Craving Hawk (The Aces' Sons 3)

“Not much to show,” I said with a grin, glancing around the bottom floor. Most of the walls were gone, and the few left up were half covered in peeling wallpaper.

“Whoa,” she replied, slowly walking further into the house. “It’s a lot bigger than it looks from the outside.”

“That’s ’cause all the walls are gone,” I replied dryly, kicking some wood out of the way.

I grabbed her hand before she could walk into the kitchen and tugged her up the stairs to the second floor. The stairs were one of the first things I’d fixed when I’d gotten the place. I was always working by myself, and I really hadn’t wanted to fall through the fucking stairs and get stuck there.

“So there were four bedrooms,” I explained when we reached the second floor. “And one bathroom. But I tore out most of the walls—”

“I see that,” she mumbled, looking around.

“And I was thinkin’ that I’d make one big master with a connected bathroom, and then I’d frame in the other two bedrooms with a Jack-and-Jill bathroom between ’em.”

“A Jack-and-Jill bathroom, huh?” she teased, moving across the floor.

“Just makes sense with the way the house is laid out,” I replied, shrugging.

“What have you done since you got it?” she asked, looking out one of the few windows still intact.

“Fixed the stairs and the floor up here,” I answered, stepping up behind her. “And tore down a bunch of shit.”

“Are you going to sell it when you’re done?” She leaned back against me.

“Don’t know,” I replied simply. “Figure it’ll depend on where I’m at. If I’ve got a family. This is a pretty solid neighborhood. Big yard and shit.”

“Well, I like it,” she announced, spinning to face me. “I wanna help.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Definitely. I’ll help paint, and put in tile and all that stuff.”

“So in about two years when I’m almost finished—that’s when you want to help?” I laughed.

“That sounds about right,” she said, nodding.

I smiled and kissed her. I couldn’t help it. She was grinning happily, the stress from earlier completely gone, and she was so fucking pretty.

“Your mom was like a general today,” she said as she pulled away.

Okay, the stress wasn’t completely gone.

“She had a list of things for us to do.”

“Yeah?” I asked, pulling away. “Did you get it all done?”

“Of course.”

“You get a dress?”

“Do you think she would have let me leave if I hadn’t?” she asked in frustration.

“You’re gettin’ worked up over nothin’,” I told her, gesturing for her to head back downstairs. “We couldn’t just sneak off and get married. You think my dad’s pissed now? That shit woulda sent him over the edge.”

“Maybe they’re right,” she mumbled, running her hand along the wall to keep herself steady on the stairs. I needed to get a railing in.

“Heather,” I called as she walked toward the front door. My jaw was tight as she spun to face me, but I kept my voice calm. “You’re either in this or you’re not. I’m not forcin’ ya to do anything. But I’m gettin’ real sick of tryin’ to fuckin’ convince ya. I know you’re savin’ my ass, alright? If you wanna bail, you need to tell me now.”

I knew I was asking a lot. Fuck, if not for me, she wouldn’t be dealing with any of this bullshit. The police could ask her questions, she could answer them however she wanted, and it would be over for her. It was that simple.

Heather didn’t owe me a goddamn thing.

“I’m in,” she said softly, still standing by the front door. “I told you I was, and I am.”

“I know my parents are makin’ shit hard,” I said, moving toward her. “But I’m a grown ass man. I own a house—a shitty house—but it’s still a house. I work full time. Bought my car and bike myself. I love ’em, but they don’t make decisions for me.”

“We’re a team, right?” she asked, tipping her head back as I got close. “Me and you.”

“Me and you,” I confirmed. “We’re seein’ how it goes just like we’d be doing anyway, considerin’ how shit-hot the sex is.” She giggled and I smiled. “We’ll just have a piece a’paper that says no cops, or Aces for that matter, can come between us.”

“Okay.” She straightened her shoulders and nodded firmly. “We’re doing this.”

“I think we’ve got more goin’ for us than most,” I said quietly, reaching out to push her hair away from her face. “We know what this is. We’re not goin’ into it with stars in our eyes, expectin’ everythin’ to be perfect. It’s protection, baby. Plain and simple. And men and women have been marryin’ for that reason for thousands of years.”

“You’re right,” she said, reaching out to squeeze my waist in a hug. “We know what this is.”

We stood silent for a few minutes in the doorway of my house. Shit was gonna get complicated. I could feel it in my gut. We might have been getting married the next day, but that sure as fuck wasn’t going to solve any problems.