Colters舗 Promise Read Free Page B

there. He hadn’t thought. He’d simply reacted and had done as he’d always done. Gone immediately to protect his family.
    Only now his family went beyond Lauren. Their mother had passed just a few years earlier, leaving Max and Lauren alone. He’d always been fiercely protective of both his mom and his sister, and he’d been used to being a lone wolf. He was the protector. The provider. He didn’t depend on other people. His sister depended on him.
    Now he had Callie. And he had the Colters. All of them. It was something he was still getting accustomed to. This whole idea of having a large, extended family. Not just any family, but one that was closely knit and fiercely loyal and would do anything, go to any lengths to protect their own. And he and Lauren were a part of that now.
    As he mounted the front steps, he frowned. Usually Callie was at the door to meet him, even if he’d just taken a short trip into town for groceries. He’d grown accustomed to her enthusiastic greetings, and he loved the way she lit up when she saw him again.
    He let himself in and opened his mouth to call out to her when he saw her on the couch in the living room. He smiled and put his suitcase down. On quiet feet, he walked to the sofa to stare down at her, curled into a ball, sound asleep.
    It wasn’t like her to sleep in, but if he had to guess, she’d worked the night before in her brother’s bar. He wasn’t crazy about her doing it, but he didn’t say anything about it. Plus she only did so on the rare occasions when he was out of town and she stayed home.
    He leaned down to kiss her temple but as soon as his lips touched her skin, he frowned and drew away.He put his hand to her forehead, cursing softly when he felt the dry heat radiating from her flesh.
    She was sick.
    And he’d left her alone.
    He knelt by the couch and gently shook her. “Callie.
Dolcezza
, wake up.”
    She grumbled softly in her sleep, and when she opened her eyes, they were dull. Her cheeks were flushed with fever and she blinked several times as if she were unaware of her surroundings.
    Worry ate at his gut. She was his. Completely and utterly his. To love, to protect, and he’d left her alone because he’d been gutted by his sister’s plea for help. He should never have left Callie. She should have been with him every step of the way.
    “Max,” she whispered. Then she smiled. A warm beautiful smile that made the very heart of him ache. “You’re home.”
    He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. “Why didn’t you call me? I would have come home immediately. How long have you been sick?”
    “Just last night,” she croaked. She broke off and rubbed her throat.
    He frowned again because he didn’t like to see her in discomfort. “Hurt?”
    She nodded. “I was okay when I went in. Really. But I started feeling bad not long into it. I didn’t want to call Dillon. I thought I could make it. I crashed here as soon as I got home.”
    He stroked a hand over her forehead. “Wait here. I’ll go get something for your fever.”
    She nodded, her eyes already closing again.
    He got up and hurried into the kitchen to the cabinet where they kept the medicine. He frowned as he stared at the acetaminophen and ibuprofen. Finally he grabbed the bottle of ibuprofen, filled a glass half full of water, and went back into the living room.
    Callie was back into a tight ball, and he could see her shivering from across the room.
    He set the glass on the coffee table and carefully pulled her up and into his arms. She promptly burrowed into his chest and sighed in contentment.
    “Take your medicine,
dolcezza
. It will make you feel better. After you’ve swallowed your pills, I’ll take you to bed. I’m sure you’ll be more comfortable out of these clothes.”
    She shook her head against his chest. “Will you build a fire instead? Want to stay here and snuggle.”
    He kissed the top of her head. “You know I’d do anything to make you feel better.”
    “Love