Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
“I’m Hawk,” he told her, reaching out to shake her hand.
She put her small hand in his and shook it. “I’m Tildy,” she replied, then froze.
Hawk’s face wavered between a grin and frown. Lord, but this girl was all over the place.
“Honey?” he prompted.
“I’m Tildy,” she said again, regripping his hand. “Tildy.” She was quiet a moment. “I’ve never told anyone that before.”
“You’ve never told anyone your name?”
She shook her head slowly. “No.”
Hawk considered this. He’d never told anyone his name either. He suddenly felt better. Maybe she wasn’t crazy.
“Who’s ‘us’?” Hawk asked.
Tildy blinked at him.
“You said ‘I don’t know who our mechanic is’,” he prompted. Maybe she had a boyfriend.
“My parents,” she said. “It’s their car. I live at home.” As if she thought better of it, she quickly added, “I just graduated in May.”
Hawk nodded. She was young, that was for sure. Hawk was 33. “What’d you study?” he asked, to kill time.
She looked up at him again. She had the softest brown eyes that a man could get lost in. Hawk was trying very hard not to picture her looking up at him from her knees, or down at him while she was straddling him.
“Finance,” she replied, “but I didn’t like it. I really wanted to teach,” Then she looked startled again and actually glanced around. A nervous giggle burst from her. “Teaching,” she said more firmly, as though she herself couldn’t believe it. “I would have really rather gotten a degree in teaching.”
Hawk couldn’t figure out what this girl’s deal was, but she was either not playing with a full deck, or she was just really socially awkward with men. He had, on occasion, been the cause of more than one woman’s loss for words, but they didn’t usually act quite this odd.
“I’ve never told anyone that before, either!” she announced.
Hawk studied her intently. “Got any other secrets?”
She ran her thumb across the gold medallion and shook her head. “No. You know them all now.”
Chapter 6
Tildy shoved the broken necklace into her purse, stuffed the purse into her backpack, and slung the pack over her shoulders. Hawk led her to a huge black and chrome motorcycle that gleamed in the harsh sunlight. She hesitated for the barest of seconds.
Turning toward her, he asked, “Ever been on a bike?”
She shook her head, but was determined. “What’s the best way to get on?”
He grinned at her. He got on first, swinging one leg over the side. She watched him and nodded to herself. Then she stepped up to the bike and did the same. He reached back and pulled down two pegs for her feet, and she settled a sandal on each one.
None of that helped her to know where she should put her hands. She rested them lightly on his shoulders at first, but had the idea that, if they went too fast, that might not be secure enough.
Settling this decision for her, Hawk took her wrists in his hands and slid her arms around his waist, forcing her to move closer to him on the seat. He pressed her hands to his stomach. Really low on his stomach, to be exact. Her own stomach fluttered in response, but she leaned closer to him anyway.
He smelled amazingly of some kind of woodsy cologne, but just a hint of it. His hair was long, long enough to pull into a ponytail at the nape of his neck. It was clean and shiny, and she wondered what it felt like to touch it. Instead, she merely pressed her hands more firmly into his stomach. Slow, Tildy. Take it slow, she reminded herself.
Hawk nodded to the tow truck driver and headed out of the gas station’s parking lot. If Tildy was nervous about not wearing a helmet, she promptly forgot all about both it and the climbing thermometer when a breeze blew back her hair. Though she’d never been on a motorcycle before, she got the impression that riding on the open road would be all the air conditioning she needed.
They didn’t hit the open road though, to her disappointment. They merely wound through Rapid City’s downtown area to a large garage with a sign that said “Burnout” in black letters on the front. There were several bikes in the lot, she noticed, and a car she was pretty sure was called a ‘Hot Rod’ was parked in front of the building.
Hawk pulled his bike into the last spot in a line of bikes that were all black and chrome, but of varying styles. One thing they had in common was that they were all large, with the exception of one small dirtbike off to the side. Tildy couldn’t imagine Hawk on anything like that.
He killed the engine and held her arm as she swung her leg back to dismount. Hawk managed to get off the bike much more smoothly; his graceful movements belied his large frame. Tildy was glad her man was beautiful, but strong too. She shook her head remembering that they’d only just met. He led her into the garage, where other men were working. None of them were quite as large or good looking as the man who’d brought her here.