Luscious - Lexi Blake Page 0,20
days. I want to do it.”
“If you’re sure, but if you change your mind give me a day or two,” Sean said. “I’ll go let the crew know they can come in and see you.”
“Are there really a bunch of people waiting to see me?” Macon asked after the door closed.
Adam nodded. “Yeah, it’s not like home, buddy. These people give a shit. There have been times that we’re all we have so we stick together. Are you really feeling all right?”
“I feel like hell.” He smiled. “And I feel great, too.”
“Because of Ally?”
He shrugged. “She’s cool.”
Adam leaned over, his hands on the metal railing of the bed. “She was adamant about not being admitted, Macon. I got here right as the ambulance did and she was a little off.”
“Well, she’d just survived a tornado.” He felt off, too. And they were going to have a long talk about who was in charge when Taggart wasn’t around. She hadn’t obeyed his very reasonable commands.
Of course if she had, he might be dead, so maybe he’d rethink the lecture and make her some pancakes instead.
She’d also joked about his leg, so maybe she wasn’t entirely adverse to it.
“It wasn’t that and it wasn’t only about the money. I tried to explain workman’s comp to her. It would cover everything and I know damn well Sean is paid up, but she wouldn’t listen,” Adam explained. “She got really upset when they asked for ID.”
“If they get her ID they can bill her.” He thought he was starting to understand her. She’d been closed off, with all kinds of walls up, but he liked the woman who wasn’t hiding from him. She was funny and maybe the tiniest bit insane. It was like she’d opened up to him after the day’s incident with that asshat, Timothy. Or yesterday’s. “How long was I out?”
“A night. It’s almost noon. And I would bet a lot she wasn’t as worried about the money as she was handing over that ID. She didn’t want them to see it. I think she might be hiding something.”
His brother could be paranoid. It came with the territory. He worked in high-level security, the kind that sometimes got co-opted by the CIA. Adam had gone from being a soldier to being what their father called a mercenary. Now that he’d seen Adam in action, he would simply call him a hero. But he was a paranoid hero.
“I don’t think she’s trying to hide anything except the fact that she’s broke, and I have no room to complain there. It’s not like I’m rolling in it.” He stopped, coming up with another reason his brother might have a problem with Ally. “If you don’t want her in the guesthouse, say so.”
His brother’s eyes narrowed. “And if I said so? What would you do?”
“Get an apartment,” he replied.
“Shit, you want her.”
“I like her.” And he wanted her. She was the first woman he’d wanted in forever and that scared him because he hadn’t exactly tried having sex since he’d lost his leg. He’d been afraid his dick didn’t work anymore, but she’d fixed that problem. “I like her a lot.”
“Yeah, you like her in a ‘give up my nice house and go live somewhere scary because at least we’re together’ way.” He sighed and shook his head. “Of course she’s welcome. Sean says she’s passed all his background checks, so we’re good. Also, she saved you so her goodwill bank is full with me. She’s hiding something and it’s going to come out in the end. Do you want me to run a check on her?”
Sean would have run a cursory check, the same most employers did. Adam would delve into her background, peeling her apart like an onion and going through every layer. He would be ruthless about it and Macon was sure that once Adam was on the case, he would know everything there was to know about Allyson Jones. Including the stuff she might not want him to know.
“No. If I need to know she’ll tell me.”
“And if she decides you don’t?”
“It’s not a grand love affair, Adam. She needs a place to stay. I need someone to make sure my brain’s not bleeding. I’m sure she’ll be out and on her own in a week or two.”
Adam huffed. “No way. That’s one stray who’s looking for a home. I’ve seen it. Sometimes they really like to drift, but not that one. She took the first responsibility she could. She