by Lexi Blake
It had been so long since she’d had a friend like Deena. Maybe never. She’d been that trashy Jones kid back in her hometown, the one whose dad went to jail. No one here cared about how awful her father had been. No one knew how much trouble she was. “You don’t sound like an elephant. It’s really more like a rhino.”
Deena slapped playfully at her arm and then gasped. “I’m so sorry.”
Ally shook her head. “I’m fine. I’m bruised, that’s all.”
She’d had way worse. This was going to be an ache, but she kind of liked it. She’d earned this ache. She’d done good.
Deena’s eyes filled with tears. “I can’t believe you did that. You know they’re saying he might have died without you.”
She wasn’t so sure of that. “I don’t know. He’s got a thick skull.”
“Stop. You need to stop being so modest and start thinking properly. You know what Macon’s reputation is, right?”
“He’s a nice guy?” He’d always been nice to her. Was he nice to the other waitresses? Sure. Maybe he was really nice to them. She’d noticed Jenni and Tiffany in the waiting room. They were two of the other servers. Both were young and pretty and probably had never spent a night on the streets or attacked a drug dealer with a hammer. Jenni was a petite blonde working her way through college, while Tiffany was an artist of some kind. She had the willowy figure found on magazine covers.
Ally was kind of short, and since she’d started eating at Top, she’d filled way out. What if Macon kissed any woman who totally threw herself at him?
“Macon is known as the great deflector,” Deena said as they walked toward the waiting room. “I gave him the nickname myself when I noticed how easily he deflected Jenni’s every attempt to trap him. That poor girl had it so bad. I don’t think it’s because she’s passionately in love with him. She’s the kind of girl who notices when a guy doesn’t notice and then she’s all over him.”
She knew the type. They annoyed her. “But everyone notices Jenni. The girl can’t walk into the kitchen without someone telling her how good she looks.”
“Because the other guys are smart,” Deena explained. “She’s a sweet kid, but none of these guys are interested in a kid. When Eric figured out her game, he hit on her once, let her turn him down, and now she leaves him alone. She’s perfectly satisfied with getting some compliments, but Macon ignores her. She trapped him in the storage closet once and I swear I’ve never seen a dude run so fast. For a guy with a C-Leg, he’s a gazelle when he wants to get away.”
“So he’s not a player.” She liked that he didn’t bother to play Jenni’s game. Maybe she should have a talk with Jenni.
“Not at all. I thought he might play for the other team. Until you walked in.”
“What does that mean?”
Deena took a sip of her coffee, her heels clacking on the laminate floors. “That man watches you like a hawk. I swear he practically drools when you bend over. He’s got a thing for your backside.”
She needed to stop doing that. She wasn’t sure she wanted Macon watching her fat ass. “But my butt’s really big.”
“I believe the word he would use is juicy,” Deena corrected. “Most men don’t go for skinny things. That’s a lie perpetuated by the media and skinny bitches. I dropped down to my ideal size and the sex dried up. The boys like me with about ten extra pounds.”
“Macon stares at my ass?”
“Yep.”
“I kissed him last night.” That popped out of her mouth. She hadn’t really meant to let anyone know about that. Restaurant life ran on gossip.
Deena stopped in the middle of the hall, her eyes wide. “When he was unconscious? Did you pull up the shirt? Because I bet he’s hiding a six-pack. He never takes off his shirt. I’ve thought about spilling water on him so I can see his chest.”
“Of course not when he was unconscious. Before he was unconscious.” She couldn’t really blame her friend. She wanted to see his chest, too. There was a basketball hoop in the back parking lot and sometimes the guys played before they opened. They would pick shirts or skins, but Macon always stayed back, simply watching. Maybe she was being silly, but she thought there was a sadness when he stood there. The guys encouraged him to play, but he would shake his head.
Deena smiled. “And he kissed you back?”
He’d pulled her into the heat of his body and kissed her until she’d been breathless. “Yeah. I like him.”
“And he obviously likes you, so why do I hear a ‘but’ coming up?”
“I know something he doesn’t and when he finds out, he might not like me anymore.”
Deena stopped. “What are you saying?”
What was she saying? Why had she even mentioned that? She’d been about to blurt out the truth concerning her past to Deena. She quickly recovered. There was more than one reason Macon might have issues with her. “I don’t know. I heard he comes from a wealthy background and sometimes guys like that don’t like the girl from the wrong side of the tracks.”
She wasn’t sure exactly what had happened with him. Ronnie had talked about Macon being from a wealthy family, how he always had money but he wasn’t snooty.
Ronnie. She’d forgotten all about Ronnie the last few weeks. She’d gotten caught up in how gorgeous Macon Miles was and forgot that he was the only person alive who could tell her what happened to her brother.
And he refused to speak with her.
She’d even sent him an e-mail from one of the computers at the library. She’d sent it from the e-mail account she’d had back at home, one of the free kind. She’d asked him very politely if he would give her any information about Ronnie’s death.
He hadn’t replied.
What was she supposed to think of that? How did she reconcile the sweet, kind man she knew with the asshole who hadn’t replied to a dying woman’s pleas? She wasn’t the only one Macon had refused to answer.
