Free Alaskan Heat by Pam Champagne

cat’s tooth. “Tell me something I don’t know. If you don’t want to talk about your friends,” she said, giving him a big smile, “we could always talk about us.”
    He jackknifed from his slumped position in the seat. “Us? What about us?”
    Sophie tapped her finger on the horn. “You know…our relationship.” Was it her imagination or were those beads of sweat forming on Hawk’s brow? If it hadn’t been so sad, she’d have laughed. Amazing how men reacted to the word relationship. Cripes. She was acting like a star struck teenager. Was she hoping after a few nights in her arms Hawk would fall madly in love with her? The sooner she accepted the man didn’t believe in love, the sooner she’d be able to drag herself out of her fantasy and get on with her life. He threw himself whole-heartedly into sex while guarding his heart like it was the Hope Diamond.
    Hawk started cracking his knuckles. Something she’d not seen him do before. She’d really hotwired his nerves. He cleared his throat. “I’m not ready to have this conversation. After I take care of Bob and Jack, then…well, we’ll talk.”
    Sophie latched onto those words faster than an alligator would snatch a stray cat. Frightened to make more of it than it was, she let it slide.
    “I met Dan and Maria about ten years ago. We went through the academy together.”
    He gave her a quick look, and when she raised her eyebrows, he continued. “We hit it off. Became buddies.”
    He visibly relaxed. Tension drained from his face as he shared his friends. “I was a wreck when they got married. Thought that’d be the end of the friendship, but I was wrong. They’ve always treated me like part of the family.”
    Sophie knew how important the feeling of family must be to Hawk. It was also a reason to fear love and commitment. She came out of her musings just in time to hear him say, “Dan and Maria are the only two people I’d trust with my life.”
    Whoa! She’d hoped by now Hawk had at least some faith in her. Her instincts were as bad as her bravery.
    “Anything else you want to know?”
    “Why’d they leave the Bureau?”
    “Burn out. Saw too much action. They both loved the AK, so it made sense that’s where they’d head. I don’t talk them as much as I used to, but I got the impression making a living up there isn’t easy.”
    “Do they work?”
    “Maria’s a freelance writer for nature magazines. Last I heard Dan had formed an Internet company to design websites and whatever else computer geeks do. It’ll be great to see them.”
    Sophie took a deep breath, hoping her next question wouldn’t rile Hawk. “I’m curious. Exactly what do you think they can do to help? Especially since we know Bob and Jack probably know your destination.”
    The silence stretched on, but Sophie was patient. She’d learned Hawk sometimes gave considerable thought to his answers.
    “I planned to ask them for a safe haven and their help while I cleared my name. Ask them to come out of retirement. I thought they might still have clout with higher ups in the Bureau. Now it’s all changed. The last thing I want to do is bring trouble to their door, but I trust they can handle it. I’m confident they’ll help me when Blair and Reed show up. Once those two bastards are in custody, I’ll turn myself in.”
    Unable to keep it down, Sophie burst into laughter. “I’ve never seen anyone lie so smoothly and without a hint of guilt.”
    He pressed his hands over his heart. “You wound me.”
    “You’re still planning your own form of vengeance. Then you’ll be wanted for another crime. Is that what you want?”

    Leave it to Sophie to stick a pin in a festering boil. He swallowed and forced his answer by a lump the size of a tennis ball. “Don’t worry about me.” Hawk reclined on the headrest and attempted to sleep. A whirlpool in his head tossed around her words. When had he become more intent on settling scores than letting justice prevail? He