Here With Me (Adair Family 1)

Sucking it up, Lachlan knocked on Mac’s door.

“Come in.”

He strode in with purpose, ignored Mac’s raised eyebrow, and decided to just come out with it. He closed the door and turned to him. “I know I should never have touched Robyn in the first place … but I care about her and have long before I could even admit it to myself.”

Mac relaxed back in his chair, hands over his stomach, contemplating him. “Christ, Lachlan, do you not think I know that? You would never have touched my daughter if it was just an attraction.”

There it was. The truth Lachlan had denied for too long.

“I want to try something real with her,” he promised his friend but was honest enough to add, “I can’t promise it will work out, but I want to try.”

“No one can promise that.” Mac stood and rounded the desk. “I know you. I know you’re a good man. And if you give Robyn another reason to stay, then I’m grateful.”

Lachlan shook his head, feeling ashamed. “You’re a better man than me, Mac.”

The unspoken hung in the air between them.

Mac swallowed and looked away. “Does Robyn know?”

He nodded, studying her father. “Does that mean we’re okay?”

His friend clapped him on the shoulder, smirking. “I’m happy for you.”

“I don’t deserve her.”

“No, you don’t.” Mac chuckled. “But what man does? She’s one of a kind … but if it has to be someone, then I’m all right with it being you.”

It was the tepid blessing of a father who recognized how special his daughter was. Lachlan was okay with that. It was better than the opposite. “Thanks, Mac.”

He nodded.

Awkward tension filled the space between them. Lachlan sought to break it. “Arrochar is insisting on hosting a dinner for us all. I told her the timing couldn’t be worse.”

“Maybe it’s what we all need,” Mac disagreed. “And the paparazzi have gotten bored and fled Ardnoch for scandal elsewhere.”

Unfortunately, his members hadn’t come back. Lachlan was in the midst of a PR nightmare on top of everything else. Truthfully, however, he felt less stressed about it than people might imagine. When someone had been murdered and the people you cared about were in danger, the material stuff didn’t matter so much.

And he was certain, he and his PR team could turn things around once they caught the killer.

“You’re right,” Lachlan found himself agreeing. “I’ll tell Arrochar to arrange it.”

* * *

“You okay?” Lachlan asked as he and Robyn strode toward the dining table.

Arrochar’s house was filled with the noise of his family chattering over one another.

“Mom was an only child,” Robyn said. “She doesn’t talk to her parents. Seth’s parents live in Florida, his brother in Texas.”

He raised an eyebrow in question.

She grinned. “Not used to big family dinners.”

“Oh, this is nothing,” he said, holding out a chair for her so she was between him and Mac. “When Brodan and Arran are here, usually with their flavor of the month, it’s even noisier.”

Seated around Arrochar’s large dining table was his sister, Thane, the kids, Lucy, Eredine, and Mac. The table was overlaid with food because Arro loved to cook and was good at it. Lachlan wasn’t too bad either. He’d had to be because his dad couldn’t cook, and his brothers didn’t want to try.

“This smells amazing, Arro,” Mac offered.

His sister beamed affectionately at him. “Everyone dig in.”

The next five minutes were filled with food talk. “Pass the potatoes.” “Do you want the mac and cheese?” “Try to leave some beef for the rest of us, Lewis.” “Someone put some salad on their plate, please, it’s not just there as decoration.” And so forth.

“You got enough?” Lachlan asked Robyn as he spooned more mac and cheese onto her plate.

She laughed, holding up a hand to ward him off. “More than. You trying to fatten me up?”

“I’ll take you whatever way I can get you.”

Robyn rolled her eyes, but he could tell she liked it. It made him smile harder and impulsively lean forward to kiss her, even though she was eating.

She laughed against his mouth, and he loved it.

When he pulled back, he caught Eredine’s eyes; they twinkled with joy for him.

Feeling a strange heat rise on his neck, he turned back to his plate to eat.

This was Lachlan’s happy place. Surrounded by family, the sound of their conversation filling his ears. With Robyn by his side, it felt more poignant.

It would only have been more perfect if Brodan and Arran were there.

“Uncle Lachlan?” a sweet, high-pitched voice asked.

Swallowing his bite, he looked down the table at Eilidh who insisted on being seated next to her favorite person in the world—Aunt Arrochar. “Yes, sweetheart?”

Eilidh bit her lip against a mischievous smile as her gaze moved to Robyn. “Is that lady your girlfriend?”

Robyn choked, and he covered his laughter with a quick cough. He glanced at Robyn as she took a drink of water. Patting her on the back, he asked, “All right there?”