Hawk's Way: Rebels Read Online Free PDF Page A

roared to life. “Good.”
    “We don’t even have to sleep in the same bed,” Billy said as he headed back toward the main road. “You can have the room my housekeeper will be vacating. If I feel the urge for some feminine comfort, I can get what I need from a woman in town.”
    “Wait a minute,” Cherry said. “I don’t think I’m going to want my husband satisfying his lustful urges in town.”
    “I won’t really be your husband,” Billy reminded her.
    “As far as my parents and neighbors and friends are concerned, you will be.”
    Billy eyed her cautiously. “What do you suggest?”
    “Couldn’t you just…not do it.”
    “I’m a man, not a monk,” Billy said.
    Cherry pursed her lips thoughtfully. “Then I suppose I’d rather you come to me than go to some other woman.”
    “This is starting to sound like a real marriage,” Billy said suspiciously. “I was looking for a temporary solution to both our problems.”
    “Oh, you don’t have to worry about me falling in love with you or anything,” Cherry reassured him. “I don’t believe in happily-ever-after.”
    “You don’t?”
    Cherry shook her head. “Except for the Whitelaws, I’ve never met any married couples who really loved each other. But I can see where it would be unfair to expect you to give up sex for who knows how long. Only, if you don’t mind, I’d rather we had a chance to get to know each other a little better before…you know…”
    “Maybe this marriage thing isn’t such a good idea, after all,” Billy said. “You’re just a kid, and—”
    “I may be only eighteen,” Cherry interrupted, “but I’ve lived a lifetime since my father died. You don’t have to worry about me. I’ve been in and out of a dozen foster homes. I’ve spent time in juvenile detention. I’ve survived the past four years in a house with seven other adopted brothers and sisters. I’ve come through it all with a pretty good idea of what I want from life. I’m plenty old enough to know exactly what I’m doing.”
    “I doubt that,” Billy said. Maybe if he hadn’t been so panicked at the thought of losing Annie and Raejean, he would have taken more time to think the matter over. But marriage to Cherry Whitelaw would solve so many problems all at once, he accepted her statement at face value.
    “All right, Cherry. We’ll do this your way. I won’t go looking for comfort in town, and you’ll provide for my needs at home.”
    “After we get to know one another,” Cherry qualified.
    “After we get to know one another,” Billy agreed.
    He turned onto the main highway and headed for the airport. “Will your parents worry if you don’t show up at home tonight?”
    “It’s prom night. I was supposed to be staying out all night with some friends of mine and have breakfast with them tomorrow. In fact, if you’ll stop by my friend’s house, I’ve got an overnight bag there with a change of clothes.”
    “Good. That’ll leave us about twelve hours to get to Las Vegas and tie the knot before we have to face your parents.”
    Cherry pictured that meeting in her mind. Good grief, she thought. The fur is going to fly.

CHAPTER THREE
    T HE WEDDING CHAPEL in Las Vegas was brightly lit, even at 3:00 a.m. To Cherry’s amazement, they weren’t the only couple getting married at such an ungodly hour. She and Billy had to wait ten minutes for an elderly couple to complete their vows before it was their turn. The longer they waited, the more second thoughts she had. What had she been thinking? Zach was going to be furious. Rebecca was going to cry.
    The image she conjured of two identical cherubic six-year-old faces was all that kept her from running for a phone to call Zach and Rebecca to come get her. She tried to recall what Billy’s twins looked like from the last time she had seen them at church. All she could remember were large dark eyes—like Billy’s, she realized now—in small, round faces.
    What qualities had they gotten from