When Melissa pulls up outside the body shop, she’s still buzzing with energy and adrenaline that she doesn’t know what to do with. She had thought that her karate class that morning would have helped her work out some of the tension and frustration from the night before, but even that hadn’t seemed to help. She’d relayed the events of the night to Ali, who had reminded her that she was working on a story and that the Caged Kings weren’t exactly the most eligible of men.

 

“You’re right. I know you’re right. This is just business. I’m taking Hawk up on his offer for the story, not for anything else.” Melissa had been impressed with how certain she’d sounded but the look Ali gave her told her that she was far from convinced. She wasn’t alone.

 

In the cold light of day, Melissa had given herself a strict talking-to. She can’t afford to get mixed up with the Kings. Not only were they the subject of her story but they were dangerous criminals and Hawk was one of them. No amount of sexy smiles was going to change that.

 

‘The Shop’ takes up an old warehouse that’s been remodeled and, from the number of cars and bikes outside, it looks like business is booming. The front door is open and she slips through, looking around for some signs of life and taking in the huge shop floor. Her eyes dart around the place, cataloguing it, thinking about how she will describe it in her story. The floor is all but empty and Melissa realizes she’s probably turned up just when everyone had broken for lunch.

 

But the sound of metal clanging in the far corner alerts her to the only two people there. She steps a little closer, keeping out of sight and sees Hawk twirling a wrench in his hand as he chats easily with a platinum blonde – Felicia. Hawk is standing there with his top off, looking all masculine and hot and steamy and her stomach does a little flip flop. The breath catches in Melissa’s throat and she swallows hard as the desire bubbles up.

 

Get a grip, Potter.

 

She knows she should probably just walk over and let them know she’s there. But her curiosity gets the better of her when she hears what sounds like Felicia giving Hawk relationship advice. She freezes, not wanting to call attention to herself and strains to hear what they’re saying.

 

“You worry about me more than my mom does, Felicia.” Hawk shakes his head, but there’s warmth in his complaint and Melissa feels another spark of jealousy.

 

“Whatever. All I’m saying is that you don’t want to get in too deep, especially with a girl you don’t know anything about.” Felicia shrugs and twirls a strand of hair around her finger absently, but her attention is focused on Hawk. From the intense expression on her face, Melissa wonders if Hawk’s description of their relationship as ‘just friends’ was a sentiment shared by Felicia.

 

“Too deep? I’ve just met her, Felicia. I think it’s a little early for that.” Hawk waves off her concern and bends over the engine he’s working on so Melissa can’t see his face.

 

“Don’t play dumb with me, Ownes. I’ve known you way too long for that. I saw the way you were looking at her last night and the little white knight routine at the bar.” Melissa feels a little thrill when she realizes they’re talking about her. Felicia huffs a sigh as if she’s well aware that her words are falling on deaf ears. “I just don’t want you to lose sight of the end-game. You’ve wanted to be a King King for as long as I can remember. Now is the time to put your head down and concentrate on getting patched. Anything else is just a distraction.”

 

“Something I can do for you?” A heavy hand settles on Melissa’s shoulder and she whirls around to face a solid looking man in his late forties. With his muscular build and tattooed arms, he looks like someone you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley but his eyes are kind.

 

Melissa cringes as she realizes she’s been caught eavesdropping. She feels the blood rush to her face and notices that the big man’s eyes are now twinkling with amusement.

 

“I’m – uh – here to see Hawk. He said he would check out my car.” She tries to stand a little straighter and shake off her embarrassment but the wobble in her voice gives her away.

 

“Melissa?” Hawk’s questioning voice from behind her makes her turn around slowly. She takes in Hawk’s lopsided grin and has to stop herself from staring at his taught pecs and defined abs. Felicia stands next to him, hands on her hips and looking at Melissa as if she’s sizing her up and probably wondering how much of their conversation she’d overheard.

 

“Well, any friend of Hawk’s is always welcome here.” The big man from behind her steers Melissa towards the others with practiced ease, only stopping to turn to her when she’s directly in front of Hawk. “I’m Josh.”

 

“Pleasure to meet you, sir.” Melissa shakes his offered hand and watches as a smile breaks out over his face.

 

“Not sir, just Josh is fine.” He looks between Melissa, Hawk and Felicia and seems to sense the situation. “I guess I’ll go take a peek at that car of yours.” He gives Hawk a pointed look that Melissa can’t read and marches back out the way he’d come in, leaving the three of them standing in awkward silence.

 

“Sorry, I guess I should have called. I didn’t want to interrupt. But I didn’t have your number…” Melissa trails off, feeling more than a little out of place

 

“You’re not interrupting.” Hawk gives her a serious look. “Melissa, this is Felicia. Felicia, Melissa.” He waves between the two of them and seems oblivious to the tension rippling off of Felicia in waves.

 

“We met last night.” Felicia bristles a little, clearly not happy about Melissa’s presence.

 

So Melissa does the only thing she can, she adopts her default setting of killing with kindness. “That’s right, we did. Felicia was nice enough to warn me about some of the guys at the bar.” She flashes a brilliant smile at the other woman who seems caught unawares by Melissa’s tactic.

 

“D, can you give me a hand here?” Josh’s voice comes booming out from the parking lot.

 

Hawk gives Melissa an apologetic look. “I’ll be right back.” He jogs over towards the door and Melissa has to actively force herself to stop staring after him.

 

When she turns back to Felicia, she’s giving her a knowing look that isn’t quite as combative as it had been before. “Wow, I love your nails! They’re amazing.” Melissa zeroes in on the intricate designs on Felicia’s fingertips. They’re like little works of art. “Where do you get them done? My friend Ali would love them!”

