Running From the Law

by Albright, Jami

  A tiny stirring of interest in his mischievous teasing flickered and died the second she spied Hank glowering at the two of them. Not because of the glower, but because there’d never been another man who could hold a candle to Hank Odom, glowering or not. She shrugged. “It’s just not what I want to do for a living anymore.” Not to mention that it wasn’t the life she wanted for her daughter. Warmth and love coursed through her and had become her new life’s blood.

  “I’m not going to pretend to understand that.” He laughed. “I don’t get how you can just walk away from fame and fortune.”

  She picked up a peanut and cracked it open. Since her second trimester, she’d been craving the things. Pregnancy was a bitch. “Fame and fortune aren’t always what they’re cut out to be, Thomas. Sometimes the price to your dignity is too high.”

  He really laughed then. “I think I’d take my chances.”

  A little wag of her finger and a lift of her brows. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

  “Duly noted. Hey, can you meet with Raul and me on Wednesday? He’ll be in town that day, and we wanted to get some delivery logistics nailed down.” His thumb and forefinger pinched his lower lip.

  Nope, still nothing.

  “Sure, text me a time. During the day is best for me.” She stood. During her set, Pod had been tap dancing on her bladder, and she needed a bathroom break before the next set.

  “Okay, yeah, for sure. Have a great night.”

  She squeezed his shoulder. “You too. Stay out of trouble.”

  He winked. “No promises, Miss Charlie.”

  That boy was trouble, and she was glad she wasn’t attracted to him. She was sure he’d be the downfall of any woman who got involved with him.

  Pod made her presence known by drop kicking Charlie’s bladder. A quick glance at her phone told her she had time to pee before the next set. Thankfully, there wasn’t a line in the bathroom. Business done, she washed her hands. The bathroom door opened and Hank walked in, a look of utter possession on his handsome face.

  “Hank?”

  His only response was to lock the door.

  She knew she shouldn’t approve of him locking them in a room together, but her traitorous body was like, Woohoo! Really? She and her hormones needed to have a serious talk. “Hailey’s going to kill you for locking that door.”

  “Hailey’s not here.” He grinned. “I just needed to talk to you for a minute in private. It’s so damn loud out there. You sound amazing, by the way.”

  She wrestled with her twitching lips and lost the fight. “Thank you.”

  He must’ve taken her grin as an invitation. In just a few steps he was in front of her. “I’m sorry again for what happened in the doctor’s office yesterday. It was just…”

  “Yeah, it was.”

  “So you’re still happy?” He searched her face like the answers to the universe were there.

  “About Pod being a girl?”

  He nodded.

  Happiness vibrated through her whole body. “Absolutely. This world needs another kickass woman.”

  He looped a stray hair behind her ear and cupped her head in his hand.

  “Hank, the door…”

  “Is locked, I know.” He signaled the kiss from a mile away, giving her time to stop him. She didn’t. It was wrong, and she knew it, but that thing inside him that called to her took over, and she was helpless against it.

  Warm, soft lips brushed against hers. Once, twice, and the third time she opened for him. It seemed to be the only invitation he needed. He claimed her. His big hand went behind her head and tilted it to give him better access. Their tongues slid against each other in long, delicious strokes. Each pass and flick stole more and more of her self-control. She clung to him like his breath was the only air she’d ever need. This was what he did to her. Always had.

  The door jiggled, and someone yelled, “What the hell?”

  She shoved him back. It had very little effect, but he did break the kiss. The searching look he gave her was the most intimate thing she’d ever experienced. He reached into his pocket and withdrew another key. This one was just a regular key with a thin purple ribbon tied to it. Wordlessly, he took her hand and laid it in her palm then wrapped her fingers around it. He kissed the top of her fingers, still without a word.

  Banging on the door drew his attention. He turned, unlocked the door, and slipped past the stunned woman on the other side. She stumbled back with a holy cow look on her face.

