Conversation. That’s what they needed. Then he’d discover she wasn’t so appealing after all. He’d grow bored and the fact that she had a great body wouldn’t matter, because he couldn’t stand a woman who didn’t know how to hold her own while talking.

He cornered her by the gym wall. “We never finished the discussion we began at Thanksgiving, Natalie.”

“We’ve talked plenty of times, Hawk,” she said with a nervous laugh.

“Not about anything important. It’s usually just you telling me what to do.”

“Isn’t that what women are supposed to do?”

Her sass had him smiling. “That’s what my mama says, anyway.”

“Ah. I like a man who knows that he’s supposed to listen to women,” she said, making his stomach clench.

“So you like me, huh?”

This was where he expected her to blush and run away. That was her usual reaction when he flirted with her. This time, she must have had a bowl of Wheaties for breakfast, because she took his breath away when she winked at him.

“Nah. I think you’re a pain in the butt, Hawk, but you do make a great worker bee.” She turned.

“No way,” he said, stopping her easily and trapping her against the wall with a hand on either side of her head. “You don’t get to make a statement like that and then just walk away.”

Her breathing hitched, making his groin tighten, and he leaned just a bit closer. Conversation certainly wasn’t helping him get over his fascination with Natalie Duncan.

“Hawk, I get to say whatever I want and then walk away because it’s my prerogative.” She looked a bit jittery, but not nearly as spooked as she’d been a week ago.

“Then you’ll have to learn that if you play with fire . . .”

“If I play with fire, what?”

Amazing. She wasn’t backing down.

“Then the fire chief has to come put out the flames,” he said. Their bodies were practically touching now; Hawk had forgotten they weren’t the only two people in the gym.

“Well . . .” she said, making his heart thunder. “In that case, I’ll have to . . .” He waited with bated breath, and she looked deep into his eyes. “. . . stop playing with fire.”

It took several heartbeats for the words to process in his muddled brain. When he realized she was through with this little dance, he pulled his hands from the wall, releasing her.

After watching the sway of her hips as she walked away, Hawk leaned against the wall for several agonizing moments, unwilling to turn and show everyone in the gym just what effect Natalie Duncan had on him.

When he knew it was finally safe to turn, he looked out and saw Natalie going about her business as if nothing had just happened. That irritated him more than anything else. How could she play so hot one minute and then so cold the next? What was her problem?

As things were wrapping up for the night, Hawk watched Natalie climb up a ladder, those jeans hugging her ass to perfection and putting far too many images in his head while he was in a room full of giggling children.

He had to wonder again what in the hell was wrong with him. Again, he thought about calling in a crime report on the town’s three meddling women, who were currently up on the stage, paintbrushes in hand, heads bent close as they planned something else that was sinister, he was sure.

Hawk looked on nervously as Natalie stepped close to the top of the ladder, stretching her body as far as it would go to hang a star from the ceiling. His stomach flipped over when he saw the bottom of the ladder wobble. She was going to fall and crack her head wide open!

Rushing away from the wall he’d seemingly been holding up, he grabbed on to the bottom of the ladder to steady it, and got a far too close glimpse of the soft white inch of skin showing on her stomach as she stretched out her arms.

Just when he began getting a good handle on himself and his lustful thoughts, he heard an oof and felt the ladder wobble dangerously. He looked back up just in time to see Natalie slip from the rung she’d been barely holding on to. Letting go of the ladder, he held out his arms, then groaned as she landed safely against his chest, her arms automatically reaching up around his neck.

“Oh my gosh!” Her eyes were wide, her mouth open, and her cheeks flushed.

Hawk didn’t even think, didn’t hesitate. He simply closed what little gap there was between them. He might regret this later. Hell, he would regret this later. But right now, oh yes, he had to taste those lips. Feeling almost as if he were in a trance, he ran his fingers through her long and beautiful hair and pulled her head closer to his.

Hawk tried to rein himself in, but he gave up when his lips brushed hers and he felt her breathing change. His first taste of her was like an explosion of flavor, cherries and mint and heat. A whole hell of a lot of heat.

He held on to her tightly as his mouth demanded her full attention. There was no struggle, no awkwardness. It was as if they were made to fit together. He could go on kissing her all night long.

After a few more seconds, he realized he was on the verge of losing control, and only then did he pull back. As her eyes fluttered open, Hawk knew the truth. He would have sex with this woman. And it would be out-of-this-world incredible. He could fight it all he wanted, but it was going to happen. And it was going to happen soon. His raging hormones demanded it.

“Excuse me,” he said as he set her down on her feet, slowly. Without another word, he turned and walked away, not looking back once. If he had turned around, he’d have noticed the panic flare in Natalie’s eyes. He would have noticed how she immediately closed herself off.

Sure, he felt the eyes of all the adults in the room on him. Screw it! He didn’t care. It was time to drink an ice-cold beer, and then maybe he’d kick his own ass for acting like such a damn fool.

chapter

8

Natalie snuck away from the gym. Parents were beginning to arrive to pick up their children, and she couldn’t face them right now. She had to get away from here, had to get away from the eyes that she knew were upon her.

Not once in her life had she shared a kiss with a man in a public place—not that she’d shared many kisses in her twenty-three years, but she had shared a few. But those had been nothing to prepare her for the feelings assailing her body from the simple touch of Hawk’s lips on hers.

Although almost in a daze, she made it to her classroom. She put on her new thick coat and slipped on her boots. The walk home took only about ten minutes, but it would be enough to clear the cobwebs from her head.

Once outside, she cringed when she saw Maggie approaching her. The woman made eye contact and there was no possible way to get out of this mess. So, with her heart pounding, and snow falling down upon her, Natalie waited for Hawk’s mother to approach. She could only hope the woman hadn’t witnessed the kiss. But her luck was never that good.

“Are you leaving already, Natalie?” Maggie’s smile was sweet and inscrutable.

“Yes. I have to get my lesson plan ready for tomorrow.” Natalie answered Maggie’s smile by pasting on the most convincing one she could manage.

“I bet you’re so overwhelmed right now. A new teaching job, and then thrown into doing this pageant at the same time. You poor thing.”

Natalie’s shoulders relaxed. Maggie might not have seen the kiss. Thank goodness! “Yes, it’s a bit overwhelming, but it’s always much nicer to be busy than to have too much time on my hands.”

“That’s always been how I feel. How long will the lesson plan take?”

It was an innocent question, one that didn’t raise any suspicions for Natalie, so she answered honestly. “Only about an hour or so, but I really need to go to the grocery store, too. I tend to forget to shop until I’m out of just about everything, and a person can only live on ramen noodles and microwave mac and cheese for so long.” She didn’t add that her other staples were frozen pizza and corn dogs. Maggie was the type of woman to be horrified by that sad fact.