Risking it All (A Hawk Brothers Romance)

by Cami Checketts

  “Bro.” Callum shook his head. “You’re the one that has all the experience with women, but you’re acting like a complete … doofus.” He smiled suddenly, looking like a doofus himself. What had happened to his perfectly professional brother? A woman, that’s what.

  “A doofus?” Bridger glared at him. “You want to throw down right here?”

  Callum rolled his eyes. “I haven’t got time for this. I’ve got to find Lexi, but you need to listen up. Never use another woman to make a woman jealous. It’s disrespectful to both of them. If you like Ava Baby …” Callum paused and looked him over like he wasn’t worthy of Avalyn. Bridger knew that was true. “Be a man and tell her.”

  Bridger stared at him. Hadn’t he told her yesterday when he kissed her? But maybe he needed to really spell it out and keep the physical desires out of it so she knew it was from his heart. This wasn’t some temporary crush. He’d loved her for as long as he’d known that boys and girls were different.

  “I’ve got to go,” Callum said impatiently. “Do you know what airport Ava’s jet was at?”

  “No clue, but I’ll come with you.”

  “Let’s go, then.”

  Bridger matched his brother’s strides. It was a braver move than climbing Mt. Everest without assistance, but he was going to find Avalyn and he was going to tell her exactly how he felt about her. If she turned him down, then … well, somehow he’d have to find a way to live with that.

  Chapter Four

  Avalyn made it home to Long Island in time for Christmas Eve dinner. Her three older brothers had beautiful wives and six adorable children between them. She enjoyed being around everyone and shoved all the drama with Bridger to the back of her mind. Britney was probably thoroughly enjoying her Christmas with him. She liked Britney, but the image of her on Bridger’s lap … Ugh!

  The adults had tucked the children into bed and set up the Santa presents, and they were enjoying Mama’s homemade chocolates and talking when there was a pounding at the front door. Avalyn’s parents did well financially, but they weren’t to the level of the Hawks, and they didn’t have round-the-clock staff. Avalyn preferred living that way; it was a lot more comfortable and intimate with just her family. Especially since most of her days were spent as a wanderer and a guest.

  Avalyn’s brother Abraham lumbered to his feet. “Don’t worry. I got the door.”

  They all smiled. He was always rushing to do things or pay for things and then tell them not to worry because he had it. He was such a great guy. Avalyn hoped it was carolers or a neighbor visiting on this cozy Christmas Eve. She was glad she’d come home instead of staying in Cancun. The sun and the beach were fabulous, but nothing was like family and a warm fire at Christmas, and though she was still the only single one, it didn’t hurt like it did watching the Hawk brothers’ romances and having Bridger right there but completely unattainable for her.

  Abraham sidled back into the room with none other than Bridger Hawk by his side. Avalyn’s heart raced, and her palms started sweating. She couldn’t quite computer Bridger being in her parents’ living room like some perfect-looking ghost of Christmas past.

  Bridger had come to Long Island instead of stay in sunny Cancun with Britney. Come for her? No. This had to be some mistake or crazy dream.

  Bridger went around the room, shaking everyone’s hands and being his usual charming self. Avalyn watched with her hand to her throat. Why was he here? Why? Why? He looked fabulous in dark gray chinos and a fitted long-sleeved shirt. His dark eyes sparkled as he teased with her family members. Why couldn’t she just stare into those eyes as he teased with her?

  He circled the room and finally stopped right in front of her. “Ava Baby.” He gave her that irresistible smile, and she wanted to kiss him and smack him. She wasn’t sure which one first.

  “Why aren’t you in Cancun with Britney?” She shot to her feet to face him.

  Her family gave her confused looks. “Now, Ava, that’s no way to greet your friend,” her dad admonished her.

  Avalyn didn’t have the strength to pull her eyes from Bridger and explain to her dad that this man was no friend of hers.

  Bridger reached out and took her hand. Avalyn’s stomach tumbled. She should’ve pulled her hand free, but it felt so cozy and nestled perfectly in Bridger’s larger palm.

  “Would you excuse us for a moment?” he asked her parents.

