A few days later, Walker sipped his strong black coffee at the rustic kitchen table as he looked over the final plans for the wedding.

The sun was just starting to rise and Ashleigh was still fast asleep, naked in their bed. He considered going back to join her, but the next few days to the wedding were going to be busy and he’d promised her that he’d look things over one last time.

There was a certain tranquility to this time of day. It allowed him the clarity of mind that he didn’t often experience if he rose later, so he always chose the tasks that required a measure of introspection to do in the peace of the early morning.

Ashleigh kept the wedding plans in a neatly organized file with tabs for each item containing all the options they’d had to choose from with the final arrangement filed first under each tab. She’d highlighted due dates and deadlines and had programmed each into their shared Google calendar.

After some verbal sparring with Marilee, the guest list had been finalized and was depressingly one-sided.

He sighed, wishing he could track down at least one person who could represent her side at the wedding, but he knew there was no one.

As he paged through the file, he marveled at the absurdity of it all. It was all out of order, upside down and back to front.

In just a few short days, he was marrying a girl he’d only just started to date under false pretenses. Theirs would be a courtship that would start with marriage, as opposed to that being the end goal if all went well.

Be that as it may, there would be a wedding soon and a surprisingly nice one at that, he noted as he flipped through the file.

It was all last minute, to be sure, but with the help from all the Romans and Rivers it had all come together quite well and he felt excitement building in his chest as he was confronted with the arrangements for his wedding.

It was all starting to feel very real suddenly, but he felt surprisingly calm.

Would he have preferred to able to woo her and sweep her off her feet? Probably.

Would he have loved to have sunk to one knee in some obscenely romantic setting and watch her face light up when he offered her his mother’s ring? Yeah, sure.

He would have definitely wanted her to want him forever, to have said yes to sharing her life with him when he first slid the ring across her slim finger -- instead of the mutual need that their circumstances required at the time when he’d held the ring up to her as they drove into Catahoula, but those were the breaks.

She deserved the romantic proposal, the flowers and chocolates and dates that should have preceded it, he pondered as he drained his coffee.

It was too late to change any of that though, so he’d have to figure out a way to give her everything she deserved after the wedding somehow.

He wished he’d had the thought earlier, so that he would have worked out a plan to do at least some of the romantic stuff before the wedding, but the rehearsal dinner was tomorrow night and the ceremony was planned for the following morning.

He pushed the button on the coffee maker to brew a fresh pot and leaned against the counter, staring contemplatively out the window as he tried to formulate a plan. He rubbed a hand over his five o’clock shadow and sighed, coming up blank for the moment.

He had just sunk back into his seat at the table to look over the last few remaining tabs when he heard her soft footsteps behind him.

She pressed her front lightly to his back as she leaned down and put arms around him. Her breath was minty fresh as she leaned in beside him to see what he was studying, her faint strawberry smell still present in her hair and on her skin, even though she hadn’t showered yet.

“What do think?” she breathed in his ear. A lot of the final arrangements had been made in the last few days and he hadn’t had much time to look them over, hence her insistence that he do it today. She sounded timid, as though she was scared he wouldn’t approve.

He pushed his chair out lightly and reached to her to pull her into his lap. She came willingly, curling her body to his.

“It looks good, surprisingly nice for such a last-minute shindig.”

Her eyes lit up at his approval and she leaned in to nuzzle at his neck, sighing contentedly.

“And how are you feeling about the wedding?” he heard her whisper, her head still in the crook of his neck, almost as if she didn’t have the courage to face him when she asked.

He reached down and tilted her head toward his. He wanted her to look into his eyes for his answer, wanted her to see the honesty in them. It seemed to be the only way she truly trusted what he said.

“I don’t hate it.” He smiled. “In fact, I’m kind of excited about it.”

She beamed at him, her smile lighting up her entire face. Her eyes shimmered with happiness as she replied.

“I feel the same way,” she confirmed.

He breathed an inward sigh of relief. A small part of him was always worried she was doing this out of a sense of obligation instead of voluntarily from her own free will. He’d given her an out at every turn, but she’d stayed and consented willingly to absolutely everything.