“Oh, Macon’s not like that and from what I heard, he lost everything in the divorce.”
She’d wondered what happened to his wife. Ronnie hadn’t mentioned her. When she’d come to Top, she’d discovered that Macon had been married and had gone through a nasty divorce.
“Well, I’m sorry he lost everything because I like the man.” She hoped he hadn’t had anything to do with Ronnie’s death or the cover-up. She prayed he didn’t because she was pretty sure she was crazy about the man and it would break her heart. “I’m going to stay with him while he’s recovering.”
“You are?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
“Like with him, with him?”
That was the big question. That kiss last night had been spontaneous. Of course, waking up and hearing his low rumble and the doctor saying Macon needed someone to watch over him had spurred her to spontaneously offer to be his new roommate.
Why had she done that? Was it because getting closer to him might bring her the answers she was seeking? Or because she simply wanted to be closer to him?
“I’ll stay in the guest room. I’m going to be there for him.” They turned to walk into the waiting room.
“Wow, that’s a lot of boobs,” Deena said, her eyes wide.
“I think it’s nice.” There was nothing sexual about women feeding their babies.
“It’s not right. They should cover up.” An older man was complaining to the volunteer who sat at the desk.
“I’ve asked them to go to the bathroom, but they won’t go,” the woman whispered back as though she feared being overheard.
“Shit.” Deena leaned over and whispered in her ear. “That’s Charlotte Taggart, the big guy’s wife. She recently had twins. And the other one is Avery O’Donnell. She’s married to the big scary Irish guy in the back. This could get nasty.”
Ally didn’t understand why. The Avery lady’s baby had his hand covering most of her breast as he suckled. Charlotte Taggart’s very nice breast was bare for a second as she handed off one tiny bundle and accepted the other from he
r husband. The baby immediately went to work. It was sweet. She knew Big Tag from the restaurant. He was the one Macon made pies for. He tucked his baby daughter into the sling he was wearing. Even though the sling was the cutest pink it didn’t make Big Tag any less masculine.
He looked over where the man was making a fuss. This could get ugly.
“Well ask them to leave,” the man said, his face turning red. “My mother is having a procedure done. I shouldn’t have to watch pornography.”
Ian’s eyes narrowed.
It was going to get really nasty.
The woman stood up and smoothed down her very sensible blouse. “I’ll explain that they’re being offensive.”
“No, they’re not,” an elderly lady sitting near the door said. She pointed the cane she was holding at the complaining man. “They’re taking care of their babies. He’s a sad old codger who’s never seen a breast before. If you don’t like it, don’t look.”
“They should go to the bathroom like decent folks would.” The asshole wasn’t backing down.
“Yes, because they would be so comfortable feeding babies while sitting on toilet seats. It’s a freaking hospital.” Ally was so sick of hypocrisy. “They tell you to breastfeed and then make it hard on the mom.”
She realized everyone was looking at her. Eric and the guys from Top were in with Macon, but Macon’s family was all sitting in those chairs and every eye was glued to her. Except the babies. They were occupied.
“You stay out of this, missy,” the man said. “I have rights and I shouldn’t have to see women running around showing off their titties like it’s a Girls Gone Wild film.”
“Seriously? This is Girls Gone Wild, asshole.” She flashed him. She’d taken off her bra the night before. She hadn’t exactly been able to slip it on in front of Macon and his brother.
The man gasped and then practically ran out of the room.
The volunteer breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank god. That big guy over there scares the hell out of me. I think he was about to come over here. I was actually going to run and hide in the bathroom. I don’t get paid to handle this.”
Ally smoothed down her shirt. Yep, she’d flashed her boobs in front of Macon’s friends and family. She was all kinds of classy.
She glanced over and instead of looks of horror, she got thumbs-ups and wide grins.
“Oh, my god. I can’t believe you did that.” Deena was laughing her ass off.
“You’ve got very nice breasts, young lady,” the woman with the cane said primly. “If you want to keep them that way, you should wear a bra. My poor sister’s drag the floor and she never wore a bra.”
Ally felt a hand on her shoulder and turned, praying security wasn’t about to escort her out. Instead, she got Macon’s smiling brother.
“Oh, you’re going to be trouble. I think you’ll fit right in.” He drew her into a hug. “Did I thank you for saving my brother?”
It took her a second, but she hugged him back. She missed this, missed having anyone who was happy to see her, who liked her. Even the last few months with her mother she’d felt more like a caregiver than a beloved daughter. “No problem.”
He drew her into the waiting room and began to introduce her.
She’d never imagined flashing could be such a great icebreaker.
CHAPTER FOUR
Macon finished the cake with a final swipe of his hand. Dark chocolate with a ganache icing. It would be served with a homemade vanilla bean ice cream that hopefully he still had enough of. Ally proved fond of his ice cream. She’d watched him make it with liquid nitrogen¸ her eyes widening when the smoke had gone everywhere.
The door to the kitchen came open and Ally walked through wearing faded jeans and one of those soft T-shirts she always seemed to wear that hugged her breasts in all the right places. Her eyes were wide as she strode in. Ally, he’d learned, did everything with a sort of anxious energy. It was hard for her to stay still. “That is a roomful of babies. They’re everywhere. I want to roll around in them.”
