I shake his hand. All the weight of my problems zaps away. “I’d have done the same. You have to know she means everything to me.”
He pulls me in and pats me on the back. “I know. And I don’t need to give you the talk. But if you hurt her, I’ll break your legs.” He grins and squeezes my shoulder.
A laugh escapes. “I let you have that first blow. You won’t be so lucky next time.” I can’t contain my smile as I look over hisshoulder at Angelica and Lorraine talking with the lads. “But you don’t need to worry. If I ever let her down, it’ll break my fucking heart.”
He shoves his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels as we both gaze at our women.
“Nice right hook, by the way. I think you may have fractured my nose.”
“It’ll be an improvement.” He chuckles.
I squeeze the bridge of my nose, checking for any permanent damage. It never bled, so that’s a bonus, at least. “I’m sorry your trip to Scotland is ruined.”
“I’m not. I never wanted to spend Christmas away from Angelica. We’re right where we’re meant to be. And if I have to put up with your ugly mug to make her happy, then so be it.” He chuckles again, and it’s as if we’re back to our old selves again.
“I’ll never take her away from you. I know what she means to you. But I don’t think I could’ve stayed away from her either.”
“What would you have done if I never came around to the idea?”
I shrug a shoulder with a small huff of a laugh. “Probably spent a lot of time writing letters, I guess.”
Dan walks through with a round of drinks. “Did someone order a hairy fairy?”
“Oh, that’s mine,” Angelica says, reaching a hand out to take the shot from the tray.
“Angel,” I growl, straightening my spine. I lift the shot from her hand. “You don’t want to be drinking this. It’s lethal.”
She snatches it from me as she rolls her eyes, the poison sloshing in the glass. “Just because we’re together does not give you the right to tell me what I can and can’t drink.” She knocks it back in one go and I swear I can see steam coming out of her ears.
Colin chuckles. “She’s all yours, pal. Good luck getting her to clean her room.”
A smile curves my lips. I have my ways of getting her to bend to my will. But I kinda like her bratty side. I laugh at her, sticking her tongue out as if it’s on fire. “I warned you.”
Lorraine sashays over and takes a glass of wine from Dan. “Thank you.” She places a hand on Angelica’s plaid fleece coat that hides her pyjamas underneath. “Are you all right?”
Angelica coughs with watery eyes. “It was just a bit strong.”
Lorraine gives me a warm smile as she looks between me and Colin. “I’m so glad you’ve sorted things out.” She turns to Angelica. “I think it’s wonderful that you and Sawyer have found each other.” She swats Colin on the arm. “Isn’t it, Colin?”
He grins at me, now with a pint in his hand from Dan. “Yep, I’ve always wanted him as a son-in-law.”
I shake my head with a silent laugh. Hearing it out loud sounds fucking crazy, but if it’s wrong to love my angel, I don’t wanna be right.
Lifting my head, I glance over at Colin. “Does this mean I have your blessing to marry the lass?”
Angelica’s eyes widen, waiting for her dad’s response.
“You’d better bloody marry her after this.” He brings the pint to his lips.
Angelica’s face lights up like a Christmas tree.
My lips curve into a smile. “I don’t know, Colin. She’s a bit of a handful. I’ll have to have a think about it.”
Angelica swats my chest. “Hey, you weren’t saying that the other night.”
Colin holds his hands up. “All right, we need to set some ground rules.”
Angelica folds her arms over her chest. “Dad, we’re not teenagers.”
