Page 49 of Rogue Wave

Rourke had no active warrants, but he was known for hanging out with a few groups of known drug dealers, though they could only ever pin him on smaller charges, such as property theft and using stolen credit cards.

As Hank explained all of this, my gut twisted at how wrong I had been to ever think he was a nice guy. I closed my eyes and shook my head at my stupidity.

Man, I really knew how to pick the worst ones.

From under the table, Hank’s hand reached out to my knee, and he slowly stroked it with his thumb as if to tell me not to be so hard on myself.

That gesture made me feel better, but it also lit my hormones on fire. This man’s touch was soothing and also sensual, and I desperately wanted more of it.

I also desperately hoped Mom and Auntie didn’t see his hand on me. Otherwise, Auntie would never let it go.

Mom and Auntie grilled Hank on everything from safety measures to whether they could contact him if they had more questions.

He gave them everything they’d asked for and then some before announcing that he had to head out to take care of some things.

“I have a few quick questions for you before you leave,” Auntie said to Hank.

“Fire away.”

“How old are you?”

“I’ll be forty next month,” he replied right away.

“You single, married…?”

“Divorced.”

“You got any kids?”

“Nope.”

“You want any kids?” she asked with heavy emphasis on the wanting part, and I knew she was fishing for me.

“Yes.”

“Where’s your family live?”

“My mom and aunt are in California and some other family in Arizona.”

“You close to your other family?”

“Just my mom and aunt.”

Auntie breathed a sigh of relief, and I realized she was asking just in case he felt the need to up and move away.

“Well, good news for you that Winnie and I here are good at adopting folks, so we’ll just add you to the fold.”

Mom let out a small chuckle and tried to cover it by taking a sip of her coffee.

“Alright, we don’t want to keep you,” Auntie said, even though that was exactly what she had done by asking him her invasive rapid-fire questions.

“Thank you for stopping by to fill us in,” Mom told him.

Really he stopped by to fill me in, but of course they would feel otherwise.

They said goodbye, and I walked Hank to my door.

We both stepped outside, and I wrapped my arms around myself at the feel of the chill in the morning air.