Mystery Man (Dream Man #1)(134)
“Cabe –”
“You do not set your banker friend on a data search that’ll get his ass hauled to the local FBI offices for an interrogation that will be really, f**kin’ uncomfortable.”
Uh-oh!
“Ca –”
“You do not,” he leaned into me, his serious face turning hard, “ever, offer yourself up for exchange.”
“Baby –”
“And you do not go on the lam with your protective custody witness sister.”
“I –”
“Confirm you get me, babe.”
“But –”
He leaned in so he was an inch from my face. “Confirm…you… get… me.”
I stared at him.
Then my day surged through my brain which sent acid through my system and I lost my mind.
“I will do,” I planted my hands on my h*ps and stared in his black eyes, “what I have to do first, to make sure you’re safe and second, to make sure I get to make more memories with you so, okay, I’ll call base but then I will do whatever the f**k I have to do to make that happen so, no, Hawk, I do not get you!”
“Gwen –”
“I’ve been panicked all day!” I shouted, throwing up my hands and taking a step back from him. “You didn’t give me Commando Woman Lesson One this morning. No, you kissed me good-bye and said you’d see me tonight and I went about my business of the day to make sure you’d see me tonight!”
“Gwen –”
“You were bleeding from your ear!” I shrieked.
He reached out with both hands, caught me and hauled me into his body, whispering, “Baby.”
My hands clenched in his tee as his arms slid around me. “It was you or my sister. Do you know what that kind of decision does to your head?”
“All right, Sweet Pea, I get it,” he said gently.
“Yes, Cabe,” I stared him in the eyes, “of anyone, you do. You know what I was facing today. You know.” I watched his eyes close, my hands released his shirt, slid up to wrap around the sides of his neck, his eyes opened and he showed me he not only got it, he really, really got it. So my voice was quiet when I went on. “I can get why you’re angry, honey, but cut me some slack. I was doing the best I could do so you didn’t become a picture on my f**king refrigerator.”
His neck bent and his forehead touched mine then slid to the side, his cheek hit mine and that slid down too and then his face was in my neck and his arms got tight.
In return I circled his shoulders with my arms and pressed close.
“They need a minute,” I heard Luke say in a way that was kind of a suggestion but more a get your asses out of here.
I felt people move around and I heard a door close. Then I turned my head and put my lips to Hawk’s ear.
“You think you could make a call so the Feds don’t do a cavity search on Troy?” I asked.
Hawk lifted his head and looked at me.
“Yeah,” he answered, his lips twitching.
“You think, before Ginger goes back to the Feds, Dad and Meredith can visit with her?”
His eyes warmed and he repeated, “Yeah.”
“Okay,” I nodded, relaxing into him. “Now do you think, since you’ve been close enough to touch for at least five minutes and you’re safe and healthy enough to get pissed at me, you could finally kiss me?”
His eyes got warmer and he added intense.
“Yeah.”
My hand slid up to cup his head. “Then kiss me, baby,” I whispered.
He stared into my eyes then his head slanted and, just like Hawk, he gave me what I wanted most in the world.
Epilogue
Give Me the Dimples
Cabe Delgado waited while the garage door opened then he pulled his Camaro in beside Gwen’s Mustang. He parked, grabbed his workout bag from the seat beside him and folded out of the car.
He walked in front of the Mustang and saw the Expedition sitting on the other side of the ‘Stang. Gwen called it the “station wagon” and hated driving it because it was so huge. However Hawk had a rule. She had their boys in the car with her, she was in the Expedition. She was off on her own, she could take the Mustang. She gave him lip, told him he was too damned bossy but only because that was what she did. She knew the Expedition was safer and Gwen would do anything to keep her boys safe.
He walked in front of the Expedition, through the door that led into the house and dumped his bag in the utility room on his way to the huge, open plan kitchen. She’d left the under the counter lights on for him. He moved through the space and turned off the lights, heading to the wide, carpeted staircase that had a nightlight lit in an outlet halfway up. He didn’t need her to light his way but she did it anyway partially because, if one of the boys got up, she wanted them to have light and partially because, when her man got home she wanted him to know she was thinking about him.
He’d lied to Gwen although he didn’t know it at the time. He needed space. Or, more accurately, he needed a Hawk and Gwen zone, he needed to give his boys their zones and they all needed a family zone. So he’d moved his family from Gwen’s farmhouse to this five bedroom, three car garage “monstrosity” as Gwen called it. She only allowed the move because it came with Janine cleaning it. She said she had a life rule and that rule was that she refused to live in a house that it took longer than two hours to clean. Now she lived in a house that took longer than two hours to clean, Hawk just made it so she didn’t have to clean it.