“Was it miserable?” Hawk stopped and leaned against a large tree, pulling her into the cradle of his arms as he rubbed his hands up and down her back.
“No. The thing was that even though we didn’t have a whole heck of a lot, I wasn’t unhappy. I loved my mom, even during the bad times. I loved what little time we got to spend together. I didn’t need to have the newest pair of jeans, or to go to summer camp. When she died, I was devastated. It took me a lot of years before I felt like I could live again. She did the best she could. . . .”
“You impress me, Natalie.”
“Why?”
“Because you don’t dwell on the bad memories. You even manage to find a way to turn the tough times into positive experiences. You humble me with your attitude.”
“I’m not that noble, Hawk,” she said with an uncomfortable laugh.
“We’ll have to just agree to disagree,” he said before giving her a kiss that melted the snow that was covering them.
chapter 16
I love my family, but they’re a bit overwhelming,” Hawk said later that night as he and Natalie strolled outside, hand in hand.
“Yes, but I honestly enjoy spending time with them. I think your mother and I baked at least five hundred Christmas cookies today,” Natalie said with a laugh as they approached a large red barn.
“Want to see something really cool?”
“Always.”
He opened the barn door and they stepped inside. She didn’t see him turn around and engage the latch.
“Over here,” he said, and he led her through the ginormous building.
They entered a large room behind another door, and before her was an old cherry-red fire truck.
“It’s seventy years old and my dad and I spent ten summers bringing her back into mint condition. I love this engine.” He couldn’t contain his excitement when he ran his hand along the shiny bumper. That small gesture had her stomach clenching as she thought back to the other fire engine and the first night they’d made love.
It had been several days since they’d last been intimate, and now that her body knew how incredible sex between them was, she didn’t want to miss out on the feel of his hands and his . . . never mind . . . for even a single second more.
Without much sound, Hawk was suddenly behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and tugging her close. “Want to see where I had my first kiss?”
Natalie tensed at the thought of Hawk ever kissing anyone else.
“Hawk!” she snapped, no longer wanting to play as she had ten seconds before.
“Awww, come on. The place is really cool.”
“I seriously have no desire to see where you kissed some trashy girl.”
“Well, can you really be trashy at five years old?”
“Five? Really?” she asked suspiciously.
“Yep. I was five and kissed JoBeth up in the hayloft,” he stated proudly.
“And how many other girls did you kiss in the hayloft as the years passed?” Natalie had no intention of being just one of many.
“I kissed lots of girls in lots of haylofts, but, alas, only JoBeth in this one,” he replied.
“Fine. Show me this loft, but if you think you’re going to get any kisses out of me, then you will be very disappointed.”
They climbed a ladder and then Hawk was right behind Natalie, nuzzling her neck. “I’m not kissing you, Hawk,” she said again, but her voice came out breathy because his hands were slipping beneath her shirt and touching the bare skin of her stomach.
“Why? Don’t you like my secret hideaway?” he murmured as he gently nipped her shoulder while his fingers climbed higher, lightly brushing across her breasts.
“No,” she replied, though they both knew she was lying, especially when she pushed back against him and rolled her hips so she could better feel his arousal.
He lowered his fingers across her abs and reached for the zipper of her jeans, taking his time in releasing the material that was binding her. Natalie gave up even the smallest pretense that she didn’t want this.
“Yes, Hawk. Faster.”
He didn’t disappoint her. He slid his hands inside the denim and gave a good push, and then her jeans were pooling at her feet, landing on the hay to provide a nice barrier between their bare skin and the dry grass when they became horizontal.
With her back still to him, Hawk pushed her legs apart, leaned in, and sucked on her neck while he slipped a hand inside the silk of her panties and found her core more than ready for his touch.
“I love how you respond to me,” he groaned in her ear, causing a shudder to rip through her.
“You make me catch fire, Hawk.”
“You inspire me, Natalie.”
He took her shirt away, adding it to the pile beside them, then flung her bra aside, leaving her gasping while his hands wandered all over her.