Taste of Passion (Madaris Novels) Read Online Free PDF

observant so there was no way she would not know that Luke was in good hands. She was also determined to marry off all of her grands and great-grands before she took her last breath. Those were her words and not his. “Okay, I’ll do that. They’re waiting for me to get back to them with an update on your condition anyway,” he said. “I told them earlier that you were okay, and even went so far as to tell a little white lie, that we had talked when we hadn’t, just to calm their fears. Especially when I heard Mama Laverne had ordered Uncle Jake to get his jet fueled and ready to fly.”
    He couldn’t help but laugh when he heard Luke’s groan. “Don’t worry. I convinced them you were okay. Just a busted knee and a few scrapes. I didn’t mention anything about the cracked rib.”
    “Thanks, I owe you one.”
    “And I plan to collect.” And in a low voice he said, “I want the name of that nurse who tried getting in bed with you.” Blade chuckled when he heard Luke groan again.
    “I see Cam didn’t waste any time calling to tell you about her,” Luke said.
    “No, he didn’t,” Blade said. “He knows I like the daring type. But on a serious note, it’s a good thing Cam and Mac walked in when they did or this time next year you’d be receiving a Father’s Day card informing you that you were some baby’s daddy. A woman with a get-rich-quick scheme will try just about anything.” The thought of something like that happening to Luke or any single man for that matter actually made him shudder.
    “So when are you leaving the hospital?” he then decided to ask Luke. “Aunt Carrie and Mama Laverne will want to know.”
    “In the morning. Mac is picking me up. Cam and the others left this morning for the rodeo in Phoenix.”
    “Okay. Have Mac call me after she gets you settled in tomorrow. I’ll be the go-between so the two of you won’t get a lot of calls from the family. They will want to know how you’re doing for a while. And I talked to Slade and Skye. They got back this morning from Maine and like everyone else they were worried about you. But I assured them that you would live.”
    Luke chuckled. “Gee, thanks.”
    “Don’t mention it. And once I tell them that you’ll be crashing over at Mac’s place they’ll know that you’re fine.”
    “And how will they know that?” Luke asked.
    Blade laughed. “Trust me, they’ll know. Look, I got to go. My lady friend is already in bed and I hear her calling my name. I don’t want her to wait too long.”
    “Sorry if I held you up.”
    Blade smiled. “No harm’s been done. I’ll just make up for any lost time.”
     
    As Mackenzie prepared the guest room for Luke’s visit she couldn’t fight off this weird feeling that she was making a grave mistake. If she had been in the mood to laugh she would have found the entire situation rather amusing. For the past five years she had avoided Luke, or at least she’d tried to, whenever she was invited to Madaris family gatherings, and she’d been invited to practically all of them—to Christmas sleepovers at Whispering Pines, the huge ranch owned by wealthy rancher Jake Madaris and his movie-star wife Diamond Swain Madaris, to the numerous birthday parties and baby showers. Just last month she had attended the christening of Alex and Christy Maxwell’s beautiful baby girl whom they had named Alexandria.
    The Madarises considered her as one of their own. From the first, after she had been introduced as Ashton’s cousin, they had made her feel welcome and part of theirclan. So it seemed the least she could do was to return the favor by taking care of Luke for a little while, at least until he was on his feet. Even though, as she had told him, she wasn’t sure how much help she could be since she had a full-time job. That meant she wouldn’t be with him around the clock.
    Closing her eyes, she held her breath as she remembered their kiss. Why had he done that? It was their first kiss and she