Luscious (Topped #1)(36)

“Let me know what you find out.”

The door opened and Ally walked out, her hair in a towel. Her body was wrapped in a robe and she gave Adam a smile as she headed straight for the coffee. There was something so right about having Ally walk through the house in a robe. Like she belonged here with him. “Good morning, Adam.”

“Morning, Ally. I’ll talk to you two later.” His brother pushed off from the bar. “And I’ll get back to you by Wednesday, Macon.”

Ally looked at him over her coffee mug. “Get back to you about what?”

The screen swung shut and Macon tried to let the tension leave with him. He didn’t want Ally looking into this. She could be very bossy if she thought there was a problem. He needed to get his ducks in a row and then he would sit her down and explain what he’d done and why he needed to ensure Ronnie’s family never knew. She would see that he was right and help him. He knew it. She was the one. “Just some business we’re dealing with. Come here. I need you to stir while I get the griddle ready. I think Sunday waffles are a new tradition.”

Her arms came around his back and flattened against his chest. She pressed herself against him and he was glad he’d left off the shirt. He’d put on a pair of shorts for the first time in forever. He was actually comfortable for once and all because Ally had convinced him he wasn’t a freak. Well, he kind of was, but that was a good thing.

He felt her kiss his back. “I like the sound of that, Miles.”

She kissed him again and then got down to serious whisking.

He worked beside her, listening to her hum.

It was going to be all right. For the first time since the accident, he had real hope for the future.





Three days later, Ally wiped down the last of the new tables and breathed deeply. Chef was breaking in some of the new appliances. She could smell the heavenly scent of braised short ribs. The kitchen doors opened and she got the briefest glimpse of her hunky guy. He was leaning over his station, patiently decorating the strawberry Napoleons he was testing out tonight.

“Okay, what if her partner somehow managed to get the information uploaded to her GPS before he was murdered. Then she’s got the location of the reports in her navigation system and all she has to do is follow instructions,” Serena said as she walked back from where she’d been hanging new drapes.

Serena had been combating writer’s block for days. She claimed doing tasks like cleaning or decorating helped get her head back in the game.

“Does a GPS work like that?” Deena asked.

Serena shrugged. “It could be a new GPS.”

“So the GPS takes over and sends her to someplace she wasn’t expecting? That sounds more like a horror novel to me. This is why you can keep your fancy cars. Bessie never talks back and she doesn’t tell me where to go.” Ally was wary of some satellite telling her what the roads were like. She’d driven all the way from small-town Georgia to Dallas without the aid of some robo voice telling her where to go. Of course, she’d also made a wrong turn in Louisiana and was almost certain she’d nearly been murdered by cannibalistic bayou dwellers, but she’d made it out of that, too.

“I don’t know. I kind of like it,” Deena said, sitting down next to Serena.

They started talking about plots, but Ally’s head wasn’t in the game. She’d gotten herself into trouble again and there wasn’t a road map out of this one.

How long could she go without telling Macon the truth? She was in love with the man. One hundred percent, fallen in crazy, no going back love. He was the man for her and she knew deep down that whatever he was hiding about Ronnie’s death couldn’t be so bad. Macon was honorable.

Of course, he also claimed he was a changed man. He talked about the fact that he’d been different before. She hadn’t known that Macon.

She glanced down at her watch. They were T-minus forty-five minutes to dinner service. Of course it was family dinner service, as Chef Taggart liked to call it. He was prepping dinner to thank all his friends and family who had come in this week to get Top back into shape for the upcoming weekend. They’d only been forced to close for two weeks thanks to the Herculean efforts of staff and Taggart’s friends. Big Tag had been in most afternoons with a tool kit and at least one baby strapped to his chest. It had been kind of fun. They’d set up playpens and the kids had gnawed on wooden blocks or each other while the adults worked.

She’d fit in. Ever since that night at the play party, Macon’s relatives had treated her like one of their own. She was closest to Serena, but she was getting to know Grace and Charlotte and Avery. She and Avery were trying to teach Eve McKay how to knit. The gorgeous psychologist knew how to curse, but she was trying to be patient.

What would they think of her if they knew she was lying?

“Hello?” A soft feminine voice brought Ally out of her thoughts. She looked up and a stunning blonde stood in the lobby. She was tall and willowy, like she’d stepped out of the pages of a fashion magazine. Dressed in a yellow sundress that had to be designer, she glanced around Top curiously.

Serena and Deena were deeply engrossed in a discussion of whether or not the GPS could easily be hacked via cell phone, so Ally stood up. “I’m sorry. We’re not actually open to the public until Friday.”

The woman laughed. “Oh, I’m not here for dinner. I’m sure it’s a fine establishment and all, but no. I’m looking for my husband. I’ve been told he works here.”