Seeing the genuine happiness in her eyes now, the way he felt like she was caressing him with them eased all doubt from his mind.

He reached his hands up and grasped her hair, guiding her mouth to his. He groaned as she leaned into him, kissing him back with equal fervor.

He suddenly became very aware of her body on his, her soft skin causing his to feel warm under her touch, that ass that he had been dying to get his hands on in the early days of their relationship firmly pressed against his rapidly hardening cock.

He freed one of his hands from her hair and stroked it down her arm and up her side, loving how she responded to his touch, how she shivered and moaned when he cupped her braless breast over her tank top.

He deepened the kiss and groaned when she adjusted herself on his lap, straddling him now.

He felt the heat radiating from her core through their thin pajama bottoms and rocked his hips up against her, causing her to buck her own as he swallowed the resulting moan.

His fingers tweaked and rolled her hard nipple, enjoying her heartbeat quickening in her chest and her breathing becoming heavier. As her body responded, so did his, as if hers was calling out to him.

He grasped her ass, fully intending to lift her and rid them of the suddenly offending clothing between them and sink into her as deep as he could, already practically hearing her moan and gasp as he thrust into her.

Instead, he heard the sound of the front door opening and slamming shut as his brothers’ easy banter filled the house.

“Fuck,” he breathed against her mouth as he tried to take a few calming breaths after breaking their kiss.

He barely had time to adjust his raging hardon before they stormed into the kitchen and pulled up short as they surveyed the scene in front of them.

Ashleigh blushed and dropped her head into his neck as Walker treated each brother to the most withering death stare he could muster.

Neither moved a muscle. Colt and Sawyer both smirked and seemed more than a little amused at finally walking in on him in a compromising position.

“Well, well. If it isn’t the soon-to-be-newlyweds trying to get it all this morning,” Colt joked as he moved over to the coffee maker.

“Fuck off,” Walker muttered, pulling Ashleigh closer to him. “Whatever it is that you two want can wait.”

“Actually, it can’t. Time’s a ticking and all that,” Saywer said, far too cheerfully for this time of the morning. “Sorry to cockblock you, bro, but I’ll buy you a tequila to ease the blue balls later. Right now, you gotta get your horny ass into a cold shower. It’s bachelor party time!”

Walker winced and shook his head.

“Nope, we’re too old for that shit. I’ll just have my bachelor party here with Ashleigh. We’ll celebrate our impending nuptials together, without you two. I’m not into that,” he quipped, but he kept his narrowed eyes trained on his brothers.

“Naw,” Colt drawled. “Sorry, but I can’t allow it.”

“And who appointed you as the executive decision maker for the Roman family, kid?” Walker shot at his youngest brother.

This morning, Colt seemed too excited to react to his hated nickname. or he was simply refusing to be drawn into an argument that wouldn’t advance his primary one.

“I did.” He smirked, his eyes glimmering with mischief and amusement.

Ashleigh had moved off of Walker’s lap by now and was settled in the chair next to him.

Colt poured a fresh mug of coffee for Sawyer, Ashleigh and himself and then trained his eyes on Walker’s.

“Chop-chop, Walker! We’re on a schedule. Cold shower, stat!” He laughed. “Besides, it’s precisely because of our age that we have to do this.”

“Who knows how many bachelor parties we have left in us?” Sawyer lamented, but he was grinning widely as he leaned against the wall. “And there’s no way we’re letting the last Roman enter the realm of marriage without giving you a proper send-off.”

Ashleigh looked between the men and nodded decisively. “They’re right, you should go!”

“Aren’t you supposed to be on my side, bride-to-be?” He shot her the sexiest grin he could muster and waggled his eyebrows at her.

His brothers laughed at the desperate move, but Ashleigh blushed fiercely, squirming in her seat in a way that told him his grin had affected her as desired. Thankfully, his brothers were too busy laughing and telling him to ‘get a move on already’ for him to notice.

