He squeezed her hand, and she swore he said, "They are important to you, so I'll try." But even with her supersensitive hearing, she couldn't be sure.
So she did what worked best for the MacAllisters and marched into the living room to face them all head-on.
Lachlan had spent the entire walk to Cat's mother's cottage replaying the bit of advice Arabella had given him: Be your true self and not the version you want people to believe is you. If you can't do that—or at least try—save yourself time and just leave now because inner dragons don't like deception.
It had been a rather strange conversation. Finn and Arabella had shared more than he thought anybody should with a stranger about their own courtship and marriage—no, mating, he reminded himself—but he wasn't stupid and knew their intent.
They wanted him to try to make Cat happy.
He wasn't entirely sure he could do that yet. Did he want to try? Aye, of course. His earlier conversation with Cat had been one of the most honest—and surprisingly easy considering the topic—of his life. Apart from his own sister or mother, he'd never revealed so much about himself so freely.
But one day did not make him a whole, healed individual worthy of caring for someone else, let alone a child.
Still, he was going to try to be the man he thought he could be.
So he'd bought her favorite chocolate and did his best to not retreat behind his mask when she opened the door.
And the expression on her face, one where her jaw dropped, told him all the effort was worth it.
Although when she dragged him into the living room, and he was suddenly faced with three rather tall dragonmen, all standing with their arms crossed and looking down their noses at him, he blinked.
If they weren't dragon-shifters, the sight would've been ridiculous. He was at least a decade older than the youngest one.
But as their pupils flashed between round and slits, he knew that age didn't matter. They would always be stronger than him, a mere human.
Still, he stood tall and didn't look away from them.
That was when Cat dropped his hand and walked up to her brothers. She poked each one in the chest and murmured something he couldn't hear. The oldest one—he thought it was Connor?—merely looked at Lachlan and said, "If you hurt my sister, I won't hesitate to drop you into the loch from the greatest height I can manage without killing you."
"Connor," Cat scolded.
However, Lachlan sensed this was important. If he couldn't stand up to her brothers, he didn't deserve a chance with Cat anyway. He may only be human, but he would no doubt be challenged by many more on Lochguard. He needed to set the standard now.
He replied, "I don't plan on hurting her, if I can help it."
The youngest one tried to stand taller—he was about an inch shorter than the other two—and stated, "Try harder. Because if Connor drops you once, then I'll scoop you up and do it again."
The middle one rolled his eyes. "That'll surely kill him, you idiot. You should suggest something like scooping him up and abandoning him in the wilds somewhere. At least he'd be alive when you left him."
The shortest one growled, "Unlike you, I don't spend time thinking of how to punish people who cross you."
The middle one spoke again, "I don't spend time doing that. It's called being quick-witted. Which you aren't, apparently."
The shortest one growled and launched himself at the middle one. "I'm going to kill you, Ian."
As Ian—and the last one had to be Jamie, Lachlan noted—easily flipped his brother onto his back and put a foot against his throat, Cat turned her back on her brothers and faced him. "Come on. This could take a while, and I rather hope one of them ends up with a black eye. They'll come once Mum has the food ready anyway."
He smiled. Irritated as she appeared, he could tell she loved them.
And in a flash, an image of Cat sighing over three small boys as they wrestled on the ground, with Lachlan at her side, flashed into his mind.
A yearning he hadn’t known he had rushed forth. He'd never even allowed himself to think of wanting children.
But with Cat, aye, well, maybe he could.
Not wanting to get stuck in his own head, he placed a hand on her lower back—loving how she leaned into his touch—and murmured, "Leave them to it. I still need to meet your sister anyway."
She smiled. "Emma's better than that lot, but not by much. She has a tendency to be blunt to a degree that'll make you uncomfortable."
After so many years of deceiving not only others, but himself, Lachlan actually looked forward to that sort of honesty, which would probably keep him honest as well.
He nearly froze at that thought. Since when did he want people to get to know the real him?
However, he didn't have time to think about it as Cat guided them into the kitchen and toward her mum and sister.
Cat would give her brothers an earful later, when they were alone. Clearly her idea of being nice and well-behaved in front of Lachlan and theirs was vastly different.
But then she introduced him to her sister and mother, and before her mum could do anything but smile, Emma blurted, "You look a wee bit more relaxed. Usually, I'd say it's because you shagged my sister, but I know that's not true. So maybe my granddad dropped off some of his 'happy brownies' earlier. Did he?"
Both Cat and her mum yelled, "Emma!"
Emma shrugged. "Well, something's changed. I'm just trying to figure out what."
Cat thought she was used to her sister's manner, but still, her cheeks burned. How, exactly, was she supposed to transition from "oh, you didn't sleep with my sister but did my grandfather give you some weed-laced treats?"
Maybe having a close-knit family was overrated.
Lachlan laughed, and the sound wiped away her embarrassment. He looked so much younger when he laughed—the strain eased around his eyes, and his cheeks flushed slightly.
Which made him that much more handsome. Now, if only she could make him laugh herself instead of her sister.
Lachlan replied to Emma, "I don't mind the bluntness. Besides, maybe you'll finally tell me the truth about your grandfather. No one seems to want to explain him and the other two to me."
Emma lit up. "It's been so long since someone asked about Grandda Archie. He's one of the most interesting people I know." Her sister all but yanked Lachlan away from Cat's side. "You can sit next to me at dinner. Then I can tell you all about it."
Her first instinct was to reach out and drag Lachlan back to her side.
But Emma already had him sitting at the table. Her sister whispered to him—no doubt to keep her and their mum from scolding her again—but Lachlan met Cat's gaze.
The amusement there made her belly flutter in a good way.
It was hard to believe she'd thought him cool and detached not even a week ago.
Not that Cat thought he was suddenly going to be open and sunny all the time. No, she had a feeling he'd barely touched on the darkness of his past with his father.
Still, she wasn't going to press him about it in front of her family. This meal was simply a chance for him to get to know the MacAllisters, and maybe even have a good time in the process.