Chapter Twelve

Kathryn

Kathryn lowered her sunglasses, looking over the body of the male model in her magazine. There were parts of the man that reminded her of Hawk. Or did they? She wasn’t sure. It was difficult for her to get Hawk off her mind. She had woken up about mid-morning, proud of herself for not having drunk enough to have a hangover. Her head was fuzzy, but she wasn’t nauseous. There had been times back in the day when she had partied with Hawk and woken up hungover like a high schooler who had gotten into her father’s liquor.

She had to admit, when she rolled over and found herself to alone in the bed she had been rather upset. She hadn’t known what she expected—Hawk never had been the cuddling type, and if she had to be honest with herself, neither had she in the mornings. She liked to lie for a few minutes with the person she had just had sex with, but they had passed out together that same night, so she had already done that.

Kathryn tried not to take it personally; she knew that there was nothing left between her and Hawk besides the same attraction they had always had. Of course, Hawk hadn’t stayed that morning— there’d been no reason for him to do so. He’d likely thought of the evening as a one-night stand. And that was what she’d said she wanted.

But then, what did she call what they had? They weren’t dating, and she knew Hawk was not the kind of man to want to start up again with someone whom he had had a fling with before. In fact, it was a miracle that he had had sex with her in the first place. He had often said that he would never go back and have sex with someone after they had broken up—the last thing he wanted was for them to get attached to him

She tried to tell herself that she wasn’t attached to him, either. After all, she had come to Vegas to have fun—and sex—with anyone who wanted it. Yes, it would be a real bonus if Hawk was that person, but if he wasn’t, she would have been just as happy to have sex with that man she had found at the pool.

Or would she have been?

Kathryn wanted to believe that was how she felt about it. She hated to think that she might be attracted to Hawk again. At least, attracted to his personality. He had taken very good care of himself since they had broken up, and she could imagine that had they stayed together, she would have had no problem being faithful to him.

But with him being gone, Kathryn now had to figure out what she was going to do with her day. She hadn’t thought that she would spend the day him, but she hadn’t exactly thought that she was going to be alone, either. Not wanting to spend a lot of money, she decided to go back down to the pool.

It was nearly noon by the time she got down there, and she had to admit she was glad that the man she had been flirting with the day before wasn’t present. The last thing she wanted was to have to explain what had happened between her and Hawk, or worse, her and him. Kathryn hoped that it would be obvious that she had only been wanting him for her own selfish desires, and that he would feel the same way about her.

“’Scuse me, miss, but I couldn’t help but notice there isn’t a ring on your finger. Can I interest you in a drink by chance?” a man asked as he rose out of the pool. He walked over to her, a towel wrapped around his swimsuit but pulling it down enough that she could see the V cut he had. She looked over his body, taking her time to get up to his eyes. He gave her a sultry grin, and she took off her sunglasses, putting one of the arms to her lips.

“I don’t think so, but thank you,” she replied. He looked at her with surprise in his eyes. Looking down, it was clear he was feeling as though there had to be something wrong with her—and that must be why she would turn such an attractive individual down. She looked at him once more, then went back to looking through her magazine. It was clear she was done with him, and she wasn’t going to acknowledge him again.

After a moment of standing awkwardly in front of her, he scoffed and walked away, leaving her to her magazine. She was glad that she was left in peace, but it was short-lived. Lying in her bikini in the sun that poured in through the window, it was just a matter of time before another man came over and hit on her, then another. When all the men in the room saw that she would rather be left alone, it was only those who came into the pool room after the fact that started hitting on her.

Though Kathryn did enjoy the admiration she was receiving from the men, she didn’t allow any of them to get far with her. She didn’t need to. She was feeling a lot better after having spent the night having sex to her heart’s content, and she was feeling rather tired afterward. Tired, but happy.

Kathryn couldn’t remember the last time she’d felt so happy and relaxed. Of course, none of her problems had left her, but now she felt that she was going to be able to handle them. She didn’t want to spend too much money right now, as she knew she was going to have a lot of bills to pay when she got home, but at the same time, she wasn’t going to let it get her down.

So far, she felt she had accomplished what she had come to Las Vegas for, and she was going to enjoy the rest of her time here feeling pleased with herself.

Suddenly, the door opened, Hawk walked in, and her heart skipped a beat. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him, but she could see that he was irritated about something. He walked right up to her, and she put her magazine down, looking up at him from under her sunglasses.

