Chapter 24 #3
This time Austin smiles for real, and my breath catches.
Damn. The whole stern and stoic thing he’s got going on really works for him, but his smile?
It should come with a warning label. For the sake of the cardiac health of all the locals who are attracted to men, it’s probably a good thing he doesn’t whip that smile out often.
It’s sure as hell giving me heart palpitations.
“Great, I’ll meet you at the B&B at one-thirty.
” Austin looks over my head, and I follow his gaze to see my new friends all scramble to pretend they’ve not been watching us.
His smile is already gone, but Austin’s emerald-green eyes twinkle with mirth when they lock onto mine. “I’ll let you get back to your coffee.”
He straightens up and takes a step closer.
Like a sunflower chasing the sun, I naturally tilt my head back so I can keep looking at him.
Austin’s fingers lightly graze my wrist where my arm hangs at my side when he leans down.
“See you Thursday, Trouble.” The low rumble of his voice is full of promise.
My mind is still struggling to catch up to whatever the fuck just happened as he walks away to order at the counter.
In a state of disbelief and confusion, I woodenly make my way back to the girls who are now openly staring with expressions ranging from surprise to excitement.
“Thanks for the warning.” I give those of the group who’d been aware of Austin’s presence a droll look as I take my seat. The three of them look sheepish, but Mei doesn’t give any of them the opportunity to apologise.
“Never mind that, what did he say?” Mei asks, practically bouncing in her seat.
“He invited me to go walking with him.”
“He asked you out?” she whisper-shouts.
“In the sense that he asked me to join him for an outdoor activity? Yes. On a date? No.” Well…
possibly. He was even more intense than usual, but I’m still not entirely convinced he was flirting.
OK, so the hand graze felt like flirting, but it could have been an accident.
Maybe. I don’t want to get my hopes up only to find out Austin was just being friendly.
He said he heard me talking to his mum, but what if she asked him to take me on a walk like she asked him to give me a job?
God, I hope not. That would be mortifying.
“It looked like he was asking you out,” Gem volunteers. The others nod in agreement, and I glance over at where Austin’s waiting for his order, praying that he doesn’t hear us. At least they’re all making an effort to keep their voices down.
“It’s only a walk. He knows I still don’t know many people in town. He’s being friendly.”
Phoebe scoffs. “Sure, because he’s the welcoming committee type.”
“Don’t be mean,” I say, feeling oddly protective.
She holds up her hands. “I’m only teasing. Austin’s a great friend once he’s let someone in, but he’s not friendly. Dev’s the eager puppy of their group. Austin’s more like a trained police dog, always on guard and sniffing new people out to make sure they’re not trouble.”
Erin raises her dark brows. “Sniffing, really?”
Phoebe waves her off. “You know what I mean—he’s the cautious type. It takes him a minute to warm up to people.”
“Well, it looks like he’s warmed up to Cassie plenty.” Mei does a little shimmy, making me laugh.
“I really don’t think it’s a date.” Austin’s a straightforward guy—it’s one of the things I like most about him. If he were asking me out, he’d have made that clear. Then again, he was kind of flirty… Oh good, I’m going to overthink this until Thursday, aren’t I?
“There’s no convincing you, is there?” Mei asks.
“Nope,” I reply, obnoxiously popping the ‘p’ because I need us to stop talking about this before my head explodes.
Sighing with enough force to flutter the strands of blue-black hair framing her face, Mei flops back in her chair dramatically. “Fine, I’ll drop it for now, but don’t worry, I’m patient. I’ll keep my ‘I told you so’ card in my back pocket for as long as it takes.”
Chuckling, I pick up my mug to take another sip of my now lukewarm latte. “You do that.”
The conversation shifts to how Gem’s garage has been doing, and I marvel at the group of women who’ve welcomed me into their circle without hesitation.
I’ll always be grateful for my friendship with Liam and, by extension, Bailey, but this is different.
Not for the first time, I wonder what it would be like if I were to stay in Pine Grove.
Obviously, I’d have to reveal my secret—there’s no way I could live here for real without it coming to light—but once the truth was out, could I still have this?
Or would everyone be too upset about my lying to them?
There’s only one way to find out, but we’re not there yet.
I have time before I need to decide if I’ll go back to Nashville like I planned or if I want to stay here.
Emerald-green eyes invade my thoughts, but I shut down that line of thinking immediately.
If I stay in Pine Grove, it won’t be for Austin.
If I stay, it will be because it’s what’s best for me.