Page 18 of Hawk

I took the helmet from her and sat it on the seat before draping an arm around her. “I see you. Let’s go inside.”

“Yes, lets,” Rebel said as he pushed off the wall and opened the door with an exaggerated flourish. “Hawk is here,” he shouted. “And he brought a friend.” The amusement in his voice was impossible to miss.

Suddenly, there were about ten sets of eyeballs on Laura and me, and she leaned in closer. “Hey, everybody, this is Laura. Laura, this is everyone.”

She held up one hand and smiled. “Hello, everybody.”

That was all it took before the women swarmed. Ellie was first, which was no surprise since she’d been with the club the longest and she was the prez’s old lady. Peyton and Grace weren’t too far behind, smiling and shaking hands. “Nice to meet you, Laura. How’d you and Hawk meet?”

She smiled at me over her shoulder and turned back to the girls. “He came into my ER and pretended he wasn’t in pain while I stitched him up.”

They all laughed the way women did when they were together and slowly, I relaxed, grateful Ellie had taken the reins to introduce Laura to the guys.

“She’s cute,” Rebel whispered. “I can see why you’re eager to help her.”

I frowned again, not liking how his words made me sound like a selfish prick. “Should I have let Los Ochos just take her and kill her?”

“I’m not saying that, just that you could’ve found another way if she wasn’t such a looker,” Rebel said defensively.

My lips tugged into a smile thinking about that kiss that set my body on fire. “Maybe, but the words tumbled from my lips before I gave it any thought. I knew they wouldn’t have the balls to go after her if they thought she had MC protection.” I stood by that even though it was true that I wanted Laura even more after that kiss.

“Good point,” he conceded. “Still, you two look cozy.”

I shrugged. “We’ve spent some time together.”

“Fun.” The amusement in Rebel’s voice was hard to miss, but I kept my gaze on Laura, who wore a relaxed smile while Gio and Maverick regaled her with some story, probably half bullshit. “You’ve never brought a woman around before.”

“Nope.”

“You like her.”

“What’s not to like?” I shrugged again, my hands balled into fists before I forced them to relax. “She called because she thought someone was watching her.” I told Rebel about the car she saw rolling around her block a few times. “I figured she wanted to go someplace she could relax.”

“Look at you, thinking about your girlfriend first.” He smacked me with the back of his hand and laughed. “Come on, let’s go grab a drink. And one for the little lady.”

“Asshole,” I mumbled, which only made him laugh harder. And louder.

The music came on and drinks started flowing. Laura was more than a little relaxed, smiling when I brought her a shot and a beer. “Thanks.” Her shoulders were no longer next to her ears and the signs of strain around her eyes had vanished. And it had only taken just over an hour.

“Having fun?”

She nodded. “I am, thanks to you.” She bumped her shoulder against mine. “Thank you for bringing me here. I didn’t realize how badly I needed this.”

“Not a problem.”

“Your friends seem nice.” She smiled and held her up shot. “Cheers.”

“Cheers,” I replied, and knocked my beer bottle against her glass.

Laura took the shot. “So they all know?” Her gaze bounced around the room from Diesel to Rocky and then Slate.

“The brothers know, and they probably told their old ladies. You worried?”

Her shoulders lifted and then fell. “Yes. No. I don’t know. I mean, are they being nice because of that or because they want to be nice?”

“Little of both, I suppose.” I took a slow sip and then another. “Peyton and Rocky met because she came to him when someone murdered her roommate. He protected her and now they have a little girl.”

“No!” Her eyes were wide with shock.

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