At least.
I didn’t have that.
Instead I’d grabbed a pair of mocha, roll top yoga pants, a cream, ultra slim fit camisole and my lightweight, close-fit, zip up hoodie with the super awesome stitching and it was, what I thought at the time, the mega-awesome color of a pastel, neon orangy-peach.
Now I was thinking it looked ridiculous.
Seeing as it was Sunday morning and normal folk didn’t dress to the nines with full on makeup for a surprise, family breakfast visit, I didn’t do makeup. But I did spritz with perfume.
I sucked in breath. I couldn’t be up there ages and I couldn’t escape this.
Welp! What will be, will be.
I exited the bathroom and headed to the stairs, hearing children screaming over a low murmuring of adult voices.
I looked right as I walked down the stairs and I saw a gorgeous, older woman at the stove, bacon in the skillet, its scent filling the air and her head was turned to me. Two Hawk-looking, also gorgeous, tall, lean men sitting identically at stools, long upper thighs splayed manly wide, feet to the rung and their heads turned to me. Another, older, Hawk-looking, handsome, tall, lean man standing at the opposite end of the counter, his eyes on me. Hawk, with his back to me, leaning his hip against the end of the horseshoe, his neck twisted so he could look at me. And lastly, two black-haired kids, both boys, ages indeterminate but I was guessing somewhere in the area of two and six, racing through the vast space and not knowing I existed.
“Hey,” I called five steps from the bottom (yes, I was counting, I had five steps to go without falling on my face).
“Hey,” one of the men at the stool replied, grinning, no dimples but his brother at the other stool was also grinning and he had dimples. So did the older man.
I walked across the space which was a long way normally, an epic journey with Hawk’s family’s eyes following me.
I didn’t know where to head so my feet took over and led me to Hawk. I stopped at his side and no one had looked away. Not one of them.
Yikes.
Then Hawk’s arm slid along my shoulders, he curled me as he turned me so my front was pressed into his side, close, too close and I looked up as I prepared to gain distance, only to see his eyes warm on me.
“You good?” he asked softly.
No. One could not say I was good. One could say I was freaking out.
I nodded my lie.
“You want coffee?”
“Coffee would be good,” I whispered and started to pull away but Hawk’s arm tensed and his head lifted and turned toward his mother.
“Ma, could you get Gwen a coffee?”
My body jolted and my head whipped toward her. “I can get it.”
Then I stilled.
Something was wrong. Not just wrong, very wrong. And it was the look on Hawk’s mother’s face that was wrong. There was sadness there and I didn’t know her, I’d been in her presence less than a minute but that sadness touched my soul.
“Maria, honey, Cabe’s girl needs coffee,” the older man prompted quietly, Hawk’s mother’s body jerked and then she swept that sadness clean away.
Um. What the f**k was that?
“Right, of course, Gwen?” she said, hurrying to me. “I’m Maria. Cabe’s mother.”
She extended her hand and I took it even though Hawk didn’t let me go so I could do this. Her fingers curled around mine and she looked up at me from her petite height as I smiled down at her thinking, no wonder Hawk was hot, she wasn’t a spring chicken but she was still a complete knockout.
Her hand squeezed, mine squeezed back, she smiled a small smile, let me go and moved away.
Hmm. Not sure how that went.