“I’m just saying?—”
“I don’t really do kids, okay?” Colin kept his voice low, but Maren was right there. He saw her study him, one eyebrow raised slightly. He felt his ears heat. “But she’s... she’s a good kid.”
Mac’s grin widened. “High praise from you, brother.”
“Hi again,” Juni said.
It took him a second to realize she was talking to him.
“Hi back,” he said.
“You were the first one we met.”
“I was.”
“But you’re not my daddy.”
Mac’s eyes went wide and he damn near tipped backwards, which is what Colin felt like he was about to do as well. Jodie coughed and Maren turned bright red. Juni went back to inspecting the puppy in Jodie’s arms, as if she’d just made a statement about the weather.
“Juni! That’s… um…” Maren looked helplessly back and forth between her niece and Colin. “He’s… It’s…”
“It’s okay,” Colin reassured her in a voice that sounded steadier than he felt. Mac had straightened up and was shaking slightly, trying desperately to hold back a laugh.
Mercifully, the door opened behind them.
Kyle came out first, Lachlan behind him. Gina was right behind them with Fleur trotting at her heel like a ginger-colored shadow. Kyle stopped when he saw them. Colin couldn’t entirely read his expression.
“Well,” Kyle said. His voice came out a little thin. “This simplifies things.”
“Hey, boss,” Mac said. “Just doing some community outreach.”
“I can see that.” Kyle’s eyes moved from Mac to Colin to Maren and landed on Juni. “Maren, Juni. I’d like you to meet Colin and Mac.”
“We already met,” Juni said, like Kyle had missed a memo.
“Yes, ma’am, I am seeing that now.” Kyle cleared his throat. He glanced at Lachlan, who raised an eyebrow. “Colin. Mac. I’m assigning the two of you to Maren and Juni’s protection detail for the foreseeable. Colin primary. Mac secondary. We’ll brief in about ten minutes once these ladies are ready. That work?”
“Yes, sir,” Mac said, without hesitation.
Colin said nothing for half a second too long. “Yes, sir.”
Nobody in the yard missed the half-second, though Kyle’s ice-blue eyes held a warning.
So did Gina’s. She looked at Colin for approximately one second longer than he was comfortable with, and then she looked at Fleur, who sat politely beside her left boot and offered no opinions.
Juni looked up at Colin. She tilted her head the way she had at the gate.
“Are you the man who’s gonna protect me and Auntie Mer?”
“I am.”
“I like your eyelashes.” Juni crossed her arms as she looked him up and down. “Okay, you’ll do.”
Mac coughed into his fist.
Colin—who had been a Ranger, who had walked across four countries’ worth of bad situations in full kit and never once felt his chest do what it was currently doing—looked down at the preschooler who had just bested him.
“Thank you, ma’am,” he said.
