CHAPTER THREE

“A predator walks up to her door … and gets invited in.” - Hawk

 

 

Gia’s request chewed through his head most of the day, a bunch of angry gnats trying to make sense of it. Fuck, who was he kidding here, it was on his mind from the moment it left her pink lips to the very second, he pulled his bike in next to her car and cut the engine.

Tailing one asshole and then another all afternoon, he was about done with this day.

In the face of Krusher’s ribbing, was he supposed to bring something? Wine?

Shut up, idiot. This isn’t a date.

Scowling, he sat on his bike for a minute, glaring at the front door, he drew in a breath and hoped to calm the fuck down.

Being a pariah always worked for Hawk. It meant people left him alone. He didn’t have the patience to guess at expressions and hand gestures and don’t get him started on the bullshit people talked about.

Better still if they feared what he could do.

Never once had he thought to just walk up to Gia’s door and knock and see what she did next. It’d never occurred to him to be so …normal in his approach.

The obsession of wanting his friend’s sister took over his life, it lived in the shadows, it existed only in the dark woods where all the beasts hid out and now here he was, the sky dipping into pinks and oranges as he looked at her front door, talking himself into climbing off his Harley and rapping knuckles on the wood.

That simple.

Fuck. He really was a dumb motherfucker. His hand stole up to his beard. He frowned. Had it always been this long and shabby? When was the last time he even trimmed it? Months. Maybe last year. He ripped off his leather gloves, shoving them into his pocket, he brushed a hand over his equally long head of hair and scowled further.

Fuck it all, he probably looked like a vagrant you’d find in the underpass begging for whiskey.

And then she was there, pulling open the door, making his chest cave in seeing her in white shorts against her tanned legs. The little vest top was the same color melded to perfect tits, and her hair piled on top of her head.

She looked at him and flashed a little smile.

“Are you just going to sit there glaring at my house all night or do you want to come in?”

Her energy was like gasoline in his veins.

Powering him up off the bike, throwing a leg over the seat he shoved keys in his pocket and prowled forward to hear this mysterious purpose.

“What’s this all about?” He asked once in distance to see the widening of her eyes.

“Wow,” Gia laughed. “You really don’t have any manners, do you? Come on inside, I made coffee.” Reprimanded, with a slight tinge of guilt … weird … he stepped over the threshold, following behind as he shut the door with him inside Gia’s house.

Her smile worked to unknot the black chain that swathed around his heart. The sense of falling and spiralling melded into one. How could the small rise of her mouth create so much chaos in his mind?  Oh, yeah. He was a fucking headcase and anything regarding Gia sent both mind and body into a tailspin of need.

His skin pulled tight at her unyielding stare.

He craved more.

He did lack manners. He was a fucking pig most of the time. The rest he was sleeping and having depraved dreams about the woman dumping a coffee pod into a mini trash can on the granite countertop. “I’m glad you came.” She handed him a white mug rimmed with pink hearts. He frowned at it before accepting the cup.

Their fingers brushed.

He was on fire.

Her skin would be so soft, if he reached out and brushed her wrist over the thin blue veins. The need for it almost caused him to jolt in his boots. His teeth would bruise that perfect skin if they ever got the chance to sink in and taste her.

Sick.

Depraved.

Evil.

Inhaling, he took a scalding sip of coffee to tame the riot of filth in his head. Frowning into the cup, he swallowed. She knew how he liked his coffee. “Your brother wouldn’t like me in your place.” He spoke finally. And spoke the truth.

It didn’t seem to faze Gia who huffed, walking around him, her body just about skimmed him again though her kitchen was a fair size. Very feminine. Very her. He walked over to the fridge and peered at the photo’s stuck on the front with cartoon pig magnets. Gia skiing. Gia in a bikini. Gia in a pair of tight, skinny jeans. Gia in a pair of white cut off short-shorts. Jesus fuck.

His Adam’s apple bobbed.

Hawk about swallowed his tongue.

“That’s my inspiration to lose the holiday weight. I think If I see what I used to look like it’ll stop me face planting into the hummus and pitta chips.”

Hawk rounded, face fixed into a glare, snaking his eyes up and down the only woman he hungered for and didn’t see one fucking flaw on her. Not an inch of her body would he change.

He scowled and spat out before he could train his tongue to shut the fuck up. “You must be blind; your body is perfect.”

You, dumb motherfucker, shut up.

