Page 24 of Savage Guardian

Where the fuck had Fae gone? Suddenly alert, alarm streaking through him, he stood and scanned the interior of the room. Fae might have a thing for biker romance books, but the real thing was far from ink and paper. If one of his brothers got it into their head to have a little fun with her, the small, easily flustered woman would become chum in a shark tank. There were six other men in the room, and none of them were doing much other than drinking, playing cards, or shooting the shit, and there wasn’t a single sign of the shimmering, strawberry blonde head anywhere. Catching Preston’s gaze, he signaled for him, his impatience ramping up by the second.

“Did you see where Fae went?” he asked, barely keeping a grasp on the tension threatening to ruin his previously good mood.

And ithadbeen good. Too good. Despite his initial negative thoughts about the woman, he enjoyed spending time with Fae. She was funny, kind of goofy, smart, and when she wasn’t staring at him with hearts in her eyes, she was actually pretty cool to chill with.

“Yeah, she asked for the bathrooms,” Preston informed him, and Hawk didn’t hesitate to take off to the hallway leading toward the bathrooms and the downstairs office some of his brothers used when they needed some place to get shit done outside of their usual work hours. Sure, they loved to party, but when duty called, and they were nowhere near their assigned business, they claimed the shared office and did what needed to be done. Phone calls, fixing software problems, faxing shit. Whatever.

Pushing the door to the women’s bathroom open a crack, he called, “Fae, you in here?”

Nothing.

“Fae?” His voice echoed back from the tiled room, but still hers didn’t answer.

Shit. If she wasn’t in the bathroom—

Spinning on his booted heel, he peered down the hall to the end where the office was. Would she be in there? Why?

He headed toward it, his blood pumping with trepidation and growing anger. What the fuck was Fae doing leaving him like that? She could get hurt in a place like this, going off to do whatever—and she’d better not fucking be with one of his brothers. Fae was off fucking limits.

Because she was the sister to his client.

And not because you’re interested, right?

Shit.

Turning the knob, he pushed the door open and immediately spotted Fae, curled up on the couch across from the simple desk, her knees tucked against her chest, her face pressed into her thighs.

“Fae,” he barked, “what the fuck?”

Startled, she jerked her head back and yelped.

Her whisky eyes, wide with alarm, landed on him.

“Hawk! You scared the hell out of me!” she barked back, dropping her feet to the ground and pinning him with a glare.

Fuck, but the pixie looked fired up. And goddamn adorable.

No. Not adorable. That isn’t a word in your vocabulary.

So why were his lips quirking up at the sides, a smile forcing its way to his face?

She narrowed her eyes, fire spitting from them.

“Don’t you laugh at me, asshole!”

He couldn’t stop the full smile after that feisty hiss. When she crossed her arms over her chest, pushing her tits up and together, he choked on his laughter.

Damn. That woman had great tits.

Coughing to cover his reaction, he crossed his own arms, hoping the familiar movement would help him get his libido back under his control. Because he absolutely didnotfind Fae attractive.

“What are you doing in here,mo mhuirnin? Last I knew, we were having a good time. What happened?” he asked, realizing, with some chagrin, that he actually cared about the answer.

Rather than answer right away, Fae furrowed her brow at him, a question in her eyes.

“Why did you call me that?” she asked, a strange hitch in her voice.

Taken aback, he paused and thought about what he’d said. Then he caught it.

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