Page 87 of Filthy Love

She leaned in and brushed her lips to his cheek. “Thank you for waiting.”

He grunted a response.

“Caroline, this is my good friend Hawk. Hawk, my right arm and best assistant who I’ll miss terribly unless I can convince her to move to Colorado.”

Hawk shifted his gaze and nodded, otherwise that was the best kind of greeting her PA would get. Gia bit back a grin, he really was a socially inept creature and she adored him just how he was.

Call her jealous, but she didn’t want to see him smiling at another woman or being charming. She liked that he paid attention only to her.

After she’d said her goodbyes to Caroline and let her go, a knock on the waiting room doorjamb had both her and Hawk turning.

A growl from Hawk’s throat first alerted Gia to danger, assuming it was one of the Russian gentlemen back again.

But no. It was only Leo.

Tall, dark muddy, messy hair, wearing his rectangle black specs today and his tailored suit jacket open at the waist with light gray pants and an open necked white shirt. Leo Montague was a well put together man, funny in a dry wit kind of a way. A native of New Hampshire he’d moved to Austin several years ago with a girlfriend who sadly didn’t remain as such for very long and he’d set up his practice in the same building as Gia.

They’d become colleagues who lunched several times a week and discussed difficult cases.

It was Leo who bought Gia’s practice, taking on 60% of her clientele. There were five other therapists in their building and Leo was going to be the principal psychiatrist.

“Hey.” He grinned brushing a hand through his disordered hair that could be classed as well-fucked hair by the female population, unaware of the man at Gia’s side who was radiating cold thunder glaring at Leo stepping into her office. “I’m glad I caught you before you left.” Height wise he was about the same as Hawk, but whereas Hawk was wide in the shoulders and lean in the hips, Leo was the rangy kind of lanky.

“Hi. I was just heading out. What’s up?” She asked with a smile.

Leo’s eyes flickered toward Hawk and she watched his instant greeting falter. Was it a wonder when Hawk had a glare only a serial killer could appreciate “Hi,” he offered tentatively with his hand outstretched. Oh, boy, she thought. “I’m Leo, a friend and pain in Gia’s ass when I come calling for coffee every other day when I run out.”

“This is Hawk,” she input the introduction since the man himself was glowering like steel covered fury.

God, he was magnificent when he was jealous.

Unwarranted yet still delicious.

After a long thirty seconds of dead silence and Gia’s brain firing out so much lust for Hawk she put her hand on his arm to let him know he could stand down and not paint the walls with Leo’s blood.

The victim … eh, her colleague was looking perplexed probably never having received such cold dismissive treatment before and though it was against every bad manners lesson she received from her now deceased Yaya, there wasn’t a part of Gia that wanted to correct Hawk or to encourage him to behave a certain way.

“So…” Leo cleared his throat, rocking back on his heels, two hands slipped into his pants pockets. He was your typical hot geek. Or so Caroline liked to inform Gia most every day. Even Grace Kelly had chimed her opinion of why Gia wasn’t banging his brains out when he was young, free, rich and single. “How do you know our Gia?” Asked Leo placing his hand on her shoulder platonically. He was tactile, and she’d always been comfortable with him.

Hawk however, was not.

Was it possible to feel someone vibrate when you weren’t touching them? It was either the earth shaking underneath her Valentino pumps or Hawk truly was pulsating an angry sociopath soundwave from his gorgeous body.

“Oh, we go way back. He’s my brother’s best friend.” Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Gia found herself on the verge of laughing gleefully.

To get any reaction from Hawk was amazing.

To observe him posturing possessive tendencies with his great big chest inflating hard inhales because another guy happened to walk through her door, she was practically vibrating herself, but for a whole other reason.

That reason being she wanted to dry-hump all over him.

Hawk swerved his blond head towards her and she was branded by his eyes in an instant, washed all over by the possession he refused to put into words, but it was there, shining like the first snowfall. “Do you have your keys? I’ll drop your bags off in the car.”

She fished them out and their fingers brushed together. He clasped them for a second before sending Leo a stare worthy of death and he strode out carrying her things.

Oh my. Was she swooning? She felt like her legs were less steady.

“What the hell was that?” Leo chuckled and blew out a breath. “Did I kill that guy’s pet dog or something? I was sure he was about to punch me.”

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