Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Hawk pulled into his driveway and stared up at his house lit up inside and out. Lucky’s home. The warm glow welcomed him and made him feel like the house was more than just the walls and roof. It felt like their place. A place filled with warmth, conversations, togetherness, and laughter.
He loved having her in his house. He loved coming home to her. I love her.
And he wanted more.
Dinner with his family last night had gone so well. His mom and dad both called him at work today to tell him how much they liked her. They thought she was good for him. More than that, they wanted him to know they were happy to see him so happy.
It had been a long time coming. He’d spent a lot of sleepless nights wondering if he’d ever truly be happy again and if he even deserved it.
She made him want it. He’d become a better man for her. Because of her.
They needed to have a talk about the future. He didn’t want to wait for the dreams he was having. He wanted everything now.
He hoped she did, too.
It seemed the more time he spent with her, the more impatient he became.
The second he walked in the door, he smiled at the soft music playing, the smell of something cheesy, and the sight of his woman standing in the kitchen humming and stirring something in a pot, a plate of chocolate cupcakes on the counter beside her.
“Honey, I’m home,” he called out with a grin and a chuckle, loving having someone to come home to.
Her gaze shot to his, her smile blooming, brightening her gorgeous green eyes.
He wished he’d brought her flowers or something. He needed to do better, showing her how much he appreciated her, especially since they hadn’t done the traditional dating things.
“Hey. I was just thinking about you.”
He walked up behind her, kissed her neck, and stared down into the pot of homemade cheesy mac and cheese with chicken, bacon, and green onions.
“That smells delicious.” He rubbed his nose up her neck and into her hair.
“And so do you.” Strawberries and flowers.
She went straight to his head, heart, and cock.
God, he wanted her. He slipped his hands around her waist and pulled her back to his chest, letting her feel the steel length of him against her amazing ass.
She rubbed her cheek against his jaw and pressed her hands to his forearms. “How was your day, honey?”
“Busy. One of the shipments went out late. Another had several cases stolen while it was being unloaded outside a posh bar in New York.”
“I bet your customer was upset.”
“Not really. I promised to replace what was stolen and add a case to keep him happy. The driver’s the one who got reprimanded for leaving the truck unlocked.”
“I bet he’ll never do it again.”
“If it happens again, he’ll be out of a job.” He hugged her hard, loving the feel of her in his arms.
She turned into him and rose up on tiptoes, kissing him softly. Sweetly. Temptingly.
Damn, she was potent. He took the kiss deeper, needing her close, so he could fill himself up with all her sunshine and goodness. All the tension from today melted away.
The mac and cheese started to bubble.
Lucky bit his bottom lip, then sucked it into her mouth, her eyes alight with mischief before she released him and turned in his arms, stirring dinner once again before it burned.
“This is ready. Wash up and let’s eat.” She spooned the food into two deep bowls while he washed his hands at the sink.
She pulled two plates out of the fridge, piled high with a fresh green salad.
The dinner table was set with silverware and two glasses of water.
He pulled a bottle of wine from the fridge and a bottle of beer. She loved the same Moscato Lyric liked when she visited.
He joined her at the table with the drinks while she set the dinner bowls at their places.
She stood next to her chair, looking up at him. “I hope you don’t mind I didn’t ask what you wanted for dinner.”
He sat and stared at her seated next to him. “Why would I mind you making whatever you want for dinner? If you’re cooking, it should be your choice. And you know I love everything you make.” He glanced down at his bowl, took a big bite, and moaned. “So good. This is the best mac and cheese ever!”
She chuckled, taking a much smaller bite than his next one. “I used cheddar, like most people do, but I added some Gruyère and a little cream cheese to make it creamier. I added the chicken for protein, and bacon because…bacon.”
He agreed. “What did you do today?”
“Cleaned one of my houses, then went back to the office to pay bills, check schedules, and talk to a very picky client who keeps asking for additional services while Julie is at the house, but doesn’t want to pay for them.”
“Did you straighten her out?”
“I told her if she wanted extra work done, she needed to notify us at least two days in advance. It also gives me a chance to let her know up front what the additional charge will be. It’s all in her contract.
