“You’re too damned stubborn, Janey,” Natches accused her.
“So says the kettle to the pot?” she asked sweetly.
Fat Cat chose that moment to walk arrogantly into the room, his rumbling growl directed at the men before he crouched and gave them all a little hiss. His orange fur seemed to bristle, and he gave all the appearance of a grouchy, ill-tempered male that didn’t want to deal with socializing that morning.
His head turned to Janey, topaz eyes glittering as though blaming her for all the testosterone parked in her living room. Or maybe he considered it his living room.
“What the hell is that?” Natches glared back at the cat.
“That’s Fat Cat.” She grinned.
Walking over to the cat, she lifted his heavy body into her arms and moved to the door. “Come on, vicious. Time for you to go outside.”
Fat Cat rumbled a protest as she opened the door. Setting him on the balcony, she received a hard slap at her hand by his sheathed paw, and a hiss before he jumped up on the railing and stared at her with feline anger.
“Be good.” She wagged her finger back at him. “Or I’ll forget the hamburger in your cat food tonight.”
His whiskers twitched as his slitted eyes narrowed back at her. Janey turned back and closed the door behind her. Just what she needed, another pissed-off male.
“So, Uncle Ray, do I get to bring my cat when I come to stay with you?”
Ray looked at the door skeptically. “Only if you have to.”
Janey almost snorted at that. Cats and water didn’t always go together, so she doubted the male Mackays had much experience with cats. Especially fat cats. She was going to have to put him on a diet soon. He was getting heavy.
If she had to leave, he would end up hungry again. This was his territory, where he was comfortable. And Janey had found that, in ways, it was hers as well. She was comfortable here. She had a routine, the semblance of a life.
“Look, I’m not leaving.” She shook her head at them as she moved to the coffee cup. Dealing with a roomful of Mackays and one Jansen mountain wasn’t her idea of morning fun.
“Then we’ll take turns staying here. There’s five of us including Alex. You’ll be taken care of,” Dawg decided.
She swung around. “Unacceptable.”
“Highly acceptable, except for the Alex part,” Natches bit out. “Don’t push me, Janey. I’m still having f**king nightmares due to Dayle and Nadine. I don’t need this right now.”
“And you think I need this?” She waved her hand at the five of them furiously. “Fine. You want someone to play babysitter, then he can do it.” She stabbed her finger at Alex. “If he wants to play tattletale, then he can also play night watch.”
Alex’s brow arched, his gray eyes filled with amusement.
“No!” Natches barked. “He’s not staying.”
“Then no one is.” She shrugged. “Been great seeing you this morning, bro. Tell Chaya I said hi, and give that little bundle she’s carrying a pat from me. Close the door on your way out.”
She could feel five male gazes on her, searing her, trying to see past her expression. She stared back at them calmly.
Natches was frankly furious. Alex was amused. The others ranged from simply pissed to disbelieving.
They were all too big and too stubborn and too determined to run her life. Hell, she had known when that first letter showed up exactly what was going to happen if Natches found out about it. She’d have to let Sheriff Mayes know exactly what she thought of his promises.
“This won’t work, Janey,” Natches bit out.
“Of course it will. He can show up after I’m finished at the restaurant at night and leave the next morning.
No problem.” She shrugged.
“And the rest of the day?” Natches pushed the words past gritted teeth. “You think from midnight to dawn is the only time you’re in danger?”
“It’s the only time those letters have shown up,” she said. “He can do it my way, or you can forget it.”
“You don’t mean this! Janey, tell me you don’t mean this!” Natches’s expression was blank with shock now, his eyes brighter in his sun-darkened face, and that wasn’t normally a good sign. He was outraged.
Alex watched Janey coolly. Her expression, as calm, as remote as it appeared, hid much more than anyone in that room could guess. Her bravery was boundless. Her courage was terrifying. But he already knew that. He’d figured that out over the years while watching her.
She was pissed. She was stubborn as hell. And she was about to make every damned one of them pay for coming here and backing her into a corner. He almost grinned as he watched her maneuver the Mackays. And she thought she was maneuvering him as well.
She had no clue.
He’d known when he pulled into the parking lot of the marina where this would go. He’d already weighed out the possibilities and come to one conclusion. Hell, he’d managed to do that while he was sitting on the street outside last night.
Leaning against the wall now, his expression controlled, arms crossed over his chest, he watched her play her brother and her cousins with a confidence and sheer daring that only a Mackay could muster. When one of the males of that family used it, it never failed to piss him off. But watching Janey do it, he was hard as a rock and praying to hide it. Thankfully, he’d left his jacket on. Because sure as hell, if Natches had a clue just how hard Alex was for his baby sister, blood would be spilled.
“Tell her how insane this idea is!” Natches turned on him when Janey refused to listen.
Alex grimaced and rubbed at the outside of his thigh. “I am wounded, Janey,” he informed her. “I might not be your best bet.”
Her expression was almost smug. “Too bad.” She turned to Natches. “Do you guys want coffee before you leave?”
Everyone looked back at Alex.
He scratched his jaw and stared back at Janey, eyes narrowed.
“Why him?” Natches turned back to her suspiciously.
“Because I don’t have to put up with all the moaning and groaning at night like I would if it were one of you.” She rolled her eyes back at him. “Really, Natches, all that marital bliss is too sweet for words.”
All three of the younger Mackay men developed an almost smug look on their faces as Alex finally winced. He didn’t want to hear about their marital bliss, because one of them was married to his sister.