“You seem to have trouble staying on your feet,” Hawk said with a smile as his arms tightened. Before she could respond, a female voice rang out.

“Well, I guess you’re forgiven for your monumental rudeness in being so late.”

“You can . . . um . . . let me go now,” she said, her voice little more than a squeak.

“Oddly enough, I don’t want to,” he blurted out. His words made her head snap up in surprise. Nothing he seemed to say or do was consistent from one moment to the next.

“Dang, Hawk. Would you quit groping the girl and introduce us?” Natalie peered nervously upward, looking for the speaker. About ten people were looking down at her. How could she climb the steps onto the wraparound front porch without disgracing herself again?

Hawk slowly—reluctantly? She couldn’t be sure—released his hold on Natalie, only to place his arm behind her back. She refused to read anything into the gesture. It had to be his way of ensuring he wouldn’t have to catch her again if she tripped.

If she didn’t get some good boots, and soon, her ass would be grass. Correction. Her ass would be snowbound.

“Sorry I’m late, Mom. We had a little accident in town. This is Natalie Duncan, the new third-grade teacher. Natalie, my family. There are too many names for you to even try to remember them all,” Hawk said with a wink.

“As much as I love my son, I know his failings. Ignore him, dear,” a tiny woman said as she took Natalie from her son’s arms and rushed her inside. “What in the world are you wearing, my child?”

That was the question of the hour. Or maybe the last day and a half. “I . . . um . . . wasn’t prepared for the cold here.”

“I’m Maggie, Hawk’s mom, and I’ll get you introduced to the rest of the gang real soon. For now, we need to find you some better clothes. You must have ripped your pants in the accident, and those shoes just won’t do.” Maggie was talking so quickly that Natalie was having a hell of a time keeping up.

“I didn’t realize it was Thanksgiving, so I went looking for a place that sold boots . . .”

Maggie just stared at her as Natalie trailed off in embarrassment. Damn.

“Oh, darling,” Maggie exclaimed. “No one should forget Thanksgiving. You look about the same size as my daughter, Taylor. Let’s go raid her closet.” She took Natalie’s hand and dragged her up an extrawide staircase to a room with a large sign on it that said, ironically enough, Do Not Enter.

“What size shoe do you wear?”

“I’m a seven, but really, I can wait until tomorrow and go buy some appropriate apparel.”

Natalie’s protests were clearly falling on deaf ears—Maggie was already digging around in the closet.

“Aha! I knew you were about the same size. Here’s a brand-new pair of UGG boots, size seven,” she said triumphantly. “I bought them for her two years ago, but Taylor disdains any article of clothing without a Fox label on it. She races dirt bikes.”

Natalie’s mouth dropped wide open. “Your daughter races?”

“Yes, and she’s very good at it. This is the first Thanksgiving in years that she hasn’t been home. She made it to the finals. It breaks my heart, but I understand.” Maggie’s sudden sniffles belied her final words.

“Doesn’t that scare you?” Natalie asked.

“Oh, it can if I let it,” Maggie said, “but I’m very proud of my daughter. Her two brothers, on the other hand, are constantly preaching to her about how unsafe racing is. They don’t realize that the danger makes her that much more competitive. Someday they’ll learn, but I fear it won’t be anytime soon.” The woman kept pulling out clothing.

As the pile grew higher and higher on the bed, Natalie shifted on her feet. “I really shouldn’t just borrow her clothes without her permission.”

“Nonsense, darling. Taylor would want you to have them. You can wear what you want now, and then we’ll bag the rest of the things up for you before you leave.” And apparently the woman was just like her son, because she didn’t listen to any further protests, but instead just walked from the bedroom and shut the door behind her.

Natalie’s knees suddenly turned weak and she found herself sinking down onto the neatly made bed. She was so exhausted. But she couldn’t help looking around Taylor’s room. Pictures of dirt bikes and Fox racing gear lined the walls, and there was a floor-to-ceiling shelf with so many trophies on it that Natalie couldn’t count them all. Taylor was apparently really, really good at racing.

Knowing that if she went back downstairs without changing, there was a very good chance that Maggie would march her back up and dress Natalie herself, she picked out a nice pair of jeans and a thick sweatshirt.

When she slipped on the fur-lined boots, she had to admit her toes wiggled in warm appreciation. Okay, maybe the boots were worth the slight guilt she was suffering from taking clothes from a stranger’s closet. And they probably made up a little for the torture of feeling out of place, of knowing that she’d essentially barged in on this nice family.

Although she wasn’t happy about facing the crowd again, she couldn’t hide in this bedroom all night. So she took a deep breath and moved to the door.

She opened it, and then fell backward with a squeak. Hawk was standing right in front of her, and the smoldering embers leaping from his eyes sent a shiver of anticipation deep into her core.

Heat invaded her system, and she found herself wanting to find out exactly why that was.

chapter

5

Hawk stood in the doorway staring at Natalie and couldn’t move. At least she was now far more decently dressed for the cold Montana weather, but she might as well have been naked by the way he was gaping at her. He didn’t understand the hold this virtual stranger had over him.

This woman was messing with his head and causing him to feel emotions he couldn’t fathom—emotions more suited to a teenager than a grown man. He’d been with his share of females, and there had been nothing to elicit any real feeling at all beyond the simple exchange of physical pleasure. Not that there was anything wrong with that . . .

“You look better.” His curt tone made him shudder, but he couldn’t seem to do anything to stop it. She took a startled step backward, and he felt like a complete tool.

