Cat sat across from him and did her best not to roll her eyes at Emma's recounting of Grandda Archie's escapades.
Her mother said, "Supper," and all three of her brothers raced into the room and slid into their seats. Jamie's chair stopped a foot away from the table from the effort.
She wondered if merely mentioning a meal would get all the males—and a few females, at that—in the clan running. It'd be fun to try.
Usually her dragon would've made a remark about that, but the silence in her mind was deafening. She missed her other half more than she ever would've guessed.
Which helped her better understand Aimee King and the other dragon-shifters who had lost their beasts.
However, she pushed aside her sadness. Cat was lucky—her silent dragon was temporary.
Once everyone was seated with full plates, her mother turned to Lachlan and asked, "How long have you worked with the DDA?"
While Cat knew it was an ordinary question to ask about one's job, she did her best to focus on her food and not Lachlan's face. He was probably going to have to give up his career if they went through with the frenzy.
And she hated the thought of making anyone give up something for her.
Lachlan answered, "Just over ten years this past January. I started as an administrative assistant and worked my way up to head events coordinator."
Emma jumped in. "But how are you going to do that now? You can't exactly plan this big art event if you're busy trying to get my sister pregnant."
Cat choked on her food a second before she managed to swallow it. She glared at Emma, but her sister ignored her.
Lachlan met her gaze and raised his brows, asking if she was all right. She nodded and took a sip of water.
Emma pushed, "So? Cat's good at multitasking, but not that good."
Cat growled. "Emma, I swear, if you don't stop, I'm going to hide all your electronics some place where you'll never find them."
Her sister grinned. "I have spares everywhere." She looked back at Lachlan. "So?"
Bloody hell, had her sister always been so tenacious?
Aye, she had. But it had never involved talking about one of her siblings' sex lives before.
Lachlan cleared his throat and said, "I discussed this with Finn earlier. Someone from Seahaven is going to come help if, er, we become indisposed."
Cat bit back a laugh. It seemed when Lachlan was uncomfortable, he became formal again.
Not that the change in tone would deter Emma in the least. Her sister leaned forward. "Oooh, who's coming? None of the males my age on Lochguard are worth my time. Maybe my own true mate will show up, and wouldn't that be brilliant, Cat? Our bairns will be almost the same age."
She rolled her eyes. "The odds of that happening are astronomical."
"Still, it could happen. And then you can watch my bairn when I have to do some big security upgrade. It'll work out brilliantly."
Cat shook her head. "I'm not going to become your de facto babysitter, Emma."
"But I do really important work. Ian's good, but I'm better. The clan will need my skills."
Since stating Cat had work as well would do nothing to stop her sister, she turned toward Lachlan and explained, "Ian and Emma are some sort of computer geniuses. Don't ask me how my sister can concentrate long enough to do that sort of thing, but it works."
Emma huffed. "I can concentrate longer than Jamie."
Jamie let out a grunt of protest, but Cat spoke before he could. "Do you really want to start an argument with Jamie, or do you want to find out an answer from Lachlan about who's coming to help?"
Emma glanced at her younger brother—the only one younger than her since Ian had been born a few minutes before her—and then waved a hand in dismissal. "He's not worth it. Who's coming from Seahaven, Lachlan?"
Cat saw Ian pass more food to Jamie, which seemed to keep him from exploding. But once Lachlan spoke, she focused back on him. "Some dragonman named Adam Keith."
She knew who that was. "Aye, that makes sense. He and I have collaborated on a few things before, mostly for the student lessons on Seahaven. Adam's more into photography, but sometimes he does mixed media too." Since none of her siblings were artistically inclined, they merely stared blankly. She explained, "It means he sometimes uses his pictures and something like paint or ink to make a piece. That's not important, though. He's quieter than any of us, but he seems nice."
Emma raised her fork into the air. "Quieter, aye? I like that. That should mean he's good at listening, and he should know all the best gossip to share with me. People tend to talk around the quiet ones." She leaned forward. "And the quiet ones can also be surprising in bed, too, aye? Or so I've heard."
It took everything Cat had to not bang her head against the table. If Lachlan dashed out the door at any second, it wouldn't surprise her in the least.
Her mother finally jumped in and said calmly, "Emma, that's enough."
Since their mother didn't warn them often anymore—she believed her adult children should be able to sort things out among themselves—they all knew to heed it when she did. So Emma sighed and speared some potatoes on her plate. "Fine. Although it was just getting interesting."
Ian, being the most diplomatic of any of them, cleared his throat and asked Lachlan, "So when will Adam arrive?"
Lachlan shrugged. "Probably tomorrow."
Silence fell a beat, and then Jamie asked, "Have you heard the legend about Loch Naver, Lachlan?"
Everyone groaned, but Lachlan barely paid it any heed and shook his head. "No."
"Then let me tell you about it…"
And as Jamie explained the blasted legend for what had to be the ten-thousandth time, Cat ignored her brother and watched Lachlan. His expression was a little less open than when she'd greeted him at the door. But he didn't seem overly strained or nervous.
Her brother distracting him gave Cat a chance to better study his profile—his firm lips, his strong jaw, the way his hair was a touch too long around his ears. She hadn't sketched him for a few days and itched to do it again.
Maybe she could even get him to model for her.
Not that she'd have the chance any time soon. The absence of her dragon commenting on how they should strip and ride him was a stark reminder that while the evening seemed almost normal, it wouldn't last.
Within days, she'd have to make a decision. Well, she and Lachlan would both have to make a decision.
Which meant her time was precious. And so after dinner, she was going to force him to go for a walk with her.
Aye, well, force might be too strong of a word, but while she was glad he'd met her family and knew what he could be getting into, she wanted some time alone with him.
When dinner was done, the dishes washed, and her mother distracted her siblings for a few beats, she murmured for Lachlan to follow her as she took his hand and guided him out of the house.
Chapter Eight
Lachlan had never eaten dinner with anyone like Cat's family before.
Conversation moved quickly, the family lovingly needled each other, and not once had someone yelled or barked an order that caused a flash of fear or shame to fill their eyes.