How Beauty Met the Beast (12 page)

“Actually I do! I make them with bananas, eggs and almond flour. They’re really good!”

He nodded his head, trying to imagine that. “How about bacon and eggs?”

“I can do that, too.”

He followed her to the door, but she paused before exiting. She turned and caught her lip between her teeth, and he held back a sigh at the exquisite beauty of her in the morning light.

“When will I see you again? Before my next show, I hope?”

“We have a Yule party in two weeks. You could...” He trailed off.

“I could come if I’m recognized by The Thing? Brayden came with the doctor, and he said he’d start my campaign. He also said you’re welcome back to the Underlight as soon as you’re up and moving. He even apologized for being a dick. My opinion of him has mightily improved in the last ten hours.”

Hauk should have known Brayden would come through. He was quick to anger but usually saw reason once he’d calmed down. But that hadn’t been why Hauk had hesitated. “The Yule party, well, it’s actually called the Winter Ball. It’s a costume thing, and it’s th candd come ife one party every year we can invite anyone we want, even people who haven’t been formally recognized. Everybody gets a date.” Her eyes clouded ever so slightly, and he amended, “Friend-date. Not date-date. I wasn’t—”

“That would be wonderful.”

They looked at each other a moment, and there was so much more Hauk wanted to say. So much more he wanted to do. Take her hand. Touch her face.

Kiss her.

But he couldn’t do the thing that mattered most: promise her she would get past his scars and see him as a man. Because the hard truth was, most people wouldn’t.

And as Jolie could have any man she wanted, he saw no compelling reason for her t
o try.

“Breakfast?” she said, breaking his reverie. “I think we deserve Bloody Marys. You up for vodka at ten in the morning? I’ve got this great one distilled from potatoes.” She turned back toward the kitchen, her voice light as the sun streaming through her fifty-fifth story windows.

“Yup. I’m pretty much always up for a drink.”

“You are my kind of man.”

He could only wish.

Chapter Nine

Hauk smoothed the sleeves of his leather driving coat and stared at himself in the mirror. “Are you sure I shouldn’t go with a gas mask?” He was only half kidding.

Brayden chuckled and adjusted his own immaculate suit. “For the five thousandth time, she’s seen you. You slept in her condo. No, she slept next to you
in her bed
in her condo. She can handle you.”

“She hasn’t seen me in two weeks. The whole shock and adjustment period will start all over again. This has happened before.”

“I don’t think Jolie will do that. Much as it pains me to admit it, I was wrong. Benoit’s daughter is as solid as they come.”

“And you’re sure she didn’t say anything else about what happened during my blackout? What she told me at breakfast that morning seemed to be missing some pieces.”

“For the last time, I told you everything I know. You took out a bunch of mooks, climbed a statue, blew out a window, and the three of you ran for her car where you passed out, which is exactly what she told you.” He frowned. “Wait, I take that back.”

Hauk stopped futzing with his stupid tie that would not form a normal-looking knot. “What?”

“Apparently she, Whitney and that Travis-guy you asked us to check out had a helluva time getting your fat ass to the top floor of her building unnoticed.” Brayden snickered.

Hauk tried to frown but couldn’t. “You’re a dick. You know that, right?” He yanked the knot out and started again. “Wait, Jolie didn’t say I have a fat ass, right?”

“You sound like a girl. And no, she didn’t. That was my addendum. You get all huffy when I call it a cute ass—which is far more accurate, by the way—so I’m trying to refrain.”

The last thing Hauk remembered was throttling the gray-haired
theoros
. But instead of the typical nothingness of his blackouts, he’d dreamed of black walls with red eyes. And of Jolie, naked and vulnerable in his arms. The drive to protect her from those eyes, to keep fandd lie didnher safe, had overwhelmed him. And then the dream cut off into the usual blank passage of time.

He had it bad for that woman.

And she was in love with somebody else.

