What are the odds of me running from Thomas just to be eaten by two dogs who look they could swallow me whole. I want to scream for help but I’m afraid it might set them off and make them attack.
“Who you?”
He tilts his head to the side, examining me, but not like the dogs. His stare is out of curiosity.
“M-Madison.”
The dogs growl again. I guess they don’t like me talking to Liam. One of the dogs who has on a blue collar begins to sniff me. My body goes rigid, and I don’t move. Not even an inch. I don’t know what this dog eats to be this big, but I do not want to become his next meal.
I glance to the right and notice my bathroom door is open. Just as I’m about to make a run for it, my bedroom door opens up. “Duke, Daisy, and Liam, get your butts out of here.”
Cara stands in the doorway with her hands on her hips, sending a heated stare at the three of them. Both dogs plop down on their butt with a whine while Liam looks over to his mother with puppy-dog eyes.
“Who she?”
“That’s Madison, our new houseguest who has probably been traumatized.”
Liam walks over to his mother with raised arms. Cara swiftly picks him up, placing him on her hip. “Sorry, Mama.”
Cara places a kiss on his cheek. She stares at her son, her eyes full of love. “It’s okay, baby, but you can’t just come into people’s room while they’re sleeping. Okay?” He nods and lays his head on her shoulder. Cara then turns her attention to the dogs. “You two, out. Madison’s probably scared to death because of you two.”
As if the dogs understand every word she just said, they both whine and hang their heads in shame as they shuffle out the door. Once they’re gone from sight, I breathe. Cara cheeks twitch as if she is trying not to laugh. This isn’t funny. I thought I was seriously about to be their breakfast.
“Sorry about that. I probably should have told you about the dogs. Ever since I had the triplets, they’ve become even more protective which I didn’t think was possible. They probably wanted to know who the stranger under the same roof as their little humans was.”
“It’s okay. Geez, what do you feed them to be that big?”
“They’re on a raw meat diet. Normally I mix in some raw eggs, vegetables, quail eggs, oats, and ultra oil.”
“Good to know. Now I know what to feed my dog if I ever want him to be the size of a mountain lion.”
Cara snorts and shakes her head. “Breakfast will be ready in about twenty minutes. I want to talk to you about some things when you come down.”
“Okay, cool. Just let me take a shower and I’ll be down.”
Cara nods and shuts the door behind her as she leaves. Getting up, I walk over to the dresser and grab a pair of jeans and cami for the day. While in the shower, I think over how dinner went last night. The guys are hilarious. They spent the night teasing Thor and threatening to steal me away. That almost got of few of his brothers a punch to the face.
I don’t know if anything will happen between us. I would be lying if I said I didn’t feel anything for him. After all these years, I could never tell myself I didn’t love him. Even after I thought he betrayed me. The kind of love Jonah and I shared doesn’t go away. It’s branded in my heart. I couldn’t let go of him no matter how much I wanted to. I tried to tell myself I hated him for what he did, but ultimately, my heart wouldn’t let him go.
Now that I know the full truth, everything I had bottled away over the years has come rushing back to the surface. I don’t know if I should act on my feelings or ignore them. I don’t even know how Jonah feels about me. He probably sees me as tainted after what Thomas did.
Instantly, I want to smack myself for even thinking that. Last night I saw the pieces of the Jonah I fell in love with. He was carefree, loving, and being the jokester he always was. After ending my shower, I dry off and finish getting ready. I head downstairs and the smells coming from the kitchen make me quicken my steps.
I come to a sudden halt when I see Jonah at the breakfast table feeding Chase in his highchair. When he looks up at me, his face breaks into a bright smile that has my tummy swirling. I’ve been around him for twenty-four hours and already he has me swooning for him like he did when I was thirteen.
I am in so much trouble here.
Chase smacks his hands down on the tray when Jonah doesn’t feed him another scoop of his baby food. Turning back to Chase, he chuckles. “Okay, okay. You don’t have to get all testy with me. One day you’ll meet a woman who makes you forget everything just by just looking at her.”
He whispers the last part, but I hear it. Again, my stomach flips at his words. Viper is sitting at the head of the table while Cara is placing platters in the middle. “I hope you’re hungry. We’ve got French toast, eggs, sausage, bacon, and fruit.”
On cue, my stomach growls and I can feel the heat rushing to my cheeks. God, that’s embarrassing. I haven’t had too much of an appetite over the years but something about this place brings a shield of peace I haven’t had in a long time.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” Cara giggles. “Come on and take a seat. We’ll talk after breakfast.” I take a seat across from Jonah. We began piling our plates and I help make Khai’s plate since he’s sitting next to me. The triplets have booster seats strapped to the dining room chairs, making it easy for them to eat at the big table.
After a few minutes of silence and eating, Jonah clears his throat. “Madison, one of my brothers works at the hospital not too far from here and he said they have a temporary position opening up in the emergency room. He wanted to know if you were interested.”
“That would be great! I really don’t want to sit around until this is handled. Work takes my mind off things.”