  You and me both, sister.

  Charlie unfurled her fingers and stared at the key.

  You and me both.

  Chapter Forty-Eight

  Hank drove through Zachsville singing along to the country music station. He’d followed Thomas home after the man left the club. And like an overprotective chaperone, watched to make sure he entered his house. Frankly, it was hard to believe Thomas Chang was some international drug smuggler. He was more boring than Hank, who had no life at all unless you counted chasing Charlie Klein. And he’d made that a lifelong pursuit.

  His brain called him all kinds of a fool, but his blood and bones knew the truth. She was it for him, and if he couldn’t have her, then he wouldn’t make the mistake of trying to replace her again.

  That door is locked.

  Fucking door. He was so sick of hearing that from her. There had to be a way to make her see that it was only her he loved. The baby was a beautiful bonus, but with or without it Charlie was the one he wanted.

  He chuckled remembering that she’d played hard to get when they were teenagers. He’d chased her for months before she’d agreed to go out with him, and that had taken him shimmying up the live oak tree outside her house and inching across the rooftop to her window. He’d never forget the look of acceptance on her face when she’d lifted the glass pane. Like she’d just been waiting for him to prove to her that she was worth making the grand gesture.

  That was it. She needed a grand gesture. Something to let her know that he was in love with her and only her. He hooked a U-turn and headed to Wardell’s house. He parked down the street and made his way to the familiar tree. It had grown quite a bit in eight years, the branches thicker and denser. If she wanted him to prove how much he cared for her, then risking his life to scale this tree to her window should do the trick.

  He jumped up and grabbed the lowest branch. With his abdominal muscles, he lifted his leg to loop a foot in the crook of the tree, so he could hoist himself up to sit. Several attempts later, he realized that cowboy boots were the wrong accessory to try and climb a tree.

  Finally, he got himself into a sitting position and continued his ascent. As hard as he tried, he didn’t remember this much grunting and cursing the first time he made this trip. Limbs and twigs poked and scratched his arms and face, but he persevered. She was worth it. There was antibacterial cream for his skin, but only she could heal his heart. Oh, that was good. He’d have to say that when she tended to his wounds later.

  Once at the roof line, he inched his way to the end of the branch, but the thing wasn’t prepared to withstand the twenty pounds of muscle that he’d put on since he was a teenager. It creaked, and then there was a crack. He lunged and dug his fingers into the shingles just as the branch broke. The denseness of the foliage kept it from falling to the ground. He’d have to come back tomorrow and remove it, so it didn’t fall and hurt anyone. But first, he had to figure out how to get the rest of his body on the roof.

  The burning sting of sweat rolling into his cuts was a distraction he didn’t need. It was taking all his concentration to leverage the lower half of his body into a position that didn’t guarantee a fall. This was the highest point of the house, so it wasn’t a place he wanted to lose his grip. Thankfully, he worked out daily and was able to pull himself up into a sitting position.

  The sight of the soft glow from her window twenty feet away made him want to beat his chest. She was his woman, and he was coming for her. There was a ledge under her window,
so once he got there, he’d be home free. But before that happened, he had to maneuver down the gable carefully to not slip off. A fall from this height would not be good. He began his inching journey, but his foot slipped, and he slid ten feet before he jammed his boot into a recess in the roof. Raspy, sawing pants and old man groans filled the air as he rested and tried to get his pounding heart under control. His shirt stuck to his heaving chest. When the breeze changed there was a distinct aroma of body odor, and he was pretty sure there was a rip in the seat of his jeans. Fabulous. Didn’t matter though—all that mattered was getting to her. Besides, this would be a funny story to tell Pod when she was older.

  With careful movements, he continued to scoot down the pitch of the roof. Both feet landed on the ledge, and he breathed a sigh of relief. Step by side-step he made his way to her window. Music was playing from the other side of the glass. When he got closer, he could see her sitting on the bed writing in a book of some kind. Her face free of makeup, her hair piled on her head, and her bent knees threw him back in time eight years. It was like replaying the very same scene. They would have a future because he had nostalgia on his side.

