Page 71

Uh… wow.
“I do that?” I asked but I knew I did. I didn’t know I did until just then, having it pointed out to me, but when it was, I knew I did it.
“Totally,” Tracy confirmed on a whisper.
“Did Delgado say you lived in your head?” Cam asked and I nodded. “Why?”
“We were having a… discussion. I told him I needed to think about what he’d said and then he said I didn’t need to think, I live in my head, I shut things out. He says I haven’t given him me. He says I have a hand held up, fending him off,” I answered.
Tracy and Camille’s eyes went back to each other.
“See you do that too,” Elvira noted.
“I’m open and friendly!” I declared.
Cam sighed, sat back and took a sip of cosmo.
Preparing me.
Oh shit.
Then she stated, “Babe, I know you’ve had a lot goin’ on the last week but have you had a chance to think about what’s gone down with you and Delgado?”
“Yes,” I replied instantly. “I think about it all the time.”
“And what you come up with, hon?” Elvira asked.
“I don’t know, I have to think about it more,” I answered, Elvira rolled her big eyes and she did this at Tracy. Tracy giggled.
Crap! I was living in my head again.
“Okay,” I asked Cam, knowing I was living dangerously, “tell me what you think about it.”
“I will,” Cam replied.
Great.
Welp! I’d asked for it and in pure Cam style, she was going to give it to me.
“Has it occurred to you that, after all that time doin’ nothin’ but the nasty, you spoke to this guy once, once, and he was all up in your business?” Cam asked.
No. No, that hadn’t occurred to me.
“No,” I whispered.
“So, say you opened your mouth for more than just to do a little somethin’-somethin’ when he visited you at night, where do you think you’d be right about now?” Cam continued.
Oh my God.
I didn’t reply but Camille answered for me. “I’d say right where you are, babe.”
Oh. My. God.
“I –” I started.
“You’ve had that hand held up for a year and a half, Gwennie,” Trace said quietly.
“Mm hmm,” Elvira mumbled into her cosmo.
God! I hated it when Hawk was right!
“Do you… do you…,” I stammered, “think I should take down that hand?”
“Yes,” Tracy said instantly.
“Absolutely,” Elvira added her vote.
“Jury’s still out on that one,” Cam replied, got up and declared the discussion was over, it was time for me to sort myself out and she did this by announcing, “I’m making more cosmos.” Then she glided into the kitchen on her four inch heels.
I leaned forward and grabbed a bunch of grapes and a bigger bunch of assorted chocolates. I needed to think about all this.
Or maybe, I didn’t.
Shit.
Cam made cosmos, we drank, we ate and I really wanted to bring up some of the other stuff that Hawk said, mostly because Elvira was there, she said she’d worked for him for seven years and she might provide insight. However, Elvira also needed to keep herself in killer sweater dresses and fire engine red suede boots so I didn’t want to get her into trouble, or alternately water boarded should she gossip about her boss. Therefore I kept my questions to myself.
I also did this because, bottom line, I should ask Hawk.
I heard the earsplitting creak of the garage door going up and the room went wired. This was coming from Tracy because she was excited for me that Hawk was home. This was also coming from Elvira because she was excited to see me interact with Hawk. This was further coming from Cam because she wanted to dissect him with her awesome mental powers and decide how she would cast judgment. And last, this was coming from me because I was like Tracy; I was excited Hawk was home.
Another creak came meaning the garage door was going down then the inner door opened and in he prowled under four sets of female eyes. I was looking over my shoulder at him and noting he was not self-conscious with four sets of female eyes watching him. He was Hawk, confident, assured, graceful, powerful, all of it exactly the reason he first caught my eye.
Oh boy.
He walked right to the back of the couch behind me and I tipped my head back to watch him do it.
“Hey,” I said quietly.
He bent at the same time his hand swept my hair off my shoulder, across my neck to my other shoulder, his head dipped in and I felt his lips at the skin behind my ear.
Lips still there he whispered, “Hey babe.”
“Mm hmm,” I heard Elvira mumble and I processed this but only minutely mainly because I was processing my belly flutter coupled with a quiver in a private place.
He straightened, his hand curled around my neck and he took in the girl posse with his black eyes.
“Ladies,” he muttered.
“Hey,” Tracy breathed.
“Yo, Hawk,” Elvira greeted.
Camille just looked at him.
He let go of my neck, rounded the couch and I scrambled to scoot away as he sat between me and the armrest. One of his arms moved to wrap around my shoulders, pulling me to him as his other hand came out and nabbed my cosmo. I turned my head and watched him sip from the martini glass. As I did my mind warred, one faction making my belly feel squishy that he was drinking from my glass, the other faction wanting to reclaim my cosmo before he drank any more.
It was no surprise which one won out.
“Do you want your own?” I asked pointedly.
“Yours’ll do,” he ignored my point, handed the glass back to me and then leaned forward to grab some leftover apple slices. Then he leaned back, casually tossing one in his mouth.
I turned to the girl posse and explained, “Hawk’s body is his temple. In about a minute, he’ll go into anaphylactic shock when the vodka processes through his system. No need for alarm, I have the adrenalin injection handy.”
Tracy giggled again. Elvira laughed right out. Hawk did his manly, deep, amused chuckle and even Cam grinned.
“Mo says you left at three thirty,” Hawk remarked when the laughter died and I looked at him to see his eyes were on Elvira.
I looked at Elvira and she was nodding. “Sho’ did.”