Page 6 of Hawkeye

“I really need to stop rambling on like this,” she murmured when we reached the bottom step. “You probably didn’t need to know that the cabinetmaker changed his corner joinery after 1938.”

“Keep talking.” I stepped closer until the stairs were at her back and there was no space left between us.

Her breath caught. “Why?”

A grin pulled at my mouth. “Because you’re stretching out our goodbye with cabinetmaker trivia, and I’m in no hurry to stop you.”

Her smile broke free, warm and open enough to hit me in the chest. I closed one hand around the back of her neck, wrapped the other around her waist, and pulled her soft body against mine before lowering my mouth to hers. Josie caught my shirt in both fists and rose onto her toes without hesitation, meeting the first hard press of my lips with a quiet sound that went straight to my cock.

I angled her head and kissed her deeper, dragging her fully against my erection while my palm spread over the curve of her hip. She gasped into my mouth when she felt how hard I was, but she pressed closer and let me taste the little sound that escaped her instead of retreating.

I wanted her upstairs. With her clothes stripped from her body, her thighs around my hips, and her voice breaking over my name while I found every place that made those expressive eyes turn gold. The public sidewalk and the possibility that her mother might open the upstairs door were the only reasons I lifted my head instead of carrying her up the steps.

My breathing was rough when I ended the kiss, and Josie’s was no steadier. Her lips were swollen, her cheeks and throat flushed, and her fingers remained twisted in my shirt while my hand stayed around the back of her neck. I brushed my thumb beneath her ear and watched her eyes slowly focus.

“I’ll be here at eight,” I told her. “Stryker should reach Simon’s family tonight.”

“You don’t know my schedule.”

“Wynnock opens at nine.” I let my thumb move once more along her warm skin. “So I’ll be here at eight.”

Her pleased laugh followed me back toward my bike. I left with her taste still on my tongue, her address fixed in my head, and morning already settled. Eight o’clock could not get there fast enough.

3

JOSIE

Calder appeared on the sidewalk in front of the boutique before it opened exactly like he’d promised. At six-foot-three, his shoulders stretched the leather of his cut over his long-sleeved shirt. His dark blond hair was short enough that the December wind wasn’t moving it into his green eyes. I was staring enough to finally notice his nose had the faintest ridge, as if it had been broken before. The stubble on his tanned cheeks was a shade darker than his hair.

His attention was focused on me as soon as he saw me through the window, something my mom didn’t miss.

She stood behind the counter with a smile she didn’t even try to hide as I unlocked the door so he could come inside. “You must be Hawkeye.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

She wiped her hands on her apron and came around the glass case. “Josie didn’t mention you were quite this tall.”

Heat climbed straight into my face. “Mom⁠—”

He took the hand she offered but didn’t look away from me for longer than it took to be polite. “Probably because everyone’s tall to her.”

My blush deepened as I huffed, “Hey, five-five is not short.”

That was the best I could do while he stood in my mother’s shop, the corner of his mouth tipped up like he enjoyed watching me struggle.

“Stryker reached Kenny Simon’s daughter last night,” he finally told me. “She’s coming into Wynnock first thing this morning.”

That got my feet moving. I grabbed my bag from the hook by the door and tried to steer him toward it before my mother started in.

She followed us anyway. “Try to miss curfew. You’ve never given me anything fun to worry about.”

“I’m twenty-one.” I rolled my eyes. “You haven’t told me when I had to be home by in years.”

She wagged her brows. “Then take the hint and stay out past breakfast tomorrow.”

A laugh slipped out as my cheeks heated even more.

Calder winked in a way that was not helpful at all. “I’ll see what I can do.”