Chapter Nineteen

Hawk

A t some point in the night, Laura and I finally made it to my bed, where we got lost yet again in one another. It was a marathon of fucking that left me feeling so good that I didn't give a damn about the sun attempting to blind me. Mostly. I turned to my side, inhaling the fruity scent of Laura's shampoo, smiling when she snuggled closer to my chest.

A soft, sleepy moan escaped, and she settled in for a longer sleep which was fine by me, except I was pretty sure she had to work because she was always working. I woke up a few hours later with a raging hard-on, but a quick look at the clock on my nightstand told me she needed to get up soon. "Laura, wake up, sweetness."

"Fine," she mumbled. "But I'm on top this time."

I bit back a laugh at where her mind had instantly gone before leaning forward to press a kiss to her bare shoulder. "You can be on top whenever you like, but if you want to ride my cock now, you'd better hurry before you're late to work."

Laura's body stiffened and she blew a tuft of hair from her face, showing off one gray eye as it opened. "What time is it?"

"A little after eight." An ungodly fucking hour if ever there was one.

She pushed herself up to a seated position and glared at me. "What day is it?"

"I don't know, Wednesday or Thursday?"

Her head fell forward onto my chest and she let out a slow, relaxed laugh. "You don't know what day it is?"

My eyebrows furrowed. "Neither do you, smart-ass."

Her lips pursed into a thoughtful frown and then she laughed again. "Good point. Doesn't matter what day it is because I'm not going into work today. I'm unfocused and that's how people get hurt. Or worse. I'm useless there, so I'm hanging around here for a few days. I never take personal days, but for the sake of my patients, I need to."

It was my turn to sit up. "Did something happen?" She hadn't said anything about more incidents at work, but she wouldn't be taking time off work for nothing. "Well?"

"Don't get all bossy on me," she said, poking me with one oddly strong finger. "No, Hawk, nothing else happened, but after the red car incident, I'm too worried to focus on the job."

"Shit, I'm sorry, Laura." The last thing I wanted was for any of this shit to impact her life. It was why I offered her my protection.

"It's not your fault, Hawk. It's my own anxiety getting the best of me, so I'm being proactive, taking a few days off before something bad happens."

"Nothing bad is going to happen," I assured her with confidence. "But since you're free today, you can come with me." Where the hell I would take her, I had no clue, but I had at least an hour to figure it out. "First, a long, hot shower. And then breakfast."

Her gaze darkened and she licked her lips. "I like the way you think, Mr. Hawk." She shook her head. "I spent all night with you naked, tasted every inch of you, and I don't know your name."

"Of course you do. Dominic Bennett, remember?"

"Nope. I only remember frequent flyers in the ER, which you are not."

"Well, now you know my name. Again. Feel free to taste me all over. Again." I smiled wide when a flush crawled up her naked body. My hands itched to touch her, but I vowed to wait until we were in the shower with hot water raining down over us.

"If you're lucky, I'll think about." She arched one eyebrow at me and grinned. "Go get the shower started, nice and hot. I need to check in with Kristy first."

"If you're one minute late, I'll start without you."

"I'm not worried," she shot back, her sassy smile teasing me in a way I didn't have a reply to, but I wanted one. There was something about this chick that was so fucking compelling I could not get enough of her.

"You should be, because I'm an expert at what gets me off." I pushed off the bed and made my way to the bathroom, but not before stopping and turning around so she could get an eyeful of my hard-on. "Tick, tock, sweetheart," I said with a wink.

I cranked on the hot water, stepped inside, and soaped up my body while I waited for Laura.

Thankfully, she didn't keep me waiting too long, and an hour later we were seated inside a greasy spoon diner that smelled like bacon and sugar. And heaven.

"Oh my god, this place smells amazing!" Laura grabbed my forearm as we walked inside and headed for a booth near the back with a window seat. "Is it weird that I want bacon and donuts?"

I laughed again, something I did a lot around the pretty nurse. "Not at all. You need to replenish a ton of calories."

"Oh yeah, I burned so many calories last night. I'm getting waffles!" Her excitement was so contagious that even the waitress couldn't stop smiling. "A big stack of waffles, extra syrup, and hold the whipped cream."

"What? You can't be serious. Whipped cream is a must." I loved teasing her because she got so riled up.

"Fine," she huffed, and turned back to the waitress. "I'll have the whipped cream on the side. For him."

"I don't want it," I insisted.

"You just made a whole big stink about it, so I figured you wanted it. Now you'll have it. You're welcome." She flashed a wide, playful grin. "And an extra serving of bacon, please."

