CHAPTER SIX

Hawk

“FUCK!” I BELLOWED. It had been three weeks since I’d met Payton and I still hadn’t been able to find her. I slammed my hand against the steering wheel, grateful Lily wasn’t in the truck with me.

Payton had been right. I couldn’t find her. Well, I could if Booker would give me any information, but he refused to, so I was fucked. She was officially a ghost. I didn’t even have a last name. Booker wouldn’t provide that either.

“Fuck!” I snapped again.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have time to deal with the elusive Payton. I had three hours before I needed to relieve my sister from watching Lily, and I had a shit ton of work to do. I was currently in a Fred Meyer parking lot in Vancouver waiting to meet with my contact.

“Hawk, come in, over,” Tammy’s voice came over the radio.

“I’m here, over.”

“Kenny’s sitting outside Starbucks. He’s in a red hoodie, over.”

“Copy, over.”

I guided my truck to the spaces across from the coffee store and parked far enough away that I’d be somewhat obscured. As I climbed out of the cab and locked the doors, my eyes caught a glimpse of someone very familiar. My heart stuttered momentarily as I closed my eyes and opened them again to make sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. Payton was walking out the south door, one hand holding a grande coffee, the other her cell phone and purse. Her long, straight hair was pulled into a ponytail and she wore jeans, knee-high boots and a tight, cream turtleneck sweater that did incredible things for her tits.

I stepped closer to my truck and watched her as she climbed into her car and pulled out of her space. I grinned as I took down the license plate, along with the make and model of the car.

My little ghost had just materialized.

* * *

Payton

I pulled into my parents’ driveway and turned off my car. After hitting Starbucks, I’d met Macey at Jantzen Beach and shopped for my nephew’s birthday present. Billy was turning seven in a week and I had finally found him the video game he’d been begging for. I couldn’t help but grin… I was going to be firmly in the favorite aunt category.

Popping the trunk, I stepped out of the car, my eyes on my purse as I dropped my keys into it and slung it over my shoulder.

“Hey, babe.”

I squeaked, my phone dropping to the ground as I looked up to see Alex walking toward me. He wore jeans, motorcycle boots, his vest and signature thermal. Lordy, lordy, he was gorgeous.

“Wha—what are you doing here?”

He picked up my phone and handed it to me. “I told you I’d find you.”

“And, uh, how… how did you do that exactly?” Again with the squeaking. Holy crap, I needed to get it together.

“Babe.” Alex chuckled. “I did it and that’s all you need to know.”

“Okay,” I said, and crossed my arms. “So, you’ve found me. Congratulations, you deserve a major award. But now that you’ve ‘won,’ what’s the plan, handsome? Because I’m not really interested in a one-night stand, and you’re hell-bent on getting me out of your system, so you can see how this might be a conflict of interest, right?”

He smiled and I forced myself not to let out a sigh. “You and I are gonna get to know each other.”

“We are?”

Alex nodded.

“And if I don’t want to? Then what?”

He leaned against my car and raised an eyebrow. “You want to.”

I took a deep breath, stuffing both the feeling of arousal and irritation. “Alex—”

“I fuckin’ love it when you call me that.”

“Hawk,” I corrected.

“Don’t do that, baby.” Alex cupped my cheek. “Although, it’s almost as sexy.”

I stepped away from his touch. “Where’s Lily?”

“She’s with my sister.”

“You have a sister?”

He nodded. “And a mother.”

“You’re close?”

“With my sister, yeah.” He crossed his arms. “She’s stayin’ with me while she sorts shit out with her ex.”

“Where’s Lily’s mother?”

Something scary crossed his face. Rage was far too simple to describe his expression.

“Sorry,” I rushed to say. “It’s none of my business.”

“It’s part of getting to know me,” he said, although, he sounded irritated. “I don’t know where her mother is. Honestly, I hope she’s dead.”

“Harsh.”

“The whore is the biggest bitch on the planet, so, no, babe, it’s not harsh enough.”

I bit my lip. “Okay, right there is why I’m not sure this is a good idea.”

Alex ran his thumb across my lip, tugging it from my teeth. “Break it down for me.”

“You hate the woman who gave birth to your beautiful little girl. You don’t seem interested in giving her the credit of at least gifting you with something incredible. Instead, you wish her dead. This doesn’t bode well for someone like me who couldn’t be less suited for you than any other woman on the planet. If you can’t find even the tiniest bit of compassion for her, what happens to me when I do something you don’t like? Will you wish me dead?”

“I’m not having this conversation with you in your parents’ driveway.”

“I don’t think there’s any point in having this conversation, period. I think you and I are ill suited to be anything other than acquaintances, so I wish you well, Alex James, but I think it’s a good idea that we part ways.”