Luscious(11)

“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 her 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.”