Defending Morgan (Mountain Mercenaries #3)(60)

“From what Arrow has said, you and Gray got together pretty quickly . . . how did you know he was the one?”

“I was resistant at first. I mean, I figured there was no way a man like Gray would really want to be with me. First, I was a mission for him. Second . . . well . . . I just figured he’d be happier with someone more like him. Someone who loved adrenaline rushes and wanted to be out lifting weights, exercising, and generally kicking ass.”

Morgan chuckled. “You mean that’s not you?”

Allye returned the laugh. “I mean, I love to dance, and I guess that’s exercise, but I swear if I wasn’t a dancer I’d be about fifty pounds heavier because I love sitting at home, watching TV, and chatting with my friends.”

“So how did you know?”

“Honestly? I think it was when I couldn’t imagine myself not being with Gray that I was convinced. After I was rescued—the second time—I could’ve stayed in San Francisco and gotten on with my life there. But even being with Gray for the short time I was, I came to crave seeing him in the morning and every evening. I loved talking with him about his day, and I loved simply watching him at his desk working on someone else’s taxes. It’s silly, but I had never felt as comfortable around someone as I did Gray.”

“That’s exactly how I feel,” Morgan said. “But it’s crazy . . . isn’t it?”

“No. Listen, men like the Mountain Mercenaries live their life at full blast. They like what they like, they hate what they hate, and they love who they love. Period. They’ll defend their friends and family to the death, and if necessary, they’d do the same for anyone they were sent to rescue and/or protect.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of. That when he realizes that I don’t need protecting anymore, he’ll come to his senses and wonder what the hell he’s doing with me,” Morgan said.

“I can’t tell you not to feel that way because, honestly, I still feel a little bit of that. But what I’ve come to realize is that Gray didn’t feel that way about the hundreds of people he rescued before me. He didn’t ask them to move in with him. He didn’t kiss them as if he couldn’t get enough, and he certainly didn’t make love to them. I can’t tell you why he was attracted to me or what made him decide he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me, over every other woman he’d ever met. But, in the end, it doesn’t matter. It is me he picked. It is me he wants to sleep with every night. I make his eyes light up when he sees me, and I make his pupils dilate when he sees me naked.

“And I don’t ask myself why anymore. I accept it for what it is, and I’ll fight tooth and nail to keep it. To keep him. I deserve him. I deserve to have a man who treats me like the most precious thing in his life. If he wants to protect me by not letting me watch the news and by doing his best not to talk about the missions he goes on with his friends, I’m okay with that because it means he loves me. And that love is the most precious thing in my life. Does that make sense?”

Morgan nodded and tried to blink away the tears in her eyes. For the first time since she’d met Arrow, she stopped thinking about why he seemed to like her as much as he did, and tried to think about it the other way. Why shouldn’t he like her? She was a good person. She’d not only managed to survive what had happened to her, but she hadn’t been broken by it—at least not beyond repair. She deserved a man like Arrow. She’d earned him, in a sense.

Allye was right. It wasn’t as if Arrow was living in a bubble. She’d seen more than one woman shoot him flirtatious glances. She’d been sitting right next to him when a waitress slipped him her phone number. But he hadn’t been interested in them. He’d continued to treat her as if she was the most important person in his life.

She was as worthy of love as the next person, and why shouldn’t she grab hold and give a relationship with Arrow her best shot?

She couldn’t stop the smile that curled her lips.

“I take it by that smile you’ve made a decision about something?” Allye asked.

“Yeah. I’ve been telling myself what you used to, that I’m too messed up. That what happened to me made me somehow less worthy. But I think I should be thinking about the entire situation differently. I need a man who can help me pick myself up and dust myself off, not someone I need to try to suck up to, or feel like I have to always look my best for. Hell, Arrow spent an hour trying to get mats out of my hair, and not once did he curl his nose at my looks. Why shouldn’t I get a man like Arrow? I’d say that I deserve him more than the average woman does.”

“Right on!” Allye cheered. “That’s exactly right. We didn’t ask for what happened to us. And we ended up with men who could appreciate us for who we are and what we went through. They don’t hold us down or back—they prop us up and help us keep going when things get tough.”

“I’m still concerned that it’s too fast,” Morgan admitted.

“Don’t be. As I said, these men know what they want. And if Arrow has decided he wants you, that’s it for him. You’re it for him. Don’t fight it. Just go with the flow. Trust me, it’ll be the best thing that has ever happened to you.”

“Okay.”

“Okay,” Allye agreed as she pulled down a long driveway with pine trees surrounding the property.