That was okay, she didn’t really want to talk about it either.
Let’s move on.
“I’m feeling much better,” she assured him.“I’ll be back at the faire tomorrow.I have to be, the show is on.And I don’t want to lose the momentum from the last couple weeks.”
“Don’t push yourself.”His voice was low, cut with concern.
She stuck her tongue out at him.“I’ll need a ride, though, since my car is still in the parking lot.”
“I got you,” he said, again without hesitation.
Lilian nodded, her body relaxing as they returned to the normal cadence of their conversation.Work, faire, business.No trauma here.
She took a bite of the sandwich, not expecting to be hungry.But the second the cheese and tomatoes hit her tongue, she craved food.And the comfort it brought.A moan escaped her as she took another bite, and then another.“Who taught you how to make sandwiches?They shouldn’t taste this good.”
“It’s all about the bread,” Hawk said, nonplussed.But he was staring at her as she briefly shifted into a werewolf.“There’s a sandwich shop down the street where I buy their day-old loaves cheap.”
“Oh, asandwich shop.”She drew out the word in a single syllable of longing.“I miss places like sandwich shops, donut shops...and restaurants.”
He cocked his head.“What do you mean miss?”
“Please, you’ve seen Tenison.There isn’t anything like that there.The only thing we have is the gas station and a diner that's about forty years old.”
“Why do you stay there, then?”he asked.
She leaned back in her chair, considering how much to tell him.He already knew about her mom, about the bookstore.Before she knew it, he was peeling back her life, revealing the most vulnerable parts.The question now was whether she was ready to let him see it all.
“You know about my mom.Right now, they need my help.With her treatment and with the store.It makes sense that I be there.”
His brows narrowed.“Yeah, but you’re not going to be there forever.Right?”
It felt like he was asking something more.Something she wasn’t quite ready to talk about, not yet.She did what any other sane person would do, change the subject.
“Do you need to go back to work?”
He was staring at her.Those deep chocolate eyes searching for… something.She saw the muscles of his throat tighten.“I’ll stay with you.”
She didn’t know relief could feel so overwhelming.But her damn Midwestern politeness reared its ugly head again.“No.I don’t want to put you out.You’re needed at the faire.”
“You need me.”It wasn’t a question.
And she didn’t argue the sentiment because shedidneed him.
“What will you tell your parents?”
He paused at that, as if he hadn’t considered it.“They’ll understand.”
“Really?”
“Well, my mom will.My dad…”
Your dad what?Lilian waited for him to finish the sentence, but he trailed off, leaving her imagination to fill in the blanks.She chewed on her sandwich, contemplating what she knew.
Marcus Carlisle was a jerk.She’d made the same judgment about Hawk at first as well, but that turned out to be incorrect.But something about the way Hawk talked about his dad, or… didn’t talk about him made her suspect that the man was everything she thought.
“I don’t think your dad likes me very much,” she said.
“What makes you think that?”
