by Destiny Ford
He took a seat in the swing next to me and I had to remind myself to breathe.
“So, I see you aren’t tied up.”
There were so many ways I could answer that I wasn’t sure where to begin.
He didn’t give me much time to narrow down my potential responses.
“Why haven’t you been returning my calls or texts?” he asked.
The man got right to the point. I needed something, anything, to distract him. “Did you know that you have a tongue print? Every tongue print is different, just like a fingerprint.” I winced as soon as the words came out of my mouth. I’d recently been reading a book on random unknown facts and that’s the first one that came to mind.
Hawke winged a brow at my incredibly useful bit of information. “I don’t think that’s true. I think we need to do some testing and find out.”
My heart started a sprint and I realized I should have chosen a random fact with much less sexual innuendo. “I read a book about it and feel pretty confident science has already vetted the claim.”
“Mmmm,” he said, grabbing my swing, which had slowed considerably, and moving closer to me. “I don’t.”
I thought about backing away. I really did. For about one second, the angel on my shoulder had control and reminded me I had feelings for two men and shouldn’t be kissing either one of them until I figured things out. And then Hawke’s huge hand was in my hair and his other arm was wrapped around my waist, and his soft, full lips were pressed against mine in a searing kiss that immediately made me want those lips other places as well. Hawke kissed like every kiss was his last, and in his line of work—a line of work I wasn’t entirely sure of but knew it straddled the line between moral and immoral—it might be. It was easy to get lost in the feel of his hands and intoxicating smell of salt, soap, and the beach that was one hundred percent his. Reasoning skills came back to me slowly, but eventually they did return and I knew I needed to put some water on this fire immediately or we were going to end up back at my house doing things that until recently, were illegal in Utah.
I pulled away, licking my lips, and was almost drawn right back in when I saw the heat in Hawke’s eyes. I shifted my focus, searching for something that might pull us away from the bedroom we were almost headed to.
“You haven’t been climbing house walls over on Evergreen Street this week, have you?”
“Not this week.”
I gave him a look. “You’ve been climbing walls on Evergreen Street on other days?”
He raised a brow. “You never know what I’m up to, Kitty Kate.”
That was true. And it concerned me.
“You didn’t answer my question,” he said.
“I know. I was avoiding it on purpose.”
“Like you’ve been avoiding me.” It was a statement, not a question.
I looked everywhere but at Hawke. The tennis courts could use a cleaning, and some of the playground equipment needed to be painted. I should do a story on that.
“You know I’m pretty difficult to dodge?” he asked.
I did. That’s why I’d been so impressed that I’d accomplished it. I gave myself an inner pat on the back and tried not to let how pleased I was with myself show on my face because I’d been successfully avoiding him for weeks.
“So when you careened around the corner into an alley to try to escape my Mustang coming down the road, leaving a trail of dust behind you, that did not go unnoticed.”
My eyes widened. Dammit! I was sure he hadn’t seen me!
“And when you hid from me in the grocery store like the kid running from the velociraptor in Jurassic Park, I saw every move you made.”
My mouth gaped at that bit of information. I thought I’d been so stealthy! “You saw me?” I felt offended and deflated all at once. I’d been running from aisle to aisle like an assassin with a cart and I totally thought I’d kicked ass and could have a second job as a ninja!
“The store has mirrors on every aisle so the cameras can catch people trying to steal things. You were holding bread, milk, cheese, ice cream, cookies, chocolate, and candy. And you kept dropping stuff along the way. There was a literal trail of sugar that led right to you.”
I wrinkled my nose, even more annoyed. “I had to abandon my cart when I saw you and only took the necessities.”
He arched one brow. “And then you climbed into a freezer. I’m not even sure how you got in there. It was full of frozen vegetables.”
It hadn’t been easy, and I’d managed to give myself a frozen pea wedgie, which was not the most comfortable experience, and not one I would recommend. Plus, I’d almost frozen my boobs off. “I didn’t know where you were!” My exasperation was showing in the pitch of my voice.
“The Farley kid is going to think monsters live in the grocery store freezer section,” Hawke mused. “He’s going to be traumatized for years.”
I did feel bad about that. “I apologized. To him, and his mother. I wasn’t expecting a kid to be in the frozen vegetable section. Ice cream, totally, but not frozen veggies. And then I saw you leave so I thought I’d made it through the ordeal without being seen.”
Hawke’s eyes sparkled with amusement. “I had to leave before you caused a major event. It was like watching your mother.”
I gasped, more horrified at the comparison to my mom’s disaster tendencies than anything else. “I do not have my mom’s catastrophe genes.”
He narrowed his eyes. “They might have been sitting dormant for twenty-five years and are now starting to make an appearance—like a volcano.”
I gave him a glare that would have shriveled a lesser man.
“Your attempt to escape was better than a movie. I asked the grocery store owner for the security footage.”
