“You look better.” His curt tone made him shudder, but he couldn’t seem to do anything to stop it. She took a startled step backward, and he felt like a complete tool.
“Um . . . thank you,” she finally murmured, casting her eyes to the floor.
No. That wouldn’t do. He needed to look into her eyes, and he needed for her not to hide from him, though he didn’t know why. So he stepped forward and, placing a gentle finger under her chin, tilted her head up.
“Sorry. That came out wrong. I meant you look warmer,” he said, purposely making his voice softer. “We’ve really gotten off on the wrong foot. I’m not a bad guy. I’m just a bit . . . gruff sometimes.”
Her eyes widened at his words, but she quickly looked past him. Yeah, he wasn’t making the situation any better. He should take his hand away. And he would . . . in just a minute.
“All right,” he told her. “Let’s just scratch everything that’s happened from the moment we laid eyes on each other.” He finally removed his hand and took a step back so he could think properly. “My mother is an incredible cook. Let’s go have some dinner,” he said, offering his arm and waiting, afraid he might spook her if he moved any closer.
“That sounds nice,” she finally said, reluctantly accepting his arm.
As they descended the stairs, Hawk looked out to find every last person staring up at them, some of them with knowing grins on their faces.
“Ah, you look wonderful, Natalie,” Maggie said as she came up to them holding his niece close to her heart. “I hope you have a healthy appetite, because I’ve been cooking for two days straight. Well, okay, to be honest, I’ve been mostly directing this year as I can’t seem to put my granddaughter down.”
Natalie didn’t even get a chance to reply to Maggie because suddenly she was surrounded, everyone attending Thanksgiving dinner wanting to speak with her. That’s how his family and friends were. There was no such thing as strangers; everyone was simply a friend they hadn’t met yet.
When he sat down, Hawk found himself directly across from Natalie. “Where did you move here from?”
“I grew up in Southern California,” she answered after a beat.
“I guess it’s just a bit warmer there,” he said, giving her his most trustworthy smile. He knew he should just back off, but what his brain was telling him and what he was doing were two entirely different things.
“Yeah. It’s not like I’m stupid. It’s just that I wasn’t expecting quite this much . . . cold,” she said with a nervous laugh as she accepted the large bowl of potatoes passed to her and took a small scoop.
“I’ve done a lot of traveling, or I used to, at least. I’ve always enjoyed the beaches in California.” See, he could be friendly, have a normal conversation with this woman. He’d have patted himself on the back if he were able.
“I always thought it would be fun to travel. Maybe someday,” she said with a soft sigh that almost wasn’t noticeable.
“Where would be the first place you’d go?” He could see that she’d rather be left alone, but Hawk didn’t feel like doing that, so he just looked at her and waited as other conversations went on around them.
“I guess Europe. I’d love to go to Venice, but that’s stupid, really.”
“Why would that be stupid? It’s beautiful.”
“Because it’s not practical,” she replied.
“We don’t always do things because they’re practical, Natalie. We have to also live our lives and have some fun.”
“Some people have that privilege.”
The sudden sadness in her eyes made him want to know her story. And Hawk was determined to get that story despite the dangers it posed to his peace of mind.
His dad interrupted before he could ask Natalie anything else, and when he turned back to draw her into the conversation, Hawk found Natalie speaking with his brother. When Bryson made her laugh, Hawk felt a bizarre pang of jealousy. If he hadn’t known how much Bryson loved his wife, Hawk might have suffered a little more from the green-eyed monster.
But even as the thought crossed Hawk’s mind, his brother shifted in his chair and leaned into his wife to steal a kiss before turning back to Natalie. It was sweet. It was also a bit disgusting. Bryson, his own freaking brother, had changed so much since meeting Misty.
“Are you excited about the Christmas pageant, Natalie?”
Hawk saw the way Bethel was grinning. And the way Natalie blanched before her smile disappeared.
“What pageant?” she asked.
“You do know that you will be in charge of the school Christmas pageant? It’s a wonderful tradition here,” Bethel said matter-of-factly before taking a bite of her gravy-covered mashed potatoes.
“No one said anything about a pageant,” Natalie almost gasped, her fork clattering against her plate.
Eileen jumped in. “It’s so well organized that you won’t have any trouble at all.”
“I’ve never done anything like that before,” Natalie replied.
“Don’t worry, darling,” Maggie said, a reassuring smile on her face. “You’ll have Hawk to help you. He volunteers his time every year.”
Hawk’s eyes narrowed. These women were getting out of hand.
“I . . . uh . . . guess I’ll talk to the principal about it on Monday. She’d be much better off having one of the other teachers do it, one who’s been here longer than a day,” Natalie said with a nervous giggle.
“Nonsense, darling. You’ll do just fine.”
And just like that, the problem was solved, at least in the minds of the meddlers. Natalie sat there bewildered as the conversation turned to another topic. Hawk wasn’t content with the way things were going, and he watched Natalie squirm in her seat.
And then his mother glanced over at him with a sly smile. No, no, no, he wasn’t at all happy. Yes, he was attracted to this woman, but if the people of this town thought they could rope him into a relationship, they’d be sorely disappointed. But then his eyes wandered back over to Natalie, and suddenly the room disappeared as she looked up and their gazes collided.
Heat. Steam. Sex. No!
He reined his thoughts back in and focused on the good food before him. But as the night went on and his eyes continued to stray toward Natalie, he knew he was in trouble. Wary as he was, especially with the strong suspicion that his mother and her friends were up to no good, his body and a good part of his mind didn’t seem to be listening to him. He couldn’t turn away from this woman.
The school pageant—working closely with Natalie over the next month—wasn’t a good idea. Not a good idea at all . . .
chapter
6
Natalie twisted a strand of her hair in trembling fingers. She could do this. True, the school was surprisingly large for such a small town. But it was just an elementary school. Just a place filled with young kids. They weren’t judging her. They weren’t hoping she would fail.
Who was she kidding? They were all hoping she would trip in the doorway and fall flat on her freaking face. They would take immeasurable joy in laughing and pointing as she picked herself up off the floor and endured the utter humiliation.
No. She couldn’t think like that. They were only children, for goodness’ sake. But she, too, had once been a child and she’d written the book on mischief, at least in her early years. And now she was teaching children who were in those early years.
All she knew for sure was that she must be strong. If they sensed weakness, they’d strike faster than a nest of irate wasps, and chaos would reign in her classroom forever.
Practicing her breathing techniques, she made her way to the main office suite and stepped through the doors. Because of the holiday and the swiftness with which she’d had to be hired, she hadn’t gone through the standard orientation. She was early today, as she knew she had to get her classroom ready before the doors of the school opened up to all and a flood of kids came pouring in.