Hawk: (4 page)

Tildy shoved the broken necklace into her purse, stuffed the purse into her backpack, and slung the pack over her shoulders. Hawk led her to a huge black and chrome motorcycle that gleamed in the harsh sunlight. She hesitated for the barest of seconds.

Turning toward her
, he asked, “Ever been on a bike?”

She shook her head, but was determined. “What’s the best way to get on?”

He grinned at her. He got on first, swinging one leg over the side. She watched him and nodded to herself. Then she stepped up to the bike and did the same. He reached back and pulled down two pegs for her feet, and she settled a sandal on each one.

N
one of that helped her to know where she should put her hands. She rested them lightly on his shoulders at first, but had the idea that, if they went too fast, that might not be secure enough.

Settling this decision for he
r, Hawk took her wrists in his hands and slid her arms around his waist, forcing her to move closer to him on the seat. He pressed her hands to his stomach. Really low on his stomach, to be exact. Her own stomach fluttered in response, but she leaned closer to him anyway.

He smelled amazingly of some
kind of woodsy cologne, but just a hint of it. His hair was long, long enough to pull into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. It was clean and shiny, and she wondered what it felt like to touch it. Instead, she merely pressed her hands more firmly into his stomach.
Slow
, Tildy.
Take it slow
, she reminded herself.

Hawk nodded to the tow truck driver and headed out of the gas station’s parking lot. If Tildy was nervous about not wearing a helmet, she promptly forgot all about
both it and the climbing thermometer when a breeze blew back her hair. Though she’d never been on a motorcycle before, she got the impression that riding on the open road would be all the air conditioning she needed.

They didn’t hit the open road
though, to her disappointment. They merely wound through Rapid City’s downtown area to a large garage with a sign that said “Burnout” in black letters on the front. There were several bikes in the lot, she noticed, and a car she was pretty sure was called a ‘Hot Rod’ was parked in front of the building.

Hawk pulled his bike into the last spot
in a line of bikes that were all black and chrome, but of varying styles. One thing they had in common was that they were all large, with the exception of one small dirtbike off to the side. Tildy couldn’t imagine Hawk on anything like that.

He killed the engine and held her ar
m as she swung her leg back to dismount. Hawk managed to get off the bike much more smoothly; his graceful movements belied his large frame. Tildy was glad her man was beautiful, but strong too. She shook her head remembering that they’d only just met. He led her into the garage, where other men were working. None of them were quite as large or good looking as the man who’d brought her here.

The y
oungest one looked really young to Tildy’s eyes. It was obvious that he was younger even than Tildy herself. He was cleaning some parts with a rag, when he looked up at the two of them entering the building and grinned.

“Hola,” he said to Hawk, in a teasing voice.

The other three men looked up from their work. The second largest one had short, light hair. He wasn’t quite as muscled as Hawk, but was still quite formidable. The other two were only slightly smaller in stature, one with blonde hair and youngest one with short, dark hair. All three men looked confused.

“Tildy’s car wouldn’t start,” Hawk declared. “I gave her a ride. Her car’s being towed here. Told her we’d take a look at it for her.”

“
Gave her a ride,”
the teenager said in Spanish, with a smirk. “
Before or after her car broke down?”

Tildy stopped short. Hawk didn’t seem to notice. He turned to face the kid fully. “
Knock it off,”
he replied, also in Spanish. “
I just met her
.”

The kid laughed. “
Never stopped you before.
”

“Emilio
,” one of the men said sternly.

“
I’m just saying,
” the kid called Emilio announced. “
Think you’ll break your ‘One Night Only’ rule for her? She’s hot. She’s worth two rides, at least. Maybe even three. She’s got a sweet ass.”

“EMILIO!” the man shouted. “ENOUGH!”

The man turned to look at Tildy, and everyone’s gaze followed his.

Her
face was hot, and it had nothing to do with the temperature in the garage. “Um,” she said at all the men looking at her. “I’ll- I’ll wait outside, ‘til my car gets here.” She spun around and took one step toward the door but nearly knocked over a small woman who was carrying multiple bags.

“Oh!” Tildy cried as she
just barely avoided colliding with the woman.

“Oh, sorry!” the woman said. She looked from Tildy to the men and back to Tildy. “Are you-?”

“My car broke down,” Tildy blurted out. “Hawk gave me a ride.” Then her face turned an even deeper red as she thought about Emilio’s remarks. “I mean a ride
here
,” she clarified.

