Hawk: by Dahlia West Read Free Book Online Page B

places.
    “How about a drink?” the blonde asked him.
    Hawk jerked his chin at Slick. “She’ll take your order.” He turned to Tildy. “You want anything to drink?”
    Tildy l ooked a bit surprised at that, like she’d forgotten for a second that she was at a bar. The blonde laughed again, that haughty fucking laugh that really got under Hawk’s skin. “Oh Matilda doesn’t drink. Well,” she said to Slick, “you can get her a Club Soda. I’ll have a beer.”
    Hawk kept his attention on Tildy. “Do you want anything?” he asked her again.
    “Hel lo ,” the blonde said, starting to get a slight edge to her voice. “She doesn’t drink. She doesn’t do anything .”
    Hawk had known this girl less than five mi nutes and he was already sick of her. “Well, surely she dances,” he declared. He took Tildy by the hand and led her to the dance floor while everyone watched. When they were far enough away from everyone else, he put Tildy’s hands on his own shoulders and slid his hands around her small waist. He drew her in close.
    “I’m sorry,” Tildy said. “She’s-”
    “I don’t care about her,” Hawk declared. He leaned closer to her. “I’m glad you came.”
    Tildy blushed. Hawk thought about all the ways in which he could keep her blushing all night long. He reached out and traced a finger down the open neck-line of her blouse. She drew in a sharp breath. He hooked the gold chain and brought out the medallion.
    “You fixed it.” He turned the medal over with his fingers. It was a small gold disk with Latin inscribed around the outside. “What’s it say?” He spoke a lot of languages, but Latin wasn’t one of them.
    “ St. Christopher guide my way,” she told him.
    He nodded and looked at her again. “What is he the saint of?”
    “Plagues, mostly.”
    Surprised by her answer, Hawk threw back his head a nd laughed. She grinned at him. “Tildy, I’m pretty sure you’re safe from plagues.”
    “Guess it’s totally working, then.”
    He laughed again.
    “But he’s also the patron saint of travelers,” she continued.
    “It means a lot to you,” he said, remembering the look on her face when it broke.
    She nodded. “When I was born, my parents hired a nanny to raise me. She was from Mexico. Her name was Isabel. She taught me Spanish in secret, and she called me ‘Tildy,’ her secret name for me. Skylar’s right, my parents would freak out if anyone called me anything but Matilda. It was my great- grandmother’s name. I hate it, but Isabel would always make up stories about a brave little girl named Tildy. She also gave me the medal. She told me that if I kept it safe, it would keep me safe. If I ever got lost, she said, it would help me find my way home.”
    “Where is she now?”
    Tildy’s face fell. “I came home from school one day, and she was gone. She got sick and had to go home to Mexico. She died there pretty soon after. I never got to say goodbye.”
    Hawk let go of the necklace and brushed a lock of hair out of her face. “I’m sorry, Tildy.”
    Tildy took a steadying breath. “It’s okay. She never really left. I know she’s watching over me.”
    Hawk finished out the dance, fighting like hell to keep from coming on too strong. Making a move on her so soon after remembering a lost loved one was just way too dickish. When the beat changed to a faster song, he noted with some relief that the blonde was now attempting to turn her feminine wiles on Doc.
    He suppressed a laugh. No mouthy princess was going to interest Caleb. He had a steady thing going on with a mystery woman in Sioux Falls. Though none of the guys had ever met her or even knew her name, Hawk assumed it must be fairly serious since Caleb never even so much as looked at another woman.
    Hawk guided Tildy back to the table, which wasn’t large enough for everyone so he pulled out the only remaining chair and sat down in it. He drew Tildy into his lap. She made a surprised noise, but stayed where she