Guardian Angel (Angel's Halo MC 3)

I started to open my mouth, to tell her that she didn’t have to worry about that. I would pay for her school. I would give her anything and everything she needed. It was my right; my duty—my fucking privilege—to take care of what was mine. She shook her head adamantly. “No,” she bit out. “No. I’m not taking your money. I don’t take handouts, even if that might be what I’ve led you to believe by staying at your house without paying my way. Which stops now, by the way. I’ll be paying you or Raven, or whoever will take my money, for rent and groceries.”

“The hell you will,” I growled and scrubbed my hands over my face again before raking my fingers through my hair. Shit. She was slipping away; all because I hadn’t taken a shower last night and hadn’t washed off that fucking gash’s lipstick. It had been innocent enough, but Gracie didn’t know that.

Fuck! I mentally screamed the word over and over in my head before dropping my hands. “Sweetheart, please. You don’t have to work. I don’t want you to work. I want to take care of you.” Her eyes turned stormy and I gritted my teeth, quickly trying to think of something, anything, to get her to leave and come home with me. “It’s not safe here, Graci

e. Kevin Samson could come in here and do anything and I won’t be here to protect you.” My gut twisted at that thought even as rage ripped through me like a rusty blade.

I saw a quick flash of fear in her brown eyes before she clenched her jaw and took a step back. “I’m not worried about him. He hasn’t even attempted to approach me since the night he...” She broke off and inhaled deeply, causing her cute little nose to flare, before speaking again. “Samson won’t bother me, so stop worrying. Now, unless you want something to eat, you should leave. I have work to do. We can talk at home.”

She stepped around me and hurried toward the kitchen. I clenched my hands at my sides. “Fuck,” I growled and turned around. I’d give her today, let her come home with her feet aching and her back hurting, and then she would be more agreeable. I could talk sense into her stubborn head and then, once I’d convinced her to quit, I’d tell her how I felt.

A chuckle stopped me before I’d taken more than a few steps toward the door. Turning, I glared over at Uncle Jack. In the two weeks since I’d found out that the man I loved and respected was the grandfather of the girl I considered mine, I’d steered clear of him. I was pissed that he’d just left Shannon and Gracie with Gracie’s father, never getting in contact with either of them, and basically letting her dad murder her mother.

The rational part of me, a part of myself that I’d really just discovered since meeting Gracie, knew that it wasn’t exactly fair. If Shannon was even half as stubborn as Uncle Jack she’d probably kept her mouth shut and not told her father that her husband was beating her. I knew that the man who had been my father’s best friend would have been across the country within a day with the rest of the club. He wouldn’t have left her there, would have probably killed that bastard who was beating his daughter if she’d just said something.

The emotional part of me, the one I was just getting used to since Gracie had come into my life, didn’t care. I was on her side and if she wanted to hate her grandfather then I would hate him along with her.

“What?” I grumbled, stopping beside his booth.

“The girl you described to me the first time you told me about her was supposedly a meek little thing. That girl—my grandbaby—she’s anything but meek.” Jack picked up his tea and took a long swallow. Eyes identical to his granddaughter’s shone up at me with amusement. “She’s feisty on top of all that sweetness. I might not have had a hand in raising her, but she sure does act a hell of a lot like me.”

“If you mean that she’s stubborn and hardheaded, then yeah. She’s just like you.”

Uncle Jack tossed his head back and roared with laughter. “Damn straight, boy. Now sit down. You can watch over my grandbaby and eat at the same time.”

Chapter 3

Gracie

By the time I’d returned with the construction crew guys’ drinks I had been expecting Hawk to be gone. Instead, he was sitting in the same booth that I was trying my hardest to avoid. I’d made Jack sit for over ten minutes before I’d even gone to take his drink order in hopes that he would get tired of waiting and go sit in someone else’s section.

He hadn’t. Nope. He’d just sat there, smiling at me amusedly while I’d passed his booth over and over again, taking anyone’s lunch order but his. Finally I’d just felt sorry for him and gotten him something to drink. Now that Hawk was sitting with him I had no choice but to approach the old biker again.

Damn me for wanting to feed my friend.

I placed the drinks on the table for the large booth with the five construction workers and started handing them out with a smile. They had been nothing but nice so far and had only tried to flirt a little. “I’ve got Little John working on your food, guys. Anything else you need for now?”

The one on the outside to my left reached over and tapped his index finger against my arm a few times before stroking it up and down. I didn’t jerk back right away simply because he didn’t intimidate me. “How about your number, sweet Gracie?” he asked, his smile almost gentle. “We could do a movie or something.”

It wasn’t the first time that day that someone had asked for my number. I’d already had two other guys ask not only for it but also to take me out. The last one hadn’t been nearly as sweet as this guy seemed to be. More of a “Hey, babe. Wanna come over and suck my dick tonight?” kind of request. It had been quickly followed by me dumping his Pepsi in his lap and walking away, much to the laughter of his friends and a few of the other waitresses.

This guy, with his kind brown eyes and shy smile almost made me want to slip him my number and chance going on an actual date with him. The only thing stopping me was that I didn’t want to give him the wrong idea. I didn’t want anything more than friendship from this guy. Unfortunately my heart was already tied up in knots with a particular bad boy biker with olive-jade green eyes.

“You want to keep that finger, I suggest you take it off my girl,” a voice full of cold menace said from right behind me.

I nearly jumped when I felt a hand touch my back, but just a second after the first contact I knew exactly who it was. The owner had just threatened the poor guy that had attempted to ask me out. I turned my head to look into Hawk’s blazing eyes. His words still didn’t really make sense to me so I stared at him with what had to be a confused expression on my face.

Hawk’s expression was nothing close to confused, however. It was dark, just as menacing as his voice had been when he turned those green eyes on the construction worker that still had his finger on my arm. “You think I’m kidding?” he asked, his voice full of ice. “I’ll break every bone in your hand before cutting that fucking finger off if you don’t take it off her.”

I couldn’t help my gasp at his threat. “Hawk,” I moved my arm away so that the guy didn’t have to worry about dropping his hand. He looked so scared that he was almost frozen in place. “What are you doing?” I demanded, trying to keep my voice low and quiet so as not to cause an even bigger scene than what he’d already done.

I didn’t glance around to see who was watching us because I could feel everyone’s eyes glued to my head. The restaurant was eerily quiet, as if everyone was holding their breaths while waiting to see if the big bad biker really would do as he’d just threatened.

The hand that Hawk had placed on my waist moved until he was holding me. He pulled me tightly against him, those green eyes of his darkened to a rich hunter green. “I don’t like seeing another guy’s hands on my female. Don’t let them touch you again or I will kill every single one of them. Understand, Gracie?”

A mixture of confused emotions seemed to sweep through me all at once, making me almost dizzy with it. I’d never seen this side of Hawk before, this lethal biker that I’d only heard rumors about on campus. At home he was so sweet and gentle with me. This side of him scared me a little. Yet, even while I was quivering with a new fear of him, I was trembling with something entirely opposite from fear.

The possessiveness in his gaze, the tone of his voice, the very touch of his fingers on that little bit of bare skin between my jeans and work shirt was making my body heat with a need for him I didn’t completely understand. I felt my panties dampening; my nipples hardened and pressed achingly against the material of my cotton bra. Damn, why did I have to want him so fudging much? I’d never felt like this for any other man in my life. Not in high school and definitely not in college where I’d concentrated on my grades more than what was going on around me.