The woman g
azed at the men again, her eyes narrowing at all of them. Tildy knew she, herself, wouldn’t chance giving men like this a look like
that
.

“What did you do?” the brunette
demanded of the man who had shouted at Emilio.

He looked shocked
. “Nothing, baby! It was just- see- we-”

She rolled her eyes at him and turned back to Tildy. “What did they do?”

“I…” was all Tildy could bring herself to say.

“They’re
animals,” the woman declared, loudly. “
Animals.
And they were all raised in a barn!”

“Baby,” the man protested. “I wasn’t raised in a barn. I tried to stop it. I was-”

“Don’t even try,” the woman snapped. She raised her arms toward Tildy. “Here,” she said. “Can you take a few of these? We can get away from them.”

Tildy took a few of the sacks and followed the
woman back through the garage.

“Maybe,” the woman called out, “we won’t even feed them! Maybe we’ll just throw it
all out! Teach them a lesson!” She opened the door to a room that looked like a break room and ushered Tildy inside.

“
I don’t need that lesson!” the man called after her. “I swear. Baby, I was a hero! And I’m hun-”

The wom
an slammed the door shut, rattling it on its hinges. She sighed heavily as she set the bags down on the table. “They’re good guys,” she told Tildy. “But they’re ex-Army. All of them, except Emilio, anyway. They occasionally forget the ‘
ex’
part and think they’re still in their Boys Club. And none of them have the manners God gave a Rattlesnake.”

She set out bowls of food and glanced at Tildy over her shoulder. “I’m married to their lieutenant. The one who thinks he can weasel his way out of being punished for whatever it was they did to you.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Tildy said.

The woman looked at her again. “Yeah, I can tell by the way your face is turning eight shades of red. I’m Sarah, by the way.”

“Tildy,” Tildy replied.

“
Your car broke down?”

Tildy nodded. “It’s been acting weird. And
then it wouldn’t start. But Hawk was there. And he offered me a ride.” Tildy knew she was rambling a bit.

“Do you know Hawk?” Sarah asked cautiously.

Tildy shook her head. “No, we just met at the gas station.”

Sarah reached for Tildy’s bags. “And you hitched a ride with him? That was...brave. Hawk’s an intimidating guy.”

Tildy shook her head. “No. He seemed really nice. And I knew it would be okay.”

Sarah pulled out some utensils and a stack of napkins.

“He’s the man I’m going to marry.”

Hawk waited until the women were safely behind the break room door. He turned to Emilio, about to unload on the kid, but Shooter beat him to it.

“What the hell is wrong with you?” Shooter demanded.

Emilio managed to scowl and look contrite at the same time. “I didn’t know she spoke Spanish!”

Shooter shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. You don’t talk like that.”

Now Emilio just scowled. “
You
guys talk like that all the time!” he protested.

Hawk pinched the bridge of his nose. The nuances of appropriately inappropriate behavior were obviously lost on the kid. “Not right in front of them,” he admonished. “It’s rude. And she’s a nice girl, Emilio. You don’t
talk about nice girls like that. They won’t take it as a compliment.”

Shooter sighed. “It’s more than that,” he declared. “You’ve been different. Coming in late, leaving early. Mouthing off. Not just to that girl, but to us.”

Emilio opened his mouth to protest, but Shooter cut him off with a look. “I don’t like it,” Shooter told him. “It stops now.” He didn’t wait for Emilio to agree; he didn’t need to. Shooter’s word was law as far as any of them were concerned.

“I’d have you apologize to Hildy-” Shooter said.

“Tildy,” Hawk corrected.

Shooter turned to look at his friend. His look of surprise was apparent. To cover it up though, he asked, “What kind of a name is Tildy?”

Hawk shrugged. “A secret one.”

“Oh look, you have something in common,” Tex teased.

At that moment, the tow truck swung into the turnaround, hauling Tildy’s Mercedes.

Easy whistled. “That her ride?”

“Yup,” Hawk replied.

“So
, not much else in common then?” Tex asked.

Hawk merely snorted. “I’m just taking a look at her engine.”

“That’s what we’re calling it now?” Tex asked, grinning.

“Gonna check her oil, too?” Easy asked. “With your dipstick?”

“I am trying to teach this young man how to behave!” Shooter yelled at his men. “Try to set good examples!”