For his part, Walker was focused on Ashleigh only. “Really, you should go,” she urged softly, keeping the conversation between them.

“Are you sure? I’d much rather stay home with you,” he grumbled, already knowing that between her and his brothers, the battle was lost.

“I’m sure, they’re your brothers, you should go have some fun with them.”

Sawyer caught the last part of her sentence just as his banter with Colt lulled. He smiled at her with a wickedly amused look in his eyes.

“Oh, don’t you worry. The girls are coming for you, too.” He winked at her quickly as he turned back to his brother.

Walker knew that the wink had meant nothing, that Sawyer was as in love with Remy as ever before and that he would never make a move on Walker’s girl either way, but he felt his blood boil at the gesture all the same.

Sawyer immediately put two and two together and threw his hands up in mock surrender. Colt chuckled. “You need to get a grip, brother. Seriously!”

“And a cold shower. Hustle, hustle!” Sawyer cheered as the momentary wrath in Walker’s gut passed.

He shook his head, this girl -- you mean your fiancée, he reminded himself -- had his emotions all over the damn place.

He’d almost just gone all caveman on his damn brother. The loving husband, doting father, fiercely loyal and protective brother. Yeah, that’s the one he’d almost just decked.

Colt was right, he needed to get a grip.

He nodded at Sawyer, who inclined his head in understanding before Walker headed to the shower.

Ashleigh was going over the itinerary for the ceremony with Colt and Sawyer when he returned to the kitchen, pausing in the doorway to absorb the scene.

Something unfamiliar twisted in his heart as he observed their easy conversation, the way she was all smiles and explaining, the way they were responding to her as though she was already part of the family.

His brothers were listening to her intently, and Sawyer smiled when she explained Shiloh’s role.

“He’s going to love that, Ash. Thank you.”

She returned his smile shyly.

“Of course he will!” Walker spoke as he finally strode in to join them. “Shiloh’s the coolest.”

Sawyer slapped his hand over his heart and feigned hurt. “It hurts me so deep that neither of you say that about me.”

“You’ve never been the coolest, Sawyer,” Colt joked, giving Walker a quick wink.

“Bite me!” Sawyer growled, still grinning. “You ready to go, ‘Uncle Walker is the coolest’?”

Colt’s shoulders drooped just a little before he perked up again. “I’ve gotta spoil Harper more, I’ll be the coolest uncle to her.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Walker teased, falling into his brothers’ banter. “Never gonna happen, kid.”

Colt’s eyes lit up as he flashed Walker a grin. “Is that a challenge I hear?”

“Sure,” he smirked confidently. “I’ve always been the coolest, everyone knows it.”

His brothers howled with laughter, and even Ashleigh joined in.

“Keep telling yourself that!” Colt grinned and shook his head. “Shall we get this show on the road, boys?”

“Hells yeah!” Sawyer said as his laughter subsided. He slapped Walker on the back as he headed over to the door. “Remember, the girls will be here for you in an hour, Ash. Walker, make it a quick goodbye, we leave in exactly three minutes.”

With that and a goodbye to Ashleigh, both of his brothers were out the door.

She studied him for a second before he pulled her up from her chair and into his arms.

“You sure about this?” he mumbled into her hair.

“Yeah, I am,” she replied, but there was something off in her tone.

He leaned down and pressed his mouth to her soft lips, wishing he had more than three minutes.

“Just be safe,” she said. “Promise me?”

“I will, baby. You, too. Call me if you need me, okay? I’ll come get you and we’ll come home if you’re not having fun.”

He gave her another quick kiss just as he heard a horn honking outside.

“Jeez,” he muttered. “I’m coming, I’m coming.”

He turned to look at her one last time just before a longer, more insistent honk sounded and he bounded out the door.

The look he’d seen flash across her face haunted him all the way to New Orleans. He didn’t like the troubled look he’d seen in her eyes, or the way she’d bit her lip when she’d made him promise to be safe.

It gave him a sense of foreboding that lingered in his gut, no matter how hard he tried to shake it off.