“You did not!” I said, giving him a playful punch to the arm. It was like hitting a rock. I rubbed my fist to try and soothe it, but Hawke took it instead.
“I think you need some practice in evasive maneuvers. My house, and bedroom, are always open.”
I could feel the heat creeping up my face and since I wasn’t prepared to have a conversation about sex or our relationship—whatever that relationship was—I decided now would be a really good time to change the subject. “There was a burglary on Evergreen Street. The Pope family. That’s why I asked you about it.”
“I know.” He said it with the confidence of a man who knows everything, and chances were good Hawke actually did.
“And another burglary yesterday at Betty Turner’s house.”
He nodded at that information too.
“Do you know anything about either of those crimes?”
“Not yet, but I’m interested.”
“I think they’re connected, but so far I can’t see anything that ties them together,” I said, going over the details again in my mind. “The police can’t figure it out either.”
“If they’re connected, this won’t be the last. More information will come out as more robberies happen.”
I nodded in agreement. “People in town are worried and an emergency town meeting has been called for tonight.”
“I know that too.”
“Is there anything you don’t know?”
His eyes darkened and he gave me a look full of heat. “Plenty, Kitty Kate. Plenty. But I’m looking forward to finding it all out.”
I turned my gaze away from him because I didn’t trust myself to keep it there. A car pulled into the parking lot. I probably wouldn’t have noticed if it hadn’t pulled in directly across from the swing set. The person inside the car seemed to have a larger head than normal. It took a few seconds for my brain to process what I was seeing, but I realized that I was staring at someone wearing a giant squirrel head looking right at us. I couldn’t see the rest of the squirrel’s attire, but wondered if he was in full costume, or only wearing the head.
Hawke must have noticed my attention and looked in the same direction I was focused on.
“Is it just me, or is a squirrel drivi
ng that Corolla and staring at us?” I asked, still returning the squirrel’s attention.
Hawke watched the car with interest. “It’s definitely a squirrel.”
“Seems strange a giant squirrel would be hanging out in the library parking lot.”
“It’s October. Maybe he’s on his way to a Halloween party and got lost.”
That was as rational an explanation as any. The car stayed in the parking spot for a few minutes and then pulled out and drove away.
I glanced at my watch. “I need to get back to work and get some things done before the town meeting tonight.”
“I’ll see you there,” he said.
“Hey,” I said as I started walking away. “What are you going to be for Halloween?”
His lips spread into a wide grin. “Anything you want me to be, Kitty Kate.”
My heart sped up and heat rose in my cheeks. That was a long list.
“I’m excellent at fulfilling fantasies,” he said.
I nodded with assurance. “I have no doubt.”
Chapter Six
I got to the meeting early so I could get a good spot to sit and take notes and photos. Half the people in town were already there, speaking in raised voices about what Branson Falls was coming to. The city council members hadn’t even shown up yet.
I found a chair and got my notes in order. I was curious how the council and police were planning to address the robberies since the crimes hadn’t been going on long. Getting ahead of the problem and making people aware was probably the best course of action, but they had no suspects or leads.
I was reading through my notes when I felt a large form slide in next to me and my body reacted immediately. Drake. He was wearing the same thing he’d been wearing this morning, and this time, I had no convenient tree to climb.
“You’ve been avoiding me for weeks.”
He got right to the point. Just like Hawke had. They were men on a mission.
I shrugged in response. “I’ve been busy.”
He gave me an assessing look. “Not that busy.”
I narrowed my eyes. “How do you know?”
“Because I know.”
This wasn’t a conversation I wanted to have with half the town as our audience. Granted, most of them were otherwise engaged in spouting off theories about who was committing the robberies, but still. The Ladies had sneaky spies everywhere, and I had no doubt there was one in the area listening in.
I sighed, put down my notebook, and met his eyes. “I’m not sure who’s been apprising you of my schedule, but I’ve got a casserole caper dropping casseroles off on random doorsteps, a slew of robberies that make no sense, and people committed to taking down the new tattoo shop simply because the owners are providing a service they disagree with. I’m a little occupied right now. So unless you know something about one of those issues, I don’t have time to talk.”
“You seem to have plenty of time to talk to Hawke.”
I gave him a confused look. That wasn’t true. I’d been avoiding Hawke too. Until today.
He raised a brow. “You were with him at the park a couple of hours ago.”
Dammit! That stupid Ladies Facebook group was going to be the end of me, and by end, I meant it was going to make me so stabby that I ended up in jail for actually stabbing someone. “Number one, who I spend time with is really none of your business. Number two, I was talking to Hawke about one of the stories I mentioned a second ago.”
He narrowed his eyes like he didn’t believe that was the only thing we’d been doing. And it wasn’t. If he hadn’t already been informed about the kissing part of mine and Hawke’s rendezvous, it was only a matter of time.
I slitted my eyes right back and dared him to challenge me on it. My glare must have been intimidating enough that he decided to change course. “I know something about one of those issues,” he said.
I raised a brow, interested. “You do?”
