Читать книгу Shotgun Bride - Leann Harris - Страница 10

“As they approached Renee’s apartment, the door to the unit below hers opened. Hawk tensed and reached for his gun which he had started carrying again, then stopped when he saw the elderly woman emerge and walk toward them.

“Matthew Hawkins, what a pleasure to see you.” Cora Atkins was the grandam of the complex and had lived in Houston since the early forties. Her tales of the city before air-conditioning kept all the recent immigrants to the area in awe, especially in the summer when the temperature often went over one hundred degrees for days at a stretch.

“Why, just last Sunday I asked Renee about you.” Cora looked at the hanging garment bag slung over Hawk’s shoulder, then at Renee. “Do you want to tell me something?” she asked, anticipation coloring her face.

Hawk leaned over and brushed a kiss across her wrinkled cheek. “You’ll be seeing a lot more of me, Miss Atkins.”

Cora glanced at Renee, then whispered, “Are you marrying this fine young man?”

Renee arched her eyebrow and nodded to Hawk. “I am, but you need to keep it a secret until after Saturday night. We plan to surprise people.”

A twinkle entered Cora’s eyes. “I won’t tell anyone.” She rubbed her hands together.

“Also, Miss Atkins,” Hawk added, “there might be some people sneaking around here, looking for Renee. Reporters, you know. If you see anyone, you be sure and tell us. Or call HPD.”

“I’ll do it.” Cora leaned toward Renee and patted her on the arm. “Didn’t I tell you, my dear, that he’d be back?” Cora turned to Hawk. “She looked so troubled and lost when you weren’t here. But I assured her that any man who looked at a woman the way you looked at her—” her eyebrows wagged “—would be back. All she had to do was wait.”

Hawk didn’t know who was more shocked at the speech Cora delivered, Renee or him.

Cora nodded. “I’ll get out of your way so you can finish moving into the apartment. Congratulations,” she whispered as she walked past them toward the mailboxes.

Cora’s words were as effective as a shock grenade thrown between them. After a moment of silence Renee started toward her apartment. He followed.

She had her key in the lock when he reached out and stopped her. Her gaze flew to him.

“Let me go in first.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because I’m being overly cautious. Humor me.” He stood with his hand out, waiting for her to give him the key.

Her embarrassment turned to worry. She bit her bottom lip and nodded. Hawk handed her his garment bag, then unsnapped the gun holster at his waist. He wasn’t going to be caught unaware again. Opening the door, he scanned the room. It only took a few minutes to check the apartment. Joining Renee at the door, he took his garment bag from her.

“Is it going to be like this every day?” Renee asked as she walked into the dining area and placed her purse on the table.

“I’d rather be too cautious than give someone another opportunity to hurt you,” he informed her. “And until we know something different, I’m going to assume the worst, that you’re in danger.”

Color drained from her face.

He cursed under his breath for stating the situation so starkly, but it needed to be done. She needed to be aware of the danger to her and the baby. He could deal with her feelings later.

Scanning the room, Hawk remembered in exquisite detail the time they made love on the couch, then the floor. He held up his garment bag. “I’ll hang this.” He walked into her bedroom, where the only closet in the apartment was located.

Ignoring the bed and the memories of the last time he’d been in this room, he hung his suit bag in the closet. His eyes were drawn to the neatly made bed. The stuffed gorilla he’d given her after a trip to Astroworld sat in the center of the bed. He remembered how touched she was by the simple gift and the way she showed him her appreciation.

Visions of their lovemaking swamped him. The memories of what they’d shared in that bed were both bittersweet and tantalizing. When his gaze left the bed, it collided with Renee’s. Her eyes were dark with memories.

The charged silence made his blood pound through his head.

She looked so troubled and lost when you weren’t here. Cora’s words rang through his head and he shoved away the hope.

But I assured her that any man who looked at a woman the way you looked at her would be back. All she had to do was wait.

Those words had nailed Hawk hard. Surely the old woman was wrong. His heart wasn’t involved. But how could Cora be right on the mark with Renee’s reaction and not his? He didn’t like the directions of his thoughts.

“You hungry?” Renee asked.

Hawk grasped for the lifeline. “I am, but why don’t we go out? You look as though you could use a nice dinner.” The memories of this place pressed in on him. The smell of the honeysuckle under Renee’s window after they made love, the feel of her hands on his body, the taste and smoothness of her skin.

She nodded. “There’s that little Mexican food place, La Loma, off the loop, that serves wonderful spinach enchiladas.”

He remembered the place. Their first date had been there. “Let’s go.”

As he locked the apartment door, he was grateful for the reprieve.

