Chapter 49
Nina
“Nana!” I turned to Ryan, the soreness in my shoulder forgotten. “I hope she didn’t trick you into including chocolate chips.”
Ryan shrugged, “It was my suggestion.”
“Nana, I’m going to make some eggs. You can have your pancakes after.”
“I made a scramble with peppers and onions,” Austin said. “I can add cheese if you want.”
He did? I doubted my grandmother asked for eggs, so they had to be his idea.
I rubbed the sore spots on my arm and shoulder blade. Why do I feel like I got stabbed?
What a silly thought; there was no way someone could’ve snuck into the house to stab me. Not with SSI outside and Austin and Ryan inside.
Besides, I would’ve woken up in a pool of blood.
No, my imagination was running wild again. I blamed the dream I’d had of two men sneaking into my room and tying me to my bed.
I lifted my eyes to catch Austin staring at me, the expression in his steel-blue eyes unreadable. The tension in his shoulders, however, spoke loud and clear.
He’d been so nice the last few days. Was he returning to the emotionless steel man he was when we first met?
Was it really less than two weeks ago?
It was barely more than a week ago.
In that time, I’d seen many sides of Austin Winchester.
Warm and cold. Hard and soft. Stern and compassionate.
Austin was a complex man, and I was dying to learn more about him. And I wouldn’t mind another hug or ten.
Would he talk to me on the drive to the safe house? Probably not, he didn’t talk much last night during the drive here.
What about when we’re there? Would he talk to me then? Or would he be steely eyed professional Austin and leave me to my own company?
He’d been so nice, so comforting at SSI when he’d told me about what they’d found in the locker.
“Nina?” Ryan called my name.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “What do you need?” I asked, assuming he had some profound question or desperate need.
“I need to know how many pancakes you want?”
Oh. “One is fine.”
I must’ve sounded uncertain because he asked, “Are you sure?”
“You have a long day ahead of you, dear, you should have two.”
Leave it to Nana Sue to encourage me to eat a carb heavy breakfast when I was trying to lose weight.
I wonder if all this stress will help me shed some pounds?
“Sit,” Austin pointed to the table.
“But I need coffee.”
“I’ll bring it over.”
“You can’t possibly know how I take it.”
“I can, and I do.” Austin winked at my grandmother.
Austin served me a plate with two pancakes, a healthy serving of scrambled eggs topped with shredded cheese, and a cup of light colored coffee.
He’d gotten the creamer portion right, but did he get the sugar right?
Austin and my grandmother watched as I lifted the cup to my lips and took that blissful first sip.
Perfect. Of course.
“Thank you.”
Austin’s smile lit the room and melted my heart.
I stared into his steel-blue eyes, wondering how I’d ever thought he was a hard man. The man standing before me seemed happy doing something so mundane as serving me a perfect cup of coffee.
Hard men didn’t do that, did they?
But he seemed so distant when I first entered the kitchen.
Maybe Austin was actually sweet and caring, but had to be mean and nasty at work.
Why would a nice guy choose a job like that?
Maybe I’d have time to ask him at the safe house.
It’d taken me hours to come to terms with the safe house idea.
Hours and lots of tears. But I’d accepted it and fallen asleep trusting that John and SSI would keep my grandmother safe, and Austin and Ryan would stop the bad guys from hurting me.
“Eat.”
Austin’s awfully bossy this morning.
“Aren’t you guys eating?” I asked.
“Yes, after we clean up.”
He cooks and cleans? And he wants to protect me.
Be still my beating heart, he’d be the perfect hero for Ashley’s next book.
Too bad I wasn’t older. Or he wasn’t younger. Maybe we’d have a chance.
Look how many of the SSI guys found love while protecting someone.
But Austin didn’t work at SSI.
And I’m not like the women they fell in love with.
When the guys finally joined us, Ryan’s plate was stacked high with pancakes and what looked like half a dozen eggs. Austin’s was about half as much.
“Don’t mind him, he’s half animal,” Austin joked.
“Nothing wrong with a man having a healthy appetite,” Nana said. “How else is he supposed to grow muscles like that?”
