Total pages in book: 91
Estimated words: 86455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86455 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
The youngest one looked really young to Tildy’s eyes. It was obvious that he was younger even than Tildy herself. He was cleaning some parts with a rag, when he looked up at the two of them entering the building and grinned.
“Hola,” he said to Hawk, in a teasing voice.
The other three men looked up from their work. The second largest one had short, light hair. He wasn’t quite as muscled as Hawk, but was still quite formidable. The other two were only slightly smaller in stature, one with blonde hair and youngest one with short, dark hair. All three men looked confused.
“Tildy’s car wouldn’t start,” Hawk declared. “I gave her a ride. Her car’s being towed here. Told her we’d take a look at it for her.”
“Gave her a ride,” the teenager said in Spanish, with a smirk. “Before or after her car broke down?”
Tildy stopped short. Hawk didn’t seem to notice. He turned to face the kid fully. “Knock it off,” he replied, also in Spanish. “I just met her.”
The kid laughed. “Never stopped you before.”
“Emilio,” one of the men said sternly.
“I’m just saying,” the kid called Emilio announced. “Think you’ll break your ‘One Night Only’ rule for her? She’s hot. She’s worth two rides, at least. Maybe even three. She’s got a sweet ass.”
“EMILIO!” the man shouted. “ENOUGH!”
The man turned to look at Tildy, and everyone’s gaze followed his.
Her face was hot, and it had nothing to do with the temperature in the garage. “Um,” she said at all the men looking at her. “I’ll- I’ll wait outside, ‘til my car gets here.” She spun around and took one step toward the door but nearly knocked over a small woman who was carrying multiple bags.
“Oh!” Tildy cried as she just barely avoided colliding with the woman.
“Oh, sorry!” the woman said. She looked from Tildy to the men and back to Tildy. “Are you-?”
“My car broke down,” Tildy blurted out. “Hawk gave me a ride.” Then her face turned an even deeper red as she thought about Emilio’s remarks. “I mean a ride here,” she clarified.
The woman gazed at the men again, her eyes narrowing at all of them. Tildy knew she, herself, wouldn’t chance giving men like this a look like that.
“What did you do?” the brunette demanded of the man who had shouted at Emilio.
He looked shocked. “Nothing, baby! It was just- see- we-”
She rolled her eyes at him and turned back to Tildy. “What did they do?”
“I…” was all Tildy could bring herself to say.
“They’re animals,” the woman declared, loudly. “Animals. And they were all raised in a barn!”
“Baby,” the man protested. “I wasn’t raised in a barn. I tried to stop it. I was-”
“Don’t even try,” the woman snapped. She raised her arms toward Tildy. “Here,” she said. “Can you take a few of these? We can get away from them.”
Tildy took a few of the sacks and followed the woman back through the garage.
“Maybe,” the woman called out, “we won’t even feed them! Maybe we’ll just throw it all out! Teach them a lesson!” She opened the door to a room that looked like a break room and ushered Tildy inside.
“I don’t need that lesson!” the man called after her. “I swear. Baby, I was a hero! And I’m hun-”
The woman slammed the door shut, rattling it on its hinges. She sighed heavily as she set the bags down on the table. “They’re good guys,” she told Tildy. “But they’re ex-Army. All of them, except Emilio, anyway. They occasionally forget the ‘ex’ part and think they’re still in their Boys Club. And none of them have the manners God gave a Rattlesnake.”
She set out bowls of food and glanced at Tildy over her shoulder. “I’m married to their lieutenant. The one who thinks he can weasel his way out of being punished for whatever it was they did to you.”
“It wasn’t that bad,” Tildy said.
The woman looked at her again. “Yeah, I can tell by the way your face is turning eight shades of red. I’m Sarah, by the way.”
“Tildy,” Tildy replied.
“Your car broke down?”
Tildy nodded. “It’s been acting weird. And then it wouldn’t start. But Hawk was there. And he offered me a ride.” Tildy knew she was rambling a bit.
“Do you know Hawk?” Sarah asked cautiously.
Tildy shook her head. “No, we just met at the gas station.”
Sarah reached for Tildy’s bags. “And you hitched a ride with him? That was...brave. Hawk’s an intimidating guy.”
Tildy shook her head. “No. He seemed really nice. And I knew it would be okay.”
Sarah pulled out some utensils and a stack of napkins.
“He’s the man I’m going to marry.”
Chapter 7
Hawk waited until the women were safely behind the break room door. He turned to Emilio, about to unload on the kid, but Shooter beat him to it.