Sweet Seduction Read online

  “So why me?”

  “I like you.” Yep he sounded like a junior high kid.

  “I like you, too. I didn’t think I would, but I can’t deny it.” She went up on her toes and her hands were suddenly flat against his chest. “This is a mistake. It’s a horrible mistake, and I hope you’re smart enough to stop me.”

  She was straining, lifting herself up as tall as she could go.

  “I’m not that smart, sweetheart.” He lowered his head and let his lips touch hers.

  His whole body went on alert. His cock tightened immediately and his body felt like it locked around hers. All he could see or smell or taste was Ally. She became the freaking center of his universe and all he’d done was brush his lips against hers.

  He was in too deep, but there was no way he was backing away now.

  ***

  It was wrong. She knew it the minute she got close to him. Hell, she knew it the minute Chef Taggart had walked out the door, leaving her alone with the single sexiest man she’d ever laid eyes on. Macon made her heart pound, but he was also the one man in the world she shouldn’t touch since she was lying to him.

  The instant she’d seen him, she’d changed all her plans. It was wrong, but it was also true.

  Kiss him. Kiss him once and you’ll find out it isn’t as good as you think it will be. Sex isn’t really all that special. It’s not like you haven’t tried it before. It’s kind of messy and then it’s over. It would probably be the same with this guy.

  Or it will be so much better because this is a man and not a boy and damn, but he looks like he could take care of business, if you know what I mean.

  Her inner voice had a split personality and an overabundance of sauciness it seemed. Still, she was kind of going with optimism as Macon’s gorgeous face dropped down.

  His lips were soft as they brushed against hers. He didn’t overwhelm her the way some men had tried before. He went slow, as though enjoying exploring her. His hands moved from her shoulders to her back, running the length of her spine and making her shiver. Her chest bumped against his. She could feel the way her nipples pebbled, and her whole body seemed to go soft.

  All her previous sexual experience had been about obliterating something. Whether it be herself or some bad day or horrifically bad news. It had been about escaping.

  She didn’t want to escape this.

  She breathed him in. He smelled liked lemons and mangoes and an underlying hint of sweetness. His hands were so big and callused, but they moved gently against her skin.

  And then it was gone.

  “Did you hear that?” He looked toward the doors.

  She’d heard the pounding of her heart. She’d kind of ignored everything else.

  In the distance, she could hear the sound of a siren going off. “I think that’s the warning system. Don’t panic. They cover a lot of space. We need to find an interior room and wait it out. The bathroom is best. There aren’t any windows there.”

  “I’m going to go grab the radio. There’s a hand crank radio we keep in the kitchen. It’s also a flashlight and we might need that. It’s a good sign that the lights aren’t out.”

  She nodded. “Yes. I’ll go with you.”

  He put two hands on her arms. “No. Go get in the bathroom. Get your head down. I’ll be there in a minute.”

  He disappeared into the kitchen. She stood there, listening to the sound of the rain beating on the roof. He was right. They would need the radio so they would know when all was clear. At least it was late. No one would be on the streets at this time of night. Damn Mother Nature. She had terrible timing.

  The phone at the hostess station rang. Despite the fact that it was so late, she decided to answer rather than let it go to voicemail. It could be Sean having car trouble. “This is Top.”

  The voice came over the line in fits and starts. Deena. “… okay?... heard… coming… Top.”

  “What?” She strained to hear her. Deena would be calling from her cell. It looked like the weather was hurting her signal.

  “Worried…”

  The line went dead and so did the lights. They didn’t even flicker. There was a loud popping sound and then everything went dark.

  She stood still for a moment, trying to orient herself. They’d drawn the shades so only the barest hint of what light was left outside filtered in. She was utterly in the dark. Her heart was pounding for a different reason now. Fear sparked through her. Her instinct was to burrow down in the bathroom. It was back and to her left. All she had to do was walk about three feet in a straight line and she would find the back wall. Once she could touch it, she would follow it back to the bathrooms. Simple. She would be safe there.

