“Hawk.” I moved my other hand over my mouth, unable to imagine the trauma he’d been born into.
“It all worked out in the end though,” he continued, slipping his fingers between mine, so we were now holding hands across the expanse of the table. “A woman with a heart of gold found me, and she brought me home and raised me like one of her own. She, along with her husband, adopted me. They are tough but fair, and they taught me early on that life isn’t fair but hard work always pays off. So when I was old enough, I started working for my adopted father. I figure it all turned out just the way it was meant to.”
“That’s such a smart perspective. I wish I could see the bright side of the world I came from, but now that my mom is gone…” I felt those old, familiar tears welling in my eyes for all I’d lost after losing her.
“I can’t imagine the shit you must have seen, growing up in the Main family.” He tipped his head to the side, dark eyes flickering over my face as he took me in.
“Well, the first time I really knew I came from fucked up people was at my fourth grade music recital. I had a solo that night, and I was so nervous I couldn’t even eat. My mom brought me to school that night and Dad was supposed to meet us there because he was running late at work. I thought he was a car salesman for the longest time. He ran his office out of a Cadillac dealership, so it made sense to me. Until the night of my recital, when Mom got a call that Grandma had slipped and was on her way to the hospital, so Mom left to meet her there and my dad didn’t show up until the last five minutes...sometimes I wish he wouldn’t have shown up. Believe me.” My stomach turned with the memories I usually tried to black out. “I walked out of the gymnasium with tears in my eyes, because both of my parents missed my solo, and just as I was about to get a ride home with a friend’s mom, my dad pulled up in his car. He scooped me into his arms and apologized over and over, and I loved him so much I wanted to believe him. Until he gave me the roses.”
“The roses?” Hawk asked.
“He handed me a few long-stemmed red roses, and he must not have noticed, but I did. When I looked down at my fingers, they were covered in drips of matching red blood. At first, I thought it was mine, from the thorns, but the closer I looked I realized it wasn’t mine. And when he opened his door and the interior lights brightened the car, smears of blood were left on his steering wheel. I could see where he’d tried to clean it up with tissues, but he must have been in a hurry to hear me play.” Steel hardened my tone. “That was the night I stopped forgiving him for working late, because that’s the night I knew working late meant murder. From that night on I prayed for two things at bedtime: for my father to stop being a bad guy, and for God to carry me far away from the family I’d been born into. I’ve hated roses since that night.”
“Izzy…” His hands cupped my cheeks, eyes burning intensely back at me. “I’m not a good man, a lot of the things I’ve done aren’t unlike your father’s offences.” He paused, eyes chasing around the floor before landing on me again. “I haven’t taken anyone’s life, but I’ve hurt a lot of people in a lot of ways I’m not proud of. I’ve made a fuck load of mistakes, but I’d like to think I’ve learned from them.”
“My father has done things I can’t even begin to consider--I knew deep in my bones that escaping him was my only option, but as much as you annoy me, I’ve never felt the fear that my father used to instill in me. You’re not him--you never could be. I've learned a few things about trusting my instincts, and, like it or not, fear is the last thing you instill in me, Hawk. But with my family...it’s just hard to see the sunshine some days.”
His lips turned up, one of his thumbs darting out to trace away the tear on my cheek. “Sweet Daisy, when are you going to realize you are the sunshine?” He leaned over then, catching my chin with his fingers and turning my head to find my ear. “You shine so bright it blinds me some days.”
I turned my head, the way his lips barely grazed the shell of my ear sending a new riot of sparks through my veins. “You’re so sweet.”
He huffed, voice turning gravelly as his lips caressed my earlobe. “The last damn thing I am is sweet, I just have to hope that doesn’t turn you off from spending time with a man like me.”
“A man like you?”
“A man desperate to make you his, a man who gives zero fucks about anyone's feelings but yours. I’m obsessed with you, Daisy.”
“Obsessed?” I squeaked.
“Totally fucking obsessed.” His thumb dragged down the line of my neck to land at the hollow of my throat. His warm breath heated my neck, eyes holding mine with sharp daggers, and my nerves shooting off on rapid fire as his thumb dipped a little further below my clavicle, hovering on my chest, then dragging the v-neck of my shirt down a little lower until my cleavage was nearly on display.
I’d taken such care to dress smart and sensible for this date, when really I just wanted him to tear all these clothes off of me and have his way with my body. I’d never met a man that made me feel so desperate and needy for his touch.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here, I’ve had enough feelings for one day.”
“Got other activities planned?” I laughed when he threw down a few hundred dollar bills then came around the table to take my hand and help me from my chair.
“Only one.” He growled as we manoeuvred through the tables and then pushed out into the cool night air. Once we were around the corner of the restaurant, away from the entrance, he paused, sliding me against the brick wall and covering me with his broad body. I felt every inch of him, from his marble pectorals to the thickness pressing into my hip.
He caught my face in his hands, eyes on my lips before landing on my gaze. “The only thing I have a taste for is you.”
And then he pressed our lips together in a searing kiss, my fingers tracing to his collar as I pulled myself closer, one of his arms locking around my waist and pulling me harder into his body. His tongue tangled with mine, desperate and needy and lighting me on fire. Being so close to him all night without really touching him had been torture, the way his thick and rough-edged voice travelled my veins like lava and settled between my thighs, leaving me hot and horny and his name on my lips.
“Wow.” I pulled away, panting.
His grin quirked, eyes chasing the angles of my face before he brought our lips together. “We’re way more than wow, Daisy. Be ready to have your mind blown on our second date.”
“Second date?” I smiled inwardly, wishing our first date would last forever. “I still haven’t gotten over the first.”
He laughed, making me proud that I’d put that smile on his face. “Mm, one taste of you and I’m already addicted.”
Chapter 4
Hawk
I slammed the door on my house a little too forcibly as I walked in, body still strung tight and tense from my date with Izzy. She was a vision, I couldn’t keep my eyes off of her, and now I couldn’t keep my filthy thoughts off of her.
I needed her to know the truth, I had no other options. But Izzy Main was not making my life easier, that was for sure.