She turned pink instantly and smiled so big he worried her skin would be stretched too tightly. Burying his idiot mouth in coffee, he gulped the too hot liquid.

“Thank you. I shouldn’t obsess about it, it’s such a woman thing to do, but what you gonna do. I like to be motivated for things.” It made sense. It was a Gia thing. “Getting back to what you said, I don’t care if Rider knows you’re here. What does he think you’d do, chop me up and bury me in the yard?” It was a fair point. Still, he knew the real Rider more than most and he would make Hawk look like swiss cheese if he ever caught a whiff of Hawk’s interest towards his sister.

 “Your old man wouldn’t be too pleased either,” that coercing asshole. “So why don’t you let me know what it is you need. I’m guessing if you’re asking me it’s nothing legal.” He’d do it. He’d do anything for her so long as she spat it out quickly, so he could leave.

Gia snorted a laugh so cute making lines appear between her eyes he wanted to scoop her up and make her laugh some more just, so he could watch that look pass over her face.

“Are all bikers as suspicious as you? Don’t answer that.” She grinned and gestured for him to follow her. “Let’s get comfortable in the other room. I swear today has been one problem after another and I’m ready to drop.”

Hawk frowned, the urge to ask her what had troubled her was strong. You can’t fix her problems, dickhead.

“Why are you so concerned with my family having an issue with you being inside my home, Hawk?” She inquired smoothly while he hovered in the doorway of a much larger room, big windows down one end, two over-stuffed pale gray couches full of cushions facing one another, along with a recliner in the same color and a wooden unit holding the usual media stuff on the main wall. It was decorated in muted colors, but the accents were all Gia. Bold and colorful, he thought. Happy colors. All Gia.

It felt part nightmare part dream he was inside her house looking at her things, smelling what her house smelled like.

“They know what I am. No father or brother wants me around their girl.” He answered coolly, ignoring the way she was staring at him, as he set his gaze around the room, stopping on family photos gathered on a table. Her and Rider as kids. Six pictures of Rider’s new kid, some of Zara and Gia. Some of people he didn’t recognize. His eyes narrowed seeing a group photo of happy people in a line, arms wrapped around each other’s shoulders, two dickheads either side of Gia were men.

Who the fuck are those walking corpses? He deliberated.

“So, do I, and I extend an invitation to my house whenever you want to come.” She told him cheerfully. It was as though she wasn’t picking up on his warnings.

She was wrong. She didn’t know him at all. Her attempts over the years to be friendly usually only went so far, he wouldn’t allow it any further. The moment she started asking questions he couldn’t answer he either backed off or he chased her away by being the nasty prick he was.

Why she kept on coming back he didn’t know.

Did she realize the power she had? Probably not, if she did she’d wield it and have him like a fucking lapdog at her service and wouldn’t he just hate that.

No.

If he was gonna be led like a dog on a short fucking leash he’d happily do it for Gia morning, noon and all fucking night if that was what would make her happy.

Dumping the coffee cup on the same table with all the photos, he edged himself further into the room, pushing his hands into the pockets of his leather duster coat, he ambled around the space, looking at this, peering at that. She didn’t explain what things were, just let him appraise silently until he turned back to find her eyes on him.

He cocked a quizzical brow.

Her breath hitched for a flash, but then she stabilized herself.

“How would you feel if you and I got to know each other better, Hawk? Spent time together talking and hanging out. I’d really like it, if I’m honest and I want us to be honest.” She snorted that cute laugh again. Not feminine, but he loved the sound. She’d curled her legs under her on the couch and didn’t seem to mind he remained standing in the middle of the room looking like an out of place lamp post.

So, fucking out of place his skin was crawling to get out of there.

To go back to what he knew by watching her like a perverted creeper.

This whole being invited in shit made him uncomfortable and calm at the same fucking time.

He didn’t know whether he was coming or going.

Wait. What?

What the fuck did she just say? His ears clanged. He glared and why the fuck wasn’t she cowering from his glare? Everyone did. Men pissed themselves if Hawk glared because they knew what shit was coming next.

“How would I feel if we spent time together?” He slow-blinked, repeating her words back to make sense of them.

You’re my dream.

I want to crawl inside your skin and see how you taste from the inside.

I could spend a decade just listening to you sigh like that.

Spend time? Give me every fucking minute and I’ll worship you like the sick, depraved bastard I am.

He couldn’t find the words to reply.