Hawk helped her into his truck, and together, they drove away.He didn’t say anything, and she appreciated it, but the memory of his angry face burned against the back of her eyelids.
“To your house?”he asked when they neared the exit.
Lilian blinked out of her thoughts, coming back to herself.“No,” she said quickly, “my parents will ask questions, and I’m not…”
Hawk nodded.“Where to?”
She knew, without asking, that he would take her anywhere she wanted.But only one place came to mind.“Your place?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she studied his expression.Trying to determine if the request was out of line.If he saw it as the desperate plea for company that it was.In asking for his place, she was asking for him to stay with her.To be away from the faire.
Hawk didn’t bat an eye.“Of course.”
They drove past the exit, continuing on their way to Manhattan.
It meant something that he was being so considerate.Driving her, asking if she wanted him to take her home.He was treating her with more care than she’d experienced with any man.As the silence dug its claws into the space between them, she felt the inexplicable need to reassure him back.“I’m really all right,” she said, “just a little in shock.”
“I can imagine.”His voice was rough, like it caught on sandpaper.“That shouldn’t have happened today.I’ll have a talk with my dad.”
“It’s fine.Really.There are assholes every year.”
His grip tightened on the steering wheel.“Then we aren’t taking the right precautions.”
“Hawk…” She sighed, too tired to argue.
He got the hint and fell quiet.Soon he was pulling off into Manhattan, passing the streets bustling with weekend traffic.A football game was going on, and the town was a sea of purple and black as families tailgated.Hawk took a back road to avoid traffic.Before long, they pulled into his apartment.
The inside was as clean and untouched as it had been a few weeks ago.Hawk put his keys on the small hanger by the door and started for the kitchen.“Are you hungry?”
Eat.That was right.She’d missed her lunch break, and in the rush of everything, her appetite was absent.
“I missed lunch,” she said, more an observation for herself than anything else.
“Want me to make you a sandwich?”Hawk asked, standing in the kitchen poised and ready to cook.“You can borrow my clothes, get dressed in something more comfortable.”
Oh yeah.She looked down at the outfit Russ had provided.It wasn’t too revealing, but the need to change into something more comfortable… more modern, pulled at her senses.She needed to forget about the faire, just for a little while.
“Thanks.”
He showed her to his bedroom, where he handed her an oversized K-State shirt and a pair of shorts he claimed were too small for him.When the door closed behind him, she was finally, blessedly alone.
She braced herself for the memories to rush back.For the need to cry to overwhelm her the way it almost had in the changing room.
But the fear was gone.
The anxiety was still there, but that, she knew, was for a different reason.She was in Hawk’s house.And this time, it felt different.Before, they’d still been unsure of what they meant to each other.Now, they were here because she needed him.Because she’d asked.It was a gift.A gift of protection.Of strength.And she knew that was the reason she was able to hold herself together now.
Lilian pulled on the shorts.They were big, but after rolling the waist, she managed to fit them against her hips.The soft fabric of the T-shirt was like a warm hug after the day she’d had.A hug that smelled like Hawk.
When she stepped back out, a spread of sandwich toppings covered his counters: cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, mustard, and ranch waited for her.Hawk was already biting into his sandwich, but he paused midchew to stare at her.
Lilian gave a cursory look down at her outfit.It was big, but she didn’t think it looked terrible.When she glanced back up, he was studying the second sandwich that sat on the plate.
“Um… I didn’t know how you wanted your sandwich.”
“I’m not picky.”She took a seat at the island.“Thanks for letting me stay here.”
“It’s not a problem.”Hawk didn’t meet her gaze.The sandwich was more important.
