Joan Hohl – In the Arms of the Rancher: In the Arms of the Rancher / His Vienna Christmas Bride (страница 3)
“Sure.” Bella gave Hawk another quick hug before turning away. “Will I be seeing you while you’re in town, Hawk?”
“Of course.” Hawk smiled.
“Good.” Bella smiled back. “Take your time, Kate. I can handle the ravenous crowd.”
“Thanks, Bella,” Kate said. “I’ll only be a few minutes.”
Her soft, almost smoky-sounding voice, along with her smile, caused an even stronger searing sensation in Hawk’s stomach and sections south.
“So,” Vic said, “how long are you going to be in town this time, Hawk?”
“I haven’t decided yet. I have a room for a week.” Hawk shrugged. “After that…depends.”
“On what?” Vic laughed. “The weather?”
Hawk grinned. “Yeah, the weather. You know how much it concerns me.” He shook his head. “No, actually, if I’m tired of the whole scene at the end of a week, I’ll head home. If not, I’ll make other arrangements.”
“And where is home, Hawk?” Kate asked.
“Colorado,” Hawk said. “In the mountains.”
She laughed. “Colorado is full of mountains.”
A tingle skipped the length of his spine. He drew a deep breath, willing steel to chase the tingle from his back. “I’m in the southwest corner, in the San Juans, a double jump from Durango.”
“A double jump?” she said.
Vic answered for him. “Hawk’s got a horse ranch in a small valley in the foothills there,” he said. “I gotta tell you, this guy breeds and trains some gorgeous horseflesh.”
“And I’m damned good at it, too,” Hawk drawled around a quick smile.
Once again he felt that strange reaction to the conversation, a reaction he had never felt before. Hawk wasn’t sure he liked it.
They chatted for a few moments longer. Then Kate excused herself to get back to work.
Unaware of his surroundings, Vic, or the soft sigh he expelled, Hawk watched Kate walk back to the hostess station, head high, her back straight, as regal as any queen.
“Attractive, isn’t she?”
Vic’s quiet voice jolted Hawk into awareness. “Yes,” he said, shifting his gaze to his friend.
“And you’re interested.” It was not a question.
“Yes,” Hawk admitted without hesitation.
“A lot of men are.” Vic shrugged.
“I did notice she was not wearing a ring on her left ring finger.” Hawk lifted his brows. “Is she attached?”
Vic shook his head. “No.”
“Why do I have the feeling that if I said I wanted to ask her to have dinner one evening with me, you’d tell me she’ll refuse?”
“Because she very likely would.” Vic gave him a half smile. “She always does.”
“She doesn’t like men?” Hawk felt a sharp pang of disappointment.
“She used to,” Vic answered cryptically.
Hawk’s eyes narrowed. “Are you going to explain that murky statement, or am I going to have to call you out?”
Vic grinned. “Pistols at dawn, eh?”
“No…” Hawk drawled. “My foot in your rear right here in front of all your customers. So you’d better start explaining.”
“There was a man…” Vic began.
“Isn’t there always?” Hawk said in disgust.
“The same as there’s always a woman with bitter men,” Vic said. “Isn’t there?”
“I wouldn’t know.” It was not a boast. Hawk had never been in love. He had no experience of how a relationship gone sour could rip a person up.
“You’re a lucky man.” Vic sighed. “Well, Kate knows in spades. She was head over heels with a guy, enough to let him move in with her after they got engaged.”
“He dumped her for another woman?” Hawk asked at the thought of any sane man dumping Kate.
“No, worse than that. Not long after he moved in with her, he became abusive.”
Hawk stiffened, his features like chiseled rock. “He what?” His voice was low, icy with menace.
“Not physically,” Vic said. “Verbally, which is just as bad, if not worse. Bruises heal pretty quickly. Emotional scars take a lot longer.”
“The son of a bitch.”
“That’s my take on him.”
Hawk was quiet a moment. “I’m still thinking of asking her to dinner one night.” He frowned at Vic. “What do you think?”
“Well…” Now Vic was quiet a moment. He shrugged. “It can’t hurt to give it a try.”
“You wouldn’t mind?”
“Why would I mind?” Vice shook his head. “I think it would do Kate good to get out…She hasn’t been since she tossed the creep out.” He grinned at Hawk. “And I know you’d never do anything to hurt her.”
“How do you know that?”
Vic’s grin grew sinister. “Because if you did, I’d have to kill you.”
Hawk roared with laughter. “Get outta here and get me something to eat…and make it good.”
Standing, Vic leveled a stern look at Hawk. “You know damn well everything I cook is good. Excellent, even.”
“I know,” Hawk admitted. “So, go cook.”
Moments later he was served a glass of red wine. Soon after the wine, the server set a steaming plate of pasta before him, with a short, folded note on the side. Hawk opened the note and chuckled. Vic had written just seven words.
Chapter Two
Kate didn’t have time to think of anything except greeting and seating customers for over an hour. When she again returned to her station, she was both disconcertingly disappointed and pleased.
She needed a breathing break. What Kate didn’t need were the thoughts of the attractive Hawk McKenna, which immediately flooded her mind.
He was just another man, she told herself. And yet he invaded her mind and senses the minute activity around her slowed. Shaking her head, as if she could physically shake the thoughts aside, she busied herself by fussing with the station. She straightened the large menus and made a production out of studying the names not crossed off on the long list of reservations. The few parties left on the list were not due to arrive for a while.
Sighing, she glanced up from the list, right into the dark eyes of the very man she had been trying her best not to think about.
She managed a professional smile. “How was your dinner, Mr. McKenna?”
He gave her a slight frown. “I thought we had agreed on Hawk and Kate.”
“Okay. How was your dinner, Hawk?”
“Superb, as Vic’s dinners usually are.”
Kate felt the effects of his breathtaking smile all the way down to her curling toes.