The Naughty List Bundle - Kylie Adams [105]
“There, you see? I won’t worry as long as you’re around so I can see you’re doing okay. Morgan probably knew that, too.”
Morgan lifted his brows. Sounded good enough to him, though thoughts of Honey hadn’t much entered into his mind while he was trying to think of ways to keep Misty around.
“But…” Misty floundered, then insisted, “I need to get back to work. I can’t just stay here indefinitely.”
Morgan hustled through the doorway before Misty could convince Honey that she should leave. He surveyed both women cozied up on the couch, and Misty’s eyes widened in alarm.
There was no way for him to reassure her right now, so he didn’t bother trying. He’d already given her his word that he wouldn’t tell about her stint with the law. It wouldn’t hurt her to trust him just a bit.
He got right to the point. “I heard you mention your job.”
“Morgan.” Her tone said she’d kill him if he said one more word.
The threat didn’t worry him. After all, the woman had hurt her hand just smacking him in the stomach. And she had shared her secrets with him, which he chose to see as a sign of trust whether she realized it or not. “I have a solution.”
Misty moaned again. He noticed she’d been doing a lot of that lately.
Undaunted, he held up his hands and pronounced, “You’re going to come to work for me.”
MISTY STARED at Morgan, wondering what he was up to now. Somehow, in the short time it had taken her to shower, he’d done something to her car so it wouldn’t start, shaved so that he looked refreshed and ready to take on the day instead of looking like a dark savage, and he’d pulled on more clothes.
She was eternally grateful for the clothes part.
Even when he made her so mad she wanted to club him on top of his handsome head, she couldn’t seem to ignore him. The man filled up the space around her with his size, his scent, his pushy presence. When he was there, he was really there, and she doubted any sane woman would be oblivious to him, especially not when he was flaunting his bare, muscled chest.
Morgan had the type of body that had always secretly appealed to her. He was tall and powerful and immeasurably strong—but he could be so gentle.
She shook her head. Just because he distracted her didn’t mean she’d let him off the hook. What she’d most wanted not to happen he’d made sure had happened. Never mind that she was now in the situation she’d originally wanted, with a safe place to stay, close to her sister.
How the circumstance had come about was totally unfair—and all Morgan’s fault. Honey deserved some carefree time, but now she’d worry endlessly. Honey had a horrible tendency to mother her, a habit she’d gotten into because their mother had died long ago and their father was so cold and undemonstrative. Though Honey was only slightly older, she’d taken the big-sister role to heart.
She’d have told Honey the whole story eventually, of course, because they didn’t keep secrets from each other. But not now, not when Honey had just gotten married and found so much happiness. It wasn’t fair to drop such a burden in her lap.
She should have choked Morgan instead of punching him in his rock-hard middle, she thought, surveying his dark frown. But judging by his thick neck, that wouldn’t have done him much damage, either. The man was built like a pile of bricks and was just as immovable.
And now he’d offered her a job. Or more precisely, he’d demanded she take a job. With him.
He hadn’t precisely told Honey that Misty didn’t have a job anymore. No, he’d made it sound as if he was only offering her an alternative so she could stick around. Did that mean he’d been sincere when he’d promised not to tell anyone about the rest of her troubles? God, she hoped so. It was all too humiliating, and though she knew Honey would believe her innocent, she had no idea how the others would feel.
Being pregnant was one thing; she wanted the baby and couldn’t really regret its existence. And the brothers had been very accepting about the whole thing—almost cavalier, in fact. But surely they wouldn’t want a jailbird in their home. She