He raised one back. “I do.”
“What?”
His lips slid into a smug smile. “That information will cost you.”
My face contorted like I’d sucked on something sour. “I don’t like being manipulated.”
He put his hands up, palms out in front of him. “I’m not manipulating you. I’m offering information in exchange for a conversation. I’m told that talking is kind of what reporters do.”
Okay, he was right about that.
“But,” he said, continuing, “I’ll add that on a personal level, my feelings are a bit singed. I’m not sure what I did wrong to make you distance yourself from me, but I’d like the opportunity to talk with you about it.”
I respected that. A lot. He didn’t want to let things sit and simmer. He wasn’t afraid of emotion, confrontation, or hearing how I felt. He wanted to talk through it, regardless of what the outcome might be. And he had a fair point. I’d been spineless and avoided the little happy chocolate ice cream out of him. But I still had no idea what to tell him about my feelings, or exactly why I’d been avoiding him because I didn’t know what those feelings were. “Okay,” I said. “Let’s have a conversation about the story issue and I promise we’ll get to the personal stuff at some point.” When I figured it out. “What do you know?”
His lips tipped up like he knew he’d caught me. And he had—a long time ago, before I even really had boobs, and I’d been fighting his blue eyes and six-pack ever since. “How about I stop by and we can talk about it where there aren’t so many ears.” He tilted his head in reference to all the people in the room with us.
“Okay,” I said. “Unless a story breaks, I should be at the Tribune office tomorrow.”
He pressed his lips together. “Or I could stop by your house later tonight.”
My house had a bed. And a comfortable couch. And a soft rug. And sturdy walls. And really, none of those things even mattered where my willpower was concerned; the bare floor would work just fine. The main issue was that my house had been the location of our last almost-tryst. Therefore, my house was a no-Drake zone. Not to mention the fact that Drake’s car at my house at any time of day would illicit an immediate drive-by and discussion from The Ladies, but Drake’s car at my house after eight PM would cause a full-on incident. “I don’t think my house is a good idea.”
His brows rose. “You don’t?”
“Nope.”
Drake’s eyes heated. “Too many memories?” His tone was suggestive and my lady parts responded accordingly.
And bedrooms, I added in my head.
“You could come to my house instead,” he suggested.
That was a tempting offer because I’d never been inside Drake’s house and wondered what it looked like. He owned it, which meant that unlike my house, he’d been able to decorate it. You can tell a lot about a person by their home—I had strong opinions about countertop stone, flooring, drywall texture, and theories about people based on whether or not they liked wallpaper. The temptation to stop by Drake’s house immediately receded when I thought of the number of beds and comfortable couches that probably existed there as well.
I’d recently attended a lecture by a very smart neuroscientist on brain function. He’d explained that every human is born with a limited amount of daily willpower, gifted to each person by their genetic code, and that willpower gets depleted daily as the day goes on by everything from traffic frustrations to what clothes to wear—which explained why so many of my poor choices were made at night. That class had made me realize that I should probably always limit my interactions with Hawke and Drake to daytime, preferably morning when my willpower tank was full.
“I won’t get out of here until late tonight and I’ve been working since Ned and his idiots started their protest at the butt crack of dawn this morning.”
“Fair enough,” Drake said. “I’ll stop by the Tribune office tomorrow.”
I glanced around the room and caught the eyes of The Ladies huddled together in the back like a nest of vipers lacquered in Aqua Net. Amb
er Kane glared and whispered something in Jackie’s ear. Jackie’s gaze darted to me, then to the seat next to me where Drake had planted himself. She slitted her eyes and if I’d been within striking range, I was certain I’d be on my way to the hospital for some Lady anti-venom. I knew how much Drake’s interest in me irritated her, and I gave her a wink to aggravate her a little more before I turned back around.
The meeting was about to start. I thought Drake might get up and leave, but instead he settled in next to me and I had to use all of my remaining daily willpower to focus on the councilmen seated at the front of the room instead of Drake’s mass of muscles in squeeze range.
Councilman Jessie Green called the meeting to order. “We’re here to discuss the recent spate of robberies,” he said. “I know many of you are concerned. I want to ensure you that we’ve been in constant contact with the police department and they’re keepin’ us updated about their investigation. So far, there doesn’t seem to be anythin’ tyin’ these crimes together, but the police have committed to increasin’ their patrols and want to encourage all of us as a community to watch out for each other and let them know if anythin’ strange or out of place seems to be happenin’.”
A voice in the crowd interrupted councilman Green, “The only thing strange and out of place is that new tattoo shop. No one was gettin’ robbed until they came into town.”
Another voice chimed in, “That’s what we get for allowin’ sinful things in our town. They bring the wickedness with them.”
That started a whole new contingent of smaller arguments among citizens and the cacophony of anger was making it hard for me to hear all of the various complaints, let alone write them all down. I was recording the meeting so I’d have to review the audio later to make sure I got everything correct.