“Yes, you were right. Two men were hiding in her townhouse and attacked her at knife point.”
“Fuck!” Conrad responds, the smile wiped off his face when he looks at her face and then mine again. “Are you okay?” he asks her.
“Yes,” Madison answers simply.
“It was a close call,” I tell him.
“What happened to…” he starts, and I know exactly what he’s asking.
“The men ran out the back of the townhouse. The prospects chased them, but they got away. They’re in the driveway now.”
“Jesus,” Conrad says. “I knew Bailey was a heartless dick, but I can’t believe he would stoop so low.”
“Well, he did. Could you get out of the way and let us inside? It’s cold as fuck out here,” I remind him.”
“Oh yeah, sorry,” he says, finally stepping back enough that Madison can get through. Once I’ve got the door with my elbow, he moves out of the way.
“Wow, you two even dress alike,” Madison remarks once she can see Conrad better in the light. “Even the same leather vest.”
“It’s a cut,” we both tell her at the same time.
“What’s a cut?” she asks.
“This,” Conrad says when he grips the sides of the open leather that’s parted over a black long-sleeved Henley.
“Oh, well, it looks like a vest to me,” she says.
Conrad gives me a look that sarcastically says, Isn’t she a sweetheart?
“So, this is the living room,” I tell her since it’s obvious. “The kitchen is right over there. My bedroom is upstairs, and the guest room you’ll be in is right up those stairs and to the right.”
Slipping past her because the luggage isn’t heavy but I’m tired of holding it, I start up the stairs, and she follows me.
“Here we are,” I say after I flip on the light and toss her things down on the bed. The room is empty other than a bed, dresser and one nightstand since it’s the smallest room. “The bathroom is across the hall. Conrad has his own in the upstairs master bedroom, so at least you won’t have to share it. There’s a closet, but it’s not huge,” I tell her when I open the door and show it to her. “Soon this room will be turned into a nursery.”
Madison places her bag on the nightstand and looks at me in confusion before she shakes her head. “Oh, right. Your brother’s baby. I had forgotten about that.”
“I’m guessing Hannah is already asleep next door tonight, but you’ll probably meet her in the morning. If you don’t see her, you’ll definitely hear her.”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing,” I mutter since I don’t think she wants to hear about how they fuck like very loud dogs in heat.
“Do you want to change into something more comfortable and then have some coffee?”
“Sure,” Madison agrees easily, which is not something I expected from her.
“I’ll be downstairs if you need anything,” I reply before I leave her, shutting the door behind me to give her some privacy.
Conrad is sitting at the dining table drinking a glass of water when I come back down. His face says exactly what he’s about to ask. “You brought her here?”
“Where else was I supposed to take her?” I ask him quietly.
“Anywhere but here, Cannon! If two men attacked her tonight, then I don’t want this shit anywhere near Hannah!”
“She’ll be safe here. The prospects will keep an eye out for any trouble. Bailey wouldn’t expect us to bring her here. What was I supposed to do? Drop her off at a hotel? Sleep on the floor outside?”
He rubs his eyes and grumbles, “This is getting more complicated than I expected.”
“No shit! I didn’t sign up to be a twenty-four-hour babysitter.” As soon as I say the words, I wince, and Conrad looks up at me with a glare. “You know what I mean. She’s a grown woman. A stubborn-ass grown woman, and the election is still five weeks away. A baby is different. Somebody has to be responsible for it. I’m not sure how I ended up responsible for her is all I’m saying.”
“I’m surprised you aren’t a little bit happier about this,” Conrad says.
“What do you mean?” I ask as I go to the Keurig machine and start it up, pulling out the cups I stashed in my hoodie pockets at Madison’s house.
“She’s…very attractive,” Conrad responds. I know that he wanted to say more than attractive but can’t because he’s afraid Hannah would find out and be pissed.
“So?”
“So, I would’ve thought that you would love having her here and in your bed.”
“That’s not going to happen,” I say with my back still to him, waiting for the machine to warm up.
“Is she seeing someone?” he asks, and my shoulders instantly tighten since I haven’t even asked her.
“I don’t know, but I don’t think so.”
“Then what’s stopping you from sleeping with her?”
“She’s made it clear she’s not interested. Besides, she’s going to be here for weeks.”
“Yeah, and?”
“And I don’t want anything more than a night with her.”
“So, since you can’t have just one night, you refuse to do her for thirty or so of them in a row?”
“Exactly,” I agree. The light on the coffee machine turns green, so I put the cup in it and grab a coffee mug from the cabinet to get it started. “But that doesn’t matter. Did you miss the part where I said she’s not interested? She’s focused on the campaign. Oh, and now probably terrified of not living until the election.”
“Still, if she’s a straight, single woman, then she has to be a little bit interested.”
I turn around to face Conrad again and tell him, “I would say thanks for the compliment if you didn’t look just like me, making it a rather conceited remark.”
“We may look alike, but I’m not the one who is a pro at using one-liners to get women
