Luscious (Topped #1)(18)

“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 * 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.”