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Hawk was glad they’d decided to meet at the diner. Everyone enjoyed the food, and once they’d covered the ramifications of Charlotte’s discovery, the conversation turned to much lighter topics.
Hawk enjoyed observing the dynamics between Charlotte and her mom. Upon meeting Donna, he’d been surprised by how young she looked. She and her daughter had similar builds—though her mom was slightly taller—and their hair color and haircuts were almost the same. Their laughter was identical, as was the way they gave their full attention to a person when they were talking.
As friendly as Donna was, he’d noticed that whenever the topic shifted to her, she had an uncanny ability to deflect it back to someone else. And there was something behind her eyes—a sort of cautious alertness. Perhaps it had something to do with the absentee father.
“Can I get y’all anything else?” Brenda walked over, her trusty order pad in hand.
“Everything was amazing.” Donna wiped her napkin across her lips and set it on the table next to her plate. “I don’t suppose you’d share that meat loaf recipe with me, would you?”
“Well, there isn’t really a set recipe, but I’ll have Roger jot down the basics for ya.” She slid her pencil from over her ear, totaled up their bill, and ripped the page from the pad. “No rush. Stay as long as you like.” She set the paper on the table. “I’ll get that recipe for you.”
“Thank you so much.” Donna started to reach for the check.
Hawk beat her to it. “This one’s on me.”
“Thank you, Hawk.” She smiled and pulled her hand back.
“You don’t have to do that.” Charlotte twisted to grab the strap of her bag from where it hung on the back of her chair and looped it over her head.
“But I want to.” Hawk stood and pulled out her chair, then her mom’s.
“I’m going to check in with Lucas.” Calliope pulled her phone from her back pocket and walked over to stand facing the door.
The woman was ever-vigilant.
“I’d like to use the ladies’ room before driving back, if that’s possible,” Donna said.
“I wouldn’t mind using it, too.” Charlotte looked to Hawk for an answer.
He got Calliope’s attention, pointed toward the bathrooms, and she nodded.
“Let me check it out first.” Hawk and Remy led them back to the hallway where the bathrooms were located.
He pushed open the door and walked into the small ladies’ restroom. There was one enclosed stall and what looked like a new cabinet with an undermount sink. In the corner, a small table held a bud vase containing two faded silk roses and a basket of potpourri made of wood shavings and dried flowers that had lost their scent long ago.
He checked the stall to ensure it was empty and verified that the small window was locked securely.
“Okay, it’s all clear.” He opened the door. “Remy and I will be right out here.”
“Thanks,” Charlotte said.
He stepped out of the small space, and he and his partner stood with their back to the door.
Calliope strolled up to him, tucking her phone in her pocket. “Lucas is on his way to Donna’s place.”
“It’ll be good for you to have the backup.” It was safer to work as a team, but that option wasn’t always available.
“Um … I … can I talk to you for a sec?” Calliope tugged on her bottom lip.
“What’s up?” His friend had more self-confidence and hutzpah in her small frame than most grown men he knew, so her hesitancy was unusual.
“If I tell you, you have to swear on that talisman you wear around your neck that you won’t tell anyone.”
Holy shit, this was serious.
“Of course, I won’t tell anyone,” he said.
Calliope was very well aware of the importance of the bronze Blackfeet Nation medallion he wore. It had once belonged to his great-grandfather and was given to Hawk after he died.
“Lately, Lucas has been talking a lot about getting married.” Her chin dropped, and she reached down to thump Remy’s side.
“That’s great.” Hawk couldn’t think of two people that were more suited to each other. “Isn’t it?”
“Yeah, it’s super great.” Calliope looked away, then up at him with concern. “But … you know, he was married before and really loved his wife. What if I’m not—”
“Whoa, whoa.” He’d never seen Calliope unsure of anything before. “You’re not thinking he’s going to be comparing you to his first wife, are you? Because if you are, you need to stop.”
“But—”
“No buts, Calliope,” Hawk said. “Lucas is crazy about you, and you’re crazy about him. Don’t fuck that up by worrying about things that aren’t there.”
She blew out a very long breath.
“You’re right.” She nodded and drew her toned shoulders back. “I’m being stupid.”
“You’re not being stupid; you’re scared.” Knowing her reaction to that particular word choice, he quickly added, “And that’s totally understandable. It’s a big step, but you’re more than ready for it.”
“Yeah, I am. Thanks, dude, and like I said, I’d appreciate it if you kept this between us.”
He lifted the talisman and held it between his fingers. “You have my word.”
Her worries laid to rest, she clapped him on the arm. “I’m going to go watch the door.”
Calliope turned and stalked away from him. Just like that, she’d set aside her fear and was ready to stand between danger and people she cared about.
The door opened behind him, and Charlotte and her mom walked out chatting about her mom’s shoes.
He walked behind them until they stopped at the front counter, then he paid the bill.
“Here’s that recipe for ya.” Brenda handed Donna what looked like a napkin with words scribbled on it.
“Thanks so much.” She accepted the recipe and tucked it into her purse. “I’m looking forward to trying it.”
“You’ll have to let me know how it turns out.” Brenda handed Hawk his change. “It was nice meeting you both, and I hope we see you again.”
