Chapter 6 #3
Austin sidestepped Mrs. Kelly, determined to get another look at Kitt.
He grabbed a beer for himself, one for Mike, and then one for Kitt.
He walked the long way around the tables to stand right in front of Kitt as he walked by, and handed him the beer.
He could tell the offering caught Kitt off guard.
He looked up startled, taking the can. There was a pause when their eyes connected.
Kitt finally gave him a nod seemingly unable to break eye contact.
Austin held it as long as he could; until he was forced to avert his gaze when the image of Kitt nude popped into his head.
Austin got warm all over and his dick stirred a little, hardening as he walked back to his side of the table.
“Mr. Grainger, how is it that no one knows you’re here?” Mrs. Kelly asked. Most of the guys were done eating, and she doled out pieces of homemade chocolate pie. No one turned it away.
“I honestly don’t know how I pulled it off. I bought land in Montana in my name and bought this place in the name of a company I own with my family. I’m guessing they just haven’t figured it out yet,” Austin said, taking a big bite of his pie, moaning as the delicious dessert hit his taste buds.
“You’re still a hot topic on the news. Everyone wants to know where you went,” Mrs. Kelly said easily, finally taking a seat at Kitt’s empty table.
“Still?” Austin asked between bites.
“Oh yeah,” Mike confirmed before Mrs. Kelly could.
“Huh. I’m not that interesting. They think I’m something I’m not. They just don’t know me.”
“Is Cara comin’ here?” Mrs. Kelly’s next question came out of the blue, and it took Austin a minute.
He weighed his answer as he feigned he had his mouth full.
He was so sick of lying. These people were good to him.
On a whim, he decided honesty might be the best bet; at least there would be less to apologize for later.
“Probably not.” He left it right there, not acknowledging the silence the answer brought.
“How’re you likin’ it here?” Austin could have told Lily he loved her for how graciously she changed the subject.
“Ah, now that I have a ready answer for. I love it here. It’s great! I love the solitude, the quiet. Everyone I’ve met has been great. Mike’s got all my muscles sore, working me hard, getting me back in shape. I really like it,” Austin said easily, taking the last bite of pie.
“Mike, you shouldn’t work him so hard,” Mrs. Kelly scolded his foreman.
“Mrs. Kelly, poor people gotta work for a livin’,” Mike replied, his mouth full of pie, making everyone laugh.
All of Austin’s crew on the back porch turned toward them, listening to the conversation.
After Kitt polished off his plate, he got up and grabbed all the pie plates around him as he walked back into the kitchen.
“Kitt, I’ll get ’em.”
“No, sit. I need to wash my hands anyway. I’ll just put them on the counter,” Kitt said, and she let him do it. He grabbed a couple more plates as he made his way inside. Austin didn’t hesitate. He grabbed his and Mike’s plates. Mrs. Kelly tried to stop him.
“No, ma’am, I need to go to the bathroom.” Could he have sounded more lame had he tried? But, there was no way he wanted to miss this moment alone with Kitt. The way things had worked today, it might not ever happen again.
Austin pulled open the screen door and walked inside, shutting the sliding glass door behind him. He saw Kitt at the sink, rinsing the food off the plates as he stacked them to the side.
“Don’t tell me to stop. I see your leg’s hurtin’ you. It won’t take me but a minute,” Kitt said, not looking back at Austin.
“I thought I was doing a better job at hiding all these aches and pains, but trust me, it’s more than just my legs that hurt.” Austin laughed softly and Kitt jerked around. The plate slid from his hands and hit the sink with a soapy thump.
“Kitt, I just wanted to apologize for the other day. I haven’t had a chance, yet.
” Austin walked up to him. Kitt turned back to the sink and picked the plate back up, rinsed it and turned back to Austin almost immediately.
The look on Kitt’s face was clear: he had no idea what Austin was talking about.
“With my men at the pond,” Austin explained. The nice view of Kitt’s ass ensured Austin stayed behind him as he spoke. Something about this man doing the dishes for his stepmom seemed incredibly sweet and still totally hot at the same time.
“I should be apologizin’ to you. I don’t usually lose it like that. They just weren’t takin’ no for an answer,” Kitt said, finishing the plate. He grabbed a hand towel, but didn’t turn around. He kept looking down at the sink.
Austin took the chance to slide in behind Kitt, placing the dirty plates he carried in the sink.
Kitt jerked forward, but the sink was in his way.
He sidestepped Austin, immediately moving away from him as quickly as possible.
His movements were jerky and rushed, making Austin smile.
Maybe, Kitt wasn’t quite as unaffected as he pretended to be.
“Should I wash these?” Austin very casually asked him, keeping his eyes on Kitt.
“No, I’ll do it,” Kitt said, and clearly waited for Austin to move.
“I can do it,” Austin said, finally glancing down at the sink.
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d washed a dish.
Even now, a cleaning lady came in every morning to go over his house.
Regardless, it didn’t seem too complicated.
Soapy water on one side, clean water on the other.
He began to wash his and Mike’s plates. “My men are paid to be protective of me, and I’m sorry it got out of hand.
I talked to them, told them to stay off your property.
I’ve been known to be a bit of a hard ass in my former life, they thought they were just following my orders. ”
Kitt stayed silent. Austin glanced at him from the corner of his eye and drew out washing the second plate.
“Thanks for all the help today. You pretty much run the show whenever you’re around. The men here really respect you,” Austin said, putting the second plate in the drying rack. He looked around for a hand towel, and Kitt handed him the one he had folded and unfolded in his hands.
“We all respect one another. It’s the way things work around here,” Kitt finally replied after a moment’s silence.
Austin saw his cheeks were stained red, the sight catching him off guard.
It took a second, but Austin realized he had to be responsible for the blush.
His heart warmed with the knowledge he unnerved Kitt just as much as Kitt unnerved him.
Everything inside Austin softened just a bit.
He liked Kitt. This whole time he’d only thought of him as a sex toy, but in this moment, he knew there was more to it than he’d realized.
“You two! Kitt Kelly! I knew you were in here doin’ the dishes. And, Austin Grainger doin’ dishes in my house, no, absolutely not! You two, go. Everyone’s tryin’ to leave anyway. Early day tomorrow.” Mrs. Kelly grabbed the towel from Austin’s hand and shooed them toward the door.
“Thank you for dinner, Mrs. Kelly.” Austin chuckled at the look on her face.
“I’m Lily and you’re Austin and you’re welcome,” she said with a smile, standing in the door once they were back outside. “You’re welcome here for dinner anytime.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Kitt said. He was back to himself and again completely ignoring Austin as if none of their conversation had just happened.
Kitt turned back, but only to give Lily a wink before he took the first step down.
Austin wasn’t sure Lily was all that much older than Kitt.
But, they seemed to like each other and it was clear Lily mothered Kitt.
Austin found Mike standing at the railing of the porch waiting for him. Kitt got a knuckle bump from him as he went by.
“Good night, everyone. Kitt, stop by for coffee in the mornin’, it’ll be ready.” Lily waved at them all before shutting the door.
“She’s lonely,” Mike said, following Kitt down the stairs.
Kitt turned toward his four-wheeler and climbed on. “I know. Good night, see you in the mornin’.” He started the machine giving it gas as the engine fired to life.
“Good night,” Austin said quietly as he took the steps down a little slower. He watched as Kitt didn’t look back at him. His heart lingered in that moment with the bright red cheeks. Kitt certainly couldn’t hear Austin. He was already backed out and barreling away. “See you in the morning.”