I placed my order, an omelet with cheesy potatoes, and then I was alone again with Laura. "Are you sure you're okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I think maybe I was also burnt out before all the strange shit started happening so this just kind of piled on top of it."

"Are you a workaholic?" My tone was teasing but it was a genuine question.

"No," she answered automatically. "Okay, maybe yes. But only a little, and it's not like I'm actually a workaholic, but my job does require me to work long hours. I might feel a little bad about taking time off, so I rarely do it because the hospital is always understaffed."

I sat and watched her rambling with a goofy fucking grin on my face and I knew I was in more trouble than I realized with this woman. "Definitely a problem."

She flashed an affectionate grin as she rolled her eyes. "So, what are we going to do today after we're properly fed?"

"Something we've both been too busy to take care of lately. The community center."

Her eyes lit with excitement. "That's just what I need, actually. I can help out there and feel useful without putting anyone in danger." Her smile turned a little dreamy. "You're pretty perceptive, aren't you, Hawk?"

I shrugged off her unintended compliment. "What can I say? I am more than a pretty face."

"You are." Her compliment made me feel something it shouldn't have, but dammit, having a woman like her see something good in me? That shit made a man feel like a god.

Thankfully, the food arrived before I did something stupid like ask her to be my old lady for real. But as I dug into my omelet, I couldn't help but wonder what she would say if I asked her. It was stupid because I wasn't a man who did relationships. Women were fun, a hobby for me, not a full-time job. That shit was for Diesel and Rocky and Maverick, and whoever the fuck else wanted that kind of life. But not for me.

"Oh. My. God. You have to taste these waffles, Hawk. You are going to flip your shit." Her eyes were so wide, so happy that I did what any sane man in my position would do.

I leaned forward and let her feed me some of her waffles. "Damn, those are incredible." I opened my mouth, a silent request for another bite.

She giggled like a schoolgirl and happily cut more waffles, carefully dipping them in the side of whipped cream before she fed me. "Right?"

The sugary goodness on my tongue was fantastic and I nodded, feeling as excited as my breakfast companion. "Think we can get a big bowl of this to go?"

Her cheeks flushed beautifully. "Get your mind out of the gutter."

"Never. Now eat up, you'll need your energy, and I don't mean for anything fun this time. Well, not that kind of fun, anyway." It was fun verbally sparring with Laura, which was unexpected.

"I'm so full," she said fifteen minutes later as only one slice of the waffle stack remained. "I can't eat another bite," she moaned even as she stabbed the waffles and ran it around the leftover syrup on the plate.

"You don't have to eat it, Laura."

"I know," she said as she glared at me. "But it's so good and I never eat like this."

"Okay." I leaned forward and snatched the fork from her hand before shoveling the last bite between my lips. "Now it's done. Ready?"

She stared at me in shock, her mouth opened and then closed as she made a gasping sound. "Fine, but I'm paying."

"I don't think so, sweetness."

"Yeah? Well, I don't care what you think. I'm paying for breakfast and that's that." She flagged down our waitress with such determination I couldn't help but smile. When was the last time a woman fought me to pay a bill?

The waitress smiled as her gaze bounced between us. "Anything else for you folks?"

"No," Laura said with a tired smile.

"Yeah, two slices of pie, please. Blackberry and cherry. To go. And…" I pulled a fifty-dollar bill from my wallet, "keep the change."

"Thanks, sugar." She winked at me, tucking the money into her apron before she went to check on her other tables.

"I said I was paying," Laura whined adorably.

"I know, and I said you weren't. But you can buy me dinner tonight. I'll be in the mood for Chinese. Extra egg rolls." I slid out of the booth and held my hand out to her.

"Fine," she grumbled as we got settled on my bike.

***

When we arrived at the community center, she was still grumbling about me paying for breakfast.

"I'll get appetizers too if it'll make you stop whining."

She sucked in a sharp breath. "I am not whining."

"Okay, fine, not whining, just complaining in a pouty, childlike fashion." I laughed when she smacked my stomach.

"Smart-ass."

"Mr. Hawk's here!" One of the kids who frequented the community center rushed over with his hand up for a high-five, which I obliged. "Can I sit on your bike?"

"Yeah, kid. But remember the rule?" I lifted the boy, who couldn't be more than eight years old, up and sat him on the bike.

"Don't give too much throttle," he repeated with a laugh.

"That's right." I watched as the kid's face lit up with joy as he made motorcycle sounds and pretended to be riding. "I can't wait until I'm old enough to get a bike of my own!"

Laura smiled. "You don't want a car with a roof and doors?"

"No way, this is so cool. Ain't it, Mr. Hawk?"

"Yeah, that's right, Landon." I ruffled the kid's hair, but he was somewhere else, somewhere far away, probably on some highway with the wind in his hair. "The coolest, way better than cramped cages."