“Thank you,” Charlotte and Donna said.
“Stay between Hawk and me.” Calliope was all business as she pushed the door open.
The bells tinkled as they stepped outside into the cooler air and walked to their vehicles.
Hawk and Calliope unlocked their trucks. She reached into her back seat and pulled out a small gray suitcase and put it in Hawk’s back seat.
Donna looked up at him. “Please protect my girl.”
“With my life.” Hawk hugged her, then stepped back so she could wrap her daughter in a hug.
“Please be careful, and do whatever Hawk tells you, okay?”
“I will, Mom, I promise,” Charlotte said.
“It was nice meeting you, Remy.” Donna petted the dog.
Hawk opened her door, made sure she was belted in, and swung it shut with a solid thump .
“Here, Calliope.” He handed her the other burner phone. “This is for Donna. We’ve already programmed the necessary numbers into it.”
“Got it. Talk soon.” She rushed around to her door, climbed in behind the wheel, and fired up the growly V8.
Donna waved at them as they drove out of the lot and turned to head back to her place.
Charlotte watched them until the taillights disappeared around the curve in the road.
“You doin’ okay?” Hawk pulled her into a hug.
“Not yet.” She wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her cheek against his chest. “But I will be.”
“Come on.” He broke the hug. “Let’s get to my place, and I’ll pour you a glass of wine.”
“You’re an angel.” She chuckled.
Far from it. The thoughts running through his mind about what he’d like to do with and to Charlotte were not exactly angelic.
About five minutes after pulling out of the diner parking lot, Hawk’s phone rang.
He tapped a button on his steering wheel. “Hey, Luna.”
“Hey. I wanted to bring you guys in on a new development we’re working here.” Keys clicked.
“New development?” He shared a look with Charlotte, then turned back to the road.
“Something about that surveillance video from the electronics store has been bugging me. So I ran it through a program to clean up the image and noticed that not only did Vincent Kimball purchase the listening device, he also bought another item. As of right now, I don’t know what the mystery item is—his body is obscuring any decent view of it.”
“Are you able to tap into the store’s system to find out what it could be?” Luna’s talent for getting in and out of places electronically was nearly as good as Sammy’s.
Where she differed from Sammy was in her inventiveness and the ability to bring her amazing ideas to life. Like the bio-patches all of the operators wore during missions.
“Unfortunately, they still use handwritten, paper receipts.” She scoffed. “Can you believe that? It’s like the guy is still living way back in the 1990s or something.”
Way back in the 1990s. For a twenty-three-old, the ’90s would seem like a million years ago. “I’ll bet the guy’s business isn’t totally legit.” No electronic trail to follow. If trouble shows up, he would just burn the receipts.
“That’s what Cole said, so he and Eddie are on their way to pay the store owner a little visit to convince him to give them the information they need.” Luna had been around this business since she was a teenager, so she understood the undertones of that statement.
“Well, if anyone can get an answer out of him, it’ll be Cole.” Hell, all he had to do was walk in the door with a mean look on his face and the guy would probably piss himself.
“He said he’d let you know if it’s something you need to worry about.” Luna clicked a few keys.
“Okay, thanks for the heads-up,” he said.
“As they say at Chick-Fil-A, my pleasure .” Luna was giggling when she ended the call.
“I wonder what else he bought.” Charlotte’s brows crunched together.
“Not sure, but Cole will find out.” He curved his hand over her thigh. “We’ll be at my place soon.”
About twenty minutes later, Hawk flipped on his blinker, turned right onto a gravel road, and continued driving deeper into the woods. He navigated a slight curve, and motion-sensor accent lights on the ground came on and spotlighted a wide wooden gate. The profile of a powerful buffalo was carved into the center of the wood, and shadows created by the accent lights brought out the details.
“Oh, Hawk, your gate is stunning.” Charlotte released her seat belt and slid forward on the seat for a better view.
Something about the intricate carving drew her, and she slowly turned to take in the man next to her. His powerful profile with his straight nose, prominent brow and cheekbones, and his square jaw spoke to generations of proud Native American ancestry. His broad shoulders were wider than the seat back, his one-handed grip confident on the wheel.
Hawk was solid, strong, and beautiful. Not in the feminine sense—certainly not. But beautiful like a perfectly sculpted representation of man.
Michelangelo’s David had nothing on Patrick Nakai.
“What are you thinking so hard about over there?” Hawk smiled at her and grabbed his phone from the cupholder.
She took a moment to muster up courage and shifted to face him.
“Can I ask you something?”
“You can ask me anything, Sweets.” He traced her jaw with his fingertip.
Sweets. He’d called her that in front of Helene. It made Charlotte feel special, and she really hoped he hadn’t said it just to tick off her coworker.
“Were you serious when you said all of those things back at my office?” Her cheeks heated, but she forced herself not to shy away from the question. “About … the way you felt when you first saw me—that you were hooked?”
Charlotte’s life was in such a state of upheaval that if she could be certain of that one thing, she truly believed she could survive anything thrown her way.
