That didn’t sit right with him. Neither did the way she treated Lucky. It wasn’t like his relationship with his brothers. Close. Respectful, even with the ribbing and joking they did with each other.
Something seemed off.
“How was she when you arrived?” He wanted her take on Lucky’s mental health. He needed to know she was okay. Healing. Feeling Safe.
Lucky had been through a lot and he hoped that she was coping okay. He hated to leave her this morning, but he had obligations and he’d gotten back home as soon as he could to spend the rest of the day making sure she was pampered and recuperating.
“She seems fine. Stiff. Sore, I imagine.” Desiree pointed to the TV. “She’s watching another happy ending, hoping she gets hers someday.”
“She will. I’ll make sure of it.” He’d do anything and everything to make her happy and keep her with him.
Desiree gave him a coy smile. “Come on. You can’t tell me this isn’t about the fact that you saved her and now you feel somehow obligated to help her.”
“Obligated.” He studied her face and realized she was serious. “I’m relieved that I found her in time. She’s been a beacon of hope for me for the last two years. Her kindness and caring helped me through more hard nights than I care to count. I can’t imagine my life without her.”
“That’s our Miss Goody Two Shoes.”
“Why do you talk about her like that? I thought you were best friends.”
“We are. Have been forever. But we aren’t exactly alike in a lot of ways. She’s…adorably broken.”
Everything inside him rejected that statement.
Desiree’s snide comment and dismissal of Lucky’s endurance and strength frustrated and angered him. “Men can’t help but want to help her. Love her. Even if she keeps them all at arm’s length.” Desiree took a step closer. “Until you. I imagine the interactions you’ve had passing notes gave her some courage to try with you. But she’s not ready to jump into whatever you think you’ll have with her. She’s too good and sweet and kind to let go and really satisfy a man like you.”
He let her speak, giving her space to show who she really was, because it didn’t seem like she was really Lucky’s friend. More like a frenemy.
“You don’t seem like a guy who wants some passive lover.”
Lucky wasn’t passive last night when she took him in hand in the shower. She was lost in the moment with him this morning,writhing and moaning and tugging his hair as Hawk ate her pussy and brought her to an explosive orgasm.
She’d been beautiful, flying free beneath his hands and lips and on his tongue.
Desiree didn’t know Lucky the way he knew her.
And if Lucky was like that while injured, he couldn’t wait to see her when she was well and whole.
She’d probably kill him. And he’d die a happy man.
Desiree’s hand landed on his chest.
He immediately stepped back. “Don’t do that.”
“What? Touch you? I could do a hell of a lot better at making you burn than she ever could. You can’t possibly be satisfied with those soft kisses. You need someone wild, free, uninhibited. Someone who can take you and handle you. Someone who isn’t afraid of your rough side.” She purred out the last, an invitation in her eyes.
He did have a rough side. Not that he’d ever hurt Lucky, or any woman for that matter. He could be gentle like he’d been with Lucky so far in consideration of her injuries. But he liked getting lost in passion with a lover. He knew he and Lucky would get there when she was feeling better. And he knew it would be better with her than anyone else because of their connection, because it was built on all those tender feelings Desiree seemed to think made Lucky weak, or something. They didn’t. They made her care. Deeply. And that added a layer of intimacy and trust and understanding that allowed for walls to come crumbling down to expose all the raw emotions and feelings that made it possible to truly let go.
He couldn’t wait.
But he could be patient. For her.
“I don’t know what you think you’re doing, but I’m going to choose to believe that you’re not actually trying to steal me away from your best friend. Because that would be a really shitty thingto do. And it will never happen. I’m not a cheater, or so fickle to drop her for you because you think you’re hotter in the sack than she is. What we have is special. A once in a lifetime kind of thing. So I’m going to believe that this is some sort of bait you think I’ll take and prove that I’m not good enough for your friend.” He didn’t believe that for a second. Desiree had a selfish side that made her mean. He didn’t like it. And he’d protect Lucky from it from now on. “I am a hundred percent dedicated to Lucky. She’s mine. I’m hers. From now on, it’sus, so get used to it. No amount of flirting is going to change it. And if you try to sabotage what we have again, I won’t be nice, because I’ll do anything to keep her and make her happy.”
“That’s all I needed to hear.” She played off the whole thing, but she didn’t look happy about his rejection, or even relieved for her friend. Anger lit her eyes before she banked it. She didn’t like to lose.
He dropped it. “Good. Now I have a question for you. How did you get Lucky’s car to her place after you drove her home from the bar?”
The calculation in Desiree’s eyes didn’t surprise him. “I have a friend at the courthouse who did me a favor and drove her car to her place. Why?”