  Her mom’s eyes lit up. Avalyn knew she’d prayed for most of Avalyn’s life that she would marry a Hawk brother. Seeing how all the other ones were taken, this was probably a last-ditch hope for her mother. “Of course, Bridger. No one’s in the study.” Her mom gave him a warm smile.

  Bridger guided Avalyn that direction with their hands clasped as if they were a couple or something. No. They weren’t anything. The walk to the study seemed to take forever and pass too quickly at the same time. What was he doing here? What was he going to say? What if he kissed her again? How was she going to stay strong?

  They walked into the room, which was softly lit with lamps and the glow of the gas fireplace. Bridger shut the double doors and guided her to a leather sofa. They sat side by side. She turned so she could see his handsome face and get a read on this situation.

  “Why are you here?” she demanded.

  Bridger squeezed her hand. “Ava.” He took a slow breath and said, “I haven’t seen you in years, before yesterday.”

  She acknowledged this with a lift of her chin.

  He searched her face, his dark eyes warm, imploring. “Did the kiss yesterday mean anything to you?”

  Her fingers involuntarily went to her lips. “You mean kisses?” she murmured.

  Bridger smiled. “Yes, kisses.” He leaned closer as if he would initiate that lovely sequence again.

  Avalyn was in so much trouble right now. How could her family be a hundred feet away in the living room, oblivious to the current that threatened to sweep her away? Avalyn closed her eyes and prayed for strength. She opened her eyes and steeled her spine. “The kisses were … very nice, but they didn’t mean anything.”

  His brow furrowed. “I’m sorry to hear that, because I’ve never been so affected by any kiss.”

  Avalyn’s eyes widened. Bridger was a smooth talker, but would he outright lie to her? The Bridger she’d known never would, but they’d hardly spoken since she’d left home at eighteen. She latched on to the way he’d phrased “any kiss.” That was her out. His playboy ways. “You’ve kissed hundreds of women. Thousands! Don’t try to act like I’m something special.”

  Bridger leaned closer. His breath brushed her cheek as he ran his hand along her jaw. “You are special, Ava. To me, there’s no one as special as you.”

  Avalyn’s breath caught. Oh, he was good. Too good. He was a professional playboy in every sense of the phrase. Stay strong, stay strong. “Why did you come here?” she demanded again.

  “For you,” he said as if the answer was that simple.

  Avalyn pulled from his tender touch and stood. He slowly stood also, facing her. Every movement he made was glorious, sexy. But she didn’t live her life for cheap thrills like Bridger Hawk. “I’m sorry you wasted a trip, Bridger, but you should go be with your family for Christmas.”

  He shook his head. “You don’t understand, Ava Baby. I only want to be with you.”

  Avalyn backed up, clenching her hands behind her. “No. You live for the challenge, Bridger Hawk. I am not your next conquest.”

  His eyes darkened, determination evident in every line of his face and body. “I live to succeed. I won’t give up on you, Ava.”

  She wanted to scream, Ha! Exactly! He only wanted to succeed. It wasn’t about her. It was about the fact that she had slapped him and told him not to kiss her. “Go back to your family and Britney. I’m sure she’d be thrilled to be your Christmas girlfriend.” Even as she said the words, her stomach soured. She hated seeing Bridger with any other woman on his arm.

  “I don’t want Britney,” he said in measu
red tones.

  “Well, she wants you.”

  His eyebrow arched up. “And what does that mean? You don’t want me?”

  Avalyn jutted her chin out. “That’s right. I don’t.”

  Bridger’s eyes swept over her carefully. Avalyn thought he might argue with her some more. The man didn’t know how to lose, and she was more certain than ever that was the reason he was pursuing her.

  “I’m sorry to have interrupted your Christmas Eve,” he finally said.

  Avalyn tilted her head, folding her arms across her chest so she didn’t reach for him. “It was nice of you to stop by.”

  Bridger shot her his patented smirk, and its cold mockery was worse than a slap in the face. “Hopefully it won’t be another eight years before I see you again.”

  Avalyn had no answer for that.

