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Hawk stood and rested a hand on his hip. “How about four forty-five? Is that too early? That way, we can be all set up when they start to trickle out.”
I gaped at him. Most men I knew would balk at hours like that.
Hawk was so one-of-a-kind, I couldn’t fully grasp it. I could just stare at him in amazement at his swoop of blond hair, at his icicle-blue eyes, at the mouth I was dying to kiss again.
“You know,” I said. “You’re probably the most attractive man I’ve ever met.”
Hawk’s belly-laugh glimmered inside of me, but really, his generosity made him more appealing than anything.
“It’s true,” I said. “I’ve been surrounded by selfish people since my mom died. Having her gone—being around Stina and Pris, who only seem to be out to get whatever they can from people—even my dad has been duped by the delusion that stuff matters more than people. I’m guessing if you lost your business, if you lost everything you had, it wouldn’t sour your outlook on life a single bit.”
His eyes turned calculating. His lips did this little tweak at the corners that worked wonders on the cinders in my stomach.
He closed the distance between us and tenderly, carefully, cradled my face in his hands.
“I’ll take that as a yes?” he said softly.
“Yes. I’ll be there.”
I’d be anywhere he wanted at this point.
It wasdefinitelygood that I was leaving.
I gathered my belongings from his room, and Hawk held my hand all the way down the elevator and to the coatroom outside the ballroom.
The music had ended. Staff members were busily tearing down the lovely decorations along the halls.
I was glad I’d opted to wear boots through the snow on the way here. Heels wouldn’t have worked with his sweats.
“Thanks for letting me borrow some clothes,” I said once I’d slipped into my coat.
We made quite the pair in our coordinating sweat pants and T-shirts. I wondered what the staff members thought of seeing their boss so casual like this.
Maybe for the nighttime staff, they were used to it.
“It meant I got to spend the evening with you,” he said. “I guess I’ll see you in a few hours?”
“Yeah.”
I waited expectantly, and he didn’t disappoint me.
Hawk’s lashes drifted closed. His mouth found mine, filling me with renewed heat to keep me warm all the way to the car he’d arranged to take me home.
Cameron looked a little more tired than before, but his smile indicated he didn’t mind the inconvenience.
This was hisjob, after all.
I sauntered on starlight. I slipped onto the chilled seat and stared in a daze.
I was going home. I was taking a brief nap. And I was meeting Hawk at the hospital.
My thoughts were jumbled as he drove. From the turn of the evening, my private ball with Hawk, dancing beside his Christmas tree, his stolen and not-so-stolen kisses, I didn’t realize until I was back in my apartment that I’d made it home with only one of my shoes.
I couldn’t help but reflect on another part of our conversation, however; one that darkened my happiness just enough.
Hawk had mentioned something about a promise he’d made—a promise not to fall in love.
Was that what Pris had been referring to? If so, then how did she possibly know about it? And what had she meant by her threat?