Hawk put the car in park, unclipped his seat belt, and the soft motor of his power seat hummed as he moved it back. He twisted to grab her around the waist and lifted her across the console like she weighed nothing.
“What are you—”
“I want to be holding you when I answer your question.” He settled her on his lap with her legs draped over the console, her back against his door. “Look at me, Charlotte.”
The edge of command in his voice sent a ripple of need through her entire body, and she turned to him.
“Good.” Hawk repositioned her on his lap, and she felt his erection pressing against her bottom. “Just ignore that for now.” He wasn’t the least bit embarrassed or awkward about his condition. He simply shifted her until he was comfortable.
“Every word of what I said to you at the office is true. This whole thing—you and me”—he waggled his finger back and forth between them—“may seem sudden to you, but I’ve wanted this for a long time.” He leaned in to place a soft, lingering kiss to her forehead, then pulled back just enough to look in her eyes. “But only if you want to.”
“I very much do.” She nodded. “And I feel the same way about you. I just never thought someone like you would be—”
“Don’t even think about finishing that sentence.” He speared his fingers through her hair, held her head, and pulled her close. “I don’t ever want to hear you talking down about yourself again.” His grip tightened in her hair. “Understood?”
Charlotte sucked in a breath, and her sex clenched at the slight sting tingling over her scalp.
“Understood.” Was that raspy voice really coming from her?
Hawk drew her face to his until his mouth covered hers.
Charlotte melted against his chest and tilted her head to achieve the exact right angle for her tongue to enter his mouth. She’d never been a take-charge woman, especially where men were concerned. But Hawk seemed to have blown open the doors on her baser instincts, and they were now in control.
She twisted her body in an effort to get closer and speared her fingers through his short hair. The deep groan that vibrated in his chest made her feel powerful knowing she could elicit that kind of response from such a strong man.
Her body was on fire and screamed for more, more, and she tried to drag her legs over the console without breaking the kiss. It was a complete and utter fail, and their lips were forced apart.
She whimpered her frustration, and, as their foreheads touched, their heavy breaths mingled between them.
“Hold on, Sweets.” His warm breath skimmed her ear when he whispered, “The first time I have you is not going to be in the front seat of my truck.”
Charlotte couldn’t speak. Her mouth was dry as the Mojave, unlike another part of her anatomy located farther south. How the heck was she supposed to respond to that little sexual bombshell?
Her silence elicited a mischievous smile from him, and he hefted her off his lap, lifted her over the console, and plopped her back onto her seat. She rolled her window down and filled her nose with the cooler evening air.
The lust pumping between them was thick and heavy in the cab of the truck, and if she didn’t cool down, she’d never make it to his house without embarrassing herself.
Hawk repositioned his seat and rolled his window down, too.
Did that mean he was experiencing the same level of pent-up sexual tension she was?
He put the car in gear, rolled closer to the gate, and stopped.
“This houses the gate access panel.” He pointed to a black metal box on a square post. “Caleb and Luna worked together to design it for me.” He grabbed his phone from the cupholder, tapped it a few times, and showed her the screen. “It’s all controlled through this proprietary app that only I and a few other OSI people have access to.” The image on the main page of the app was a photo of his beautiful gate. “It also controls the rest of my security system, which I’ll show you up at the house.”
After another tap, he held his phone up to the bottom right corner of the box, and it popped open.
“Oh, wow.” She never would’ve known there was a door there, had she not seen it with her own eyes. “That … that just looks like a metal box.”
“That’s the idea.” He pointed toward a tiny red light. “That’s a wide-angle camera right above the touch pad. I can see everything it’s seeing, from my phone or the security room in my house.” She heard four beeps when he tapped in the code, then he gently snapped the door back in place. “I also have cameras installed all around the property.” He pointed at a tree on the side of the gate. “There’s one on that tree pointing toward the gate.”
The gate slowly began to roll to one side, and as soon as the opening was wide enough for his truck, he pulled through.
“That’s incredible.” Charlotte knew the people working for OSI were talented, but with each new thing she learned, she became even more impressed.
“It really is.” He stopped and watched the gate close in the rearview mirror and proceeded forward on a road that wasn’t really a road. It was basically two ruts worn in the dirt and gravel and surrounded by tall grass that came almost up to the truck’s windows.
With the window open, she could hear the tires crunching over gravel, the tall grass rustling, and a yip-yip-yip from somewhere that was carried on the breeze.
“Coyote pups.” He raised his arm and pointed off to her right. “There’s a den in those woods. They cry for their mother when she leaves them to hunt at night.”
“I think I’ve heard them a few times when we’ve been camping.” She’d never been sure what the sound was.
Hawk reached over, lifted her hand, and kissed her knuckles without ever taking his eyes off the road.
The memory of his words, “ The first time I have you …” had Charlotte squirming with anticipation in her seat.
Were things between them moving too quickly? And why did the possibility of getting something she so desperately wanted fill her with an urge to retreat?
Of course, she knew the answer to that question.
She’d spent her life protecting herself from awful things that might happen at the expense of wonderful things that could’ve happened.
Charlotte refused to do that with Hawk. She was going to take what she wanted and, if necessary, fight to keep it.