Desiree’s smile widened. “You dirty girl. You hit that, didn’t you?”
She didn’t want to talk about it. What happened between her and Hawk was…private. Precious. Meaningful. Hers.
It wasn’t some hookup.
It was real and deep and theirs.
“Hawk and I have grown closer.”
Desiree rolled her eyes. “Come on. Details. That man is hot. I bet he’s a beast in bed.”
He was passionate. Attentive. Considerate because of her injuries. Even though he was holding back, the feelings andintent behind every kiss, caress, lick, and orgasm were focused on bringing as much pleasure as both of them could give and take.
“Hawk takes very good care of me. That’s all I’m going to say.” She glanced at the time again. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be at work?”
Desiree worked as an administrative assistant at the courthouse, a job her father had gotten her when Krystal started preschool, giving Desiree a few hours each day to work and earn some money of her own.
Lucky thought about that wad of cash Desiree had flashed in the bar. Had she made all of that at work? Maybe she had a side gig she hadn’t mentioned. Or maybe she was just frugal and saving everything she made for Krystal.
When Desiree got pregnant in high school, two months before Lucky’s family had been killed, Desiree had kept it a secret until she couldn’t hide it anymore. She refused to name the father. To this day, it was a secret Desiree hadn’t shared with anyone, including her best friend.
It made Lucky feel like Desiree didn’t trust her, or that she felt like Lucky would judge her for whoever she’d slept with. It didn’t matter to Lucky. She loved Krystal. And she knew Desiree could be reckless sometimes and impulsive—she often wondered if Desiree hadn’t gone after some older, married man. Lucky wouldn’t put it past her. She liked to cross boundaries. It gave her some kind of thrill to be doing something she shouldn’t.
While Lucky was her best friend, her father’s punishments were enough of a deterrent to keep her on the straight and narrow. It often caused friction between her and Desiree, but their friendship somehow survived Lucky not giving in to every one of Desiree’s whims and wild schemes.
“You’re not going to give me any dirty details. Come on. This is the first guy you’ve been into since—”
“Don’t say his name. I don’t want to hear it. Not in this house. He’s dead to me. And if he's the one doing this stuff to me, I hope they put him back in jail.” She fumed, her hands shaking.
Desiree’s eyes narrowed. “Whoa, girl. Take a chill pill.”
“No. I’m sick of this! All this shit happening all the time. Maybe I should just confront his ass. Take a stand, because this can’t go on. What the fuck did I ever do to him to deserve this?” Lucky waved her hand down her body, indicating all the bruises, bumps, scrapes, stitches, and sore muscles.
“It got you the guy you wanted.” The way Desiree said it didn’t sound like she was happy for Lucky.
Then again, Desiree preferred being the center of attention. She liked it best when she had everything someone else wanted.
“Hawk and I were inevitable. It was going to happen one way or another. We’d been circling each other for a long time. One of us would have finally made a move.” She had a feeling it would have been her. Some grand gesture to get his attention. Or maybe simply finding the courage to ask him on a date.
Maybe he’d finally follow that urge to come home while she was here and start up a real conversation.
Didn’t matter now.
“Inevitable? Wow. You really think that.” Desiree sneered at such a notion.
I know it.“You don’t know what we’ve shared the last two years.”
“Maybe he’s just caught up being the guy who rescued you, you know? Like now that you’re safe all the urgency and emotions will settle and you’ll just go back to being the girl who cleans his house.”
“Thanks for the support and understanding and thinking that he could really love me.” It hurt with an ache in her heart to hear her friend not believe that someone like Hawk could really care about her.
“That’s not what I mean at all. I just don’t want you to get your hopes up too high when everything is so new between you two.”
“That’s just it. You haven’t seen the way he treats me. It’s…special. It’s like we’ve known each other forever.”
“I think you’ve watched too many Hallmark movies and read too many books where everything ends in a happy ever after.”
“What’s wrong with that? It happens. There are happy couples out there, who are in love and care about each other and build a relationship on trust. I met Hawk’s cousin Mason and his wife Lyric. They were so in love and in tune with each other. They never stopped looking at each other with so much love in their eyes. I could tell how much he cherished her, adored her. The way he touched her baby bump with reverence and a kiss for her to let her know he loved that she was growing their baby, protecting and nurturing it. I want that.”