Two quick raps at his door preceded Catrina’s fluttering entrance. “Darlings, the party is in full swing, and the most beautiful girl in attendance is alone.”

Brayden winked at her. “I’ll be right with you.”

She slapped him playfully on the shoulder. “Aren’t you too much. You know whom I meant.” She shoved a half-full martini into Hauk’s hand. “Drink this if you need it, and let’s get a move on!” She did a double take. “After I fix your tie.” With swift movements, she made tying the damn knot look easy.

Hauk downed the gin in two gulps and gave his mangled appearance a final inspection with the improved tie. At least the old-fashioned suit fell perfectly across his shoulders, highlighting the shape he’d worked his ass off to recover. It was as good as he got.

“Top hat!” Catrina slapped the near-forgotten accessory on his head.

Hauk picked up a little wrapped package, and the three of them proceeded to the main hall.

Where it was snowing. “What the hell?” Hauk lifted a hand up in wonder at the white flakes swirling through the sky. They evaporated at his touch.

“Tally and LaRoche. Isn’t it fabulous?” Catrina gushed. “The beauty of snow without the damp. What will those brilliant little urchins think up next?”

Hauk smiled despite his nerves. “I’d heard they were working on something special for the party.” He wondered what Jolie thought of it and scanned the floor for her, hoping to see a smile. Her family had more money than Croesus. If she wanted snow, she probably hopped on a private jet and flew to Aspen. Or Switzerland. And while Hauk wouldn’t trade his life in the Underlight for all the riches of the world, he knew most people couldn’t see the beauty in a group that so thoroughly eschewed convention for conviction. The family he’d made down here were rare birds, and he loved them all the more for it.

He found Jolie by the Yule tree, eyes closed and chin tilted up. Pure joy lit her face, making her glow. To her beautiful red hair she’d added strands of sepia and black. Half of it was piled abstractly on her head, held in place by a black orchid set at a jaunty angle. The rest spilled down to her waist in thick and glorious waves. She wore barely any makeup, but her flawless, pale skin didn’t need it.

He had to admit, however, he had a difficult time staying focused on her face. He’d never been jealous of a dress before, but the silky, red Marilyn number caressed her figure like he’d dreamed about doing for two weeks. The neckline dipped just enough to grant a tantalizing hint of cleavage, and the modest hemline made his fingers itch to get beneath it. Even in sky-high red and black heels, she was more graceful and grounded than any woman he’d ever met, and seeing her again sent his heart stuttering.

Nut up, soldier. Now or never.
Hauk took a deep breath and headed across the room. “Holy hell, woman. How many heart attacks did you cause on your way here?”

Jolie grinned at him with no hint of shock or fear at his appearance, and he breathed a small sigh of relief. “I dunno. Can I include you in my total?”

He couldn’t help smiling back. “Abso-fuckin’-lutely.” He looked at his feet and back as k anl?a wave of jealousy passed through him. Every man she’d passed tonight had wanted her; he had no doubt about it. And stupid-ass Paul, the one man who could have her whenever he wanted, didn’t appreciate her. “So, the kinda-boyfriend let you out for the night?” Hauk knew he shouldn’t have said it but couldn’t help himself.

She shrugged. “Paul has a show. Poor man’s stuck with a cadre of adoring groupies. Such is the sad life of a wannabe rock star.” She looked around again, her smile growing. “Besides, I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see this again.”

The Underlight. He was glad she loved his home, but it hurt to hear the location was her real reason for coming. That it had nothing to do with—

“And I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see you.”

His eyes jerked back to hers, trying to discern if she’d realized her mistake and was taking pity on him or if she meant it.

“Look at you, blue eyes deep as the cold ocean.” She put a delicate hand on his jacket front and looked up at him, her own eyes sparking intently. “We’ll continue to see each other, right? I’d really like to stay friends.”

