“Do you know what?” Hawk’s voice breaks Melissa’s reverie.
Melissa shrugs. “I guess, Mom got a little carried away with the wine.” Melissa knows exactly what her mother was talking about, but she doesn’t feel like it’s something she can share with Hawk without him thinking that she’s some kind of crazy woman.
“I like her. You’re a lot like her, you know?” Hawk keeps looking towards where the car had left the parking lot.
“Apart from the red hair, most people don’t really think we look alike. Apparently, I take after my father. Lucky me.” Melissa rolls her eyes.
“Maybe you do, physically at least. But your mom’s a good person. She has the same kind of light that you do, the same way of looking at the world and making it seem better.” Hawk sighs deeply, as if it were something that he could never have imagined existed.
“She’s the best.” Melissa smiles without the slightest hint of irony; she really did believe it. She turns to Hawk, prepared with the questions she needs to ask. They can’t just continue with the evening as if nothing of any note had happened. “How did you know I was here?”
She folds her arms, staying just out of reach of him. So far, Hawk had made good on his promise; he hadn’t touched her. She’d held his hand at the dinner table, and when she’d released it, he’d made no move to take it back. But the intensity that draws her to him is like a moth to a flame, and it just keeps getting harder and harder to ignore.
“Felicia told me you were meeting your mom’s new boyfriend. Ali told me where.” He shrugs, looking not at all embarrassed at having tracked her down.
“Ali told you? I thought after last night you’d be on her ‘persona non grata’ list for a little while. You must’ve done some serious sweet talking.” Melissa raises an eyebrow at him, watching as he smiles at her in a way that makes her stomach do somersaults.
“She took a little convincing; that’s why I was late.” He gives her an apologetic look. “But eventually she believed what I was trying to tell her.”
Melissa narrows her eyes at him. “And what was that?”
Hawk rocks up and down on his heels, a gesture that she’s only seen him use when he’s nervous. “You know, ‘Mel, you look amazing.” He looks at her appreciatively—in a way that makes her cheeks heat.
In her high heels, she hardly has to look up at him at all, but with the energy that he radiates off, she still feels as if he towers above her. “You don’t clean up so bad yourself, Mr. Ownes.” She smiles wryly at him. “Nice misdirection, too. So what did you say to Ali that made her give me up?”
Hawk rakes his fingers through his hair, mussing it. “How did you think tonight went?”
Melissa stifles a sigh, knowing that she can’t force him to say something that he doesn’t want to. But oh how she wants him to say it. “I think my mom loves you, but I think you already knew that.” She gives him a pointed look, and he responds with a rueful grin. “So, how’d you get to be so good at the whole ‘meet the parents’ thing?”
Hawk looks thoughtful for a moment until his standard half-smile is safely back in place. “I don’t know. It was kind of my first time.”
Melissa looks at him in shock. “What about high school girlfriends? You never had the big, ‘Make sure she’s home by ten o’clock’ talk?” Melissa points her finger at him, mimicking an angry father, or what she imagined that would have looked like.
Hawk laughs. “No, but if they looked as cute as you did just then, I wouldn’t have minded.” He smiles at her, and Melissa sways a little feeling herself get lost in his eyes.
“So, why did you decide to this time? What changed?” She shivers in the cold wind.
“You did.” Hawk gives her a serious look that makes her insides warm despite the cold outside. “Let’s get you home.” He hands her the spare helmet that she’d come to think of as her own and motions her towards the bike.
As she wraps her arms around Hawk’s waist and they zip through the streets, Melissa is reminded of her first time on the back of his bike. It doesn’t seem like it was only a few days ago. She clutches onto him, breathing in the smell of his leather jacket and holding onto him, feeling his muscles tense against her hands. When they pull up outside her house, Melissa finds herself wishing that the ride would never end. All she wants is to hold Hawk and to be held by him.
Melissa pulls her dress down as she jumps off the bike. “I guess this dress isn’t really made for a motorbike. I probably gave half of Portland a view.”
Hawk looks at her—from the tips of her stiletto shoes, up her long legs, over her dress, and up to her gently tousled hair. “You look beautiful.” He tilts his head, as if he’s considering something. “But if you’re going to be riding on the bike, we should probably get you some leathers.”
Melissa feels a little tingle starting in her toes. “Does that mean you want me to ride on your bike?”
Hawk takes a deep breath, like he’s calling on his stores of patience. “It means that you’re the only one I want to ride on my bike.” Hawk closes the distance between them, stopping just short of her.
“What did you say to Ali?” Melissa looks up at him, biting her bottom lip, suddenly nervous.
“I told her how special you are to me, and that I wanted to be there for you tonight. I knew it was important for you.” Hawk’s hands clench and unclench by his side, and Melissa wonders if he’s finding it as hard not to touch her as she’s finding it to be without his touch. He takes another step towards her, so his head is only inches away from hers. “I told her that I’m in love with you.”
Melissa’s eyes widen in shock.
“Now it’s your turn, Melissa.” Hawk takes a deep breath, his voice low. “What did your mom ask if you knew?”
Melissa finds her voice on the third try. “She asked if I knew that I wanted to be with you, if I knew if I loved you.”
Hawk’s eyes burn with intensity. “’Mel.” His voice is husky, and she feels it right down to her bones. “So, do you know?”
Melissa finds herself nodding without even realizing it.
“I need a little more than that, ‘Mel. You haven’t exactly been your talkative self, tonight.” Hawk huffs a laugh, but it’s more nervous tension.
“I love you, Hawk.” Melissa says the words, words that she has been holding herself back from speaking because she thought that it was too much too soon. Now, all she cares about is how she feels and what she wants—and she wants Hawk. She reaches up and kisses his lips, softly, pulling his head down to meet hers.
She teases her tongue between his lips and tastes him, eliciting a deep moan from inside of him. She rocks back onto her heels, feeling buzzed from their kiss. She looks down at Hawk’s hands and sees that they’re still clenching and unclenching. He hasn’t made any move to take her in his arms, to touch her face, or to slide his fingers in her hair like he normally would.
“You said you wouldn’t touch me until I begged you to.” Melissa’s heart feels like it’s hammering out of her chest.
Hawk nods slowly, his eyes never leaving hers. “That’s what I said.”
Melissa looks up at him, her eyes heavy with desire. “So, now I’m begging you.” She reaches up and kisses him hard, smiling as his tongue tangles with hers. She feels his arms take hold of her waist and pull her closer to him, melding their bodies together and turning them into one hot, beating heart.