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“Can I get another Club Soda?” Tildy asked the woman.
“How about something with a little more bite to it?” the cowboy asked. “I’ll buy.”
Tildy shook her head. “No, really. Just soda. That’s it for me.”
“Oughta loosen up, girl,” he replied, echoing Skylar’s earlier sentiments. He plunked down a bill and ordered two shots of tequila. The blonde poured.
“No, really,” Tildy insisted. “I-”
The cowboy put the shot in her hand. “Go on. Live a little, Princess,” he replied, just like the bartender had called her earlier.
“I don’t drink.”
The cowboy smiled. “Pleasure to be your first time.”
Tildy blushed and tried to set the shot glass down. The cowboy stopped her. “Already paid for,” he reminded her.
Tildy frowned. “I’m sorry about that,” she told him. “I can pay you back.” She reached for the pocket of her sweater.
“Or you could just be polite and drink it,” the cowboy told her, though his tone was starting to sound anything but polite.
Before Tildy could react, a large hand reached out and plucked the glass from her hand. Tildy turned to see Hawk looming over herself and her dance partner. Hawk drank the shot himself and placed the empty glass upside down on the bar. “Thanks for the drink,” he said in a gravelly voice. He held out his hand to Tildy. “Come on,” he ordered.
Tildy slipped her hand into his and got off the barstool.
“Hey!” said the cowboy. “I was dancing with her.”
“Thanks for the dance,” Hawk replied. He tried to lead Tildy away, but the cowboy wasn’t giving up.
“I was dancing with her,” he repeated more loudly. He grabbed Tildy’s wrist. “I bought her a drink, and we were havin’ ourselves a nice time.”
Hawk’s gaze zeroed in on Tildy’s wrist. “Get your fucking hand off her,” he snarled.
The cowboy didn’t let go. Apparently he hadn’t been kidding about liking danger, because Hawk was almost twice his size and his expression was so menacing that even Tildy was alarmed.
“How ‘bout you let go, Chief? I got dibs.”
“Dibs?” Hawk asked quietly.
“That’s right. First come, first served. Ain’t that right, Princess?”
Hawk let go of Tildy’s hand.
Tildy had never seen an actual fight, before; only on the big screen and only when Tate made her go. Action movies weren’t really her thing. If she was expecting some long, drawn-out boxing match that culminated in a full-scale bar fight, then she’d seen way too movies. Hawk’s fist shot out like a striking rattlesnake, a blur. It connected with the cowboy’s jaw with a crack. He let go of Tildy’s wrist and tumbled to the floor.
“There,” Hawk said. “I flipped you for her.”
He took Tildy’s hand again and led her away. As they crossed the bar, a man Tildy recognized came striding toward them. Hawk caught sight of him, yanked Tildy across his front, and pivoted to face the way they’d just come. Tildy gasped to see the cowboy following closely on their heels with a beer bottle in his hand.
Hawk’s friend raised his own hand, and a glint of gold shimmered. The cowboy halted at the sight of the badge.
“He punched me!” the cowboy cried.
The cop smirked. “I’m about to shoot you.”
The cowboy spluttered. “Arrest him!”
The cop shook his head. “That’d mean paperwork. Plus, I’d just have to turn around and shell out his bail money. Not doing either tonight.” He jerked his chin at the door. “Find yourself another watering hole.”
The cowboy glared at them, then dropped his bottle onto the floor. Thankfully it didn’t break.
“Fucking cock tease,” he muttered as he turned and stalked through the crowd towards the door.
Hawk nodded his thanks to the cop and then he turned to Tildy. “What are you doing here?” he asked, frowning at her.
Tildy felt a stab of disappointment. “Um. I just…” She didn’t really know what to say. Hawk technically knew that things with her parents weren’t great, but Tildy didn’t want to talk about it. “I just wanted to go out,” she replied casually.
“Not with him,” Hawk ordered. “Or anyone like him.”
Tildy made a face. “He seemed okay.”
“No one here is okay, Tildy,” he countered. “Got that?”
Chapter 19
Hawk waited for Tildy to nod and indicate that she understood. He definitely had been surprised to find her here tonight and more than a little pissed that some asshole had moved in on her and tried to feed her shots. Anyone with eyes in his head could see that Tildy did not belong in a honky-tonk, which of course just made her easier prey.
“You’re okay,” she argued.
Hawk let a small grin escape his serious facade. “No, I’m not, Tildy. I’m a bad, dangerous man.”
Tildy looked up at him. “He said he liked danger.”
He lifted her chin with a finger and leaned down. “But you don’t.”
“I-”
“Tildy?”
Hawk and Tildy both turned to see Slick moving toward them. “Are you okay? I saw you come in, but I’ve been so swamped I couldn’t get to you. Then you were dancing.”