“Can’t,”
Tex replied. “Raised in a barn, remember?”

Shooter leveled his gaze at Emilio. “I swear to God. If you cost me lunch...”

“I’ll smooth it over,” Hawk said, waving his hand and heading toward the break room. As he opened the door, he heard Shooter say, “You’re pushing her car into the bay.”

“Oh, man!” Emilio whined.

Hawk shut the break room door behind him to cut down on the noise from the work area.

“What
did you say, Tildy?” he heard Slick ask.

Tildy shook her head. “What? Oh. Nothing.”

Hawk crossed the room to wash his hands at the sink. “Car’s here,” he told Tildy. “They’re putting it in the bay. Shooter should have a good idea what’s wrong with it in a little while.”

“Okay,” Tildy replied, watching him. “Thanks.”

Hawk wasn’t terribly familiar with the look Tildy was giving him. He detected no lust in her gaze, but she was definitely interested in him. He pulled up a chair and reminded himself that she wasn’t his type. At least, if he had a type, Tildy wasn’t it. After she’d practically sprinted out of the garage when Emilio teased her, Hawk figured she’d never even been in the vicinity of a man like him. It was obvious that Tildy stuck to college boys. Hawk couldn’t help but smile though, as he thought about ruining Tildy for all lesser males.

“Sorry about Emilio,” Hawk said. “He’s young.”

Tildy flushed pink and he suppressed a grin.

“It’s okay,” she replied, but she looked away just the same.

Slick shook her head and sighed.

“Do I get to eat?” Hawk asked, holding up his hands. “I washed up,” he added for good measure.

Slick set down a plate in front of him.

“Fabulous,” he said. “Sit,” he told Tildy. “Slick’s the best cook in the Dakotas.”

“I heard that!” Tex growled as he entered the room.

“Of course you heard that,” Slick replied. “In case you didn’t hear it, I’m putting up a billboard next week.”

“Oh, is that right?” the Cowboy demanded, arms crossed.

“Yeah. Right after I serve the World’s Best Chili tomorrow at your barbecue,” Slick announced.

Tex’s eyes narrowed. “
I’m
making chili!”

“Good. When we run out of mine, we’ll serve yours as leftovers,” she countered.

“Leftovers? Leftovers! How did you know I was making chili, anyway?”

Slick was silent.

“Vegas,” Tex grumbled. “Gonna tan her ass when I get home tonight!”

“Who’s Vegas?” Tildy asked quietly.

Hawk turned to her. “Tex’s...
girlfriend
.”

“Hawk,” Slick said, voice full of warning.

But Hawk grinned, not taking his eyes off Tildy. “And in case you were wondering, the hide-tanning will be literal.”

“Hawk!” Slick yelled as Tildy gasped. Tildy’s face turned a whole new shade of
red that Hawk hadn’t seen yet.

Apparently
Tildy hadn’t minored in spankings at college.

Tex made an irritated noise, stomped past them, and washed his hands. Tildy bounced her gaze back and forth from Slick to Hawk. Slick shook her head
; Hawk nodded. Tildy didn’t know whom to believe. Hawk nearly burst out laughing when Tildy skirted around the table, further away from Tex, and planted herself beside him.

Hawk normally didn’t go the spanking route, though he entertained any and all reasonable requests. He didn’t think Tildy would ever make such a request, but it was fun to tease he
r anyway.

“Are you from around here?” Slick asked.

Tildy nodded. “We live on the north side of town. I just graduated from SDSU.”

“That’s in Brookings, right?” Slick asked.

Tildy nodded again. “You’re not from around here?”

“No.
I’m from North Carolina, but I...I’ve lived all over.”

“Oh,” Tildy said. “Are you from a military family?”

“Um...”

Hawk watched Slick scowl and shift uncomfortably in her chair. “Tildy
majored in finance, but she really wanted to be a teacher,” Hawk declared to defuse the situation. “Oh, wait,” he said, chagrined. “That was a secret. Sorry.”

Tildy smiled
though. “It’s okay.”

“Why is it a secret?” Tex asked, pulling up a chair.

Tildy pushed her egg salad around on her plate. “I told my parents I should minor in Spanish, that it would be useful at work. I love Spanish, but I really love teaching English as a Second Language. I got away with volunteering at the community center because I got course credit. I still teach a class there, but my parents don’t approve.”

“Why not?
” Slick asked.

