Breaking Free (6 page)

“You and Clara prepared dinner. We’ll clean up,” Hawk said as he joined her.

“It’s all right. It’ll only take a minute to load the dishwasher and wash up.”

He caught her wrist as she reached for another plate to rinse. “You’re all in, Zoe. Go rest. And as sexy as a hoarse female voice sounds, you need to rest your voice as well.”

Sexy? She placed her hand against her throat. “I’m fine.” Her gaze rose to his face. Where Flash’s earlier concern had touched her, the concern she read in Hawk’s expression made her defensive. She didn’t stop to think why. “You don’t have to make concessions for me because of my leg. I can still pull my weight around here.”

His eyes narrowed and his cheekbones flushed with color. As Doc and Bowie entered the kitchen carrying plates and glasses, he pulled her out onto the porch and closed the door.

“It has nothing to do with your leg, Zoe. You’re up at dawn and don’t go to bed until one or two every night. You don’t have an endless supply of energy. No one does. If you’re going to be in this thing for the long haul, you’re going to have to pace yourself.”

She recognized the truth in what he said, but resented he was the one to say it. “I can take care of myself. I’ve been doing it for a while now.”

“Then you know what you need to do, so do it.”

She stiffened at his tone. “Look, I’m not one of the men you can call onto the carpet and dress down.”

His gray gaze raked down her slender form. “That’s something I’m not likely to forget.”

Her heartbeat accelerated. She experienced the stomach quivering sensation of riding a roller coaster car to the top of a tall-tall peak.

“Brett would be telling you to take care of yourself, wouldn’t he?”

“Yes,” she agreed. The word came out soft and breathy around the airless feeling beneath her ribs.

“If he were here, he’d be warning you about his fellow teammates. Flirting is fine, but should you start to date one of them, it’s going to cause some hard feelings between them.”

“They’re only kidding around, Hawk. None of them are really interested in me. They’re just competing for attention. They’d be behaving like that with any single female of datable age within a five mile radius.”

“I disagree. I’m not going to have the three of them going at each other’s throats over a woman.”

The heart dropping sensation felt worse than any roller coaster plunge down a steep track. Pain whipped through her. That he had viewed her banter with Flash as something more than just light-hearted teasing was unimaginable.

“Well--I’ve never been viewed as a femme fatale before, or a manipulative tease.” Her throat tightened with tears. “You’re right about one thing though. I’ve had enough for one day. I’m going to bed.” She shoved past him.

“Zoe--wait a minute---”

She jerked her arm from his grasp, and pushed open the kitchen door.

Flash, Doc, and Bowie working to set the place to rights, gave the large kitchen the feeling of being crowded.

She pulled up short, and tried to gather her composure. The screen door closed as Hawk entered the room behind her.

“Guys, I really appreciate all your help getting the bed set up and everything.”

“No problem, Zoe,” Bowie spoke for the group.

“I hope you’ll understand if I excuse myself and go on to bed.”

“No problem,” Doc said. His green gaze traveled from her to Hawk, then back again, speculation in his expression.

Suddenly, the full weight of exhaustion pressed down upon her shoulders and she drew a tremulous breath.

“If you or your mom need anything, Zo, don’t hesitate to call,” Flash said, his features set in a frown.

She nodded and offered them all a hasty thanks, and a goodnight. As she closed the bedroom door behind her, she wished she were anywhere on earth, but in Hawk Yazzie’s house.

CHAPTER 4

“Son of a---” Hawk swore the words several times beneath his breath as he removed the cover from the hot tub one handed and braced his weight on a crutch with the other.

“Need some help?” Clara asked from the kitchen doorway.

He turned to offer her an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I was just venting a little frustration.”

“I’ve heard the tone and the words before, Hawk,” she said. A smile laced with understanding curved her lips. She stepped over the threshold and helped him slide the lightweight vinyl cover behind the lounge.

“I keep the tub covered when it’s not in use in case one of the team comes over with the kids.”

“Good idea. Children are drawn to water like ducks to a pond. They’d be in it fully clothed in a heartbeat.”

“Yeah.” He flipped the switches engaging the heater and the pump. “It only takes a little while to heat.” He lowered himself to the lounge and set aside the crutch. “Think Zoe would want to soak for a few minutes, if she’s still awake?”

She laughed and shook her head at him.

“Sorry, I didn’t think how that would sound. I just noticed she was in pain last night when she went to her room. I thought it might ease off if she relaxed in the tub for a little while.”

Clara remained silent for a moment. She took a seat beside him. “I think she’ll turn the use of the hot tub down, though she probably needs to take advantage of it,” she said, her words measured. “Zoe is self-conscious of her leg. When she was young she just went right on as though nothing were wrong with it, but her first year in college, something happened. She won’t willingly let you or anyone else see it.”

He frowned. He hadn’t seen this coming. Uneasiness took root in the pit of his stomach.

Clara ran a restless hand over the auburn curls that framed a face only a little fuller than her daughter’s. “I’m only telling you this so you won’t take her refusals personally.”

He forced a nonchalant shrug. “We’ll just have to arrange a daily time so she can have some privacy then.”

She smiled. “You know, even when your children are adults, a parent can’t really control the desire to shield them. Zoe likes to think she’s tough.”

“She is in some ways,” he said.

“But not about this.” Her blue eyes, so similar to her daughters, held a sadness that went soul deep.

He nodded. “Understood.”

“You and your men were wonderful today,” she said, changing the subject.

He smiled. “Awe shucks, ma’am- it weren’t nothin’.”

“I really appreciate everything you’re doing for us.”

