Forty-one
Danica
“Girlfriend?” I repeat.
The word hangs in the air, a charged particle between us. Austin’s eyes are pools of earnestness, his smile gone, replaced by vulnerability I’ve never seen on him before. He reaches across the table, seeming to offer something more than tangled sheets and whispered secrets.
“Danica,” he says, his voice vibrating through my bones, “I’m serious about this.”
I stare at him, searching for any hint of deception, but all I find is sincerity. That may scare me more than his mother’s meddling, but I can’t lose sight of that either. What will it be like to manage a relationship that also involves a woman capable of digital witchcraft, blocking my number and redirecting my contact to her own phone? How desperate must she be to manipulate her son’s love life?
“Your mom…” I start, but the words dissolve in my mouth.
He nods, a wry twist to his lips. “Yeah, she’s crossed a line, and that will need to be addressed. But, Danica, she doesn’t define what I want. And I want you.”
The temptation to run is there, a familiar itch under my skin. But something about the way he exposes his heart to me, raw and unguarded, has my defenses crumbling.
“Okay,” I finally say, the decision feeling like a plunge into icy waters. “We can see each other again. But I’m not diving headfirst into anything.”
“Fair enough.” He leans back, the tension in his shoulders ebbing away.
“But tell me, how did you end up an Unmanned angel investor?” I ask.
“Ah, well…” He chuckles, scratching the back of his neck. “Zhu and Patty came to us when they were at Stanford. They had this great project, but they needed batteries, and so we worked with them to develop the proper battery size. Then we gave them seed money to start and introduced them to SHN. And now, our batteries power many of their drones.”
“Really?” Surprise flickers through me, mixing with a touch of admiration. “I had no idea.”
“Yeah, we’re everywhere these days,” he says with a hint of pride. “Trying to be, at least.”
I nod, absorbing this new piece of Austin Sands, not just the guy who knows how to kiss away my fears, but someone entwined with corporations and investments.
“Okay, seeing each other it is,” I affirm, allowing myself a small smile as I unwrap my silverware. “Let’s take it one step at a time.” I cut into the fluffy eggs, and the first bite is a symphony of peppers, ham, and melted cheese—a small, perfect pleasure. “Wow, this is amazing,” I murmur, taking another forkful.
Austin sinks his teeth into his burger, a contented sigh escaping him. “This is just what I needed,” he says, his eyes meeting mine with a spark of the old compatibility and calm we used to have.
But there’s an undercurrent there, a shadow behind his smile. “How are things going with the lawsuits?” I ask, setting my fork down.
He chews thoughtfully for a moment. “We’re still waiting on the report from the NHTSA. We’ve sent samples to multiple labs, but none of them could recreate the fires. It was a lot of work on our part to get any reaction, so we remain convinced that we’re not the ones producing the batteries that have failed. Someone is using our name to pass along their subpar product.” He darts a glance around the diner as if worried about eavesdroppers. “I’m beginning to wonder if they’re coming from China.”
“Counterfeits?” I reach across the table, my hand finding his. I squeeze gently, trying to steady the tremor I detect. He’s always so laidback. Seeing him like this, weighed down by worry, it’s unsettling.
“Yeah.” He manages a half-hearted smile.
“Any news about Justin?” I venture tentatively, knowing it’s another thing weighing on him.
The smile vanishes. He shakes his head. “His computer’s been moving around, but there are no hits on his passport, credit cards, or cell. Clear’s going to offer a reward to see if that can generate some leads.”
“Could he have…” I trail off, not wanting to voice the darker possibilities.
“Been behind this situation with the batteries? Maybe. But it doesn’t make sense. He’s a ghost. He hasn’t reached out to anyone, not his best friends, not Crystal, not even his parents. He’s disappeared, and it makes me nervous. As much as him being behind this, I wonder if there’s a reason someone got him out of the way.”
“That would be awful…” I rub Austin’s knuckles with my thumb, afraid to ask what he actually means.
His gaze drops to the Formica table, his burger momentarily forgotten. “I’m worried about Crystal,” he confides, the lines around his eyes deepening. “We’ve never really seen eye-to-eye, but now… I think she’s self-medicating just to hold herself together.”
I nod, understanding all too well the need to escape from a reality that’s crumbling around you. “Is there anything we can do to help her?” I ask. My mother struggled for years with alcohol.
“We may try to find a role for her at EnergiFusion,” Austin says, pushing a fry around his plate. “She wanted to be CEO, but that’s not workable. She might actually be an asset in marketing, though.”
“CEO?” I chew on my lip, hesitation coiling in my stomach. Finally, I have to ask. “Do you think… Could Justin be dead?”
He meets my gaze, his eyes clouded with fear. “That’s what I’m afraid of, Danica. It’s like he disappeared off the face of the Earth.”
“I’m so sorry,” I murmur.
He squeezes my hand and then abruptly changes the subject. “Why haven’t you been at the loft? I’ve knocked on your door several times.”
Confusion furrows my brow. “I’m still there. I didn’t know you came by.”
“I left you a note, and when I didn’t hear from you, after a while I couldn’t bear to go to the building. I’ve also been dealing with so much at work…” He trails off. “The class-action lawsuits against EnergiFusion have been taking up most of my time. I’ve been in Detroit a lot. It’s on hold for now, though, waiting on the NHTSA report.”
“Have they given any indication of their findings?” I press, my HR background kicking in.
“Nothing.” He shakes his head. “They’ve been very hush-hush, even though we’ve cooperated fully. It’s like they’ve already made up their minds against us.”
“Politics,” I mutter darkly, sharing in his disillusionment. But despite everything, there’s an unspoken comfort in simply being here. It’s so much better to be trying to make sense of the tumultuous world together.
The server drops our bill at the end of the table, and Austin reaches for it. “I’m happy to pay for this,” he tells me. “I invited you.”
I’m so conflicted. I don’t want to become dependent on him or have him think that’s what I expect. “I’ll get it this time,” I say.
He nods, and I drop cash on the table.
“Ready?” he asks, sliding out of the booth.
“Let’s go,” I agree.
He guides me through the crowd, hand at the small of my back. Outside, Steve, ever the silent sentinel, waits by the car, scanning the street.
“Thanks, Steve,” Austin says, nodding at him before turning to me. His eyes catch the streetlight, creating an almost ethereal glow. He leans down, and his kiss is soft, an ember that ignites a wildfire within me. For a moment, everything else falls away—the mother who tried to wedge herself between us, the uncertainties, the fear of being hurt again. It’s just Austin and me, and the heat of his lips.
He pulls away, just enough to whisper, “Come to my place tonight?”
I hesitate, caught in the pull of his orbit. “I can’t. I need to take care of Mischa.”
“Can I stay with you, then?” There’s a vulnerability in his question, a hope he tries to mask with casualness.
“Uh…” I’m torn. Part of me yearns to say yes, to lose myself in him completely, while another part holds back, clinging to the walls built to protect my heart.
“Only if you want that,” he adds quickly, reading my hesitation. This man who plays it safe, who hides his smarts and his problems, is willing to risk it all for this—for us.