It would drive her crazy to have somebody she didn’t know hovering over her all the damn time. I got that, even if she hadn’t mentioned it. It would make me uncomfortable. The woman needed to breathe, and for some idiotic reason I didn’t understand, I knew what she needed.
“So you really plan on taking care of her yourself?” Jax said skeptically.
“I have a housekeeper.”
“Who comes in once a week to clean,” Jax reminded me.
“Taylor will get back on her feet,” I argued defensively.
According to the doctors, Taylor would be able to walk better once she was fully nourished, and her body got back in balance with hydration. Yeah, so she was going to need a physical therapist. It wasn’t like I couldn’t bring someone in for that, and my assistant had already arranged for Taylor to get therapy at my place to get her through this ordeal mentally, too.
In my mind, we were all good. Taylor just needed time…
“You’ll never be able to stay away from the office that long,” Jax warned. “You know how you are, Hudson. Work is your whole life. It’s not like Cooper and I can’t handle everything, but you’ll be itching to come in and see what’s going on yourself.”
Nope. I wouldn’t. My obsession to make sure Taylor got well trumped everything else in my life right now, including Montgomery Mining.
“I have a home office. I’ll do my share,” I informed him.
“I’m not worried about that,” Jax answered sharply. “You’ve always done way more than your share. You were the first one to get back to San Diego when the company was in trouble, and you had things well in hand by the time Cooper and I were discharged. Maybe I’m just worried that you’re taking this whole thing a little too…personally.”
I raised a brow as I scowled at him. “She works for us, Jax. She’s our employee.”
He stared back at me, his gaze never wavering. “Why do I have the feeling that there’s a lot more to this whole thing than Taylor being our intern? Hell, I want to make sure she’s taken care of, too, but I know there are a lot of people who could do a better job at it than me.”
Jax might be an asshole sometimes, but his instincts were spot on most of the time, and he was way too intuitive sometimes. “Okay,” I said reluctantly. “Maybe I just want to help her.”
“Why?” he asked calmly. “She’s not our first rescue, Hudson, and we both know it’s a mistake to get sucked into any of our missions emotionally. We lose our ability to be objective if we do.”
Luckily, we were the only ones in our area of the cafeteria when I slammed my hand down on the table in utter frustration. “I like her, goddamn it. I know I shouldn’t get involved, but I can’t fucking stop myself because Taylor is different. She’s not just another victim to me. She’s hurting. I like her. She’s probably the bravest, smartest woman I’ve ever known. I want to be there for her. Just her. It’s not like any rescue has ever gotten personal for me before, and I’ve done way too many to count. I can’t explain why she’s different. She just…is.”
Christ! It wasn’t like I hadn’t told myself over and over that Taylor was just another rescue among many, and that I didn’t need to personally take care of her. Unfortunately, I didn’t believe a single word I’d said to myself.
Jax’s eyes widened. “No, you don’t just like her. You like her. Holy fuck! You really like her. This doesn’t have a damn thing to do with her being our employee, and it’s not some misguided sense of guilt or obligation. You just…like her.”
“I already admitted that I did,” I said, irritated. “Why are you making a big deal out of it?”
Jax snickered. “You like her.”
“Will you knock that shit off,” I insisted, completely annoyed now.
“Damn, Hudson,” Jax drawled. “I never thought I’d see the day when you started acting like Seth does with Riley. Why didn’t you just tell me you had a thing for Taylor?”
“Because I don’t,” I said adamantly. Okay, so maybe I’d denied that a little too strongly. Probably because I wasn’t just trying to convince Jax, but myself, too.
He smirked. “You’re so full of shit that your eyes are turning brown. Don’t even try to tell me that somewhere deep inside, you aren’t hoping that once Taylor is recovered, this