also taken off all his clothes before climbing into the bed of the truck. It wasn’t the first time they’d camped out this way. Hawk always made sure they were parked in the middle of nowhere so they would hear if someone came up on them.
Which reminded her. She sat up and looked around. “Where are we?” He hadn’t driven that far out of town, which meant they were near Bookman Springs.
“We’re at the old Spellman Farm, east of town.” He stroked her arm. “You probably never met them. I think they were gone from Bookman before you arrived.”
There were no stars out yet, and there were no streetlights, so all she could see were trees. She got up on her knees and looked around. Not too far from where they were parked she could see the outline of a house, a one-story ranch. She imagined it had been deserted for a while and was probably overrun with snakes, and mice.
“How long have they been gone?” she asked. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She hoped he didn’t plan on staying here overnight without a blanket. It was too chilly for that.
“It was a family, husband and wife with three kids. The kids are probably in their thirties right now. I have no idea where they live, but the parents live in Amarillo.” There was a pause before he said, “They are looking to sell this property.”
Oh, she was pretty sure she knew where he was going with this, and it wasn’t a conversation she wanted to have. Ever.
Different ideas about how she could deflect the subject passed through her mind when Hawk said, “Did something happen at the shop today?”
She jerked her head toward him and said, “Huh?”
“You seem off.” He was on his back, one arm behind his head as he stared at her. “I just thought maybe something happened to upset you.”
Now she wanted to go back to the idea where she thought he was going to talk about buying a house and living together, because she was pretty sure that’s where the conversation was heading before.
“Nothing’s wrong,” she said.
“You’re such a bad liar.” He sat up and put his arm around her. “I’m not sure why you don’t trust me.”
“I do!” She held her arms out as if to indicate everything around them. “I just wore a butt plug to your family home for dinner, and let you fuck me outside not really knowing where we are. If that’s not trust I’m not sure what is.”
“It’s not the same thing, and you know it.” He moved his arms away from her, and she felt their loss inside her. She should tell him about Mrs. Dobbs visiting, about her accusation of theft. Why didn’t she? It wasn’t as if she were guilty.
“I would hope you’d trust me in every part of your life,” he said.
“I do.” Even to her the words rang flat. She wasn’t sure what to say next. Was she so transparent? “It was just a very busy day at work. I’m stressed over the cake tasting on Friday. I’m not sure I have nine cake recipes that can be used for a wedding.”
“Is that what you promised them?”
“Yes.”
“Then tell Holt you’re not sure about it,” Hawk said. “How many do you think you can make?”
“Seven.” She hoped this would be a nice smokescreen for her actual problem. She really didn’t want him to know about Mrs. Dobbs. Surely Grant would tell his mother the truth now that Jessica had outed him as a liar. Or she hoped he would.
“Okay.”
Crap, she could tell by the tone of Hawk’s voice that he didn’t really believe her. He lay back down and she positioned herself next to him, once more spooning against his body. He didn’t bring it back up, and neither did she. But it was a wedge between them, one she would have to smooth out at some point. She just didn’t know when.
Chapter 4
By the time Thursday rolled around, and Mrs. Dobbs had not appeared again, Jessica felt certain that Grant had told her the truth and her lover’s mother realized her son was not only a liar but a thief. It made Jessica laugh inside, but it also made her realize she’d been wrong in not telling Hawk about Mrs. Dobbs’ visit. She planned to rectify that situation tonight.
He’d been out of town since their night at the Spellman Farm. There had been a meth