He shrugged and focused on her face. “It’s a big house. Big enough for the three of us, and then some.”

“If we start encroaching on your space more than we should, don’t hesitate to speak up about it.” She got to her feet.

“It’s not going to happen.”

She shook her head at him. “You’re used to baching it, Hawk. It may grow tedious having two women under foot.”

“It’ll be okay, Clara. If I start to feel crowded, I can always bug out for a few days.”

“This is your home. If you need some space, we can do the bugging out.” She turned as she reached the kitchen door. “If you have difficulty getting in or out of the tub, don’t hesitate to yell.”

He smiled at the comical image that came to mind of the two slightly built women trying to get his two hundred and ten pound frame out of the water. “I think I can handle it, but I’ll keep it in mind.”

His smile listed as Clara left. Zoe would probably leave him afloat and tell him to soak his head, as well as his knee.

His jaw tensed. It wasn’t just his team’s welfare he had in mind. He didn’t want to see her hurt. For all their joking about marriage and rehearsal dinners, he couldn’t picture any of his men being ready to take the plunge.

Zoe wasn’t the kind of woman a man looked to for no-strings sex. Her shy flirtatiousness fired his protective instincts, but it also fired everything south of his belt as well. Knowing it probably did the same to his men drove him crazy, and damned if he knew what to do about it.

And what if one of them were responsible for Cutter’s injuries?

The only one he could be sure of was himself. He had to protect her.

****

Zoe heard her mother’s door close down the hall and struggled to rise from the bed. She couldn’t sleep until things were settled between Hawk and her. She wouldn’t be able to stay under his roof, if they didn’t try to reach some kind of understanding.

Her leg ached as she made her way back down the hall to the kitchen. The exterior door stood open to the porch and she stopped at the threshold and scanned the room.

His arms stretched along the edge of the hot tub and his head was tilted back against a cushion. Ropy, well-defined muscles stood out in his neck, shoulders, upper arms, and chest. Though she knew every muscle, had anyone asked her to recite the names at this moment, she wouldn’t have been able to identify a single one. Black hair dusted his chest just above the waterline. The size and strength of him awed her. The beauty of him stole her breath and made it hard for her to swallow. She forced air into her lungs and tried to block off the physical response that made it difficult for her to focus.

She took two decisive steps into the room. “I didn’t want to go to bed without settling things between us.”

His lids rose, his pale gray gaze fastening on her face for a moment before they slid downward over the faded sweat pants and cropped T-shirt she wore. He homed in on the two-inch band of bare skin just above her waistband, and a tempting tingle arrowed downward. Her knees grew weak. How could he make her hot and wet with just a look?

“I wondered when you’d be back to bust my chops.” He sat up from his reclining position. “I was out of line earlier.”

Surprise kept her silent for a moment. “I’m not here looking for a boyfriend. I’m here for Brett.”

“I know that.”

“I’m not a flirt or a tease either.”

“If what I said led you to believe I thought that, Zoe, you’re mistaken. I’m sorry.”

He hooked his hands upon the rim of the tub and hiked himself up on the wide tile edge around it.

After the first glimpse of a rock hard six-pack bisected by a thin line of hair that disappeared beneath a brief black swimsuit, she averted her gaze. She wandered to the screen door to focus her attention outside, until she could get her breathing under control.

“My concern wasn’t just about the cohesive condition of my team, Zoe. I was concerned about you, too.”

Sure. The only blip she made on his radar screen was as a possible problem for him or his team.

“The men have been pressuring you.”

“They’d be that way with any woman who came within their scope. It’s the male way of being friendly. Because I’m Brett’s sister, they’ll tease and flirt, but they’re not really serious about pursuing me.” She forced herself to face him, just to prove to herself she could do it and still breathe.

Hawk probed her expression. “I heard Bowie ask you out, and it didn’t sound like he was just interested in flirting.”

Her cheeks grew hot. “I’m sure he’s used that same line, and his killer dimples, with great success on any number of women. I didn’t take him seriously.”

His frown set his features in lines of masculine aggression. “Why not?”

She’d learned the hard way that men were only interested in girls who could keep up with them. To him and his men, a five-mile run was probably a cakewalk. There were days, walking across the room was like running a marathon for her.

“I’m not interested in a temporary relationship.”

“Who’s to say it would be?”

If she’d harbored any hopes he was the least bit interested in her, he’d just doused them. That was a good thing. He was doing her a favor. Being involved with a military man wasn’t what she needed anyway. Seeing Brett in his condition offered her enough heartache already.

She leaned back against the door facing and studied his expression. “Are you encouraging me to go out with Bowie?”

“No.” A frown drew his brows into a V above the bridge of his nose setting his features into intimidating lines. She wondered what he would be like truly angry. Probably scary as hell.

“I’m glad you’re not trying to tell me what to do, because we both know I’ll do as I please.”

A warning glint lit his pale gray gaze as their eyes met. Just when she began to grow concerned they were about to have words again, a smile broke across his features and he laughed.

“How’s the knee?” she asked, changing the subject. “You’ve been on it a lot today.”

“It’s feeling better after a few minutes in the hot tub. Why don’t you join me?”

Even knowing he meant nothing by the invitation, her pulse hammered at her throat and wrists. A fantasy of all that smooth skin and hard muscle, wet and warm beneath her hands, flashed through her mind. “I haven’t got a bathing suit.” She hoped her voice sounded normal.

“Then come in, in what you have on now,” he suggested. “You could cut your sweats off into shorts so the water can circulate around your legs.”

Though tempted, too many painful past experiences triggered a feeling of panic that made it hard for her to swallow.