  Charlie and Hank forever.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  Charlie poured her heart onto the pages of her journal. The night had been awesome in so many ways, but that kiss had messed with her head and emotions. All she’d wanted was to fall into Hank’s arms and never leave. The problem was that so much sadness was associated with him.

  Loving and losing him, missing him to the point of pain. Believing they had a future only to have her stupid hopes crushed by three little text messages. The humiliating realization that his marriage to Karen hadn’t been what was keeping them apart, that he could’ve reached out to her but didn’t. Even his pursuit of her now hurt her heart, and made her feel manipulated.

  The tap, tap, tap on her window scared the crap out of her.

  What in the world? It couldn’t be.

  Yep, Hank was standing on the ledge outside her window. This was how he’d convinced her to finally give him a chance and go out with him when they were teenagers.

  “What a manipulative asshole.” She stormed to the locked window, threw the latch, and shoved the thing open.

  “Hey.” His charming grin only threw gas on the fire of her anger.

  Her arms crossed over her chest. “What are you doing here, Hank?”

  “Isn’t it obvious?” His bravado slipped a bit. “I’m showing you how much you mean to me.”

  “What happened to your face?”

  That goofy grin was back in place. “Don’t worry about that. There’s ointment for my wounds, but you’re the only cure for my soul.”

  She only arched her brow.

  His sheepish expression was adorable and infuriating. “That sounded less cheesy in my head.”

  “I hope so. Otherwise, you’re an idiot. Go away, Hank.” Her hands went to the window to close it.

  “Wait. Okay, I can see this hasn’t worked the way I’d hoped it would, but I want to talk to you, Charlie.”

  “No.”

  “At least let me in, so I don’t have to climb back down.” Disappointment rolled off him like the winds of a thunderstorm.

  Not gonna let it affect her. This was for Pod as much as her. Charlie had to know that she couldn’t be manipulated. Done with being coerced, bullied, or seduced into doing something she wasn’t ready or didn’t want to do, she strengthened her resolve. Too much of her life had been lived that way. Not anymore. But she didn’t want him to break his neck, so she stepped back so he could crawl through the window. “Fine.”

  “Thank you.” He adjusted his grip and then his stance to maneuver through the window. Time slowed to frames of pictures as he slipped and caught himself at just the right moment.

  “Holy crap.”

  “Don’t worry, Charlie. I know what I’m doing.” Another adjustment, another twist of his body, and one minute he was there, and the next he wasn’t.

  “Hank!”

  * * *

  Hank realized his mistake with Charlie just before he fell. She’d seen what he was doing as handling her, and since hindsight is an excellent teacher, he could now see the error of his ways, especially rolling off her roof. The ground rose up to meet him, and it wasn’t happy to see him.

  Every particle of air was knocked from his lungs. With his hands resting on his stomach and the stars overhead, he lay there assessing his body and the situation. Had she truly locked him out of her life? His spasming diaphragm screamed yes. He knew his heart would break at the realization, but currently, it was working overtime to keep him alive. Several minutes passed, and he thought she’d left him there to die.

  The screen door slammed. “Hank.” She dropped to her knees beside him. “Are you hurt?” Shaking fingers fluttered over his body. “What am I saying? Of course you’re hurt. You just fell ten feet to the ground.”

  He wanted to tell her he was probably going to be okay, but he wasn’t wholly convinced of that yet. He hadn’t figured out how to breathe again.

  Her phone appeared in her trembling hands. “Do you need an ambulance?”

  Somewhere he found the strength to wrap his hand around hers. “No.” It was barely a whisper, but she must’ve heard him because she put her phone away.

  “Are you sure?”

  He nodded and hauled in another beautiful breath. “I’m fine. Just knocked the wind out of myself.”