He had muscles, alright. Lots of them. More than Austin.
Austin had more of a runner’s body, like Jamie. Instead of bulky muscles, he had long, lean ones. He also had a flat stomach and a hard chest.
A chest I’d touched when I ran into him. A stomach I’d burned when I spilled coffee on him.
When Nana asked “What time are you leaving?” I stopped fantasizing about Austin and tuned back into the conversation.
Regret filled Austin’s eyes when he answered. “The sooner we leave, the better.”
“I should go pack.” I pushed my half-eaten breakfast away.
“You have time to eat,” Austin said, nudging the plate back into place.
I wasn’t hungry anymore, but I ate anyway. Sadly, my mood stripped the pancakes and eggs of all flavor.
After finishing, I cleared my plate. “What should I bring?” I asked.
“I’ll help you,” Austin said. “G, can you clean up in here?”
“On it, boss.”
“Boss?” Nana asked.
“I’ll let Ryan explain,” Austin said with a wink.
“I’m sorry, Nina, but you can’t bring your phone or your laptop.”
“But how will I check on my grandmother?” And see the pictures Doug sent me?
“We have burner phones that we’ll use to relay information back and forth.”
I stared at my phone in Austin’s hand while praying this would all end sooner rather than later.
“What am I supposed to do all day?”
“You’ll have your parents’ journal, and you can bring some books, and the safe house has a TV.”
It wasn’t like I grew up in a work mill, but I wasn’t used to sitting around and doing nothing all day.
My parents provided everything I needed, but they understood the value of a good work ethic and insisted the best way for me to have one was to earn it.
So I’d worked at their friend’s restaurant part time on weekends during high school, picking up more hours during breaks and summer vacation. I quit when I left for college, but got a job on campus at one of the local coffee shops. It was a great way to earn money and meet people.
“How long should I pack for?”
“A week, and bring comfortable clothes and flat shoes. Running shoes if you have them.”
Running shoes? “Will I have to run?”
“I hope not.”
That wasn’t comforting at all.
I stuffed my suitcase with jeans, leggings, T-shirts, and a hoodie. When it came time to pack my personal items, I crushed them into a ball along with my socks so Austin wouldn’t see them.
I’m sure he’s used to women who wear silk and lace, not boring cotton.
What the heck was wrong with me? I was packing to hide in a safe house, being embarrassed about my underwear shouldn’t be a thing. I must be cracking under the pressure.
After hiding my underwear below my hoodie, I grabbed Eddy and my blanket out of the closet.
“Are you sure you want to bring them?”
“Yes.”
“What if something happens to them?”
I hated him for asking.
I hugged them to my chest and whispered, “I couldn’t sleep the night you had them.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay. It’s just… they’re all I’ve ever had, you know?” I hated how pathetic, how close to tears, I sounded.
“I understand.” Austin stepped closer and lifted my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “But you have more now.”
I did. Sort of. I had photocopies of pictures and pictures of items my parents had left for me, though I wouldn’t be able to look at them until this was all over and I had my phone back. The real ones were evidence, and I might never see them again.
Don’t cry. Do not cry.
“I have to take them.”
The damn broke loose.
Before the first tear could fall, Austin wrapped me in his arms and whispered, “Shhh. You’re okay. It’s okay.”
“I’m sorry,” I said around a sniffle. “I’m trying to be brave, but this is just so much.”
“You are brave.” He rubbed my back as he cradled my head to his chest. His steady heartbeat soothed me as he said, “So very brave.”
Brave was the last thing I felt, standing there crying while I tried to explain to Austin that I couldn’t sleep without my teddy bear and baby blanket.
“I’m sorry if I led you to believe otherwise.”
I sniffed and pulled away. Keeping my head tilted down so he couldn’t see my tear-stained face and no doubt red-rimmed eyes, I said, “You didn’t; it’s just hard to feel brave right now.”
“Hey.” He tilted my face up, “It takes a lot of courage to do what you’re doing.”
I leaned into his hand when he brushed my tears away with his thumb.
“But I’m so scared.”
“Being scared isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a natural human reaction to a threat.”