  There was a loud crash and then it sounded like the world was being battered.

  The windows. At least one of them had shattered. Her eyes were adjusting and she could see a couple of big balls that had gotten through the shades. They looked like baseballs, but she knew what they were. Hail. She heard another crash, this one to her right. The kitchen.

  She didn’t think, simply reacted. She ran to her right. Something was wrong. Macon knew exactly where the radio and flashlights were. He should have been back here. He wouldn’t have left her alone. She’d known him for a few weeks and he was a man who tried to take care of the people around him. She’d found it annoying at first. She’d had to let him walk her to her car at night, which meant trying to hide the fact that she was living in it. At first she’d enjoyed the nights Macon had off, but she’d quickly come to appreciate the feeling of being watched over by him. Sure, he did it for all the women, but she’d pretended it was only for her.

  She hit the double doors to the kitchen at a jog. She could sort of see.

  Something crunched underneath her. More glass. The back window had gone.

  “Macon?” Nothing. “Macon!”

  Lightning flashed and she saw him. He was on the floor, the flashlight next to him. Her hands started to shake as she made her way to him. Something dark was on his face. Please don’t let it be blood. Please don’t let it be. He was so close to the prep station. It looked like he’d slipped and hit his head.

  The world suddenly went eerily quiet.

  Even as she hit her knees, she knew things hadn’t gotten better. They’d gotten infinitely more dangerous. Quiet was bad. Quiet meant the monster had found her.

  “Macon? Please get up. We have to go. It’s almost here.” Panic threatened. She reached for his hand. It was warm in hers and when she tried to find his pulse, it was strong under her fingertip. His heart was beating.

  The street kid inside her told her to run, to hide, to protect herself. She’d spent those first years of her life in survival mode. She’d not known anything else until she’d been taken in by her mom and Ronnie. It would be easy to slip back into it. Hell, she’d been in it since her mother died. The child she’d been had taken over and she looked out for herself. That child urged her to take the radio and the flashlight and hide. No one would blame her.

  But she wasn’t a child any longer. She’d indulged that piece of herself for too long. She couldn’t leave him. She stood up and grasped his hands in hers. Maybe she could make it to the storage closet. It was reinforced. It might be their best bet. She took a deep breath and started to pull him.

  Tried to pull him and didn’t get far.

  “You had to be all muscular, didn’t you?” She tried again, but he wouldn’t move.

  There was a terrible sound that filled her whole world. If she hadn’t known better, she would have thought a train was coming her way. It wasn’t a train. Tears filled her eyes and panic made her want to flee, but she dropped back down and did the only thing she could.

  She covered his body with hers and prayed they survived.

  Chapter Three

  “And they’re sure his hands are going to work? It’s just his brain that was bashed in? Wait, he needs his brain to cook, right? I know you don’t but what he does is so much more important.�
�� A deep voice disturbed Macon’s sleep.

  “Have I ever told you what an asshole you are?” Another voice. This one was very familiar, but Macon kind of wanted all of the voices to go away.

  They seemed intent on tormenting him. “Maybe a couple of times, but this is serious, Sean. He’s an artist. If he dies, the world loses. Why couldn’t I have met him when I was in the Army instead of his brother? Adam is utterly useless unless you need someone to make sarcastic comments at inopportune times.”

  “Yeah, and we all know that’s your job.”

  His head ached. What the hell had happened? He didn’t remember dipping into the whiskey. He hadn’t done that for a while. He had work so he couldn’t drink all night and moan the loss of his leg. Not when there were pies to prep. Why had he started in again?

  “Fuck you, Big Tag. And the next time you piss off some fifth grade hacker and your e-mail gets inundated with ads for erectile dysfunction and tractors, you’re on your own.” His brother was here? Why was his brother present at his hangover?

  “That was Chelsea. She gets pissy from time to time.”

