Sinful Rewards 11 Read Online Free PDF Page A

tonight.”
    “No.” Susan coughs. “They don’t want me to infect the donors.” She sounds as though she’s hacking up a lung. “I’m dying, Bee. Have you called to say your final good-byes?”
    “You’re not dying.” I roll my eyes at her drama and concentrate on my friend, ignoring my worries about tonight. “Did you see that sexy doctor of yours?”
    “He said it was a summer cold.” She sniffles. “He didn’t even want me to take my shirt off.”
    I smile. Susan has been trying to get her hot single doctor’s attention for months. “Maybe you should see him again, get more tests done.”
    “I’ll see him once I’m feeling better.” Her voice is fading. “I look like shit.”
    I laugh, wondering how many of the sexy doctor’s patients make appointments when they’re perfectly healthy. His waiting room must be full of single women.
    She’ll live and I’ll survive. Nicolas will stay by my side during our stroll along the red carpet and our grand entrance into the ballroom. Then some lady will leave her purse on her chair and Hawke will order me to vacate the premises.
    A part of me is glad. I won’t have to face Dru or Angel alone, won’t be abandoned in the middle of the dance floor, won’t have to tolerate anyone treating Hawke’s team like shit. It won’t be the prom experience I’ve seen in the movies, but I won’t be missing anything.
    Will I?
    I shouldn’t ask Susan. It’s a struggle for her to speak and I should let her return to her bed. Oh shit. I have to ask. “What was your high school prom like?”
    “It was one of the best nights of my life.”
    I relax. Tonight will be one of the best nights of my life also.
    “My friends and I rented a stretch limo. We drove around all night, drinking champagne and yelling out the windows. Hmmm . . . ” Her hum turns into a cough. “Come to think of it, we never ended up going to the prom. But that didn’t matter. All of the people I wanted to see were with me.”
    “I understand.” My concerns return. If Nicolas abandons me, distracted by one of his business calls, I’ll be surrounded by people I don’t want to see. “Go back to bed, Susan. Dream of your doctor.”
    I end the call, scroll through my phone, and stare at the selfie Hawke loaded. His face is blunt and broad, his nose flattened, scars carved into his perma-stubble. There’s devilment in his pale blue eyes, his lips hitched into a lopsided smile.
    I love him. My heart swells with emotion. I love him so damn much.
    And I don’t want to spend one evening apart from him.
    Which is ridiculous. Hawke will likely be working away from home tonight as he did last night. I have a beautiful dress, a dazzling hair comb, and there will be no other opportunities to wear them. My military man wears T-shirts, not tuxedos. He goes to biker bars, not balls.
    A bar filled with people who love and respect him, good people who consider me part of their family.
    My phone vibrates in my hand. “Bee Carter,” I answer.
    “Hi, honeybee.” It’s my mom, again. She’s called me three times in three days, and every day she sounds happier. “Stop that.” She laughs.
    I’m not doing anything. “Mom?”
    “I’m talking to Long Haul. He’s making faces at me.”
    “I’m a security professional.” A deep voice joins our bizarre conversation. “I don’t make faces.”
    “Go away, you big goof,” my mom tells him. “I’m talking to my daughter.” Skin smacks against skin and alarm sweeps over me. Are they naked?
    I want my mom to be happy, but I’m not ready for this, not yet. “We can talk later.” When they’re both dressed.
    “No, we won’t,” she insists. “I might have someone new in my life now, but you’re my daughter. You will always be my first priority.”
    I stare at my phone. I’ve never been able to be her first priority. The customers at the diner always came first. “I’m okay, Mom.”
    “Do you have any big news? Something you should tell your