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fight?” Tildy asked Hawk, eyes wide. “Over egg salad ?”
    Hawk laughed. “Well, they’ll get their backs up over just about anything . But no, they wouldn’t go hand-to-hand over egg salad.” He reconsidered this. “Well, maybe Slick’s egg salad. But no, they’re going to shoot pool.”
    “Oh.”
    “At a little bar about six blocks from here,” Hawk continued. “Maria’s. Ever heard of it?” Tildy shook her head. Hawk wasn’t surprised. “What are you doing tonight?” he asked her.
    “Hawk,” Slick admonished.
    He looked away from Tildy to Slick and raised an eyebrow. Slick looked troubled. When she opened her mouth, she said, “Maria’s isn’t a place for Tildy.”
    “Maria’s isn’t a place for you , babe,” said Shooter, who came in through the door and went to wash his hands in the sink.
    Slick rolled her eyes at his back. “I do just fine,” she argued.
    Shooter merely growled a little. At the table, he reached for a plate, but Slick moved it out of his reach.
    “I can’t eat? They’re eating!” Shooter cried.
    “Did you fix Tildy’s car?” Slick asked pointedly.
    Shooter shook his head. “Needs a new sensor. Can’t pick one up ‘til Monday morning.” He turned to Tildy. “You okay with that?”
    Tildy nodded.
    “There, see,” he told his wife.
    Slick made him wait just a few seconds longer, then slid the plate over. Shooter tucked into his h am and cheese enthusiastically.
    “Where’s Emilio?” Slick asked.
    “Sent him home,” Shooter replied around his sandwich. “Told him to fix his attitude and come back tomorrow.”
    “Chris.”
    “He’s acting a fool, baby. I told you. I think he’s getting mixed up with a bad crowd. Or a girl. Or something.”
    “Well, don’t send him home where he’ll just get into more trouble!”
    “He’ll be back tomorrow,” Shooter intoned. “It’s not like I can lock him up in the office all night. And he’s too young to come to Maria’s where I can keep an eye on him.”
    “You’re not too young for Maria’s, right?” Hawk asked Tildy, double checking.
    She blushed again, and he grinned. God, she was cute.
    She cleared her throat nervously. “Um, no. I’m 22.”
    Hawk grinned even wider, but did not fail to notice Slick staring daggers at him. He shrugged it off. He was the same age as the Cowboy, and Vegas was the same age as Tildy. Of course, Vegas was, well, Vegas , in almost every sense of the word. Abby Raines had been born and raised in that little slice of the Nevada desert surrounded by showgirls and mobsters. Rumor had it that Abby’s family was actually ‘The Family.’
    Tildy was definitely not as worldly as Abby, or even Sarah, who’d had done her own growing up while spending years on the run. Hawk frowned at the woman now. He’d picked up a few co-eds before on nights that she was waiting tables. Slick had never said a word to him or seemed to care. Hell, Hawk and Tex had shared a co-ed once or twice, though that had been before Slick had known them.
    Slick had always figured that girls who showed up to a rough trade bar like Maria’s knew what they were getting into. Well, okay, they weren’t at Maria’s right now. Fine, Hawk decided. He’d take it easy on Tildy for the moment. But if she showed up at the bar tonight, she was fair game.
    He smiled at the prospect.
     

Chapter 8
     
    Tildy didn’t know about mot orcycles. Or the Army. Or honky-tonk bars. All she knew was that the most gorgeous man she’d ever laid eyes on was smiling at her and she agreed to go to Maria’s later tonight without hesitating. Hawk seemed pleased and Sarah appeared less so, but Tildy couldn’t figure out why.
    She helped Sarah rinse and pack up the lunch spread. Hawk then offered to take her home. Tildy was about to accept, but Sarah vetoed the idea immediately. Hawk gave up his invitation pretty easily. Too easily, Tildy thought, disappointed.
    Chris had her sign the work order for the replacement of the faulty