“You have no idea,” I mumbled.
As if on cue, Leigh and the woman I now knew was Layla East walked into the room. And my jaw hit the floor. Layla was wearing a pair of fitted jeans with a tight black t-shirt. The only remarkable thing about her outfit was the way it molded to her body. And it was remarkable. Her long, honey, blonde hair hung in loose curls down her back in stark contrast to the black shirt.
When my eyes landed on her face, I almost choked on my own spit. Leigh had apparently done her makeup, accentuating her big, blue eyes and her plump lips. And holy hell. She looked good.
While I tried to regain some semblance of coherency, Leigh didn’t miss a beat. “You like? We were bored, and I convinced Kayla to let me give her a makeover. I haven’t had a chance to do one since Harper went off to college.”
I cleared my throat and directed my attention to Leigh. “You did a good job.”
Leigh swatted my shoulder, “Don’t tell me, tell her.”
“You look great, Kayla,” I rasped. Why was my mouth suddenly dry? I could have sworn I was on the verge of drooling mere seconds ago.
“Thanks,” she said softly.
Bronze cleared his throat.
“Oh, you hush. You can handle not being the center of attention for one minute,” Leigh playfully scolded him.
“I’m in the freaking hospital. I should be the center of attention,” Bronze cried.
“I swear, you’re all a bunch of overgrown babies whenever you get sick or hurt,” she said. “But I still love you.”
“If that were true, I would have one of your homemade cookies in my hand,” Bronze said.
Leigh reached into her humongous purse and pulled out a paper bag. She held the sack up and examined it. “Hmm, I’m not sure you deserve these.”
“Please, Leigh. You know I didn’t mean anything. I’ve got a head injury. You can’t hold anything that comes out of my mouth against me,” Bronze blabbered.
She held the bag just out of his reach, “Only if you promise to share.”
“With who?”
“Your brother and Kayla.”
“I promise.”
She dropped the bag in his lap, and he dove in like a rabid beast. He looked up with a mouthful of cookie and asked, “You guys want some?”
He was met with a chorus of no’s.
Shaking my head at my brother, I turned to Kayla, “This is my brother, Bronze. Bronze, this is Kayla.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said through his mouthful of cookie.
“Uh, likewise. I hope you get well soon,” she said, stumbling over her words.
Bronze nodded and continued to inhale Leigh’s cookies like he hadn’t had any food in days.
“Leigh, Paige and Heidi are in the rooms on either side of Bronze. Would you mind checking in on them? I haven’t had a chance to do it myself yet.”
Leigh’s nose scrunched, but she politely agreed and left the room.
I grabbed Layla’s hand and pulled her to the corner of the room. “Would you feel comfortable staying at Leigh’s house tonight? I don’t want you to stay at the clubhouse, and I don’t have time to take you anywhere else.”
“Yes, but did you ask her?”
“Not yet, but I know she’ll say yes. She’s always done whatever she could to help whenever someone asked,” I said. Then, an idea popped into my head. “Actually, I might be staying there as well since my room is in the damaged section of the clubhouse.” She didn’t need to know I had my own place away from the club.