Chapter 3
Her Last Name is Honeybush
Motown
Drifter is sitting on the small leather couch along the far wall, while Hawk leans back on his desk with his ass on the edge and his arms crossed over his chest. Hawk led me back to his office and hasn’t said a word since, letting me pace from one end of the room to the other.
Drifter crosses one leg over the other, leaning back to get comfortable.
“This is going to take a while,” Drifter says to Hawk.
“Give him time,” Hawk replies.
I look from one to the other. “I saw Bronson this morning.”
Hawk’s eyes narrow, turning dark. “Is he causing problems?”
“Yeah. But not the ones you’re thinking.” I rake my fingers through my hair.
Drifter sits up, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees. “What’s that mean, brother?”
“He was in Tessa’s shop, bringing her roses,” I grind out. Hawk and Drifter look at each other, silently asking if either of them knows who Tessa is.
“You’re going to have to give us more than that,” Hawk urges. “Who’s Tessa?”
“She’s…” I sigh. “She’s… Fuck I don’t know!”
“Man, we want to understand, but you’re not making a whole hell of a lot of sense,” Drifter cuts in, coming to his feet and moving next to Hawk.
“I met her a couple of months ago. We had one night. I left and told myself I was done.”
“But it’s not done, is it?” Hawk asks.
“I’ve been watching her. Every morning, I wait for her to go into her shop, you know, to make sure she’s okay. It’s like she knows I’m there, because she looks around like she’s waiting for me.”
“Go on,” Hawk says.
“Today, I was about to leave, like I usually do, when Bronson showed up with flowers. I don’t know what the fuck came over me.
Tessa has a right to see whoever she wants.
I’ve got no claim on her. Shit, the night we were together, I left her sleeping in her bed and walked out the door.
We were done. We’re supposed to be done,” I rant.
“Obviously, you’re not done,” Drifter states with a smirk.
“What did you do?” Hawk asks.
“I busted through the door, told Tessa I was picking her up at eight tonight, kissed her, and left,” I say, dropping into the chair in front of Hawk and Drifter.
“What did Tessa say?” Drifter asks.
I throw my hands up. “I didn’t give her a chance to say a damn thing. I made sure Bronson was gone, and I took off.”
“Let me get this straight,” Hawk begins. “You met a woman. You like her, and you ended up liking her enough to sleep with her, then left her in bed and disappeared for two months. Then, because you saw Bronson sniffing around, you lost your shit and claimed her as your own?”
“I didn’t claim her.”
“Yeah, you fucking did,” Hawk insists. “You did it in front of Bronson, which makes things more complicated because he’s going to have eyes on Tessa and will be waiting for his shot at her.
He’ll do it to fuck with you and because he hates our club.
Bronson will want to bag Tessa just to prove that he can. ”
Drifter gets up and takes a step and, in a serious tone, asks, “Do you like this woman? I mean, seriously.”
“Yeah. I do. A lot,” I confess, putting my head in my hands.
“Then what’s the problem, brother?” Drifter says.
“You know my past. I’m not good enough for a woman like her.”
“That’s bullshit!” Hawk swears loudly. “You’re one of the best men I know, for fuck’s sake.”
“I have a record,” I remind him.
“You were seventeen, and you stole food,” Hawk bites back. “It wasn’t even for you. You stole it for a bunch of kids who had it tough at home. You just happened to be the one who got caught.”
“I did more than that, and you know it.”
“You wanted to help a friend. He didn’t appreciate you and didn’t have your back. After juvie, you found a way out,” Hawk says.
“You’re right. I joined the army, where I also became a killer.”
“They were enemy soldiers who were attacking our unit. You didn’t have a choice.
I was with you, remember? They don’t prepare you for that in basic training.
No amount of training will ever prepare you for taking a life.
In the end, we have to think about how many people we saved, because if we weren’t there to do the job, hundreds of thousands of innocent women and children would be dead,” Hawk states firmly.
I know he’s right, but the memories still haunt me.
“We were all there. We all suffer from those moments when we look back and wonder if it was all worth it,” Drifter speaks up. “We fought for freedom, and to protect those who couldn’t do it for themselves. There’s more to you than the man who aimed the gun, and you know it.”
I do know this, but a man filled with darkness like me needs to be careful with a woman with a heart like Tessa’s.
“Her last name is Honeybush. Tessa Honeybush. She’s sweet, like her name. Do I look like a man who does sweet?” I can hear the tremor in my voice.
Hawk shakes his head. “Your choice is either to take a chance and give Tessa the best of yourself, or step aside and watch another man take your place. If you walk away, you have no say in who she decides to date and eventually marry. You’ll wonder for the rest of your life if you did the right thing. ”