She knows this. She’s just persistent and stingy—never even gives a holiday bonus, which almost all our clients do. ”
He loaded his fork again. “For all you do…I should pay more.” He stuffed the decadent goodness into his mouth and grinned at her.
“Well, I don’t do that stuff for all my clients. You’re special.” The blush on her cheeks made her even more beautiful and endearing.
“Special, huh?” He covered her hand with his on the table. “Well, I think you’re amazing. Strong. Independent. Smart. Kind.” He stuffed another bite into his mouth. “The best cook ever,” he said around the mouthful, making her giggle again.
“Slow down.”
“Can’t. It’s too good.”
“Eat your salad, too. It’s good for you.”
He swallowed and stared at her until the blush was back and she squirmed under his scrutiny.
“What? Why are you looking at me like that?”
He couldn’t help the heat that flared between them. It happened whenever he thought about her, or was near her. “Because I love you. And I’m so happy you’re finally here.”
“Finally? I’d think by now you’d wonder when I’m going back to my place.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m better. I’m not a hundred percent, but I’m close. I can take care of myself.”
He shook his head. “No. Why would you want to go back to your place? Don’t you like it here?”
“Yes. But this wasn’t permanent. You just wanted to help when I was too hurt to do things on my own.”
“No. That’s not why I wanted you here.” He raked his fingers over his head. “Well, it was an excuse to get you here, so you’d get to know me better, so you’d stay.”
“Stay?”
“Yes.” His frustration made the word come out clipped.
“I need to go home.”
“It’s not safe. You’re staying here.”
Her brow went up and he knew he’d made a mistake. “I know you’re not making decisions for me, because I’m perfectly capable of doing that for myself. I’ve been on my own since I was seventeen and I’ve gotten by just fine.”
He held back his desperate need to make her stay and shot from his heart. “I want you to stay. Please.”
Her gaze softened on him. “Don’t you think this is a little fast? Shouldn’t we date first?”
“No. I like the way things are now. I thought you did, too.”
She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it.
“You want to be with me, right?”
“Yes. It’s just…this is too important to screw up.”
“Is that what you’re afraid of?”
Her eyes pleaded with him to understand. “Losing you? Yes.”
He shook his head. “Never going to happen.”
“Look at my life. It’s a mess. I don’t want it touching you anymore than it has.
For all I know, Desiree could be plotting to take you out, just to make me suffer.
And I would, because you’re—” she choked up, “—everything good I ever wanted. If something happened to you…” She trailed off, tears in her eyes at the thought. “I wouldn’t survive.”
He cupped her cheek in his palm. “First, Desiree isn’t coming after me. I’m too hard a target. She will not win that. Second, do you really think I’d let you go back to your place alone? Unprotected? Not a chance.”
“I know she’s coming. But it’s not going to be easy for her to hurt me anymore. I’ll be prepared.”
“You can’t even guess how she’s going to come at you. It’s better that we stick together. You want to stick it to her, show her how happy we are together. Let her see that there’s no way she’ll ever break us apart.”
“You seriously want me to stay. Here. With you. Like move in?”
“This place is bigger than yours. We’ll need room if you want to have kids. I do. I hope you do, too.” There. He’d laid it all out there.
Her fork fell from her fingers and clanked on the bowl before tumbling onto the table, smearing cheese on the wood. Her shocked gaze never left his. “Hawk.”
“Yes?”
“Are you serious? Like really serious?”
He sat back and smiled at her. “One hundred percent.”
“Don’t you think it’s too soon?”
He leaned in to her. “Don’t you think it’s been a long time coming? I love you. You love me. I want to be with you all the time. I drove up to the house tonight, saw the lights on, knew you were home, and I was just so damn happy to see you. I want that every day.”
“But we just started dating.”
“Is that what we’re doing? Because I thought it was more than that. I thought we were sharing our lives, working toward something much more permanent.”
“Like babies.”
His smile was back. He hadn’t smiled this much in forever. “As many as you want.”
Her face softened, her eyes filling with hope.