The light emphasis on “friends” wasn’t unexpected, and he couldn’t decide if he was more disheartened by the slight rejection—she had to know how he felt about her—or elated that she wanted to keep him around at all. But she was being honest with him, and that went a long way in his esteem. Friends they would be. He could control his hormones.

He took her bare hand in his gloved one and bowed over it. “I would like that very much.” When he straightened up he presented her with the little package.

“What’s this?”

He shrugged as nonchalantly as he could. “Oh, just something I cobbled together.” Or spent two weeks meticulously crafting, to the howling delight of Brayden.

“I didn’t bring anything for you. I didn’t know this was a present sort of occasion...” But she took the package and ran a gold-painted nail around the hemp bow.

“It isn’t. I just... I mean, I didn’t think you would bring me something. I just had some spare time, and...”

The box opened and she caught her breath; Hauk shut up to watch. With careful fingers she pulled out the palm-sized ornament. “It’s my car!” she practically squealed. “Oh my God! You
made
this?”

He shrugged again, trying to stay casual, but her glee as she rotated the tires and admired his metalwork from every angle exceeded his hopes.

When she smiled at him again, eyes shining with admiration, he knew he would take on any pain, any struggle, any ordeal to have her look at him like that again.

Damn, he had it bad.

“So when are you coming over so I can hang it up?” Her smile turned coy. “You may remember I don’t hang ornaments up by myself.”

Oh, he’d remembered, with every pass of his torch and beat of his hammer. “Schedules around here are pretty free-form. I can come over whenever you’d like.”

“Tuesday? Lunch? But no pizza, ’cause that’ll be a good day. New York strip and a salad? You strike me as a steak kinda guy.”

“Absolutely perfect.”

Music began, an old waltz on new instruments, and couples took to the floor, spinning through the sn khro

He raised his hands in self-defense. “Oh...I’ve seen you dance. I barely know the steps.”

“But you know them? At all?” She looked impressed.

“Uh, yeah. Tally made me learn to waltz before she’d give me my teletext.” It had been the first time a female, other than a nurse or his mother, had touched him. He’d held out for four months before finally giving in and letting a girl hold his gloved hand and touch his leather-and cloth-covered shoulder. And she’d been so sweet the whole time, not mentioning a thing but steps and turning. Then she’d gone back to her boyfriend in the lab to work on their next project, and the next day a teletext had arrived in his room.

He’d make Tally any metal pieces she needed for the rest of his life.

Jolie hung his present on the tree and squeezed her hands in supplication. “It’ll be safe there until I leave. Now, please! Please dance with me. You know I love dancing.” Green eyes begged him from under those long lashes.

There was no turning that down. “Jolie Benoit, may I have the honor of this waltz?” He would hold her in his arms and try not to step all over her feet.

She looped her hand through the crook of his elbow. “Why, Wesley Haukon, I thought you’d never ask.”

He stilled. She’d just used his first name. He’d only told her that when they first met across a sheet in a sexual encounter she hadn’t yet acknowledged.

A light blush feathered her cheeks as the realization hit her, too. She brazened it out though, arching an eyebrow as she tugged him toward the dance floor. “One can only hope you waltz as divinely as you do
other things
.”

His mouth went dry and his pulse hammered in his ears as he pulled her close to him and they took their first step. “I fear dancing is not my strength. I’m better in a clutch situation.”

She laughed.

“You know, like fighting for our lives. Or
other things
which might come to mind.”

Her eyes sparkled. “Mm-hmm.”

“But I’ll do my best to get through the steps.”

She shook her head and placed it against his shoulder, her cheek at his chest. He held a breath at the unaccustomed contact, but as she relaxed, so did he. The music swelled, and he held her tightly, loving the press of her perfect body, the sharpness of her mind and the bravery in her soul.

The mythical snow of the Underlight fell around them, the candlelight from the Yule tree glowed against their skin, and on the year’s longest night, Hauk let the light of hope be reborn.

* * * * *