Tuesday (Timeless Series #2) by E. L. Todd Page B

his shit for so long, she deserves something nice.” He smiled at the end of his joke.
    I smiled too. “She does.”
    He eyed his watch and cleared his throat. “Well, I need to be somewhere…”
    I knew he was lying. When he walked past me, my hand moved to the crook of his arm.
    It was the first time we touched in years.
    He halted in his tracks and turned his head my way. His eyes took me in like they always did, absorbing my words, movements, and breathing all at the same time.
    “You’re a good person, Hawke. I hope you realize that someday.”
    He held my gaze without blinking. His blue eyes thawed from the ice that had frozen over. I saw the man I formerly knew, the vulnerable person under that rough exterior. Just for an instant, we were frozen in time, but a time different than reality. It was two years ago, and that connection between us burned like a raging forest fire. He couldn’t hide from me, and I couldn’t hide from him.
    And then, instantly, it was gone.
    Hawke stepped away, his arm out of my grasp. Once our touch ceased, the coldness took him all over again. His back grew rigid, and a hundred walls replaced the dozen walls he previously erected. He was shutting out the world. He was shutting out everyone.
    Including me.

Drift
    Hawke
    Axel burst into my office door without knocking. My secretary didn’t bother stopping him anymore. Nothing she said or did could get him to obey. He was like an out of control puppy that was too old to train. “Dude, what the hell?”
    I closed out of my email. “Sorry?”
    “Marie said you bought her wedding dress.”
    “Yeah. Your point?”
    He dropped in the chair facing my desk. “My point? It was twenty-two thousand dollars. What the hell were you thinking?”
    “That your fiancée had fallen in love with the dress and she should have it. You were the one who sent me out to tell you how hot she looked in it. I was just doing my job.”
    “But she would look hot in anything. She doesn’t need an overpriced dress.”
    I shrugged. “She wanted it, man.”
    “You didn’t have to do that.”
    “I know, Axel. I wanted to.”
    He scratched the back of his neck as he often did when he was uncomfortable. “At least let me pay you the ten thousand we were going to spend anyway. That’s fair. You shouldn’t pay for the whole thing.”
    “It was a gift. Swallow your pride and just accept it.”
    “It’s not about pride,” he argued. “I just don’t think that’s fair. Let me pay for half of it.”
    “Why are you being a girl right now?” I spun a pen through my fingertips.
    “I’m not.”
    “Then let’s just move on. I wouldn’t have offered if I didn’t want to do it.”
    Axel scratched the back of his neck again, speechless.
    I was glad the argument had been settled. “So, I was thinking we would go to Vegas for your bachelor party. What do you think?”
    Axel shrugged. “I don’t know…it’s just a bunch of gambling and strippers.”
    “Isn’t that a good thing?” I raised an eyebrow.
    “I’m not interested in the strippers.”
    An unexpected smile stretched my face. “Wow…she really whipped you into shape, huh?”
    “She didn’t forbid me,” he said defensively. “It just feels weird, you know? We already feel married. It’d be like I was cheating on her or something.”
    I wasn’t going to push it on him if he didn’t want it. I wasn’t interested in seeing a bunch of strippers either. Every night of my life felt like a bachelor party. It was hollow and empty, and no matter how many times I washed my clothes, I smelled like booze and sex. “Do you have something else in mind?”
    “How about a Yankee game?”
    That was pretty damn lame. “We can do that any other time.”
    “Well, it’s convenient for everyone. And cheap.”
    I would have to take the reins on this one. “I’ll figure it out and let you know.”
    “No strippers, Hawke. I mean it.”
    “I understand.” When Francesca and I were together, I