  “Really?”

  He covered her hand that rested on his chest. “Really.”

  “Are you sure?”

  His facial muscles somehow managed to push up the corners of his lips. “Yes.”

  Her concerned expression evaporated, and anger clouded her features. “What the hell was that, Hank?”

  “What?”

  “Why were you trying to climb in my window? Who does that? I didn’t ask you here, and instead of showing up at the front door like a sane person, you try to crawl into my room via a window. What did you think would happen?”

  “Charlie, I…” What did he think would happen? “I don’t know. I just want to prove to you that I want you.”

  “By crawling into my window? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  He carefully pushed himself into a sitting position. “What can I do to persuade you to give us a chance, then? Tell me, and I’ll do it.” The blood in his veins froze at her stony appearance.

  Silence stretched between them like the moments before the drop of the guillotine.

  In an instant, he saw it all so clearly. “Oh.” There was nothing he could do. The door was indeed locked, and apparently, so was the window.

  She didn’t blink. She didn’t waver. And she was beyond his reach.

  Stubbornness was his middle name, especially when it came to getting what he wanted, but even he knew it was time to admit defeat. It just about killed him and went against every fiber of his being, but he officially threw in the towel. “I understand.” The slow painful crawl to his feet made his head swim. “You don’t need to worry about me bothering you anymore. I’ll respect your wishes.” The distance to his truck seemed too far to walk, but he’d do it if for no other reason than to regain some of the dignity he’d just lost.

  “Hank.”

  He glanced back at her expressionless face. “Yeah?”

  “My lawyer will be in touch with you about a parenting arrangement.”

  He nodded. There wasn’t anything else to say that would change her mind. He could see it in the set of her shoulders, and the way she held her head. He blessedly made it to the truck without fainting. A turn of the key and he headed for the minor emergency center, hoping the doctor could do something for the ribs he was pretty sure he’d broken. Too bad Doc Simpson couldn’t do a thing about his broken heart.

  Chapter Fifty

  The scent of BBQ floated on the air, as did the laughter and chatter from the guests at Scarlett’s party for Jack and Luanne. Charlie had hung
pretty close to Honey and Wardell’s side until Hailey arrived. She wasn’t really in the mood to socialize, especially with people she didn’t know well. So she was relieved when her friend showed up at the party. “I’m so glad you came.” They went to get in line for food.

  “I wasn’t going to come.” Hailey adjusted the Zachsville Raiders ball cap she wore. “But Derek’s mom insisted she wanted to stay with Lottie for a while, so here I am.”

  Charlie picked up a plate and handed one to her friend. “How is Lottie today?”

  “Irritated that she can’t go outside and play, but otherwise she’s fine.” The relief in her friend’s voice was unmistakable.

  Charlie glanced around. “Is Roger with you?”

  Hailey plopped a spoonful of potato salad onto her plate. “No. He got called out of town. One of his client’s computer systems went offline, and he had to go get them up and running before tomorrow.”

  “You don’t seem very broken up about him not being here.” She’d noticed the apathy that Hailey exhibited toward her boyfriend.

  She shrugged. “I like Roger’s company, but if he can’t be around, then that’s alright too.”

  They finished filling their plates and made their way to an empty table. Charlie noticed that she had twice the amount of food that Hailey did. “I keep forgetting I’m only eating for two, and not fifteen.”

  Hailey laughed. “Thankfully, you’re not puking your guts up anymore. I swear, I’ve never known anyone who’s been as sick as you when they were pregnant.”

  The sweetness of the BBQ sauce burst across Charlie’s tongue as she licked it from her finger. “What can I say? I’m an overachiever.”

  “Yeah. I’d say that.” Hailey’s fork stopped halfway to her mouth and stared beyond Charlie’s shoulder. “Oh, my Lord, I think my ovaries just purred.”

  “What?” Charlie glance behind her. “Oh, my.”