“I like what I like, and I don’t want to run out,” I tell him.
“Right,” he mutters, coming over to the living room. “Ready?”
“As ready as I will ever be to go stay with you,” I respond.
“Good enough.”
He reaches for the luggage handle and takes it from me, then grabs the hanging bag slung over my arm. “It’ll be nice to sleep in my bed tonight,” he says on the way to the door. “Coming?” he asks when he gets there and turns around, but I’m still standing in the same spot in the living room.
“Yeah,” I agree with a sigh.
And as I walk over and grab a black coat out of my closet since the white one holds memories I want to forget, I can’t help but wonder what my parents would say if they found out I was sleeping over at the house of a man who is part of the Savage Kings MC. They would probably think I’ve lost my mind. Strangely enough, I didn’t even consider going to stay with them. Neither place has ever been home, so I would be as alone as I am here. No, I would feel safer with Cannon. Besides, there’s no point dragging my mother and father into the drama with Bailey.
Chapter Twelve
Cannon
I’m still surprised that Madison so easily agreed to come stay with me. I thought for sure she would protest more or back out before I got her in my SUV. But here we are, driving down the road to my house with the prospects in the car behind us.
From the corner of my eye, I see a glow from her phone and glance over to see what she’s doing.
“I’m texting Lily to let her know that I’m staying with you. What’s the address?”
I call it out, and she types it in.
“I don’t expect you to trust me,” I assure her. “And I think you’ll feel better once we get to my place and you meet Conrad and Hannah. But I did try to warn you yesterday.”
Madison groans and says, “Seriously, you’re going to pull a ‘I told you so’ tonight?”
“Well, it’s true,” I say.
“Yes, you were right about Bailey being ruthless. I was wrong to think he was a decent human being. Are you happy now?” she asks.
“Hopefully, you won’t be so stubborn the next time I try to help you.”
“You were a stranger who came out of nowhere. How could I know if you were telling the truth or if you were just some crazy guy spewing conspiracy theories and wanting to scare me enough to drop out of the race? I was confused, especially since during all of that you were trying to ask me out.”
“Now you know I’m none of those things, though,” I say when I put on the turn signal for our road.
“Maybe. The jury is still out,” she says, but I can tell from the softness in her voice that she’s joking.
“One thing I know for sure is that you’re never going to go out with me.”
“No, I’m not,” Madison says confidently.
“Which is fine since I can’t sleep with you now anyway.”
“No, you can’t.”
“No, I mean, I don’t want to.”
“Wow. That’s so nice to hear,” she replies sarcastically.
“No, what I meant was that no matter how badly I may want to sleep with you, I can’t now because I can’t get rid of you in the morning.”
“What does that mean?” she asks.
“I don’t do serious relationships. No commitments, no feelings, which means nothing but one-night stands with women who understand it’s only sex.”
“When we first met, you acted like it was your life’s mission to get me into your bed.”
“What can I say? I’ve never been turned down before, and you did it so brutally it hurt my ego.”
“Oh, whatever,” she says, and I can hear the hint of a smile in her voice. I’m just glad that I could take her mind off of what just happened for a few minutes. And for the first time, she finally said something that makes her sound her age.
We pull up into the garage, and then I grab Madison’s luggage from the back before leading her out through the side door to the gravel lot behind the garage to give the prospects their marching orders.
While I’m talking to them, Madison huddles in on herself with her small bag pressed to her like it’s more than the weather making her cold. I make it quick so I can get her inside.
“You two clear on where I want you?” I ask Jake and Lucas.
“Yes, sir,” they both answer.
“Come on. Let’s get you upstairs, so I can make you some coffee,” I tell her, gesturing for her to go up the stairs to the first floor.
As soon as her foot touches the step, the flood light comes on and the door opens on the deck, making her freeze.
“It’s just Conrad, my brother,” I assure her from two steps behind her. “He either heard us or got a notification from the security cameras that there was motion out here.”
Sure enough, Conrad opens the door and steps out.
Madison still hasn’t moved as she stares at him before saying, “Jeez, there are two of you.”
“Go on up so I can put your shit down,” I tell her, which finally gets her moving. “And by the way, most women who see us both usually say, “Oh, wow, there are two of you!” I tell her, using a falsetto.
“What’s going on?” Conrad asks from the door.
“He sounds like you too,” Madison mutters, and then we’re finally on the wooden landing. She hesitates before closing the distance to the door.
“Madison, meet my twin, Conrad. Conrad, this is Madison Monroe, our future mayor.”
She finally walks over, holding out her hand to him like a good little politician.
“You’re joking,” Conrad says as he shakes her hand briefly before dropping it.
“Nope,” I answer.
“So, I
