Chapter 21 #2
“I think you need to get some cupcakes and sit down with us.”
“I’ll help,” Olivia offered.
I didn’t give it a second thought. I turned around, and Olivia followed me to get cupcakes. When we returned to the little tables at the front of my shop, I wasn’t surprised to see my girls had pushed them all together.
Once Olivia and I had made sure everyone had their cupcake, I asked, “So, what do you want to know?”
“Well, how are things going?” Harper pressed. “Mia might’ve mentioned you and Hawk were getting along.”
“Yes, we are. It’s been great.”
“And?” Savanna pressed. “How serious is it between the two of you?”
I tucked my chin toward my chest and sent them a mischievous smile. “It’s been building for a bit, but it just got very serious about a week ago.”
“Oh, I love this,” Tessa squealed.
Lark licked the frosting off her finger and interjected, “Listen, I’m all for hearing about the juicy details, but what I really want to know is when we get to meet this fine man.”
I bit my lip, wondering how Hawk would feel about meeting my dearest friends. “He’s coming here to have lunch with me this afternoon.”
“Is he coming soon?” Mia asked.
At that moment, a movement outside the shop caught my eye. I lifted my gaze and saw my guy.
Olivia was seated beside me, so she had the perfect view, too. “Is that him?”
Mia, Savanna, Harper, Tessa, and Lark all looked out the window.
“Oh my God,” Savanna murmured.
Harper leaned toward her. “You can say that again.”
Unsurprisingly, Tessa noticed the first thing I did when I met Hawk. She found men with tattoos to be extremely attractive. Her current boyfriend had some, but nowhere near the amount as Hawk. “Look at those tattoos.”
I stood as Hawk entered the shop. Caution was written all over his expression. “Is this a bad time?” he asked quietly.
Shaking my head, I leaned into him and lifted onto my toes to kiss him. “Not at all. I got a surprise visit today from my sister and our friends. Can I introduce you?”
He hesitated for a beat. “Sure.”
Taking him by the hand, I led him to the tables. Pointing to each of them as I went along, I said, “Hawk, this is Lark, Tessa, Harper, Savanna, my sister, Mia, and the girl who recently became part of our crew, Olivia. Ladies, this is my guy, Hawk.”
Hawk jerked his chin down and offered a small smile. “It’s nice to meet you.”
He got a mix of greetings in response, but they were all friendly.
Turning his attention to me, he said, “Sweetness, I don’t want to intrude. I can catch up with you after work.”
“We’ve got an extra chair,” Lark informed him before I could respond. “We’re actually here for you.”
Confused, and looking a bit alarmed, his brows knit together. “Pardon?”
“You’ve been keeping Chloe from us,” Tessa told him.
“Don’t listen to her,” Mia said. “We’re just being nosy because we love her.”
“Yeah, and we wanted to meet you,” Savanna explained.
I squeezed his hand. “I had no idea they were coming here, but we’d love for you to stay.”
Another hesitation before Hawk pulled my chair out and urged me to sit. Then he grabbed the other chair and pulled it up on my other side. I slid my cupcake toward him. “Here, you can have mine. I figure you’d rather not have me leave you alone with all of them.”
He chuckled and slid my chair closer to his. Then he looked at my friends and asked, “Am I taking up too much of Chloe’s free time?”
“No, we just saw her when we were out for Archer’s birthday,” Harper revealed.
“I told you guys that when you first got here, and you said it was ages ago!”
“Who’s Archer?” Hawk asked.
“My brother,” Tessa answered. “Technically, Harper’s, too.”
“You’re sisters.”
“Indeed, we are.”
His eyes moved through the group. “And the rest of you.”
“Just Mia and me,” I told him. “Lark and Savanna have one brother each.”
Before anyone could say anything else, the door opened, and a customer walked in. I squeezed Hawk’s hand. “Sorry. I have to leave you with the ladies while I take care of this. Kara’s on her lunch break.”
“I’ll be okay, sweetness.”
I grinned at him. Then I got up and moved back behind the counter to help my customer.
The woman wanted to pick up some treats for a last-minute office birthday party celebration.
While I got her squared away, which admittedly took longer than I would’ve liked, I noticed her glancing over at the group.
I didn’t want to jump to conclusions about why she might’ve been staring.
It was a bunch of women and one guy, so she might’ve just been curious about that.
Of course, from the distance, I couldn’t hear what my friends were talking to Hawk about, so it was possible they were the reason for the woman’s prolonged stare.
After I returned to the register with her cakes and rang her up, she took them and moved toward the door.
I walked the opposite way to get around the display cases, but by the time I returned to the group, I noticed the woman hadn’t left.
Her eyes were directed at Hawk, and she said, “No, I’m certain I know you from somewhere. ”
“Is everything okay?” I asked, feeling something unpleasant bubble up inside me.
She shook her head. “I’m sorry. I was just… This gentleman looks so familiar. What’s your name?”
Hawk didn’t respond.
Lark did. “This is Hawk.”
“Hawk?” the woman murmured before her eyes rounded. “Oh my God. Hawk. That’s… That’s the nickname, isn’t it? You’re—”
“Excuse me, ma’am?” I cut in.
“Yes?”
“This man is my boyfriend, and I’ve just introduced him to my friends, so if you don’t need anything else…”
Her expression turned horrified. “Your boyfriend?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, my dear. I don’t think you—”
“Please leave,” I said, my irritation growing by the second. “I don’t want to hear another word you have to say.”
She jerked back harshly, like my words had delivered a physical blow. “I’ll never step foot in this place again.”
“And I won’t be sorry for it,” I fired back.
A moment later, the woman was gone.
When my eyes returned to the table, the girls were looking at me with nothing but disbelief in their expressions. Hawk was clearly troubled by what had just happened.
He stood as I moved in that direction. “I’m going to go.”
“What? No. Hawk, don’t let her get to you.”
Shaking his head, he insisted, “It’s not that. But these women are your family and friends. They should know the truth about who you’re with, and I think it’s only fair they can react genuinely to that news. It’s okay. I’m going to go, and we can talk later.”
My heart broke. “I wish you would stay.”
Hawk wrapped an arm around me and kissed the top of my head. “Talk to them, Chloe. You and I can talk later.”
He wasn’t going to let this go, so I nodded against his chest. After giving me one last squeeze and sweet kiss on the mouth, Hawk turned and walked out.
Then I returned to my seat, took in the concerned expressions on the faces of the women who meant the world to me, and said, “There’re a few things I need to share.”