All the Wrong Reasons

Part 37

“Explain.”

She rubbed her cheek against the fabric of his shirt.  “My father will want me to return home.  Having both Ramsey and Will here will dissuade him from attempting to kidnap me.  If I have the people he trusts most at my side, and I am happy, my father will not see the need to take me away.”

“Do you not think it is a little,” he searched for an appropriate word, “crowded as it is?”

“I have a plan,” she said slyly.

Colin glanced down at the top of her head and smiled.  “What is this plan of yours?”

“Peirce,” she told him with a yawn, “promised to help me with Cooper for the time being, and I will have Ramsey distract Will whenever we need time to ourselves.”

“Ramsey will do this for you?”

She looked up at him with tired eyes.  “We do it for one another.  I would distract a person for him, and he would do the same for me.  It is something we have always done when we wanted to escape a certain person’s attention.”

“Does Will not know of this plan?  If he grew up with the two of you, he should know.”

She leaned up and pecked him on the lips.  “He will know, but it we will already be gone.”

“Where are we going?” Colin whispered while leaning down in attempt to deepen the kiss.

She tilted her face so his kiss would land on her cheek.  “It is a surprise.”

“A pleasant one?” he asked while stilling her face with his free hand.  He nipped her bottom lip and waited for her to open to him.  She let out a tiny gasp, and he took the opportunity to deepen the kiss.  Her lips meshed with his as his hands roamed her body.  Slowly, he noticed her grip on him loosening, and her body sagging into his.  Pulling back, he glanced at her closed eyes.  Her lips were still parted, but she was not moving.  Shaking her slightly, he realized she was asleep.

Letting out a laugh, he shook his head.  He should take it as an offense that the woman could fall asleep as he kissed her, but he didn’t.  Colin revealed in the fact that she could fall asleep in his arms.  That she trusted him enough to know that she will be safe while she sleeps.  Pressing a kiss to her forehead, he answered his own question.  “Any surprise you ever give me will be a pleasant one because my life would be dull without them.”

Carefully, he slid out of her arms and lifted himself from the bed.  Taking one last look at her, he exited the room.  It was time to have a talk with the men downstairs.  They were important to Cassie; therefore, important to Colin, but he would not let them disrupt their lives.  He would do anything to keep Cassie safe, but if Will would only attempt to make Colin’s life difficult, he would have no choice but to settle the man elsewhere.  He could stay in Eskdale without staying in the manor.

As soon as he stepped into the dining area, the room went silent.  Glancing about, he smiled at the new addition.  “It is a pleasure to meet you.”

The Queen smiled at him.  “The pleasure is mine.  I never thought I would find a man who could take our Cassie away from us.  I guess I was wrong, and please do not hold it against me if I feel a grudge towards you.”

Colin laughed at her honesty.  “If someone took Cassie away from me, I would not like them very much either.”

The Queen glanced at her husband with a smile.  “Oh, I like this one, Alistair.”

“I am sure you do, love,” the man replied with a grin while the Queen turned her attention back to Colin. 

The expression on her face when she settled on him was unnerving. The woman stared at him.  “I love that girl like a daughter, and I promise you that if you do anything that she does not like, I do not care if it is simply sleeping on the wrong side of the bed, I will find a reason to have you killed.”