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“As soon as I met you, Allie O’Conner, I said, now there’s a girl who can drink anyone under the table.”
That seems to hit a nerve. “You know I was kidding. We don’t always let loose like that. I’m a nurse for crying out loud. But sometimes, especially after a brutal night at the ER, it just seems fitting to live a little. Seeing how close to death someone is makes me want to give it my all while I’m alive.” Allie fumbles with my radio. “Do you mind if I pair my phone?”
“That’s fine.” I wonder if she’ll be able to figure out how to do it in the state she’s in, but the dash soon lights up with her name, and she hits a playlist from her phone. An Irish band music comes through the speakers. “Dropkick Murphys,” she explains, almost yelling over the music.
“The sound sort of grows on you!” I half yell.
She grins and nods while tapping her boot-covered foot to the beat. We listen to several more songs before turning off to the road that will lead to Allie’s apartment, and she turns the radio down a decibel or two. “What got you into the security business?”
“I wanted to do something different when I got out of the military and wasn’t cut out for a nine to five desk job. I answered an ad for an investigative security position with a large corporation. I was there for about three years when I heard Prestian Corp was hiring. The family always interested me, and the work Chase is doing for the medical industry is well known in the city. He uses his money to help people. I liked that, applied, got hired on, and when a position came open for his family matters, he asked me to take it. Chase and Brian Carrington, his friend, decided to back the security team a while back, and we created our own company. It suits me well, and I have no complaints.”
“Brian Carrington, the steel magnate?”
I grin. “One and the same.”
“You travel a lot and get to see the world. That’s something I can’t do as a nurse.”
“Have you always wanted to be a nurse?”
“OMG. Always. Since I was a little girl playing with my dolls.”
I imagine a miniature Allie with dark hair and wide, bright green eyes, taking care of her dolls and chattering up a storm, and something in my heart constricts with the thought. “You make a wonderful nurse, Allie. You are kind and compassionate, and damn good at what you do. I saw how you took care of Lexie when I brought her into the ER last month and the other patients while we were there.”
“Well, thank you, Mr. Montgomery. I think you make a kick-ass bodyguard. It’s no wonder Chase wanted you guys to work for his family. You know they’re mafia, though, right?” She slaps a hand over her mouth. “Oh, wait, I wasn’t supposed to say anything about that, and you probably already know about that. Shhh…” Allie murmurs, placing a finger to her lips. “If you don’t, then you never heard that from me. Oh, or Lexie, because they’re super nice, and they’ve done so much for the two of us.”
I think the conversation about her nursing ambitions is over, but it’s not.
“I always wanted to help people, and a nurse helps people,” Allie informs me, yawning.
I smile because the drunken little jabbermouth may finally be ready to fall asleep and actually stay that way for a while this time. But I’m wrong again. Allie sits straight up in her seat. “Are you hungry? I’m starving.”
I grin. “No, I’m not hungry. I managed to eat all my dinner while you drank yours.”
I chance a glance over, and she’s grinning—a full wide smile. “Can we stop for takeout?”
“Sure, anything in particular?”
“Tacos.”
“The Irish lass wants tacos. Well, far be it from me to stand in your way. Have a preference?”
“Wait, I’m on it. I’ll order and have it delivered instead. I can jump in the shower before it gets there. I probably smell like a bar,” she laments, while I try to keep a straight face.
She thumbs through her phone. “How many tacos do you want?”
“I’m good,” I tell her.
“No, seriously. You have to have one of the tacos from this place. They’re seriously good, and you’d just be drooling over mine while I’m trying to eat, and that’s just gross, so I’ll get you a couple.”
“Fine, I’ll take two.”
“Hot sauce or mild?” she inquires, typing into her phone.
“Let’s try one of each.”
“Ooh, I like the way you think. I really like everything about you. Oh, shhh. You didn’t hear that from me. Okay? That’s supposed to be between me, myself, and I, and nobody else in the world will ever know about that, okay?”
“Your secret’s safe with me, Allie,” I tell her, and damn if something in my chest doesn’t tighten with something unfamiliar at her admission.