Yeah, he had her now. “You said you didn’t want to be lonely anymore. I promised I’d be with you. So be with me. Let me take care of you. Let’s have everything we ever wanted.”
“A family.” She’d lost hers and wanted to be part of another.
He could give her a new one. They could build one of their own. “Yes. Just say you’ll stay.” He held his breath, desperate for her to say yes.
“Your house is bigger than mine.”
“Our house.”
“And you’re ready for me to bring my stuff here, to move in? To make this place my home.”
“Our home. Because it’s only that if you’re here.”
She picked up her fork. “Two. Maybe three.” She lost him.
“What?”
“Kids.” She stuffed a big bite into her mouth and chewed, a smile tugging at her lips and lighting her eyes.
His whole body sizzled with excitement. “Really? When?”
“How about we take care of Desiree, I move in for real, we spend some time really getting to know each other and learning to live together, then we go from there to having kids.”
I need a ring, Hawk realized.
She deserved a kickass proposal.
She deserved a happy life. And he’d give it to her, or die trying.
“How about we celebrate you moving in with those amazing cupcakes you made?”
“After.”
He raised a brow. “After what?”
“You take me to bed.” She wiped her lips on her napkin, pushed her chair back, and started walking toward their room.
He jumped up, toppling his chair, picked her up bridal style and carried her into the bedroom.
He tossed her onto the bed. She bounced with a laugh and he dove for her, locking his lips with hers, devouring her while joy lit him up inside because this beautiful woman loved him, broken pieces and all.
And didn’t that make them a perfect match?
He took his time undressing her, kissing, licking, worshipping every patch of skin he uncovered. He kissed his way down her belly, thinking about her growing round with his child, then dove deeper to her mound, pressing a kiss there before lapping at her clit with his tongue.
“Hawk.”
Oh, how he loved the way she moaned his name.
His impatient woman didn’t let him linger too long as he tongue fucked her, loving the feel of her thighs pressing against his head as she held him by the hair, pulling him closer to her pussy as she ground against his mouth and went off like a rocket.
He loved watching her come apart beneath him.
But she was desperate for more and attacked his button and zipper on his slacks, her hand diving into his boxer briefs to clamp around his stiff cock.
“You look too damn good dressed up. It’s like the best kind of porn seeing your sleeves rolled up over those defined forearms.”
He chuckled. “You like my arms?”
“You have no idea.” She pumped his cock and licked her lips like she wanted to devour him whole.
“I’ll remember that.” He shucked off his clothes, spread her thighs wide, and settled between them, the crown of his cock nudged right at her silky smooth, wet entrance. “You want me?”
“Yes. Please.”
“You’ll stay?”
“Promise.”
“I’m going to hold you to it.” He drove into her, hard and deep.
She was so wet, he slid home in one stroke, loving the feel of her wrapped around him. And then he lost himself, making love to her, kissing her, showing her with his body and whispered words that she was everything to him, too. He couldn’t get enough. He wanted her every second of the day.
He wouldn’t let anything or anyone come between them.
She deserved the family she wanted, the peace she’d been robbed of, the happiness and love she’d finally found with him.
No one would take that away from her.
He kissed her again and again, his tongue tangling with hers as she welcomed him into her body. Her heart. Her life.
He made love to her like it might be the last time, pouring his soul into her, hoping it was enough to make her feel safe and loved and cherished, because that’s how she made him feel.
There was nothing he couldn’t do with her by his side.
“Hawk,” she gasped as her body tightened around his.
“Give it to me. Come.”
Her channel quaked around him, and he followed her over the edge, pumping hard and deep to help extend her orgasm as he spilled his seed deep inside her. Maybe one day soon she’d stop her birth control and it would take root and they’d welcome a little girl or boy into their lives.
He wanted that as much as she did.
With one last kiss, he rolled over, taking her with him and settled on his back, Lucky tucked into his side, her head on his shoulder. “That was amazing.”
She kissed his heated skin. “Yes. It was. Now I just need one more thing.”
“What?” He couldn’t imagine what she wanted from him after all the love he’d showered on her.
“Cupcakes.” Her smile was contagious.