 

Felicia flushes with pleasure. “Thanks. Actually I do them myself. It’s sort of a hobby.” She shrugs as if it’s no big deal but Melissa can tell that it’s something she’s secretly proud of.

 

“You did those?” Melissa’s eyes widen and she doesn’t have to pretend. She really is impressed. “You’re seriously talented! What are you doing working in a bar? You’d make a killing with your own salon.”

 

Felicia smiles at her, but it’s tinged with sadness and Melissa wonders what it is that she’s said. “Thanks, that’s sweet of you. But you need money to open a salon, so in the meantime…” She trails off, shrugging and Melissa wonders if she’s got Felicia all wrong. Melissa gets the feeling that the tough exterior is just an act that she puts on, when really she’s as insecure as the rest of us.

 

Melissa nods in understanding. “Well, if you’re ever looking for clients, let me know. I know a lot of girls that would pay top dollar for nails like that!”

 

Felicia’s eyes widen, as if she’s shocked at Melissa’s offer and a warm smile cracks through.

 

“Sorry about that.” Hawk appears at Melissa’s side, his warm male scent playing havoc with her insides.

 

“No worries. Felicia and I were just getting to know each other.” Melissa smiles warmly at the blonde and feels a blast of triumph as Felicia returns it.

 

She may not have wanted to like Melissa but it was hard to be angry with someone who was such a sweetheart.

 

Hawk nods, fixing her with that stare of his that makes her feel as if she were standing in front of him naked. “I almost didn’t recognize you back there with Josh. You look so different from last night.”

 

Melissa is suddenly self-conscious of how she must look to him. She was wearing slim fitting jeans and a figure hugging blue sweater. She’d come straight from her karate class so her hair was tied up in a ponytail and her face was devoid of make-up and probably still flushed from the heat of the shower. Instantly she wishes she’d taken a little more time over her appearance.

 

“Don’t remind me. My housemate and I had a good talk about that outfit when I got home! I don’t think it’s going to see the light of day again, at least not with me in it.” She plants her hands in the back pockets of her jeans for the lack of anything else to do and rocks back on her heels slightly, feeling supremely unsexy. “So today I figured I’d come as myself!”

 

But Hawk’s expression tells her that he isn’t disappointed by what he sees. “That outfit was something else and you looked pretty great in it. But I think I prefer the real Melissa.” He shrugs, paying her the compliment without at hint of self-consciousness.

 

Felicia looks between the two of them and seems to see the connection. She shakes her head slightly, as if she knows something that they don’t. “I better go.” She picks up her bag from the floor and turns to Hawk. “Don’t do anything stupid.” Then she turns to Melissa. “You should come by the bar later. Saturday’s always a big night.”

 

“Sure, I’d like that.” Melissa tries to play it cool but she can’t help feeling triumphant at having won Felicia over.

 

“Felicia, you dancing today?” He frowns at her, like it’s something he’s not happy about.

 

“Afternoon shift, also known as the lousy tippers shift.” She laughs but there’s no humor in it.

 

Melissa doesn’t think about what she’s doing, she just reacts. She doesn’t even try to resist the urge to give the other woman a hug. It’s a tight squeeze that Felicia takes a few seconds to return before pulling away.

 

“What was that for?” Felicia tries to pretend that Melissa’s action hasn’t affected her.

 

Melissa just shrugs. “You looked like you needed it. And I give good hug.” She smiles kindly at Felicia and sees the emotion swirling in her eyes. Melissa wonders absently if she has any close friends outside of Hawk.

 

“Be careful, Felicia.” Hawk gives her a pointed look. He’s protective of her and that doesn’t inspire jealousy anymore. If anything, it gives Melissa the warm fuzzies and she’s not sure if that isn’t worse.

 

“Always.” Felicia walks off, waving behind her as she goes and Melissa gets the impression it’s not because she’s in a hurry, but because she doesn’t want them to see the emotion on her face.

 

Hawk gives her a look, as if he’s about to say something before he’s interrupted.

 

“D, I’m closing up early. Why don’t you go on and take that pretty girl out of this grease pit?” Josh’s voice startles Melissa and she wonders how long he’d been standing there watching the exchange between the three of them.

 

Melissa flushes at his words and Hawk scratches the back of his head, looking embarrassed. It’s the first time she’s seen that expression on his face and it’s adorable.

 

“I can stay if you need me to…” Hawk’s offer is at best half-hearted.

 

“Go on, you two, leave before I change my mind!” Josh waves them off and then disappears through another door.

 

Melissa laughs out loud at how blatant Josh is being about giving her and Hawk an opportunity to be alone. “Is he always this bossy?”

 

Hawk smiles at her, clearly grateful that she isn’t going to mention Josh’s outstanding lack of subtlety. “Well, he’s the boss so I guess it’s kind of his prerogative.” He shrugs and then assesses Melissa with that intense way of his, pulling her towards him with his eyes. “You want to get out of here?”

 

Melissa is nodding before she’s even fully aware of what she’s doing. It’s all for the story, she reminds herself, all in the line of duty.

 

Hawk smiles and then looks down at himself, takes in the grease-stained overalls that he’s only really half wearing and he gives her a dubious look. “Give me a sec to run up to my place and grab a shower?”

 

Melissa tries to stop herself from imagining Hawk in the shower, the water rippling over his hard muscles. She shakes her head in an effort to dispel the thoughts from her brain. She still has to clear her throat before she can speak. “You live around here?”

 

“Actually I live here. Well upstairs, at least.” He nods towards a set of stairs at the back of the shop leading to another floor. “I’ll be five minutes. Don’t go anywhere.” He gives her a look as if to check that she’s not about to run out the door and then takes the stairs two at a time disappearing out of sight.