Hawk’s arm rested over his eyes as he lay on Renee’s couch and tried to think of the legal case he was working on for the Houston PD. Maybe if he concentrated on something tedious, he could go to sleep. The couch wasn’t made for his six-foot, four-inch frame. As a matter of fact, her apartment was too small to allow them any personal space. They’d been in each other’s way all night.

The world had taken on a surreal quality this last week. Renee was Emory’s daughter. She was pregnant with his child, and they were to marry.

At first Hawk had thought Emory was teasing him about Renee. He always suspected Emory had wanted something to develop between Renee and him. When Emory assured Hawk he wasn’t joking and explained why he wanted Hawk to marry her, things began to spin out of control.

He still didn’t want to deal with the passion Renee generated inside him. His mother, then his ex-wife, taught him not to give in to his feelings. Emotions only generated problems.

But there was another problem that had cropped up since Renee had agreed to marry him. When they had originally made their agreement to marry, he hadn’t known about her pregnancy. He had hoped that maybe after the danger to her life passed, they might go their separate ways. Now, with a child between them, he couldn’t walk away. So if he was going to stay, what about the sexual relationship between them? He didn’t intend to become a monk. With the level of attraction that existed between them, there wasn’t a chance in hell that they’d keep their hands off each other.

The sound of footsteps going to the kitchen pierced his concentration. Obviously Renee couldn’t sleep, either.

He sat up, slipped on his jeans and joined her. Renee held a glass of iced tea in one hand and a homemade chocolate-chip cookie in the other. She looked rumpled and tempting, wrapped in an old robe, her hair hanging loose around her shoulders, and barefoot. Something he didn’t need.

“I couldn’t sleep,” she explained unnecessarily.

Hawk couldn’t, either. “Looks good.” He nodded to the cookie. “Got another one?”

She pushed the tin toward him. “Help yourself.”

After he took a healthy bite, he said, “Nervous about the wedding on Saturday?”

“I feel like a deer the first day of hunting season, in the crosshairs of someone’s rifle.”

He took another bite of the cookie. “Who baked these?”

“I did.”

His brow arched. “I didn’t know you could bake like this.”

“There’s a lot about me you don’t know.”

From the first time he met her, Hawk had tried very hard not to want to know anything personal about her, because he was afraid of where it would lead.

He’d managed to keep his distance from her for a couple of years. But last St. Patrick’s Day, he asked her to accompany him to the Green Gala the police department put on at one of the downtown hotels. That night he gave in to temptation and kissed her. It was the beginning of their fiery relationship. Once they had gotten involved, the fire that had consumed him didn’t give him a chance to think about mundane things like whether or not Renee could cook. He remembered the picnic they had together and the coconut cake she brought. He’d licked icing off her lovely—

Don’t go there.

He’d never wondered if she had baked the cake herself. Now what were they talking about? The wedding in a couple of days. “What about the wedding is making you nervous?” he asked as he picked up another cookie.

A bitter laugh escaped her mouth. “Everything. The family’s reaction, people at work…their reaction, the social elite in this city. I didn’t think it would be a problem, but after what happened the other night—” She swallowed the rest of her comment and touched the bandage on her head. She turned away from him and her shoulders slumped.

He heard her try to choke back tears. Unable to stop himself, he placed his hand on her back.

“It’s going to be okay, Renee.”

She glanced over her shoulder. “I wish I could be as sure as you are.”

Unable to help himself, he brushed off the tear that ran down her cheek. Her skin was so smooth. “That’s why Emory wanted us to marry. He trusts me to care for you.”

She turned around and leaned back against the counter. “So your distaste for marriage only happens when the woman wants a commitment? It’s okay as long as it’s a favor to Emory?”

He deserved that shot.

“Why did you agree to do this?” Renee pressed.

“I’ve already answered that.”

“I guess I need to hear it again.” Questions filled her eyes. “I mean, it seems a rather big sacrifice to marry a woman you don’t love and had refused to do so earlier.”

The lady was asking questions of him that he’d wrestled with. Why was he doing this? “Aside from the baby, I owe Emory.” That was the argument he’d used with himself. He didn’t want to examine his motives too closely.

“Why do you owe him?”

He didn’t want to give her this part of him.

“Look at it this way, Hawk. I’m going to marry a man who wanted nothing to do with me until my new-found father asked him to do so. Now, I think I deserve to be told why you’re doing this thing for him, when marriage was so repellent to you before. Tell me, why can I count on you?”

If she’d ranted and raved or cried or demanded, he could’ve ignored her. Instead, she asked a reasonable question. One he couldn’t ignore.

“Did you know my dad worked for Emory?”

“No.”