“Um . . . thank you,” she finally murmured, casting her eyes to the floor.

No. That wouldn’t do. He needed to look into her eyes, and he needed for her not to hide from him, though he didn’t know why. So he stepped forward and, placing a gentle finger under her chin, tilted her head up.

“Sorry. That came out wrong. I meant you look warmer,” he said, purposely making his voice softer. “We’ve really gotten off on the wrong foot. I’m not a bad guy. I’m just a bit . . . gruff sometimes.”

Her eyes widened at his words, but she quickly looked past him. Yeah, he wasn’t making the situation any better. He should take his hand away. And he would . . . in just a minute.

“All right,” he told her. “Let’s just scratch everything that’s happened from the moment we laid eyes on each other.” He finally removed his hand and took a step back so he could think properly. “My mother is an incredible cook. Let’s go have some dinner,” he said, offering his arm and waiting, afraid he might spook her if he moved any closer.

“That sounds nice,” she finally said, reluctantly accepting his arm.

As they descended the stairs, Hawk looked out to find every last person staring up at them, some of them with knowing grins on their faces.

“Ah, you look wonderful, Natalie,” Maggie said as she came up to them holding his niece close to her heart. “I hope you have a healthy appetite, because I’ve been cooking for two days straight. Well, okay, to be honest, I’ve been mostly directing this year as I can’t seem to put my granddaughter down.”

Natalie didn’t even get a chance to reply to Maggie because suddenly she was surrounded, everyone attending Thanksgiving dinner wanting to speak with her. That’s how his family and friends were. There was no such thing as strangers; everyone was simply a friend they hadn’t met yet.

When he sat down, Hawk found himself directly across from Natalie. “Where did you move here from?”

“I grew up in Southern California,” she answered after a beat.

“I guess it’s just a bit warmer there,” he said, giving her his most trustworthy smile. He knew he should just back off, but what his brain was telling him and what he was doing were two entirely different things.

“Yeah. It’s not like I’m stupid. It’s just that I wasn’t expecting quite this much . . . cold,” she said with a nervous laugh as she accepted the large bowl of potatoes passed to her and took a small scoop.

“I’ve done a lot of traveling, or I used to, at least. I’ve always enjoyed the beaches in California.” See, he could be friendly, have a normal conversation with this woman. He’d have patted himself on the back if he were able.

“I always thought it would be fun to travel. Maybe someday,” she said with a soft sigh that almost wasn’t noticeable.

“Where would be the first place you’d go?” He could see that she’d rather be left alone, but Hawk didn’t feel like doing that, so he just looked at her and waited as other conversations went on around them.

“I guess Europe. I’d love to go to Venice, but that’s stupid, really.”

“Why would that be stupid? It’s beautiful.”

“Because it’s not practical,” she replied.

“We don’t always do things because they’re practical, Natalie. We have to also live our lives and have some fun.”

“Some people have that privilege.”

The sudden sadness in her eyes made him want to know her story. And Hawk was determined to get that story despite the dangers it posed to his peace of mind.

His dad interrupted before he could ask Natalie anything else, and when he turned back to draw her into the conversation, Hawk found Natalie speaking with his brother. When Bryson made her laugh, Hawk felt a bizarre pang of jealousy. If he hadn’t known how much Bryson loved his wife, Hawk might have suffered a little more from the green-eyed monster.

But even as the thought crossed Hawk’s mind, his brother shifted in his chair and leaned into his wife to steal a kiss before turning back to Natalie. It was sweet. It was also a bit disgusting. Bryson, his own freaking brother, had changed so much since meeting Misty.

“Are you excited about the Christmas pageant, Natalie?”

Hawk saw the way Bethel was grinning. And the way Natalie blanched before her smile disappeared.

“What pageant?” she asked.

“You do know that you will be in charge of the school Christmas pageant? It’s a wonderful tradition here,” Bethel said matter-of-factly before taking a bite of her gravy-covered mashed potatoes.

“No one said anything about a pageant,” Natalie almost gasped, her fork clattering against her plate.

Eileen jumped in. “It’s so well organized that you won’t have any trouble at all.”

“I’ve never done anything like that before,” Natalie replied.

“Don’t worry, darling,” Maggie said, a reassuring smile on her face. “You’ll have Hawk to help you. He volunteers his time every year.”

Hawk’s eyes narrowed. These women were getting out of hand.

“I . . . uh . . . guess I’ll talk to the principal about it on Monday. She’d be much better off having one of the other teachers do it, one who’s been here longer than a day,” Natalie said with a nervous giggle.

“Nonsense, darling. You’ll do just fine.”

And just like that, the problem was solved, at least in the minds of the meddlers. Natalie sat there bewildered as the conversation turned to another topic. Hawk wasn’t content with the way things were going, and he watched Natalie squirm in her seat.

And then his mother glanced over at him with a sly smile. No, no, no, he wasn’t at all happy. Yes, he was attracted to this woman, but if the people of this town thought they could rope him into a relationship, they’d be sorely disappointed. But then his eyes wandered back over to Natalie, and suddenly the room disappeared as she looked up and their gazes collided.

Heat. Steam. Sex. No!

He reined his thoughts back in and focused on the good food before him. But as the night went on and his eyes continued to stray toward Natalie, he knew he was in trouble. Wary as he was, especially with the strong suspicion that his mother and her friends were up to no good, his body and a good part of his mind didn’t seem to be listening to him. He couldn’t turn away from this woman.