Mystery Man (Dream Man #1)(75)
“I know you are,” he quietly replied.
“My life is a mess,” I shared something he already knew.
“This will pass, Gwen.”
I pulled breath in through my nose and then said on the exhale, “I hope so.”
His hand slid down and his thumb glided across my lips. “One positive thing you learned today. It’s lookin’ good for you. Your Mom’s a mess, babe, but she’s still a babe.”
I felt my brows draw together. “Did you just call my Mom a babe?”
“You look like her,” he replied.
Well, that wasn’t so bad. My Mom was a mess, Hawk was right, but she had pretty kickass style.
“You act like Meredith,” Hawk cut into my thoughts.
I focused on him. “I do?”
“When you’re bein’ sweet and not ranting or hacking at cookie dough with cleavers.”
I smiled. “I didn’t hack at cookie dough with a cleaver.”
He grinned down at me. “It was close.”
He was right and I felt my body start to shake with laughter.
He watched me laugh until I was just smiling at him then he dipped his head and kissed the base of my throat. Then he rolled off me, pulled the covers over us, reached out to turn off the light on his nightstand and turned me so my back was tucked into his front. Then he pressed into me and reached across me to turn off the light on my nightstand. Then he pulled the hair off my neck and kissed the skin at the back of my ear. He wrapped his arm around me, pulled me deep, hitched my leg with his and settled into the pillows.
Hawk’s goodnight.
No slam bam thank you ma’am. Instead, talking, laughing then cuddling.
I guess I could deal with firebombs and drive-bys and learning my Mom was still a mess after all these years if this was how I ended my day.
I lay in the dark of Hawk’s cavernous warehouse, in his big bed, his big, warm body close, the memory of his goodnight sweet and fresh.
Yeah, I could deal with all that if this was how I ended my day.
But now I was wondering if Hawk felt the same.
Chapter Nineteen
One Hand Up
My eyes opened and I saw it was dawn. There were lights on in the warehouse and I knew they were over the kitchen. I heard Hawk’s murmur, he was far away, on the phone.
I scooted to the edge of the bed, dropped my torso down and felt for my nightshirt. I found it, searched for my underwear, found that and lifted up. I pulled my nightshirt over my head, shoved my arms through and then shimmied my undies up while in the bed. Then I got out, wandered to the bathroom, did my thing, wandered out and down the stairs.
Hawk was still on the phone, dressed in uniform of skintight, long-sleeved tee and cargo pants. His hair was slightly wet and he already had his boots on.
He was leaning one hand into the back counter, he didn’t move and his eyes didn’t leave me as I walked his way. I lost sight of him when my body collided with is, my cheek pressed to his chest and my arms went around him. He took his hand off the counter and wrapped his arm around me.
“Yeah, report it to Lawson, set up the meet with Tack,” Hawk said into his phone.
I sighed into his chest. He wasn’t going about his own business, he was going about mine.
“Copy that,” he went on, “be there in twenty.”
He flipped his phone shut and shoved it into his cargos. I tipped my head back and looked up at him as his other arm closed around my shoulders.
“Sleep okay?” he asked, his chin dipped to look at me.
“Mm hmm,” I answered.
He dipped his chin further and his mouth touched mine as his arm around my back also dipped, scrunched up my nightshirt then he held it up with his arm as his hand cupped my ass, skin to panties.
Nice.
When his mouth went away I asked back, “Did you?”
“Yeah,” he replied.
I took in a breath and asked, “Is something going on?”
His arm at my shoulders squeezed as did his hand at my ass. “We have news.”
“Good news or bad news?”
“Both.”
“Uh-oh,” I mumbled.
“I don’t have a lot of time but do you need coffee before you hear it?”
“Is that your way of asking me if I need Valium before I hear it?”
He smiled and I got more squeezes.
Then he spoke. “Drive-by was about Ginger. Not Tack.”
“Is that the good news or the bad news?”
“The good, means we know who we’re lookin’ for and why they did what they did. Since Tack’s thrown down for you and I made things clear yesterday, they also know they bought themselves two sets of enemies they do not want. Ginger knows a lot, pissed off a lot of people and she can cause a lot of trouble, the police and Feds get to her, but she isn’t worth the heat my boys and the Chaos MC are gonna bring down on them. They bought that, pullin’ that shit, and they don’t want it and won’t want that heat to get hotter. It’s a guess but this means you and your parents are likely safe.”
“That is good news,” I noted.
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean we don’t play it smart. You with me?”
I wasn’t sure I was but I nodded anyway.
“What’s the bad news?” I asked.
He hesitated then explained, “Jorge took a meet with Dog yesterday. Apparently, you told Tack you were through with me and he took this as tacit permission to make his play. Seein’ as he’s Tack and not the kind of man who asks your sign, tells you he likes your smile, buys you a drink and hopes to get him some, but instead locks you in a room and thinks when he returns from causing havoc and exacting retribution, you’re gonna be waitin’ for him to do whatever he does to make his claim, he’s not feelin’ like backin’ down from war. It didn’t help that my boys bested his and captured the prize. Now there’s face to be saved. We sent in lieutenants and they weren’t able to make a deal. Now the captains have to meet.”