Jumping In by Cardeno C. Read Free Book Online Page A

of my business.” Clint opened the bottle and began chugging down the water.
    “Yes, I spend time with Gabriel socially. We’ve known each other since long before he became the mayor of Hawthorne.” Hawk sat down on the stool next to him. “And of course it’s your business. Everything about me is your business. That’s the only way this thing is going to work.”
    “This thing,” Clint repeated while finishing up his eggs. “You mean the whole wooing your way into my heart bit?”
    “It isn’t a bit.”
    “No?” Clint pushed away the mostly empty plate and folded his arms on the counter. “Then what is it?”
    Hawk turned in his seat so he was looking directly at Clint and then, without flinching, said, “It’s me telling you I’m in love with you and I’m going to do my damnedest to get you to feel the same way about me.”
    Facing down a criminal with a gun pointed at his head would have been easier for Clint than making that kind of confession, so he had to give Hawk credit for bravery, even if the man was insane.
    “You can’t be in love with me.”
    “Really? Why’s that?” Hawk asked, sounding amused. “Enlighten me.”
    “Because you don’t know me.”
    “I’ve spent the past two and a half months finding every excuse under the sun to get to know you, Clint.” Hawk reached for Clint’s hand and curled his fingers around it. “You were born on November 11, 1986 in Flint, Michigan. You have a brother, John, who works in a bank and another brother, Derrick, who teaches school. Your mother’s a nurse and your father does books for medical offices. You’re not particularly close to any of them. You enlisted in the army out of high school, served for six years, then went back to Michigan and became a cop. Two years after that, you moved here to Hawthorne. Your favorite color is red. Your favorite beer is Full Sail Amber. You like animals more than people. You have a high sex drive and a great sense of humor.” One side of Hawk’s lips turned up. “Two of my favorite qualities in a man, by the way.”
    “How do you…?” Clint blinked rapidly, trying to remember everything he’d talked about with Hawk over the past few months. When he thought about it, he realized that he ran into Hawk at the station or around town four or five times a week and every single time, they ended up chatting. “You’re a good listener,” he admitted. “But some of those are just guesses.”
    “You adopted a dog who got hit crossing the road and lost a front leg, paid for all of her medical bills, and named her Speedy. You did the same thing with Fluffy, the fire survivor without fur on half her body.” Hawk smiled and shook his head. “Only a man who loves animals and has a wicked sense of humor would do that.”
    “Fine.” Clint laughed along. “But the sex drive thing’s just a lucky guess.”
    “The only thing lucky about it is the orgasm count I see in my future. My analysis is based on data, pure and simple.”
    “All right, Mister Presumptuous.” Clint folded his arms over his chest. “What data are you relying on?”
    “You spent half a year fooling around with Ewan Griffin. The guy’s good looking, but there’s no way you were interested in anything else about him, which means you were with him to get laid. I figure a man’s got to have a higher-than-average libido to put up with that dickwad for as long as you did.”
    That analysis had Clint throwing his head back and laughing deeply. “You know what? I have no idea how you figured out I was with him at all, but I’m not going to argue with you about the rest of it because you’re right.”
    “I’m always right.” Hawk grinned. “And I figured it out because I watch you.” He leaned closer and lowered his voice. “You want to know what else I figured out about you, baby?”
    “What?”
    “You think your feelings run too shallow to fall in love, but that isn’t true.”
    “No?” Clint rasped, his throat suddenly