“
The only Spanish-speaking people that north siders interact with mow their lawns and clean their mansions,” Hawk concluded.

Tildy grimaced
.

“Hawk!” Slick chastised.

Tildy sighed. “It’s true,” She admitted.

“What’s true?” Easy asked, coming through the door.

“That if you snooze, you lose,” Tex replied. “I ate all the egg salad.”

Easy’s eyes hardened. “You did not.”

“How much you want to bet?”

Easy smirked. “I’ll just wait until tomorrow. Slick’ll have plenty of kickass chili.”

Tex’s mouth dropped open. “How do you know about that? Why does everyone know about it but me?”

“
‘Cause you’re going
down
, Cowboy,” Easy informed him, reaching for a fork.

As the youngest Ranger took a seat at the table, Slick produced another
Tupperware bowl from a sack and pried off the lid. She passed it to Easy.

“Ha!” he cried triumphantly, as more egg salad was revealed.

“You and me, one-on-one tonight,” Tex challenged.

Tildy gasped
.

“One-on-
one?” Easy repeated, shoveling in a forkful of egg salad. “You sure? Seems to me you’ll need your girlfriend to beat me.”

“Are they going to fight?” Tildy asked Hawk, eyes wide. “Over egg salad
?”

Hawk laughed. “Well, they’ll get their backs up over just about anything
. But no, they wouldn’t go hand-to-hand over egg salad.” He reconsidered this. “Well, maybe
Slick’s
egg salad. But no, they’re going to shoot pool.”

“Oh.”

“At a little bar about six blocks from here,” Hawk continued. “Maria’s. Ever heard of it?” Tildy shook her head. Hawk wasn’t surprised. “What are you doing tonight?” he asked her.

“Hawk,” Slick admonished.

He looked away from Tildy to Slick and raised an eyebrow. Slick looked troubled. When she opened her mouth, she said, “Maria’s isn’t a place for Tildy.”

“Maria’s isn’t a place for
you
, babe,” said Shooter, who came in through the door and went to wash his hands in the sink.

Slick rolled her eyes at his back. “I do just fine,” she argued.

Shooter merely growled a little. At the table, he reached for a plate, but Slick moved it out of his reach.

“I can’t eat?
They’re
eating!” Shooter cried.

“Did you fix Tildy’s car?” Slick asked pointedly.

Shooter shook his head. “Needs a new sensor. Can’t pick one up ‘til Monday morning.” He turned to Tildy. “You okay with that?”

Tildy nodded.

“There, see,” he told his wife.

Slick made him wait just a few seconds longer, then slid the plate over. Shooter tucked into his h
am and cheese enthusiastically.

“Where’s Emilio?” Slick asked.

“Sent him home,” Shooter replied around his sandwich. “Told him to fix his attitude and come back tomorrow.”

“Chris.”

“He’s acting a fool, baby. I told you. I think he’s getting mixed up with a bad crowd. Or a girl. Or something.”

“Well, don’t send him home where he’ll just get into more trouble!”

“He’ll be back tomorrow,” Shooter intoned. “It’s not like I can lock him up in the office all night. And he’s too young to come to Maria’s where I can keep an eye on him.”

“You’re not too young for Maria’s, right?” Hawk asked Tildy, double checking.

She blushed again, and he grinned. God, she was cute.

She cleared her throat nervously. “Um, no. I’m 22.”

Hawk grinned even wider, but did not fail to notice Slick staring daggers at him. He shrugged it off. He was the same age as the Cowboy, and Vegas was the same age as Tildy. Of course, Vegas was, well,
Vegas
, in almost every sense of the word. Abby Raines had been born and raised in that little slice of the Nevada desert surrounded by showgirls and mobsters. Rumor had it that Abby’s family was actually ‘The Family.’

Tildy was definitely not
as worldly as Abby, or even Sarah, who’d had done her own growing up while spending years on the run. Hawk frowned at the woman now. He’d picked up a few co-eds before on nights that she was waiting tables. Slick had never said a word to him or seemed to care. Hell, Hawk and Tex had
shared
a co-ed once or twice, though that had been before Slick had known them.

Slick had always figured that girls who
showed up to a rough trade bar like Maria’s knew what they were getting into. Well, okay, they weren’t
at
Maria’s right now. Fine, Hawk decided. He’d take it easy on Tildy for the moment. But if she showed up at the bar tonight, she was fair game.

He smiled at the prospect.