  “Oh, and my sarcasm is so much smarter than your sarcasm,” his brother announced.

  “Could your sarcasm be a little quieter?” He managed to get his eyes to open up. He closed them immediately. The world was way too bright. He started to stretch and found himself tethered to an IV. Shit. He was in the hospital. How many damn times was he going to wake up in a hospital?

  He reached down and touched his good leg.

  Adam leaned over. “It’s still there. You’re good. You’re at Parkland Hospital in Dallas.”

  It was stupid but he was deeply grateful to his brother in that moment. Adam didn’t make fun of him for worrying. He simply explained.

  “I’ll get Daley,” a deep voice said. He was fairly certain he was dealing with both Taggarts, plus Adam. And he’d gotten a glimpse of something pink. Had Ian Taggart been wearing a pink shirt?

  “Hey, brother. Way to survive a tornado.” Adam’s hand clasped his forearm. “I’ve been here for years and never actually seen one of the fuckers. You’re here for a few months and get caught in one. You are one unlucky son of a bitch.”

  Yep. That was him. He groaned as he tried to open his eyes again. The last year had been one gut punch after another. IED and then fighting off insurgents with one leg. Watching Ronnie…no. He wasn’t going there. It was so much easier to think about how his ex-wife had screwed him over and taken everything.

  The only good thing to happen to him in that last year was…

  He forced his eyes open. “Ally? Ally was with me.” He gripped his brother’s arm. “Ally was in the bathroom.”

  Sean Taggart shook his head. “No, she wasn’t.”

  “Oh, god, what happened?” Ally couldn’t be dead. He’d told her where to go, how to protect herself. Memories came flooding back. He’d grabbed the flashlight right before the lights went out. And then everything had gone dark and he tripped over something with his stupid non-leg and he’d fallen. He’d bashed his head and right before he’d gone out he’d been happy that Ally was safe.

  Ally hadn’t been safe?

  His boss looked across the bed to grin at his brother. “Told you.” He glanced down toward Macon. “Ally disobeyed and you’re lucky she’s a brat. They found her covering your body with hers. She protected your head with her back and it was a good thing. When the tornado hit all the pots we had hanging overhead fell and they would have come right down on your noggin.”

  “Or your hands.” Ian Taggart strode back into the room. There was a pink blanket wrapped over his massive chest. It was a weird fashion statement for a former Green Beret to make. “They could have crushed your hands. She’s a goddamn hero.”

  Big Tag was fond of his lemon pie.

  Ally had done what? His brain wasn’t quite functioning. He had to process the information. “Who found us? Where is Ally?”

  “The crew was at a bar in Deep Ellum,” Sean explained. “When they heard where the tornado hit, they came running. They found you in the kitchen with Ally protecting your nasty ass.”

  “She’s alive?”

  Sean moved to his left and gestured toward the window. “She’s fine. She’s asleep. I convinced the nurses to bring in a cot and let her spend the night.”

  He sat up despite the knife that threatened to split his brain in two. She was lying across a small cot, her body curled up and her back to the wall. Her arms were crossed over her chest and there was something about the way she slept that made him think she was protecting herself.

  “She covered my body with hers?” He let his voice go low, not wanting to disturb her.

  “Yeah and she’s got the bruises to prove it,” Sean said. “Her back took a couple of nice whacks, but would you like to know what she said when we tried to get her into the ER?”

  “She wouldn’t go because she can’t afford it.” He knew what Ally’s first fear would be. She wouldn’t want to run up a bunch of bills she couldn’t afford. “She hasn’t been around long enough. Her insurance hasn’t kicked in.”

  “Yep. I brought in a friend of mine. He checked her out. She’s fine. And she can sleep through anything,” Ian said as his pink blanket moved. The big guy looked down. “Root around all you like, baby girl. Nothing’s coming out of that. I need to take her to her momma. Kenzie should be finished by now. The girl eats like a Hoover. She makes Daddy proud.”

  “Charlotte’s here?”

