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
