Page 14 of His for the Holiday

7

HAWK

Emery hadn’t left any specific instructions about what to feed the kids today. In my books, that meant they could have as many treats as they wanted.

Shelling out cotton candy to my nephews, I felt like a freaking superhero at the massive grins on their faces. Snacks in hand, they ran off. Sutton would be back with the food soon, but I let them go. They could always eat later.

Just as I turned to see where she’d gone off to, I heard a familiar voice calling my name and I grimaced, really not in the mood for this right now. I was intent on ignoring her until she appeared right in front of me.

Hailey James—though I was sure she had a different last name now judging by the size of the rock on her left ring finger—was beaming as she waved at me. “Hawk! Didn’t you hear me calling you? How are you? God, this is a surprise. I heard you were back in town, but I wasn’t sure if I believed it.”

“Here I am,” I said humorlessly, glancing up at the blonde I’d taken to prom years ago.

She was just as pretty as she used to be, with her platinum blonde hair as smooth and shiny as ever and her green eyes sparkling like precious gems. Her narrow hips were clad in light pink jeans and her white cardigan clung to her frame—and boobs that were at least double the size I remembered them being.

Yeah, she’s definitely had some work done.

After looking her over, I glanced at the little girl who was with her and smiled. “Who’s this?”

“Oh. Clancy. My daughter,” Hailey said without even looking at the little girl who was dressed rather fancy for a dirty, slightly rainy day at the carnival.

Her dress was frilly and lacy, a light pink that matched her mother’s jeans. Internally, I shook my head at the choice of outfit for a kid who looked to be about the twins’ age, wondering if she could even play in that thing.

Happily, though, it wasn’t my problem. I glanced back at her mother. “It was good to see you, Hailey.”

I hoped she would take off, but she planted herself on the bench beside me instead, sitting much closer than necessary—and definitely closer than she should’ve considering that she was clearly a married woman now.

“I’ve heard you’re in California. Gold Star Shipping is yours, right? Are you really doing as well as people say?” She leaned in a little closer, her knee grazing against my hip. “There’s a rumor doing the rounds that you’re a billionaire. Is that true?”

She whispered the word, seeming ridiculously pleased that I was possibly rich. The sickly sweet scent of her perfume pervaded my nostrils and I nearly gagged. Trying to be subtle, I slid over a couple inches on the bench in an attempt to escape.

“Gold Star is mine, yeah,” I said, ignoring the rest of the questions she’d peppered me with. “Are you here with your husband?”

She giggled and dropped into gossiping about everyone in town rather than answering the only question I’d asked. “Have you heard about Shelby Moore? She’s having an affair with Jake Reynolds, and he’s married to that little nerdy girl. Not Sutton. The other one. Her friend? What was her name? Oh, Rachel. Right. Rachel, and speaking of the nerdy girls, I just ran into Sutton. Have you seen her?”

Strangely, I found myself getting defensive when she mentioned Sutton, especially in that context. “I have seen her. Our families are friends. I’m sure you remember.”

Hailey shrugged a shoulder, flipping her blonde hair over it before shooting me a smile she definitely should not have been giving anyone but her husband. “Of course, I remember. She always looked at you in such an inappropriate, creepy way. Like she wanted you. Or wanted to eat you. I was never sure. As if she ever had a shot. Anyway, do you know about her situation, then? My mom heard from her mom at the hairdresser than she’s getting a divorce.”

“Yeah. I heard that.” I got up, deciding that I didn’t need to be sitting here with her if she still got a kick out of gossip and belittling Sutton. “I’ll see you later, Hailey. You guys have fun.”

“Wait,” she said, stopping me before I could walk away. “Do you want to have a drink later? We’re all going to Hen’s Bar. Everyone’s starting to trickle into town to visit for Thanksgiving and all our old friends should be there.”

“Maybe.” I glanced at the little girl again, noticing the sour look on her face. “Bye, Clancy. It was nice meeting you.”

She didn’t respond, so I turned and left, heading over to where my nephews were playing on a bouncy house nearby. Sutton and Winnie came back to bring the boys some food, then begged off.

As they said their goodbyes, I couldn’t help running my gaze over Sutton’s tiny, curvy body again. I shouldn’t be looking at her like that anymore, but after Hailey had reminded me of how Sutton used to look at me, I kind of wanted her to do it again. I also didn’t really believe that Hailey hadn’t noticed me looking at Sutton the exact same way. I knew I’d looked at her like that. Like I wanted to eat her. Mostly because I had wanted to eat her.

Shit, making out with Sutton had been my favorite pastime for months.

Just the thought of it made me wonder if she still had that sexy, fiery streak behind closed doors that no other man had ever seen from her back then. I’d been her first—and only—boyfriend, and it still got me hard when I thought about all the other firsts she’d experienced with me.

“Uncle Hawk?” Sawyer said, and when I blinked, I realized that Sutton and Winnie were gone and all three boys were staring at me expectantly. “Sutton was right. It is probably going to start raining soon.”

“Right.” I blinked hard. “I didn’t hear her say that, but we should go.”

Gathering them up, we walked home and watched a couple kids walking together. I glanced at my phone and wondered how much longer Emery and Dad were going to be. As I thought it, my phone rang and my sister’s name popped onto the screen.