“It’s going to be a roomful of poop in about twenty minutes.” His living room was being used as a nursery. It was the reason the “gang” was using Adam’s place. He had a large playroom and he was the only one with a guesthouse to stash the babies in.
“They’re not free-range babies, so it should be all right.” Ally stopped to admire the cake. “This is beautiful. You have to teach me how to do the roses.”
“I will. I’m doing a cake for an anniversary party next week. You can help me.” He’d started to teach her some of the finer points of his job. She seemed fascinated with cake decorating. He’d taught her the art of writing with a pastry bag. He’d also started thinking longer term. He no longer questioned whether she would be here next week. “And thank god they’re not free range.”
She grinned. “Don’t want to clean up that mess, huh? So who are the two women they have watching the kiddos?”
“They’re actually Dr. Daley’s sisters. Nice ladies. Laurel and Lisa.”
“And they babysit?”
“They’re sub…substitutes. Substitute teachers. They make money on the side this way.” He’d almost explained that the young women were training as submissives at Sanctum, Big Tag’s club. Well, it had been his club before it was blown up by an asswipe traitor who should have his entrails ground into dust and shoved up his anal cavity without lube. Tag’s words, not his. Apparently the dude was dead, but Macon wasn’t so sure that would stop Big Tag. If he thought he could properly punish a corpse, he might do it. The new Sanctum was under construction.
“They’re substitutes? Seriously? One of them was talking about working for a law firm. She said babysitting wasn’t a big thing because she had to deal with shit all day long and at least babies are cute. When do we need to get the cake over? And what about the appetizers? Should I be at the big house heating them up?”
She would have to go to the big house since there was absolutely no heat in this house. None. No making out. No cuddling. For five days she’d babied him, making sure he ate healthy and got enough water. She’d made him stay in bed the whole first day and kept him from working out. She’d driven him to physical therapy and then nagged the therapist about making him do too much.
Not once had she kissed him or even said a thing that would make him think she wanted him to kiss her. They ate together, watched TV together, cooked together.
They were roommates.
“Don’t worry about it. Adam’s going to finish the apps and Serena has all the salads. It’s only a little buffet.”
“A little? It’s magnificent. I can’t wait to see it. Do you think they’ll mind if I sneak a plate? I promise to hide in the kitchen. We should get catering uniforms. You know, black pants, white shirt. They could come in handy.”
“You’re not going.” He’d thought about it that first day. He’d thought about the fact that he could take her over to the mini club the McKay-Taggart group had set up and he could watch her. He could see if she had any interest at all. Of course, that was when he’d thought they would at least have had a heavy make-out session by this point. Now that he realized she was simply looking for a place to stay and a bit of friendship, he thought taking her to watch his friends have sex in kinky ways was probably a mistake.
God, he wanted to have sex with her in kinky ways. Hell, he’d take straight up vanilla. Being close to her for days was killing him. She wore boxer shorts and a tank top to bed and she would walk out of her room in the morning with her hair all mussed and her sleepy eyes and he would put a cup of coffee in her hand, and all he could think about were her nipples. Until she turned around and then he thought about her ass.
She required two cups of strong coffee to get her going in the mornings. She particularly liked the Sumatra blend. He hadn’t told her he was experimenting, but he changed the blend until he found the one that made her sigh and lick her lips. By the time she was awake, he was putting an egg white omelet with whatever ve
g they had on hand and a bowl of fresh fruit in front of her. She’d been surprised at how healthy he ate. He’d explained that he was a pastry chef. Everything else had to be healthy or he’d weigh a ton.
“You don’t need any help tonight?”
He shook his head. “I’m going to drop off the cake and then I’ll come back over and we can play with the babies.”
A frown creased her forehead. “But I heard you talking to Adam about how you were looking forward to this.”
That had been when he’d still had hope that he might participate. Even if it was only in a voyeuristic fashion. “I’m taking the night off.”
Her eyes narrowed and he was really worried she could see past his layers of skin right down to his soul. She turned without another word and walked back out of the kitchen. He should have let it go, pleased that she wasn’t questioning him any more.
But he’d started to know that look. That look in Ally’s eyes meant trouble. He followed.
“How’s the substitute teaching business these days, ladies?”
Shit. And shit. And more shit. “Ally…”
Laurel was holding one of the babies. One of the ones who wasn’t Tristan. He knew his nephew but the other babies all kind of looked alike. Tristan was currently pulling his baby body up on the sofa. He grinned, showing one tiny tooth.
“Uhm, I’ve never done that. That sounds perfectly horrible,” Laurel said with a shudder. “I’m a paralegal.”
She pointed back to him. “That one said you were watching the babies because you’re subs who need extra money.”
Lisa shook her head as she laid one of the twins down in the traveling bassinet the Taggarts had set up twenty minutes ago. “Oh, no, he meant we’re in submissive training.”
And that was the way his night went to shit. “I wasn’t going to tell her that. You two need to learn what ‘private club’ means.”
