“You need to come in. The chopper will be at your place in ten minutes.”
“But Sir, you gave me two weeks off.” He ran a hand over his face, cursing inwardly at his run of bad luck.
“Leave cancelled. Come in now.” The phone went dead in his hand. Cass stirred beside him.
“Hmmm, who is that?” She rolled over and opened her eyes. “What’s wrong, babe?”
“I have to go. I’m sorry, Cass.”
She sat up in bed, the sheet falling to expose the naked body he had worshiped all night long. He looked away, the temptation to touch her still strong.
“But…”
“I know. I’m sorry but this is what my life is like.” He slid out of bed and hurried to the dressing room beside the bathroom. He pulled out a black t-shirt and black cargo pants, pulling them on as he hopped back to the bedroom. She sat up in bed, a blank look on her face.
“I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”
She blinked and looked at him, her eyes devoid of emotion.
“You can stay here until I get back. If you want to use the truck the keys are in it, and you know the code for the gates. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
The thwap thwap of the chopper broke through the still night air. He glanced out the window and reached for his phone, then opened the drawer of his nightstand. His pistol lay on top of a set of keys. He scooped them both up, pushing the pistol into the waistband of his pants and dropping the keys into a pocket.
Hawk walked around to Cass’s side of the bed and leaned down. “I’m really sorry, Cass but this is what it’ll be like. Take care and know that I love you. I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay?” He kissed her slowly, savoring the taste of her mouth against his. “I don’t want to lose you. I can’t bear the thought of this coming between us.” He stood and looked down on her one more time before walking out of the room and running down the stairs.
Outside the chopper waited on the helipad near the back of the house. He ducked and ran toward it. The door opened and Jasper held out a hand. “Sorry, to ruin the lead up to your honeymoon, Boss. We have a major problem.”
Hawk scrambled in and strapped himself into a seat while the chopper rose in the air above his house flattening the palm fronds and scattering sand over the dunes. He wondered if he’d lost his chance of happiness with Cass for bailing on her once again.
* * *
Tears filled her eyes as she listened to the chopper leave with Hawk. She couldn’t do this, it was too hard. Better to make the decision now and move on. At least it would only hurt for a little while. If they got married and she couldn’t deal with it, a divorce would just about kill her.
Bad choice of words. That was another hurdle she would have had to cross if she’d made the decision to stay with him. Sleeping with a killer was disconcerting. Sure he was the same Hawk she’d grown up with but somewhere along the line he’d changed and become someone she didn’t understand. Soldiers killed in the line of duty, any fool knew that but to become an army hit man—a mercenary—didn’t sit well with her.
Tears rolled down her cheeks and she turned her face into the pillow, letting the sobs ease her pain.
When Cass woke again, the sun filtered through the sheer curtains blowing gently in the breeze. She looked at Hawk’s side of the bed hoping last night was a bad dream. He was gone and she was alone with the indentation in the pillow where he’d laid his head and the smell his woodsy cologne on the sheets.
Pain ripped through her chest, stealing the breath from her lungs. It had been so good to have him back again. She couldn’t keep doing this. Watching him leave was too damned hard to bear. The decision already made, Cass rolled out of bed and pattered over to the huge shower she’d shared with him yesterday. Hitting the control panel, she watched the sheet of water fall from the ceiling before she stepped under the spray.
Her body was sensitive in spots after yesterday. Apart from making love on the beach in the dunes, they’d repeated it in the shower and then again in bed. She couldn’t get enough of him and now that particular drug called lust would be extinguished before giving it full flight. Tears streamed down her face as she washed.
Finished, Cass grabbed a towel and dried herself off before finding her bag and putting on clean clothes. She may as well go back to work. There was no point waiting for him to return, it would just make life harder the next time he went away.
May as well make the cut quick and clean.
She searched the bedroom for pen and paper and wrote him a note, leaving it on his pillow. With a sigh, she closed the door behind her and walked down the steps on heavy feet to the four-wheel-drive.
The keys were in it as he’d promised and she threw her bag in the back before climbing in. Reversing out, she peered out of the window at the house one last time before heading down the driveway. The gate opened when she punched in the code and then Cass was on the track heading down to the beach she loved. They’d walked this shoreline together, made love in the dunes. How would she ever get over that? Life couldn’t get any better than the last couple of days. Needing the connection for another moment, she parked the vehicle and got out, her feet sinking into the white sand.
Cass walked down to the shoreline and picked up a shell before looking out to the ocean. Stay safe, Hawk.
