Page 11 of Out of Reach
“You were eavesdropping?” Hawk asked, turning to look at Jude, his dark hair whipping into his eyes.
“Didn’t have to—Jase was yelling loud enough for me to hear him in my room.”
Hawk sighed. “Yeah, he was pretty pissed.”
“Why didn’t you tell them you know me?” Jude asked the question he’d been wondering all night.
Hawk glanced at him, blue eyes sharp and clear. “Because I wanted to make sure you were safe.”
Jude stared at his feet, wiggling his toes in the sand. “Why do you even care?”
“What the hell kind of question is that?” Hawk demanded. “You really think I don’t give a fuck about you?”
Jude shook his head. “No. But that was a long time ago.”
Hawk sighed, and when he took his piercing gaze off Jude, Jude felt his muscles relax. He wasn’t afraid of Hawk but being under that man’s scrutiny lit him up in ways he’d never felt with any other man. He’d been surprised he still felt it. Over the years, he’d convinced himself he must have dreamed it had been that way. Hawk was intense, and Jude responded. Always.
“Hawk, get over here and help us!” Andi called out from where she stood with a few of Hawk’s other coworkers at the barbecue pit. She was a large woman, muscular and tattooed. Jude had met her a little while ago, along with her wife, Tara, a small brunette who did not work for Falcon Security. They seemed to be a close-knit group. As Hawk hoisted himself up off the sand, Jude started to follow, but Hawk told him to sit back down and relax.
Jude watched him stride across the sand, calf muscles clenching, his tight ass rocking under tan swim trunks—dredging up memories that Jude had buried long ago. Not for the first or the hundredth time, he thought he’d give anything to feel Hawk’s arms around him again.
Turning away, Jude focused again on the waves lapping over the shore. The beach was a welcome respite from the city—particularly the part of New York that Jude had been living in the past few months. He was excited to be flying back the following day, but he couldn’t help but wish he had a couple more days in Redding.
“Mind if I sit here?”
Jude looked up at the young, slim man in gray swim trunks and a Led Zepplin T-shirt, his brown hair doing acrobatics in the wind.
“Of course not,” Jude said. “Sorry, have we met?”
“No. I’m Dex.” Flashing a boyish grin, he plopped down next to Jude on the sand. “I’ve been holed up in my office working on something the past couple of days.”
“Oh, you’re the tech guy. The one who’s going to go through my computer,” Jude said. “I apologize now for the waste of time. There isn’t much on it except for some stuff I was writing about my experiences in the modeling business.”
“You think Prescott could be afraid you’re going to spill some of his secrets?” Dex asked. His eyes were brown—or maybe hazel, surrounded by long, dark lashes. He was a good-looking guy in an innocent, clerical type of way. And judging by the dangerous-looking Asian man who was watching him from the other side of the fire pit—another person Jude had yet to meet—he had an admirer.
“I doubt it. He never talked about business when I was around.”
Dex nodded, and they sat in companionable silence for a moment before Dex said, “So, you and Hawk, huh?”
“A long time ago.”
“How long?”
“About four years.”
“Huh. That’s interesting.”
“How so?”
Dex chuckled. “Imagining Hawk in a relationship is difficult. I don’t know why. I mean, I guess it’s just that he’s always all about work. I never see him going out and having fun. But I haven’t been working here long, so what do I know? Were you guys together a long time?”
“Three years.”
“Wow.”
Jude nodded.
“You’re a lot younger than he is, aren’t you?”