Chapter One
The bar was packed, the music loud, but not so much that you couldn’t hear the person next to you. It wasn’t a club, though there was a small dancefloor. Couples moved together, their bodies close, while a group of ladies danced their hearts out, a lot of men watching, a couple even sliding in close to test the waters with the tipsy women. Lucky tried to make herself as small as possible, so no one touched her as she followed her best friend Desiree to a high top table for two.
This was the last place she should be.
Gunn Brothers was a place where everyone went to be seen, to hang out with friends, have a cocktail to unwind after a hard day at work, bring a date for some conversation and fun, or maybe find someone.
She was the opposite of a social butterfly.
Crowds made her anxious.
Getting lost in a book was more her speed.
But this washisbar. Any chance to seehimmade her heart long. Even though she’d more than likely hide so he didn’t catch her staring.
I’m so awkward. And a coward.
Not that he’d know her in a crowd. She’d only met him once in person about two years ago, but since then, she’d had a mad crush on him. He didn’t know that of course. To him she was just his housekeeper. She showed up once a week to clean his place, do his laundry, and sometimes leave him something to brighten his day. It wasn’t personal, really, because Hawk Gunn wasn’t just out of her league, he was the definition of tall, dark, and broody. Handsome as sin. Quiet. Deliberate. Strong. Protective of those he loved and strangers alike. A hero. He’d saved twelve people from near death the past two years working with the search and rescue team.
And he was broken. Like her.
How did she know?
Town gossip, mostly. Though that was a mix of truth and speculation.
She mostly relied on the signs all over his home. Things she recognized about herself that she saw in him. The sweat soaked sheets that told her he suffered nightmares from his time in the military. The bottle of booze and dirty glass next to the bed. The stack of books that told her more often than not he couldn’t sleep at all. The lack of food in the fridge that said he wasn’t eating well enough for a man his size, who was always on the go, working at the Gunn Brothers distillery attached to the bar and for the local search and rescue team, doing anything and everything not to have time to think.
Thinking was overrated. Sometimes all you did was awaken your demons and let them feast on your self-worth while you second-guessed every decision you’ve ever made.
She might not really know Hawk, but she knew enough to worry about him. To care.
His dark moods, past trauma…she could relate. She’d been through some stuff herself. Things that left her afraid to trust anyone, let alone allow them close enough to hurt her. Except for the one person who’d stood beside her through everything. Even if their relationship was sometimes…all about Desiree.
Her best friend clasped her arm and tugged. “Do you see who’s behind the bar?”
The Gunn Brothers bar had only been open a couple of months and already it was the place to be and be seen. Desiree had begged her to come tonight.
Lucky pulled her arm free, took a tiny step away before they could have the same conversation again about her aversion to being touched, and glanced over, hoping to see Hawk, but found his older brother Lincoln instead.
“He is so hot.” Desiree practically drooled.
All three of the Gunn brothers were gorgeous. Lincoln and Hawk were probably the most driven and serious, while Damon seemed the life of the party. He wasn’t around as much. He traveled for Gunn Brothers Distillery, making connections and drumming up business.
And Hawk…well, he’d obviously seen and done some dark shit and carried it on his back like the black cape of a broken hero.
“Don’t start.” She held her breath, knowing Desiree wouldn’t let it go.
“What?” Desiree tried to come off innocent, but Lucky knew any minute the questions and digging about Hawk would start.
Lucky kept her mouth shut about her clients and respected their privacy. And her strange…friendship with Hawk. “If you think you’ve got a shot with Lincoln, go for it.” She encouraged her friend with a shooing wave of her hands to get her moving.
Desiree’s eyes narrowed. “It sounds like you don’t think I’m good enough for him.” Of course she took offense where none was meant. She did it all the time.
And, yes, sometimes Lucky said the wrong thing. “I didn’t mean it that way. I certainly don’t think it. You’re my best friend. You could have any guy in the room.”
It was true. Desiree had an hourglass figure that men couldn’t help drool over. If that wasn’t enough, she was wearing a tiny black dress that showed off those curves to perfection. She’d left her chestnut hair to its wild waves, used a light touch of makeup on her gorgeous brown eyes, and painted her pouty lips red to match her heels. She looked smoking hot compared to Lucky in her basic navy blue maxi dress. Pink shadow, mascara, and tinted lip balm were about all the makeup she could handle. Her thick golden hair hung stick-straight down her back. Nude wedge sandals completed herI-triedlook.
There was no doubt who the guys in the room were staring at.