“Dad was the groundskeeper.” Hawk took a deep breath. “I went to school alongside all the wealthy and privileged of Houston. When the kids started bragging about what their fathers did, I couldn’t say anything.” He glanced at her to see her reaction. So far she only had a questioning look.

“My attitude was rotten. My dad was an honest man, but when you’re eleven and can only say, You should see my dad’s azaleas, well—I wasn’t very proud of who he was. When my mother died of a heart attack, that was the beginning of the end between my dad and me. And I started acting up. To make a long story short, when I was fifteen, I stole a car and went joyriding. When I was caught, Emory got my sorry rear out of trouble. Instead of being sent to reform school, I was assigned to work for Emory. He worked my fingers to the bone and helped me get my head on straight.”

He glanced at Renee to see her reaction to his tale. There wasn’t any revulsion in her face, only concern.

“After my dad died, Emory encouraged me to go to college. I joined the police force and saw things that needed to be addressed, then thought about law school. Emory encouraged me to go. Lent me the money to cover the cost. In all the time I’ve known him, he’s never asked for anything in return for his help until—”

“Now.”

“That’s right.”

“I’m sorry that it had to be so great a price.” She bit her bottom lip and closed the lid on the cookie tin.

Her words cut through him. He should tell her—what? He didn’t know how he felt about this marriage, the baby, their relationship. All he knew is that he had to protect her.

“I was glad to do this for Emory. After his son was kidnapped and killed he was never the same.” He paused, consumed by the memories of that dark time. Emory’s wife never recovered, and died within a year in the fire that also killed Emory’s brother and sister-in-law. “When you came to work for Emory, I noticed a difference in him.”

“Did he tell you about me?”

“No. I didn’t know you were his daughter until he dropped that bombshell last week. But I know you’ve made a difference for the old man. And that’s why I did what he asked.”

There was another reason, but he didn’t even want to admit that fact to himself, let alone her.

“Besides, I want to be part of my child’s life.”

She looked down at her abdomen. “I’m glad you want to be involved with this baby.”

He also wanted to reach out and draw her into his arms, but he knew she wouldn’t accept his actions. There was a chasm dividing them. At this point he didn’t see a way to bridge that divide.

“Good night, Hawk,” she whispered.

He remembered her saying that before, sweet and low in his ear. He shook off the memories. As she walked by him, he longed to gather her into his arms, feel the smoothness of her skin, the— He quashed the impulse. Desire wasn’t a good thing to have if he was going to make it through this marriage with his skin intact.

Renee stared at her closed bedroom door and remembered the first time she’d seen Hawk at the office. When she’d asked who he was, Jackie had told her that Hawk was like Emory’s adopted son. But she’d added that Hawk had a reputation of being a bad boy who broke hearts. Renee hadn’t asked about him again.

She’d been so shocked when Hawk had asked her to the Green Gala the Houston police put on that she’d felt like a girl on her first date, silly and nervous.

She’d fallen immediately in love with the handsome man. He was every woman’s fantasy, tall, strong with sparkling brown eyes and a wicked sense of humor. The time between St. Patrick’s Day and the Fourth of July was like a fairy tale. Lunches grabbed at little out-of-the-way restaurants, walks in the park, the wonderful trip to Astroworld where he bought her the stuffed gorilla she kept on her bed.

It had been too good to be true. She hadn’t questioned his closemouthed attitude about his past. What possible skeletons could a cop have? An ugly divorce for starters.

But now it was her past that had thrust them into this situation.

Well, she wouldn’t interfere with Hawk seeing his child, but she didn’t have to risk her heart again. He’d trampled over it once, and she wasn’t eager for it to happen again.

As she turned over, she was determined to protect herself.

She just hoped her body would cooperate.

Renee sat at the table and buttered her toast. Oddly enough, her middle-of-the-night snack had helped with her morning sickness today.

She heard the shower shut off. Hawk was in her bathroom—naked. She closed her eyes, wanting to shut out the thought of him. It didn’t work.

Opening her eyes, she tried to concentrate on the newspaper. The front page reported that a body had been found floating in Buffalo Bayou. That’s probably something that Hawk should know about.

“Mornin’,” he called out.

When she glanced up, he stood at the entrance to her kitchen, tucking his shirt in.

“I left you some scrambled eggs.” She nodded toward the stove.

He didn’t need to be told where things were kept in the kitchen. He knew. After dishing out the eggs, he joined her at the table.

“Sorry there’s no coffee—”

Holding up his hand, he said, “That’s okay. I’ll get a cup at work.”

“Hawk, I can drive myself to the office.”

He put down his fork and looked at the gauze at her temple. “Humor me, Renee, for a while. Until we get a feel for what’s going on here, let’s err on the side of safety. Yours and the baby’s.”

