She hugged the scarf. “Hawk. I love it, thank you.”
He took it and settled it onto her shoulders, brushing a hair away from her face in the process.
“Merry Christmas, Ella. Thank you for coming to help me today.”
“I wouldn’t have wanted to be anywhere else,” she said. It was true. No matter what Stina threatened, she was glad she’d chosen this.
Her heart skipped a beat as he inclined in, right there in the hospital waiting room, and pressed a tender kiss to her mouth. The kiss spun and coiled through her, zinging all the way to her toes.
When she lifted her lids, it was like seeing everything for the first time. The blue of Hawk’s eyes, the flash of delight on his lips, the possessive gleam that spoke of desire, that implied how much he wished they weren’t in a public waiting room at that moment but back in his office with only each other. And how badly she wished for that too.
“I’ll see you tomorrow night?” he said.
She cleared her throat. She had to kick her brain back into gear. Ice skating. With Hawk. “I—yes. I can’t wait.”
She needed a nap in the worst way, but she wasn’t sure the adrenaline charging through her blood from that kiss would let her sleep now. A nice long nap, work the next morning, and then she’d be seeing him again.
Hard as she tried to ease it, an apprehensive feeling still hovered over her. She still hadn’t told him who she really was. What would he do once he found out she was on his custodial staff?
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
The day after Christmas and already it was back to business as usual. Everything seemed to be in line for the production and manufacturing of commercial-sized bags. Hawk had worried the candy would lose its homemade quality, being packaged differently and in larger quantities, but his team assured him it wouldn’t make a difference.
The bag on his desk was proof of that. The divinity was still as divine, and his mouth watered with satisfaction. Reassurance shone at this decision. It wouldn’t destroy the ma and pa feel of his stores after all, and having commercial candy available only increased interest in people coming to the actual, original sites.
His financial advisor predicted it would double the profits. Hawk was trying to determine the best use for those funds, and his thoughts were turning again and again to the hospital.
He thought of the children. Jarom, Laura, Harrison. Their sunny, eager gazes, the squeezable excitement in their cheeks. Their jokes, their smiles, the magic in their laughter. Those kids deserved help. Cures, college funds. He wanted to sponsor them somehow.
His excitement began building. Even backing research foundations to help with curing their various ailments might be satisfying enough, but he wanted something personal as well.
The intercom on his office phone droned, interrupting his musing.
“Yeah?” Hawk said.
“Sorry to bother you, sir,” Clary said. Her wary tone struck him. He stopped rocking in his chair. “I just received a call from security and they have something they think you should see.”
Concern drew his forehead down, but he pressed the button to respond. “I’ll be right there.”
Hawk signaled for Clary to join him. Together, they hurried with troubled anticipation to the surveillance room on the third floor. Scenario after scenario shuffled through his mind as to what the threat might entail. A bomb scare?
After a steadying glance from his assistant, Hawk buttoned his jacket and entered. Several guards Hawk recognized stood in response. Ethan’s bald head shone beneath the dim light of the small room. He shook first Clary’s hand, then Hawk’s, before indicating the top left screen.
“We thought you should see this. Remember the theft that was reported?”
Suspicion made way for certainty. Hawk’s attention zeroed in. “You caught someone on camera?”
“Turns out the paper, ink cartridges, and tablets that went missing? The culprit struck again. This was captured Christmas Eve.”
A brunette woman in a jumpsuit peered over her shoulder before shuffling past and stuffing things into her purse.
Hawk leaned in, unable to believe it. He’d seen that purse during a too-long stint in an elevator. It was dark purple, with a roped handle and several buckles. It looked just like—
“Who is this?” he asked, crouching in closer. “Can you zoom in?”
“We’re trying, sir,” Ethan said. “It looks like someone on the custodial staff. See the uniform she’s wearing?”
“Custodial?” He’d suspected as much, which was why he’d sent the notification to Stina Malus a few days ago.
That wasn’t what bothered him, though. With that one word, the confusion, the intrigue, the mystery of the woman he’d danced with Christmas Eve began to wither away in place of clarity. No wonder he hadn’t found Ella when he’d searched out his staff. Custodial was hired out by a completely different company, but they’d each received an invitation as well.
A flashback struck him. The woman in the hall that day had seemed familiar, but she’d ducked behind the garbage can and had kept her face away so he didn’t get a good look. He hadn’t wanted to linger or seem awkward, so he’d kept going, but he thought it’d been Ella.
The woman from the elevator. Ella Embers.
No wonder she claimed she didn’t work for him. It was because she didn’t. Malus Custodial Management was a separate company.
“What would you like to do?” Ethan asked.
Hawk paced away on an exhale and rubbed frustration from his forehead. He couldn’t let emotion cloud his judgment. Not when decisions needed to be made.
“Did you find the missing supplies?” he asked.
“No. It’s one reason we haven’t taken any action yet.”
Finding the supplies would give them just cause for an interrogation. But wasn’t the video feed proof enough now?
“What are the parameters for searching lockers?”
Ethan and the other guard swapped glances. “If you have cause, then we can conduct a search,
