“Your papa was a hitman?” Mac didn’t believe it.
“Black Ops,” Hayley corrected. “But he knows a lot of people. Throughout the years, some would show up at the commune in need of help. Or to hide out.”
“Didn’t that put your whole family at risk?”
“My parents weighed the risks against helping when they could. It wasn’t perfect, but it taught us a lot. Like how to read people.”
“You don’t read people very well,” Mac said. “You didn’t run me off.”
“Why would I run you off? You’re the sweetest man I’ve ever met.”
“I’m not sweet,” Mac disagreed. “I killed people.”
“Bad people?” Hayley asked. “I bet it was bad people.”
“I like to think so.” Mac ran his hand up Hayley’s back. “I couldn’t do much in the military, but once they recruited me into the government work, I had more choices. It was where I met Lance. Lance can find anything out about anyone. He gave me the details that the government liked to leave out.”
“Like with me?”
“He didn’t tell me anything,” Mac said quickly.
“Like I care,” Hayley said. “I’m pretty much an open book.”
“I like to think I know you pretty well. I just didn’t expect you to be so accepting.”
“You thought I’d run away in terror.”
“Well, yeah.”
“You can’t scare me away, Mac.”
“You should be scared.”
“Maybeyoushould be scared,” Hayley said.
“Why?”
“Because I think I’m in love with you.”
Mac blinked down at Hayley. “You what? Are you screwing with me?”
“Of course not. You’re perfect and I’m falling in love with you.”
“I must be dreaming,” Mac said. To himself. Because obviously Hayley wasn’t sitting in his lap, right after finding out he killed people, and confessing he thought he was falling in love with him.
Hayley grabbed his cheeks and jerked Mac’s head up. “You with me, big guy?”
“You can’t love me,” Mac told him.
“I’m pretty sure I can do whatever I want.”
There was his bossy boy. “Sure, you can but you shouldn’t—”
“Shut up, Mac.”
“What?” Mac frowned. “Did you just tell me to shut up?”
“I did.” Mac nodded before patting his cheek. “You’re not listening very well.”