Any woman who would brazenly check a guy out when he had his arm around another woman—a woman she called her friend—was not to be trusted.
Doubly so if she worked for a dirtbag like Pennington.
Hawk would make sure Luna checked her out, too.
“My girl is a private person.” He gave Charlotte a genuine smile and a wink. “It’s one of themanythings I love about her.”
Charlotte lifted her gaze to him, and the way her cheeks flushed and the tender way she silently thanked him with her eyes was too much to resist.
He cupped the side of her face with his hand, leaned down, and pressed a soft kiss to her mouth. At first, she was surprised, but she quickly got on board with the idea and kissed him back.
And that, right there, was the moment he knew Charlotte Cavanaugh was the only one for him.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“Oh,my.”Helenesighedthe words.
The surprise and jealously in her voice somehow managed to break through the spell that Hawk cast over Charlotte.
Eyes closed, she slowly drew her lips from his and gave herself a moment to enjoy the fantasy that the kiss actually meant something and wasn’t just a way to reinforce the lie about him being her boyfriend.
“Come on, Sweets.” He laced their fingers together, lifted their joined hands, and kissed her knuckles. “Let’s get that stuff you needed so we can get the heck out of here.”
“Stuff?” She fast-blinked. “Oh, yeah, the stuff I needed.”
“Nice to meet you, ma’am.” He gave a quick dip of his chin, then looked down at Remy. “Break.”
They left Helene standing there with her mouth gaping open, no doubt envious of that incredibly intense kiss she’d just witnessed. And probably more than a little upset at being called ma’am.
All of which brought Charlotte great joy.
“Why did you do that?” she whispered as they walked away.
“Why did I kiss you?” Hawk stopped her and moved to stand in front of her. He held her upper arms, looked her dead in the eyes, and said, “Because I’ve wanted to kiss you since the first time I saw you.”
“You … you have?” Oh, man, she wanted to believe him so badly.
“Yep.” He nodded. “I’ll never forget that moment. You walked into the Dark Ops briefing room, and you were wearing this dark blue dress with white across the top. You were beautiful and sincere and so passionate when you talked about helping kids, and, well, I was hooked.”
“I can’t believe you remember what I was wearing.” Knowing what an extraordinary group of people she would be speaking to, she’d spent extra time deciding what to wear in an effort to make a good first impression.
“I remember everything about you, Charlotte.” He stepped closer. “Now, let’s go to your office so I can kiss you again—without an audience.”
She might have walked a bit faster when she led him to her office door. He stood behind her—so close, she could feel his breath across the top of her head. She tugged her keys from the side pocket of her bag, unlocked her door, and they stepped inside.
He shut and locked the door, set Charlotte’s bag on one of the chairs in front of her desk, and pointed at a spot in the corner.
“Place.” Remy sauntered over to where he was pointing, his leash dragging behind, then he lay down and rested his head on the floor.
Hawk stepped up to Charlotte, framed her face with his hands, and caressed his thumbs over her cheeks. His eyes traveled over her features, and when he stopped to look into her eyes, she fought against the urge to fidget.
She thought only guys in romance novels did that kind of stuff.
“Your eyes are incredible. They’re light green around the center and get darker around the edge.” Slowly, he lowered his head … then stopped an inch from her face.
“Are we on the same page here, Charlotte?” His voice was rough. “Because if we’re not—”
She raised up on her tippy-toes, threw her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Like,reallykissed him. His tongue dipped between her lips and a powerful rush of joy flooded her system and her entire body felt like it was sparkling.