“What’s everyone going to say at work if you follow me around?”

“It will give credence to our marriage on Saturday if people see us together this week.”

His point was reinforced forty minutes later when he escorted her into her office. They passed Stacy in the hall.

“Hawk, what are you doing here at this time of the morning?” Stacy asked. Her eyes went from Hawk to Renee.

“I brought Renee to work.”

“Why, was her car not working? I could’ve picked her up on the way in.”

Hawk slipped his arm around Renee’s waist. “It wasn’t any trouble, was it, Renee?” The intimate look he gave her shouted that he’d spent the night.

Renee’s cheeks reddened. “No.”

Stacy’s eyes narrowed.

“Are we having a party and I don’t know about it?” Todd asked, stopping beside Stacy.

“Why not ask Hawk?” Stacy grumbled. With a final glare, she turned and stormed back into her office.

Renee closed her eyes. It was not a good beginning to her business day.

Hawk finished writing his recommendations about how to proceed with a case that had come back to the department. Closing the file folder, he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“You look like hell, Hawk,” Ash commented as he strolled into Hawk’s office. Ash slumped down into the chair across the desk and tossed a video tape toward him.

Hawk’s brow shot up. “Since when are you worried about how I look?”

“Since you told me you’re going to get married. You okay?”

Leaning back in his chair, Hawk ran his hands through his hair. “Damn, I wish I knew. After my divorce, I swore I’d never make that mistake again.”

“Have you thought about hiring a bodyguard?”

“Yeah, but Emory wouldn’t buy that. He was worried that whoever kidnapped David would try again with Renee. He’s set it up—if anything happens to her, I’d inherit.”

Ash shook his head. “So how’s Renee taking it?”

“She agreed, after the shooting.”

“It took a shooting to convince her to tie the knot?”

“Yeah. She wasn’t too thrilled with the idea at first.”

“She turned you down? The stud of HPD? She had the nerve to say no?”

Hawk glared at Ash. “You know how women are. She wanted romance.”

“Females are like that. In those psych classes they made us take, we heard about women wanting home and hearth—a nesting instinct.”

Hawk threw his pen on the desk. “It’s like walking on cut glass. No matter how carefully you step, you’re going to get sliced to ribbons.”

“So her pregnancy was a surprise to you?” Ash asked.

“It was, but it shouldn’t have been. Of course, I think the baby was the only reason Renee agreed to marry me.”

Ash snorted. “Don’t believe that. I saw you two together, remember. Also, I recall, she was as smitten with you as you were with her. We could’ve powered the northern suburbs on all the electricity y’all were generating.”

Hawk could’ve done without the reminder. The wattage hadn’t gone down since they’d separated. It had only gone up. Being close to Renee only added to his misery. “After the danger to Renee is over, I’m not going to be able to walk away from her and the baby.”

“And the problem is?”

“She agreed to the marriage as long as it was in name only.”

Ash’s eyes were wide, and he sat up straight in the chair. “No sex?”

He didn’t want to admit it. “Yeah.”

“Hawk, you’re smarter than that. Why are you surrendering? If you want the lady, work it out. Listen, as clever as you are, put your brain in gear.”

Hawk took a deep breath. Ash was right. He needed to find a way out of this maze. “What’s the video?” he asked, nodding to the tape on his desk.

“That’s the surveillance tape from the garage in Emory’s building.”

“Anything on it?” Hawk asked.

“Yeah. A man. It’s a side shot, but I thought you’d like to see it.”

Hawk took the tape and shoved it into the VCR setup that was built into the bookcases in his office. In the low lighting, he could see movement in the bushes. A dark shape appeared out of the darkness—a man aiming his gun. He pulled the trigger twice, turned and disappeared into the foliage.

Hawk stopped the tape and rewound it until the man’s profile appeared again. He froze the motion. “So that’s our shooter. Looks to me as if he was waiting for Renee.”

“I agree. I’ve got stills of this, plan to pass it out to the patrol officers to be on the lookout for this guy. I’ll get you a copy to post at Texas Chic.”

“Why don’t we get that copy now? I want to take it with me so Renee can see this jerk. She needs to be aware of him.”

“Let’s go.”

He took a deep breath. “We need to find who’s behind this, because whoever did this will try again. And I’m not going to let it happen.”

Renee pulled the purchase order from the file and glanced over the figures.

“Well, well, who would’ve guessed that Little Red Riding Hood was sleeping with the Big Bad Wolf?” Stacy’s voice rang out, silencing the other people in the file room. “He’s likely to eat you for breakfast.”

Closing the file, Renee turned to face Stacy, who stood at the entrance. The secretaries beyond the door silently watched. “Is there a point to your comment?” Renee asked.