“What’s up with you?” she asked archly. “I’m not here picking up guys. Trust me, I’m more than satisfied.”

Hawk looked at her for a moment, and it was clear that he didn’t fully believe her. Finally, he looked up at the ceiling and sighed, then looked back down at her and gave a light nod toward the door. “Get dressed. I’m going to take you out to take a private tour of the city. You’ve never seen half the things this place has to offer, and you aren’t going to spend your vacation here looking at a magazine full of naked men at the side of a hotel pool.”

Kathryn looked up at him with wide eyes, and she couldn’t help but hesitate. She wanted to go with him, but at the same time, she wondered what his real intentions were. She had had fun with him the past couple of days, the one night out on the town, the other night between the sheets. But, with the way he was wanting to take her out yet again, she couldn’t help but wonder what he was doing.

“Well, if you want to wait for me, I would love to join you—but may I ask why?” she asked.

“Because you wanted to get some things out of your system, and I have found myself to be free yet again. Do you want to get out of here or do you want to just stand here and talk about it forever?” he asked impatiently. She laughed and rose from her chair, aware that all eyes on the room were on her.

“I’ll be right back,” she said.

Less than an hour later, she found herself with him in the back of a taxi. She was surprised to see that he had taken the time to get ready to take her out when she had been getting dressed in her room. She’d thought that he was just hanging out in room, but the next time she saw him, she was amazed at the transformation that had taken place.

Hawk was no longer in his suit and tie—he was wearing his jeans and jacket. The casual look suited him so well that it made it difficult for her to think clearly. But, as the cab driver pulled away from the curb, she couldn’t get a question off her mind about why his day was suddenly free.

“What is with all the people who keep bailing on you? I thought Parker Industries was a little more respected than that,” she said. He sighed and shook his head, clearly annoyed with the situation himself.

“There’s a lot going on, actually. I don’t really have the time to go into all the details, or rather, I really don’t know what all the details are. But trust me, I am going to get to the bottom of this,” he said after briefly mentioning what happened with the hotel. She shook her head.

“Sounds really sleazy if you ask me. But I bet you enjoy being down here. It’s got to be nice getting to work away from the watchful eye of your brothers,” she said. Hawk nodded, but obviously wanted to change the subject. Though it was no secret to anyone that he and his brothers certainly didn’t get along, Kathryn could see that he didn’t want to discuss them with her.

“I wanted to work with Daddy,” she said, and he looked at her in surprise.

“Mr. Wellington?” he asked. “You two hate each other though. And didn’t you always want to be a model?”. He used to tease her that a model was– someone who was paid to do what she did best, lying on a chair with her tits out. In truth Kathryn form, she’d been furious at him first, before admitting that that was pretty much the truth. Then they’d made up just as furiously.

“It’s love/hate, even though it’s more on the hate side, yes. Daddy is so old fashioned. He thinks that the only one who can properly run a business is a man. I’m too this or not enough that, and he always blows off all my ideas. Admittedly, I haven’t done much to prove myself to him, but he also has made it just about as difficult as possible. So now he wastes his time with trying to set me up with all these rich guys.” She sighed, and Hawk laughed.

“So, like, some random dude he finds on the street is going to be better for you because he has money?” he scoffed. She shook her head.

“Sure, or maybe he just wants me to spread my legs and pop out some brat who can take over the business when he is old enough to take over.” She rolled her eyes as she spoke, and she was surprised when Hawk put his hand on her leg.

“I don’t mean to jump the gun, but I would hate for you to be reduced to just being breeding stock for his company.” He gave her a look, and though he was being serious, she burst into laughter.

“Could you make me sound any more like a cow if you tried?” she asked when she had finally gotten control over herself. He smiled at her and shook his head.

“You’re one of the gorgeous women in the world, Kathryn, but you are more than. And you deserve far more than that,” he said.

Kathryn blinked in surprise. Men always had ulterior motives. But, as Hawk turned his attention back out the window and pointed out more things to her that she never would have noticed had she been on her own, she couldn’t help but feel confused all over again. This wasn’t the Hawk she had known when she was in college. There was something about the Hawk that was kind—even caring.

This Hawk was almost a gentleman of sorts.

She quickly told herself to stop thinking such things. She and Hawk had a history, and it hadn’t worked out. Of course, it wasn’t going to work out again. They had been there, done that, and that would be enough for both of them.

Hawk was Hawk, and not even she could change that.