  “Of course. Dude, you’re important to us. You make the pies.”

  “What Ian is trying to say is you’re family,” Adam said, rolling his eyes. “Everyone’s out in the waiting room. Charlotte and Avery are having a breast in. Some dude was dumb enough to tell them to find somewhere private to feed the babies, so now they’re letting it all hang out in protest.”

  The door opened and a tall man in a white coat walked in. “Good morning, Adam’s brother. I’m Will Daley. I’ll be making sure your brain is functioning today.”

  “Ask him if he remembers how to make the pies, doc,” Ian said before heading off to find his wife.

  “Sorry about my brother. He’s an idiot,” Sean said as Will took a look at his chart.

  “He’s also more sarcastic than usual when he’s freaked out. He thought Sean was closing,” Adam explained. “He showed up a few minutes after the crew. He was the one who forced everyone to wait for the ambulance. Ally was going to try to get you into her car to take you to the hospital.”

  “Ian acts like an ass most of the time, but he really does have a heart of gold,” Sean said. “I think you’ll discover my brother believes he owes you for more than good pies. And so do I.”

  “Is she really all right?” He couldn’t take his eyes off Ally.

  “That one is stubborn as hell, but she seems fine,” the doctor said.

  “You checked her out?” When Ian said he’d brought a friend in, Macon thought it was likely an old Army buddy with some medic training. He would feel so much better if a practicing doctor had examined her.

  Will pulled out a penlight. “Yes, I did. I had to promise there would be no paperwork. That girl is terrified of hospital bills. Not that I blame her. Yours is going to be a doozy. Let me take a look at your eyes.”

  After a few moments of flashing too-bright lights in his eyes, Will proclaimed him ready to go home. He’d taken a whack to his head, but Will hadn’t seen any real damage in the incredibly expensive CT scan he’d been put through. “I can release you today, but I want you to rest for a few days. With your leg injury, you could be off balance. You’re not long post op, are you?”

  He shook his head, uncomfortable even talking about it. He knew Ally knew, but he’d been careful around her. She hadn’t seen him trip or have to adjust the damn thing. She certainly hadn’t seen his stump. Knowing and seeing were two different things. “It’s been almost a year.”

  “Well, it can take even longer for you to get truly confortable wit
h the prosthetic. I noticed your organic leg is banged up.”

  “What?” Adam asked.

  His brother could be a mother hen at times. “I fell while I was jogging.”

  Will held up a hand, stopping Adam’s next comment. “It’s good. You should attempt to do all the things you did before. Trying to get back to normal is an excellent sign, but you have to take better care of those scrapes and lay off the running for a week. You need someone to keep an eye on you for the next few days and I’ll need to see you again in about a week.”

  “We’ll take care of it, Will,” Adam said.

  “No. I will.”

  Everyone turned to look at the woman who had said the words. Ally sat up, blinking and then covering her yawn. She looked like a sleepy kitten waking up. She stood up and stretched, her breasts moving against the thin fabric of her T-shirt.

  “He’s not the only one who needs watching after,” Daley said with a frown, looking her way. “I have no idea how you slept on that thing. Aren’t you sore?”

  She shook her head. “I’ve had worse. Look, Miles and I can watch out for each other. You’ve got a place, right?”

  Despite the events of the night before, she looked pretty and young. He probably looked really rough. “Yeah, but it’s really my brother’s guesthouse.”

  She shrugged. “Digs is digs, Miles. You’ve got a place to crash and I have a car. Yeah, the restaurant might not have survived but Bessie did. And to think all those stupid mechanics wanted to put her down when she hit two hundred K. So between the two of us, we are practically a fully functional human being.”

  “With three and a quarter legs.” The sarcasm was catching.

  “Yep. We got those, too. And stop complaining. You’ve got a three-quarters bionic leg. What do you say, Miles? Can I crash at your place for a while and we can get the docs off our backs?”

  He nodded and then winced. Damn, they were a sad couple.