Total pages in book: 82
Estimated words: 77519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77519 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 388(@200wpm)___ 310(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
“Thanks. I feel great.”
“You don’t look it.”
He glared at her. “Is there a point to this, or are you just going to keep pissing me off?”
Darlene held her hands up. “Consider it nothing.” She offered him a smile. “I wanted to let you know, Nikki has decided to come back to work for me. She’s going to continue her training at the salon, she’s already reactivated her course. I thought you’d like to know.”
He nodded. “I did. Thanks. This is good news.”
It was the best news he’d heard in a long time. He took a step back, about to head toward the door.
“Wait,” Darlene said.
He stopped at the door and turned to her.
“I hate to see you like this.”
“What do you want, Darlene?”
“Do you love her?”
He glared at her and once again, she held her hands up. “Look, I’m sorry. I just, I don’t like seeing you like this, and I know it’s because you have feelings for her. You love her. You’ve got to love her.”
“Your point being?”
“Stop being a stubborn asshole, and think of a way to win her back.”
“That’s why you asked me over here? To scream shit at my face?”
She threw her hands up in the air. “I know a lot of the club women are pissed. They wanted you to pick one of them and all that crap, but the truth is, I’ve never seen you so happy than when you look at Nikki. She’s different. I know that. She’s unique, and she’s beautiful and sweet, and nice, and lovely, and so many other things in between. She is amazing. She’s nothing like any of the women at the club. She is her own person, and that shines brighter than ever before.”
Hawk threw his hands up. “So? She wants nothing to do with me.”
“Because she thinks you’re embarrassed by her. You kept her hidden from the club. What is she supposed to think?”
“That I did it because I didn’t want to spoil anything. I didn’t want the guys ruining … everything.”
“Then tell her that. Talk to her.”
“I hurt her,” Hawk said. “And the last time I tried to talk to her, I got angry and said some things I regretted.”
He wasn’t used to apologizing. He wasn’t used to being in the wrong, and it fucking hurt, big time. He didn’t like it and was a little pissed off with it. Running a hand down his face, he tried not to think about all he had lost. It was messed up.
“Halloween is around the corner,” Darlene said. “I’m going to try and convince her to dress up and come to the party. You’ve got to be there.”
“Why are you helping me?” Hawk asked. “There is no benefit for you.”
Darlene sighed. “Because you helped me when no one else would. You got me this. Even if I chose not to come back to the club, to be with the guys, I know you wouldn’t take this away from me.”
“You make me sound like a good person.”
She shrugged. “You are. You are a good person.”
He laughed. He couldn’t help it.
“When it matters, you’re a good person, Hawk. Laugh all you want. I know it’s true, and I will keep telling Nikki, if that is what she needs to hear.” She shrugged. “I’m offering you my help.”
Hawk nodded.
He reached out to grab the door handle. “She’s not stopping by her trailer. Do you know why?” He knew she had stopped at her mother’s once, but that was all, wasn’t it?
“She told me her mother has … changed.” Darlene held her hands open. “She’s spending a lot of time over there, if you want to go and see her.”
Hawk said his goodbyes, left the shop, and got right back onto his bike. He had every intention of going back to the clubhouse, grabbing a bottle of scotch, and drowning his sorrows. That was the plan. Scotch, and it would all be over.
However, he didn’t realize he was heading to Nikki’s mother’s until he brought his bike right outside her house. He turned off the engine and was freezing his balls off. He didn’t know how long he stood there before the door opened. He expected it to be Nikki, however, the woman he assumed was her mother stepped outside.
“Hello,” she said.
Hawk didn’t believe people could change, but he also knew Nikki was no liar. The shit he heard about this woman was bad enough, it’s a wonder he hadn’t gone and killed her.
“I guess we should do this again. I’m Ethel Brown, Nikki’s mother,” she said, holding out her hand.
She had wrapped a cardigan around herself. He stared at her hand but didn’t take it. She kept it in the air for a couple of seconds, and then pulled it away.
“I take it from our last meeting my daughter told you … some things.”