hell happened in there anyway?”

She turned and looked back at the house. Tristan was standing in the doorway, staring at them, his face expressionless. He was the last person on earth she’d ever expect to turn on her.

“I have no idea,” she told Landry softly.

He didn’t say anything, but just walked around to the driver’s side and climbed in beside her.

They didn’t bother going out for dinner. Everly didn’t know about Landry, but she was way too angry to sit in a crowded restaurant with a knife and fork in her hand. She probably would have stabbed someone. So instead, they stopped by a Chinese restaurant and grabbed some takeout, then went back to her apartment.

As they sat on the couch eating spicy chicken, brown rice, and fortune cookies, Landry let her vent about her overprotective father and controlling brothers. Just thinking about her dad imperiously declaring that he forbid her to ever see Landry again made her so mad she wanted to pick up something and break it.

Fortunately, Landry kept her away from the dishes, glasses, and other breakable items, and let her talk it out. He was also smart enough not to try to fix anything like most guys would. Probably because he knew she wasn’t in the mood for that kind of advice. Or maybe, because he instinctively knew this wasn’t something that could be fixed. Not this time. Her family had tried to control the people in her life since she was a child. But this time, they had gone too far. Instead, Landry nodded calmly as she alternated out loud between wanting to go back to her father’s house to have it out with him and dragging Landry off to Vegas for a quickie wedding so she could irritate her father even more.

After she was done with her rant, Landry pulled her into his arms and kissed her until she forgot what it was that had her so crazy in the first place.

“Everly, sweetheart, they’re family,” he said when she sat back. “Are you really ready to turn your back on them?”

“Until they stop trying to control my life?” She nodded. “Yes. I’m serious. I’m done with them.”

The impact of how harsh those words truly were hit her then. She might be furious with her family, but that didn’t keep the tears from welling in her eyes.

Landry cupped her face in his big hand, gently wiping a tear from her cheek with his thumb. “Hey, it’ll be okay. We’ll figure out some way to get through this.”

She wanted to believe him. “I hope so. But I need you to believe me when I say this. I want my family to like you, but if they don’t, that’s their problem, not ours. I’m not going to let them come between us. You’re too important to me.”

He looked at her for a long moment, then kissed her again. She melted against him, sighing as his tongue teased hers. It was crazy, but even after the night she’d had, it took only a few of his kisses to make her forget everything but the need to be with him.

Still kissing him, Everly swung her leg over his to straddle his lap. The move made her skirt slide up her thighs, and inside his jeans, his erection pressed against the silky material of her panties. Nice to know she wasn’t the only one who was aroused.

His hands slid up her bare thighs, pushing her skirt even higher and making her shiver. She undid the first few buttons of his shirt and was just nibbling her way down his scrumptious chest muscles when she heard a key in the door.

Everly wasn’t so turned on that she didn’t remember her roommate had a date tonight. Or that Mia sometimes invited Felix in afterward.

She quickly straightened her skirt as Landry reached for the buttons on his shirt. He had just enough time to get two done up before Mia walked in. Everly tried to look composed—well, as much as she could, straddling a hunky guy’s lap as his hard-on pressed insistently against her suddenly wet panties.

She needn’t have bothered. Not only was Mia alone, but she didn’t even seem to notice them as she tossed her purse on the coffee table and flopped down in the chair adjacent to the couch. One look at her face told Everly that her roommate was pissed about something.

“What’s wrong?” Everly asked, starting to climb off Landry’s lap.

Mia motioned her back down. “Stay there. No reason for both of us to be sexually frustrated.”

When Everly lifted a brow, Mia sighed.

“Felix and I got into it downstairs because he’s upset that I’m going to the wedding tomorrow.”

Mia having a disagreement with her boyfriend was as common as days that ended in y. “What, is he scared you’re going to find some hot groomsman and dump him?”

Mia laughed. “He should be considering all the big, hunky cops who are going to be there. But no, he doesn’t like me going to weddings because he thinks it might give me bad ideas. As in—maybe I’ll want us to get married.”

Everly tried to work through the logic of that, but couldn’t. Then again, it was guy logic, which was basically an oxymoron.

“So I take it you and Felix are over?” she asked.

“Yup. That means my social calendar is suddenly wide open in time for tomorrow.” She flipped her jet-black curls over her shoulder with a flick of her hand. “So Cooper, if you have any hunky, available friends coming to the wedding, feel free to point them out.”

“I’ll do that.” His mouth quirked. “If I can figure out what constitutes hunky.”

“Just find me a few about your size and build. I’ll do the rest on my own.” Sighing, Mia stood and grabbed her purse. “You guys don’t have to stop what you were doing on my account. I’m going to bed so I can get my beauty rest. I need to look good if I’m going to be back on the market. Feel free to stay as late as you want, Cooper.”

Landry chuckled. “I’d like to stay,” he said to Everly as Mia went into her room and closed the door. “But I have to get up early tomorrow and let the caterer and florist into the compound so they can set up stuff for the reception.”

Everly did a double take at that. “Gage and Mac are having their reception at the SWAT compound?”

He grinned. “Yeah. But trust me, you won’t even recognize it as the same place. They’re bringing tents and flowers and decorations. It’s going to be amazing, I promise.”

Everly would have to see that to believe it. The SWAT compound didn’t look like any wedding venue she’d ever seen.

She ran her hands down his chest, toying with a button on his shirt. “Just because you have to get up early, doesn’t mean you have to leave yet.” She gave him a flirty smile. “In fact, there’s no reason you couldn’t spend the night.”

A hungry glint came into his eyes, and she felt her breath hitch. She got all warm and tingly when he looked at her that way. It was like he wanted to eat her up. Heat pooled between her thighs at the thought.

“It’s tempting, Everly. God, you have no idea how much.” He took a deep breath. “But I think it would be better if we didn’t rush into anything tonight, not after everything that happened at your father’s house.”

She opened her mouth to tell him that was silly, that she was over it, but she knew in her heart he was right. She was still pissed off about the fight with her father. It probably wasn’t a great idea to jump into bed with a guy for the first time right now.

“Who knew there could be a downside to dating a mature, intelligent guy?” she grumbled, flicking a button on his shirt with her finger.

“Tell me about it.” He caught her hand and pressed his lips to her palm. “I’ll be here at ten to pick you and Mia up for the wedding.”

“We’ll be waiting.” Everly climbed off his lap and walked him to the door. “You’re good, right? With what we talked about earlier, I mean.”

Landry wrapped her in his arms, gently resting his forehead against hers. “I’m good. I don’t want to come between you and your family, but I’m not going to let them come between us either. No way in hell.”

Everly hadn’t realized how tense she’d been until she felt the weight fall from her shoulders at his words. She’d been worried he’d think she wasn’t worth all the drama.

She went up on her tiptoes to kiss him, trying to tell him without words how much he meant to her. And how much she appreciated his willingness to say the hell with her dad, her brothers, and all their stupid crap.

She could have stood in the doorway kissing him all night, but she knew she had to let him go home, if for no other reason than so he could hurry back to pick her up for the wedding.

She smiled. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll be here.” He leaned in and snagged another quick kiss. “Don’t worry about your family, okay? They’re not the ones I’m crazy about—you are.”

Everly watched him go, returning his wave before he disappeared down the steps at the end of the hallway.

Going back into her apartment, she closed the door and leaned against it with a sigh. Her family might not like Landry, but she thought he was about as perfect as a man could be.