  Bridger stormed through the study door. Avalyn followed him when she should’ve stayed safely in the study. He yanked the front door open. The cold air rushed in, but it wasn’t nearly as cold as the look in his eyes as he glanced back at her. “Goodbye, Ava Baby.”

  Avalyn couldn’t say goodbye. Not to him. He stared at her for a few beats, and she couldn’t breathe as his dark eyes seared through her. Finally, he walked out into the crisp winter night. Avalyn pushed the door closed and leaned against it. Hopefully it would be longer than eight years, or she wouldn’t survive the next encounter with Bridger Hawk.

  Chapter Five

  Avalyn loved being with her family for Christmas break. Her nieces and nephews were the perfect distraction and almost kept her from pining away for Bridger. Almost. She still couldn’t believe he’d followed her back to Long Island. It was insane and a bit surreal. She sometimes wondered if she’d imagined it all. Then one of her family members would tease her about dating Bridger Hawk, and she’d have to draw on all her acting skills from high school drama class to pretend she didn’t care one bit about the man.

  New Year’s Day she said goodbye to everyone and flew to Belize City in one of Callum Hawk’s private jets. He’d donated it to her foundation last year so she wouldn’t have to deal with commercial flights. The Hawk brothers had given more to her and her causes than anyone in the world. Avalyn made decent money herself with the books she’d authored and the fees her agent negotiated when she spoke at various conferences, dinners, and auctions, but she couldn’t have afforded a fraction of her humanitarian projects and especially not luxurious perks like her own jet and pilot without the Hawk brothers. They were good men. They just weren’t the right men for her. At one point, she’d thought maybe she and Emmett would try dating—they attended enough benefits and auctions together—but there just wasn’t any spark there. Why did there have to be spark with the crazy, youngest Hawk brother?

  She exited the airplane with her suitcase in hand. A driver would be waiting and take her to the New Hope Orphanage. She’d start her visit there, but most of this trip was focused on outlying villages to assess the quality of nutrition and water and help teach the parents how to care for their children and keep them safe from diseases.

  A driver waited by the airport exit with a sign with her name on it. She strode up to him.

  “Avalyn Shaman?” he questioned with a slight Spanish accent.

  “That’s me.”

  He didn’t smile, just gestured with his head. “This way, please.” He reached for her bag, but she held on to it. He shrugged as if he’d tried.

  Avalyn walked to the airport exit, but he put a hand on her elbow. “No, this way. Your agent made some changes to the trip.”

  Avalyn sighed, more annoyed than anything. She liked her agent, but the woman was much more bent on making money than giving it away like Avalyn was prone to do. She let the man direct her back through the airport and then out a side door. There was a helicopter ready. “What kind of publicity stunt does Sarah have planned?” she asked. “Are we not going to the orphanage first?”

  He cracked his first smile. “No, ma’am.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her against his side.

  She tried to struggle free, but he was too big, too strong. Panic rose in her chest, making it impossible to catch a full breath. The annoyance she’d felt moments ago was crowded out by the rush of fear. What was this guy doing? There was no one around, but she screamed anyway, praying someone would hear and come help her.

  He put a cloth over her nose and mouth. It was an odd-smelling mixture of sweet and chemical. Chloroform? Avalyn threw her head back but couldn’t escape him or the cloth. As darkness edged in on her vision, she wondered who she’d ticked off this time and what they were going to do to her.

  Bridger had finished a hard workout in the gym and was running sprints along the short length of beach in front of the resort in Cancun. He’d spent a nice week with his family. Luckily the wedding guests were mostly gone, especially one Britney Nolan, when he returned from New York, so he could just focus on his parents, his siblings, and their wives and fiancées. Callum and Lexi returned after a couple of days spent with her family. It was great to be with everyone, but by New Year’s Day he was ready to throw himself out of an airplane without a chute.

  He loved his family and they were fun and entertaining, but being without Avalyn was excruciating, especially when each of his brothers had a wife or fiancée by his side. Bridger was humiliated that he’d not only thrown himself at Avalyn repeatedly in Cancun but actually followed her back to Long Island, knocking on her parents’ front door Christmas Eve. What kind of a loser did that? A desperate one, for sure.

