Page 84 of Eagle

“Would either of you like a piece of cake now?” his aunt called out from the kitchen.

“No thank you,” we both said in unison.

Eagle spun me around and reached up to take a handful of hair. He pulled my head back and our eyes clashed. “I’m going to eat you for dessert,” he growled low. His kiss was rough and full of hunger, and it was over way too fast.

My heart was racing. “I’d like that, Max.”

His pupils exploded, and he slammed his mouth down on mine with a grunt. It was a wonder that I didn’t drop the glasses I was holding as our mouths worked hungrily against each other. A sound indicated that Aunt May was returning, but Eagle didn’t let me go fast enough.

“Oh-well, I, guess I should have knocked,” she joked, halting in the doorway. Her eyes moved back and forth between us before settling on Eagle. “Do you want to use your old bedroom upstairs?” She took the glasses and basket from me.

I knew in that moment that I liked his aunt. She was kidding, but I liked her sense of humor. I guessed her to be somewhere in her mid-sixties, and I’d noticed early on that her hazel eyes always had a sparkle in them.

“What would you do if I said yes?”

She elbowed him playfully in the arm while she was turning to go back into the kitchen. Then her voice carried out to us, “Will you take Coco for a walk so I can have some alone time with your girl? I want to get to know her.”

He didn’t hesitate. “Sure. I’ll take her around the block, terrorize a few of your neighbors.”

“You do that well enough on your own!” she called back.

He gave me a kiss on the nose. “Be right back.”

Once he was gone, I found myself in the living room with Aunt May, sitting on the sofa while she sat down in the matching armchair.

She got right to the point. “Just what are your plans for Max?”

I schooled my surprise, but only because I sensed that she was looking out for Eagle and not just being nosy. I knew that if I wanted to win her over, I would need to be honest with her. “I like Max. I like him a lot, Aunt May. I’m not playing games with his feelings. He’s different from anyone I’ve ever known, and he makes me feel things I—” I couldn’t finish my sentence. It was too soon, too personal to confess my feelings for him.

But she was not finished with her direct questions. “Do you love him, dear?”

Did I love him? I thought about it for a minute. How did you know when you loved someone? I wasn’t even sure what love felt like. Oh, I knew what it felt like to love my parents, and Ron. And when I was younger, I’d thought I loved every boy with whom I’d been involved. But with Eagle, it was different. We weren’t in school and studying together. We weren’t dating like regular couples. All I knew for sure was that I liked being with him and I wanted to know him better. I liked his protectiveness, even if it bordered on possessiveness. I liked that he liked spending time with me. I especially liked that it wasn’t just all about the sex.

Realizing that Aunt May was quietly waiting for my response, I said, “I think I’m close.”

Her smile turned brighter. “Good.” She seemed almost relieved. “I’m glad to hear that. When Max talks about you, I can tell he’s close, too.”

What?! My heart skipped a beat. Was this just hopefulness on her part, or mine? If anyone knew Eagle, it was her. When had he talked to her about me?

“I’ve wanted that boy to find someone for a long time, to find the kind of happiness I had with his uncle.”

Eagle had never mentioned his uncle to me.

“I know he loves his club and his brothers, but that’s not what he goes home to at the end of the day. I want to see him settled down with a family.” She glanced away and got lost in her thoughts for a moment. “I thought he’d found it once.”

“With Mandy?”

Her casual smile turned into a grimace. “You know about her?” I nodded. “She’s the only other woman Max has brought here. I knew the minute she walked through my door that she wouldn’t be good for him. Coco knew it, too.” She shook her head. “Animals sense things like that.”

I returned her smile. “Can you share some things about a younger Max?”

She sat back in her chair and sighed. “His mother was much younger than me, so we weren’t close. Course, that didn’t mean that I didn’t love her. She married her high school sweetheart.” She paused for a moment. “Gosh, that was so long ago. His name was Scotty Roker. He was as handsome as she was beautiful. They had Max less than a year after they met, but Scotty wasn’t cut out to be a father. Although he did try. He left when Max was two, and never came back.”

“That’s so sad,” I murmured, imagining a little boy growing up without his dad. She nodded in agreement. “Do you know what happened to him?”

“No. His family moved out of town a couple of years later, so there was no way to keep track. Karen didn’t want to anyways.”

“Max told me his mother died of cancer when he was young.”

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