Noel smiled up into his mocha gaze. “That makes two of us.”

“Three,” Scott said. “And if you think we’re letting you get away from us, think again.”

“What he said,” she joked.

Loren hugged all three of them. “Congratulations. You all accomplished something no one’s ever managed to do before.”

“What’s that?” Keith asked.

Tilly snorted. “You put Gilo at a loss for words.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Two weeks after their collaring, the first test of their new formal dynamic hit.

They were awakened by Noel receiving an early morning call from her mother that Noel’s father was being taken to the hospital via ambulance for what appeared to be a heart attack. Less than an hour later he was in surgery, and Keith was already on the computer, checking flights for the three of them and arranging for a rental car.

Noel asked that Keith go with them.

He couldn’t deny her, especially when he could tell how shaken up she was by this. Considering what she’d told him about her family it likely wasn’t the greatest idea in the world, but his main concern was Noel and her well-being, not a bunch of conservative pricks he couldn’t give a shit about.

It was a blustery early fall day in Indiana, and late in the evening when they arrived at the hospital and found their way to the waiting area at the cardiac ICU where her father was now recovering. Noel’s mother and siblings, as well as some other family members, were gathered there. When they entered, Keith faded back, letting Scott stay close to Noel as she tearfully greeted her family and received the latest update.

Her father’s condition was critical, and the prognosis was uncertain at that time.

Keith had instructed them to introduce him as a friend from there in Indiana, who’d picked them up at the airport and was letting them stay with him. That whatever lies they needed to tell to keep the peace were fine. He didn’t want their relationship to cause a distraction from the main issue or create drama. He’d tried to remain downstairs in the main waiting area, but Noel had tearfully begged him to come upstairs with them and he found he couldn’t refuse her.

Unfortunately, his two headstrong pets didn’t follow instructions very well. He’d quietly taken a seat near the doorway after giving silent head nods to everyone without him having actually been introduced. He’d hoped his presence would go mostly unnoticed.

It didn’t take Noel’s mother longer than thirty seconds to start taking thinly veiled potshots at her for not living closer, despite the fact that two of her siblings had also flown in from out-of-state. Her siblings, of course, piled on.

He listened quietly, the magazine he’d picked up going unread even though he slowly flipped through the pages as if he was. Instead, his attention was on Noel, on Scott, on fighting the urge to tell the self-righteous prigs to quit picking on them.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he watched Noel as she looked around, her focus falling squarely on him. He didn’t look up to meet her gaze. He knew if he did he would likely insert himself into the situation and make a mess of things. These were the two people he loved being poorly treated, and he knew he couldn’t just take care of it without leaving a lot of emotional carnage behind.

“How long are you going to be able to stay?” her mother asked. “Did the school give you time off paid or unpaid?”

“I’m not teaching anymore.”

Oh, shit. Keith winced. One of their rules was no lying. But that was between the three of them. He’d specifically told Noel and Scott to say whatever was necessary to keep the peace, including lying about her job, if necessary.

“What do you mean you’re not teaching?” her mother demanded. “Since when? What are you doing now?”

“Keith got me a job working at the marina. I love it there.”

He hoped his groan was silent, not out loud. Yes, Noel loved working at the marina. She was also loved by the owner, who had given her free rein to redo all their office procedures. As a result, the place ran like a well-oiled vibrator, far better than it had since Maria was there.

“Keith? Who’s he?” He felt every eye swivel onto him and he risked glancing around.

So much for me being a friend from Indiana.

“He’s our partner,” Scott said.

Keith softly sighed in resignation, closed the magazine, and set it aside before standing up as her mother made a noise.

“Your partner?” she asked.

Obviously, staying out of it was no longer an option. “Hi,” he said. “Keith Knepp.”

“Who the hell are you?” one of the brothers asked.

Keith stared him down, the guy taking a step back after a moment. “Like Scott said, I’m their partner.”

He’d drawn close enough that Noel was able to snag his arm. She pulled him up against her. “He’s with us. We’re a family.”

Every voice in the waiting room fell silent, both Noel’s clan and others who were now more interested in watching this drama play out than focusing on their own loved ones’ troubles.

“This isn’t some twisted sex thing, is it?” the youngest sister asked.

“How would you know?” Noel shot back, an uncharacteristic steel edge to her tone. “Your metrosexual hubby’s probably got a few kinks in his own closet he hasn’t fessed up to, and everyone in this family knows it.”

Oh, holy shit.

Scott tried to rein her in, bless his heart. “Honey, this isn’t the time to discuss—”

“No, fuck this shit, it totally is.” She took in all her family. “You all have picked on me for as long as I can remember. I was never good enough for any of you. I spent a lot of years worrying about how to make all of you happy, to make you like me, and I’m done. I’m happy, I’m in love, I’m loving my life for the first time in I don’t know how long, so back the fuck off!”

If it’d been quiet in the waiting room before, it was tomb-dead silent now. A nurse sitting at a desk behind a sliding window to the side of the ICU door looked up from her computer.

Noel wasn’t finished venting her pent-up emotions. “I’m only here for my father. I love him, but he wasn’t any better than the rest of you have been to me. So here’s the truth—I’m married to Scott and I’m in love with him, and we both are in love with Keith, and he’s in love with us. Deal with it. We’re adults and we’ll do what we want. My relationship isn’t up for discussion. Now I’m going to go in there and see my father. When I come back out, if you want me to leave, I will. But I’ll be damned if I’ll sneak out of here like I’ve done anything wrong.”

She spun on her heel and stormed toward the door. She spoke with the nurse at the desk and was buzzed through, the doors swinging shut behind her.

Meanwhile, Scott had—likely unconsciously—sidled closer to Keith as the entire family turned on the two of them.

Okay, enough’s enough.

He edged between Scott and Noel’s mother. “Mrs. Jameson,” he quietly said, “I apologize for Noel’s outburst. She’s very upset, obviously.”

But Noel’s mom stepped to the side and focused on Scott as if Keith wasn’t even there. “She said you both are in love with this guy. This is your doing, isn’t it? I knew you were wrong for her from the moment I first met you. Even my husband has always hated you, but I tried to keep the peace. I tried to—”

“Enough,” Keith firmly said, taking charge and dropping into full-on Dom mode. Obviously, tact and diplomacy weren’t going to work in this situation.

Not after Hurricane Noel dropped a whirling shit-bomb of truth right into the middle of the spinning turbine of stress and drama.

“I’m not asking you to like or approve of our living arrangement, Mrs. Jameson,” Keith said as he edged between her and Scott again. “And I wish that our meeting had been under better circumstances. Honestly? I thought Noel and Scott were exaggerating the dysfunction in this family. I can see that they weren’t.”