  He knew how unworthy he was of her, of course. Avalyn not only noticed the discrepancy; she wasn’t willing to bridge it. He didn’t blame her, only mourned the fact that he’d never have a chance with her. He could only blame his desperate actions on his brothers being infected by the love virus, and he’d gotten all caught up in chasing his woman down like Callum was doing. It obviously worked out a lot better for Callum than him. He snorted. Why was he surprised? Everything worked out a lot better for Callum. The man was like Midas with his golden touch.

  Bridger’s phone rang, and he pulled it out of the pocket of his running shorts.

  “Bridger,” Ramsey greeted him warmly.

  “Ramsey, my friend. How was Christmas?” He loved Ramsey. The guy had some screws loose, was even crazier than Bridger, but he was a lot of fun. The two of them were always competing for the number one and number two spots. Ramsey was constantly calling Bridger out on social media, doing some daring stunt and taunting that Bridger Hawk couldn’t do it as well as him. Bridger hated to admit that he always rose to the bait, but he loved that he usually bested his longtime friend. Ramsey was a talented athlete, but he had a lot more money and power than common sense. Bridger guessed some people might say the same about him.

  “It was great.” But something in Ramsey’s voice didn’t sound great. “Lots of women, lots of sun. What more could you want for Christmas?”

  Bridger grimaced. He only wanted one woman, and he couldn’t have her.

  “How was Creed’s wedding?”

  “Really great.” How did Bridger tell Ramsey how badly he’d screwed things up with Avalyn? Ramsey had teased him about Avalyn Shaman a few times throughout the years, but he doubted his friend recognized the depth and stupidity of Bridger’s devotion.

  “You up for a little friendly competition?”

  “Always.” His spirits lifted. He didn’t care what Ramsey threw his way; this was his chance to get away from it all and forget about Avalyn, at least for a few seconds.

  “I thought you’d say that.”

  “Name the time and the place.”

  “Fly into the Belize City airport. Text me your arrival time. I’ll have my man meet you there. I’m finally going to beat you.”

  “You know it’s hard being the best all the time. Maybe I’ll let you win.”

  Ramsey laughed heartily. “I love you, man, but you’ve never let me win. I think you’ll want to trash me on this one.”


  “I always want to trash you.” Lately Bridger felt like he was slowing down, tiring of their never-ending competition, all the cheap thrills, the media, the parties. Yet risking his life for a stupid adventure and YouTube video might be the only way he could stop thinking about Avalyn.

  Chapter Six

  Bridger took Callum’s Airbus down to Belize, a short half-hour flight, and then sent the pilot back. His brother was great to him. Bridger usually just chartered planes or boats. He had plenty of resources, investments, and sponsors but he wasn’t interested in owning the world, just conquering it.

  In the airport, he spotted a burly, bald guy in a suit holding a piece of card stock with Bridger’s name on it. Bridger approached him and inclined his chin. “You my ride?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Bridger Hawk.” Bridger extended his hand.

  “Mike.” The man returned his handshake with a crushing grip.

  Mike tilted his bald head toward a different airport exit. Bridger followed him. A chopper was waiting. He carried his bag himself; the guy hadn’t offered, and Bridger didn’t care about pomp and service.

  They climbed into the chopper. Bridger greeted the pilot, who simply nodded to him. Another burly guy was waiting for him inside. “Ramsey expecting me to put up a fight?” Bridger joked.

  Mike cracked a grin as he shut the door and the chopper took off. “He said you could take us both down, so we shouldn’t start anything.”

  Bridger smiled too. “Aw, that warms my heart.” His internal radar was pinging strangely. He and Ramsey had been friends for a long time. They teased and tormented each other like brothers. Why the security presence?

  “You know what the competition is?” Bridger asked.

  “No, sir.”

  Bridger nodded. He wasn’t getting anything more from this guy. He pulled out his phone. Might as well delete emails and deal with sponsorships and questions from his agent while they flew.