"Hey! Hawk, Laura. I hope you both came to paint?" Justin pointed to fresh graffiti on the wall with hope in his eyes.

"That's why we're here. Put us to work."

Laura turned to me. "You knew about this?"

"Of course I did. You up for this?"

She nodded. "Yes!" She rushed off towards the group of kids sifting through coveralls, accepting a pair from a sullen-looking teenage girl.

"I don't recognize the signs. You know who this is?" The colors were all over the place, red and green and blue with a few streaks of pink. Any combination could belong to a local gang or MC. The signs were mildly gang-like, but it was a jumble of different shit and nothing recognizable.

Justin shook his head. "No fucking clue. If I had to guess, I'd say a mentally ill wannabe gangster."

That was as close to the truth as any other guess. "Shit. We'll get it cleaned up, don't worry."

"Thank you."

"I brought you a pair." Laura smiled as she held up an oversized pair of coveralls. "The sleeves are gone so you can flex and put on a little show."

"Now who's the smart-ass?"

"Still you," she laughed. "Come on. I've never painted before."

"Never? How is that possible?"

"Nope. Never had a reason to paint anything other than my nails and my lips."

My gaze went right to her lips, pink and pouty and wet. What I wanted to do to her couldn't be done with nearly two dozen sets of underage eyes on us.

"Mr. Hawk has a girlfriend," Landon teased.

"Yeah," I replied with a smile, my gaze on Laura's mouth as it tipped up into a smile. "I do."

"Lucky man," she teased, and picked up a paintbrush.

"Damn lucky," I agreed, and picked up my own brush.

The adults took care of the primer layer while the kids played the way kids were meant to, and after a quick break for cookies and juice, we were on our way to covering up the shitty graffiti.

In the distance were the sounds of the city. Car horns, police sirens, all types of music blasting from cars and homes alike. But one type of music, some kind of rap music, became more prominent, the lyrics started to sound like something more than nonsense.

My arms and hands tingled with anticipation, and when it zipped up my spine, I knew something wasn't right.

I looked up and saw an olive-green car rolling slowly down the street, the rap music blaring in a foreign language, but not Spanish as I'd initially thought. It wasn't a language I knew, and I damn sure didn't know the guys in the car. The driver was a black guy with close cropped hair and his passenger was a white dude with cornrows and a neck tattoo. Before I could catalog the assholes in the back, shots rang out.

"Down," I shouted, and shoved Laura to the ground, along with anyone else within my reach. "Get down and stay down!"

I crouched and kept my gaze on the green car as I pulled out my own weapon and aimed at the car, firing off three shots before they sped away.

"Is everybody okay?"

"No, Mr. Hawk. I'm hurt!"

I looked around until I found Landon on the ground clutching his arm as blood spilled between his fingers. "Shit, Landon, buddy. Let me see."

"Ow," he cried out when I pried his fingers from the wound.

"You're fine, buddy, a real tough guy, remember?" My gaze locked with Laura. "My girlfriend helps people with injuries, think she can take a look at yours?"

Tears streamed down his face, and he nodded. "O-o-okay. Be careful, though." He squeezed his eyes shut and looked away.

Laura hid a smile, but her eyes were filled with worry. "I will. Promise." She took her time, being gentle but efficient with him. "The good news is you're gonna live."

Landon opened one eye and looked at Laura. "What's the bad news?"

"You'll probably need a few stitches."

"Really?"

"Yep," she replied with a sad expression.

"Cool!"

She rolled her eyes. "Boys." She looked around until she found Justin. "You should call his parents. He needs to go to the hospital."

"My dad is at work, and he can't leave. That's why I come here."

I knew what it was like to be the kid of a working single parent. "Come on, kid. We'll get you to the hospital and they can figure out what to do about that arm."

"I'm getting stitches," he shouted excitedly. "Ow. It hurts bad."

"It always does," I told him, and lifted him in my arms. "The key is to pretend it doesn't by thinking about something else, like cruising on your bike or kissing your girlfriend."

"Yuk," Landon said, and I remembered back to when I was that age and girls had cooties.

"Take the van," Justin insisted, and pushed the keys into Laura's hand. "Thank you. Both of you."

"Of course. I'll have Diesel get with you about this shit," I told him as we walked to the van.

"Thanks." He raked a hand through his hair. "I gotta go do a head count, make sure everyone's okay, and then explain this to the parents."

"Good luck," Laura called out as she settled behind the steering wheel.

It wasn't how I planned on this day going, but it was step towards figuring out who the fuck was targeting Laura.

Or me.

Maybe both of us.