I smiled.  “Yes.”

He settled me in my seat, put the salads on my lap, and then drove us to Madison’s house.  It was a good twenty-minute drive, and when we pulled up outside her home, I’d completely calmed down.  Donovan’s words had eased my nerves, and I was glad I’d been honest with him.

I fell in love with Madison’s home the minute I saw it from the outside.  A brick lowset, she’d landscaped the front yard with lots of colourful flowers and a water feature.  I sucked at identifying flowers, so I had no clue what kind they were, but there was such a mix of colours it reminded me of a beautiful painting.  It turned out she loved colour.  She’d filled her home with it: on the walls, in the decorations and with more flowers scattered throughout.  I got the impression Madison loved decorating.

We walked through her home, down the hallway and ended up in her kitchen.  Donovan placed the salads on the counter and smiled at Madison who was getting steaks ready for the barbeque.  It wasn’t often he smiled, so I knew straight away they were pretty close.

“Blade!” She greeted him by flinging her arms around him in a welcoming hug.

I watched in interest as he let her hug him.  His arms didn’t go around her but he did place his hands to her arms and hold her there.  Donovan didn’t seem to be a touchy-feely man.  Except where I was concerned, and then it seemed he had no problem with touching me in any way he chose.

Madison let him go and turned her attention to me.  Her face lit up with delight before she pulled me into a hug, too.  “I’m so glad you could come today, Layla.  Blade’s been very quiet about you, so I know nothing about how the two of you met.”  She let me go and gave her brother a dirty look.

Donovan scowled and turned to look at J who was walking towards us.  Jerking his chin at him, he said, “J.”

J gave him a chin lift in return and said, “Blade.”  He moved into Madison’s space and slipped his arm around her waist.  She sunk into him, nestling her head against his chest, placing her hand on his stomach.  I noticed the ring on her finger: J was her husband.

“J, this is Layla, Blade’s girlfriend,” Madison introduced me.

Girlfriend.

“We’ve met,” J said, flashing me a breathtaking smile.  His smile was enough to melt the panties off any woman in close proximity.

I returned his smile.  “Hi, J.”

Before anyone could say anything else, another guy came down the hallway towards us. Jesus, another fucking panty-melting dude.  This guy didn’t look so friendly, though.

“Scott,” Madison greeted him quietly.  She gave him a questioning look and when he shook his head, she asked, “She’s not coming, is she?”

He flinched, and his whole body tensed at her words.  As I looked closer at him, I noticed his exhaustion.  He scrubbed a hand over his face.  “No.”

Madison looked crushed.  “Shit, I spoke to her last night and she said she’d think about it.”

Scott blew out a long breath.  “Yeah, I thought she would.”

“What are you going to do?”

“Keep fighting for her.  I won’t give up on her or on us.  Whatever she needs to get through this, I’ll make happen,” he said with determination.

She gave me an apologetic look.  “Sorry, Layla, meet my brother, Scott.”

We exchanged greetings, and then he left us to go out to the back yard.

Donovan watched him go, and then turned to Madison.  “Is he okay?” he asked.

Sighing, she went back to preparing the steaks and said, “I honestly don’t know.  He won’t talk to me about it.  You know what he’s like, bottling everything up.”

“Maybe you should just leave him be, baby,” J suggested, earning a frown from Madison.

“No, we need to get him to talk about it.”

Donovan bent to whisper in my ear, “You okay in here if I go out and talk to Scott?”

I looked up at him and nodded.  “Yeah, you go and talk to your brother.  Seems like he might need that.”

He brushed his lips over mine and left us.  I watched him go and then looked back to Madison who stood staring at me with a look of wonder on her face.

At my questioning look, she said, “I’ve never seen Blade like that before.”

“Like what?”

She pointed at me.  “Like he just was with you.  Affectionate.  He’s usually so tightly wound and doesn’t do displays of affection.  I love that he’s like that with you.”

I thought back to the Donovan who came to my bar for a year before talking to me.  “Yeah, he’s a very intense man, that’s for sure.”

“I’m so glad he found you,” she said, softly, before finishing up her steaks.

J had started rearranging food in the fridge so he could put the salads I’d brought in there.  He pulled sausages out, and took them and the steak outside to the barbeque.  Madison smacked his ass as he left and grinned at me when he muttered something about not revving him up when he couldn’t do anything about it.

“So tell me, how did you meet Blade?” she asked once we were alone.

“He’d been coming to my bar for a long time but never really spoke to any of us.  He just sat in the corner and kept to himself, but one night recently, he stepped in and helped me sort out a problem with a debt collector who came to the bar looking for my business partner.  It just progressed from there.”