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“What are you doing tomorrow?” he asked quietly, unable to keep his fingers out of her hair.
“Um,” she replied. “N-nothing.”
“Will you come to Mark and Abby’s barbecue?”
Tildy looked confused for a moment, as though she’d expected him to say something else. “Barbecue?” she repeated.
“Chili cook-off,” he murmured, leaning in closer. He angled his mouth just inches from hers.
Tildy simply stared at his mouth, as though she were mesmerized. “Yes,” she whispered, and Hawk didn’t know for certain what it was that she was agreeing to. He hoped it was everything. He’d settle for a kiss and an opportunity to see her again.
He pressed his mouth against hers.
Surprisingly, Tildy was not a great kisser. This perplexed him, because any woman as cute as Tildy should be a fabulous kisser. Then again high school and college boys didn’t exactly make for the best lovers. Hawk wondered if he’d be her first real man, and he’d be willing to bet his Harley that he would. He might be a bit of a player, but he would in no way be the kind of “Wham, Bam, Thank You, Ma’am” that Tildy was used to.
She stood up on her tiptoes, her hands grasping at his arms as she pulled him in closer. Hawk wanted to chuckle. What she lacked in experience, she definitely made up for with enthusiasm. He set her back on her feet before Caleb had to arrest them both.
“Tomorrow,” he reminded her. “Noon.” And he gave Tildy Tex’s address.
She nodded, somewhat dazed, and Hawk opened the car door for her.
Back inside the bar, he took up his seat again. He polished off his beer in one gulp, as Slick appeared beside him. She wasn’t there to collect his empty.
“Stay away from her, Hawk,” the waitress ordered.
Hawk looked up at her, frowning. “You’ve been giving me the hairy eyeball all day,” he told her. “What’s the problem? I’m not going to hurt her.”
“She’s not for you,” Slick insisted.
Hawk glowered. “I just said-”
“She’s getting married,” Slick announced to the table.
Easy and Tex abandoned their game of pool and stepped closer.
Hawk’s eyebrows furrowed. “What? No, she’s not. I didn’t see a ring on her finger.”
Slick put a hand on one hip and the other hip against the table. “That’s because you haven’t put it there yet.”
Now Hawk was completely lost. Before he could say anything, Easy summed it up pretty eloquently.
“What?”
Slick shook her head wearily. “She says she’s getting married. To you.”
Hawk slowly set his empty bottle down on the table. “No, she didn’t,” he insisted.
“Oh, yes. She did.”
“When?” he demanded, because Slick and Tildy hadn’t even said boo to each other all night, so obviously Sarah was mistaken.
“This afternoon. At the garage.”
Easy gave a low whistle. “Bunny boiler,” he declared.
Hawk scowled harder. “She’s…” he tried to say, but couldn’t finish, because he didn’t know what Tildy was. Sure she was a little quirky, a little shy in general, but still pretty forward with him. But crazy? He couldn’t picture Tildy as crazy.
Apparently, Slick couldn’t either.
“I’m not saying she’s dangerous,” the woman intoned. “But there’s something…off about her. And she definitely said she was marrying you.”
Hawk groaned and covered his face with one hand.
“When’s the wedding?” Shooter asked brightly.
“Shut up,” Hawk growled. He was beginning to seriously regret inviting Tildy to the barbecue.
There was one rule, above all others, more important than not letting them ride on the Harley, more important than not sleeping beside them, and more important than letting them know up front that he didn’t do commitment.
“Rule number one,” Easy chirped.
“Fuck me,” Hawk groaned.
“What’s rule number one?” Vegas asked.
Easy laughed. “Don’t stick your dick in crazy.”
Chapter 10
Tildy got out of the cab and stood on the sidewalk outside the address Hawk had given her. She was reasonably sure she’d gotten it right, because there were a ton of cars lining both sides of the street- motorcycles too. Her stomach flip-flopped when she recognized Hawk’s.
There were a lot of voices coming from behind the house, and it seemed the barbecue was in the backyard. Tildy wasn’t sure if she should knock on the front door but decided to, just in case she had the wrong house.
She passed a shiny, black Hummer and a cherry red Camaro parked in the driveway and walked up to the front door. She yanked on the sleeves of her blue cotton button-down shirt that she’d rolled up to her elbows before running her hands over her jeans. Odds weren’t great that it would actually be Hawk who answered the door but still…
She knocked and held her breath. A few minutes later, the man with sandy blonde hair and blue eyes that she recognized from the garage, as well as the bar, opened the door.
“Tildy,” was all he said, a huge grin spreading across his face.
Tildy relaxed a little and smiled back. “Hi. Hawk invited me. I- I hope that’s okay.”
