Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
Dinner went well.
Perhaps their conversation had softened Austin somewhat; he certainly seemed to be making an extra effort to be polite to her. He still avoided her gaze, but that was better than aggressive silence.
Anna, Lucas, and Jason – she’d insisted on using their first names since she wasn’t a hockey player and no longer in high school – were surprisingly friendly.
Only Serial Killer occasionally gave her a few somber, thoughtful glances, but given his nickname, she’d almost have been disappointed by sunshine and rainbows.
There was only one awkward moment when Austin drowned his pasta in Tabasco, and she couldn’t help but laugh.
“You can’t be serious! In ten years, no one's told you not to put Tabasco on everything?”
Austin simply raised his eyebrows, as if wondering why she remembered that. She’d ignored it and hurriedly continued eating.
After dinner, Melody wanted to know if Delfina wanted to play doctor; she could use the good bandages, not just toilet paper.
Del had repeatedly exclaimed throughout the meal that she now had something like a cousin and didn’t need any persuading.
While the men cleared the table and prepared dessert, all that could be heard from them in the living room next door was happy giggling and the occasional phrase: “Oh no. That leg has to come off…”
“She wants to be a doctor and cure cancer,” Anna said, amused. “She can’t read much yet, but she looks at the pictures in my thick medical books every evening and has already amputated so many imaginary legs that pirates all over the world would be impressed.”
Lilly laughed. “Del wants to be faster than Michael Phelps and then win something better than the gold at the Olympics.”
“Hmm, what could be better than a gold medal?”
“A chocolate one?” Lilly suggested.
Anna grinned. “I like the way you think. So, Lilly, what do you actually do for a living? Fox didn’t say much about you. It’s as if he’s been spending too much time with Lucas.”
Serial Killer rolled his eyes but gently placed a hand on the back of Anna’s neck.
Anna looked up at him with a grin, and his gaze was strangely amused and…
tender, as if she was the only person he allowed to make jokes about him — and as if he liked that she dared to.
Lilly couldn’t imagine that many people had the guts to do so.
Her stomach clenched and she turned her face away. It felt too intimate to be part of that moment. She had never exchanged a look like that with a man before, a look so full of love and trust that others felt like they were invading their privacy.
Blinking, she ignored her own emotions and said instead, “I’m a glass artist and I’m opening a shop in Santa Monica soon.
For the past ten years, I’ve learned pretty much everything about working with glass in Murano, so I’m incredibly excited to finally be able to create only what I want!
” Her heart fluttered nervously. “I didn’t mind producing one vase after another, but God, I love being able to just start blindly with a raw piece of glass, without a plan or knowing what the result will be.
It’s the epitome of freedom for me, and…
” She paused. “Okay, I need to stop before I start rambling.” That was still a problem.
“Never mind. Go ahead and ramble. Did you like Italy?” Anna asked, fascinated. “I’ve never been.”
“I loved it,” she said honestly and sighed.
“My instructor practically took me into his family when I…” She trailed off.
“Well, when I found out I was pregnant and I was panicking. Crying. They made Murano a home.” Without the Rossi family, she would have been completely lost, and she missed them all terribly.
“So why did you come back?”
She glanced at her fingernails and felt the back of her neck tingling, knowing that Austin was staring at her instead of focusing on washing the pots. “My dad isn’t doing well and my mom is overwhelmed. They needed help and I’m an only child…so here I am.”
Anna nodded as if she understood perfectly, and thankfully, changed the subject. Lilly glanced over her shoulder at Austin and saw him studying her thoughtfully.
And just his look was enough to give her goosebumps.
She turned around hastily.
She was looking forward to leaving soon and giving her soul some room to breathe. Being in a room with Austin made her feel like she’d swallowed too much sherbet. When he stared at her like that…sometimes she felt like she was back in the diner, peering into his eyes and baring her soul to him.
No, they’d better leave now, she thought, as five cell phones vibrated simultaneously, emitting a high-pitched, shrill warning tone.
It was a weather alert, warning all Santa Monica residents that they might be evacuated from their homes that night due to wildfires.
Oh no.
“I loooove pajama parties!” Del exclaimed gleefully.
Yes, Lilly wished she could say the same.
In fact, it had taken her longer than expected to decide between Austin’s spare room and a rather unlikely death by fire.
The latter seemed less unpleasant than sleeping in one of his t-shirts and having to use one of the dozens of toothbrushes from his closet — what a playboy he was!
She’d stalled for time by calling her parents and asking her dad if they’d been affected by the wildfire.
Her father had simply commented that it would take more than a small fire to drive him out of the house — and asked if she’d be coming over the next day to weed as planned.
“Your mom can’t bend over well anymore, and I can’t do anything well at all. ”
“That’s not true. You’re excellent at complaining, Dad. Of course, I’m coming. Twice a week, for whatever needs to be done. As agreed.” She mostly kept her father company these days so he wouldn’t be so lonely and her mother wouldn’t have to skip seeing her friends.
That only elicited a disgruntled yet satisfied grumble from him, which made Lilly smile.
Unfortunately, her father ended the conversation rather quickly, leaving her no choice but to talk to Austin again.
“There’s really no need to stay here. Santa Monica rarely gets evacuated!” she said emphatically.
“It doesn’t bother me. I have plenty of room.”
Strangely, Lilly felt as if the gigantic house had shrunk drastically in the last half hour. “There’s no need,” she insisted.
Austin narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. “You do realize you can’t argue with flames, right? So, you’re completely unarmed.”
She suppressed a sigh. She needed a break! From him, from the tension, from his looks, his smell…
But what choice did she have? And Del was happy.
“Great,” she managed. “Del, do you want to sleep with me or alone?” Delfina looked uncertainly at Austin and shrugged almost imperceptibly. “I’m big, so I can sleep alone,” she mumbled, but didn’t sound convinced.
Lilly was about to remind her that she could be big but still be afraid of being alone in an unfamiliar place.
But before she could, Austin leaned toward her and whispered, “I hate sleeping alone whenever I have to stay in a strange house or hotel. I don’t know the sounds or the way to the bathroom.
Everything is different, so I prefer having someone next to me. ”
“That’s why I know he kicks in his sleep,” Lucas remarked, who was standing fully dressed in the doorway with Melody and Anna.
Del smiled. “Maybe I should sleep with Mom after all,” she said, visibly relieved.
Lilly’s throat constricted. She wished Austin would…make more mistakes and not act as if he’d always secretly been a father.
“Hey, you should feel honored,” Anna said. “I believe you’re the first woman ever allowed to stay overnight in this house.”
Lilly snorted — but no one else laughed. “Oh. Really?” she croaked, feeling uneasy, and scratched the back of her hand. “What about…girlfriends?”
“Fox doesn’t have any girlfriends,” Lucas muttered. “He doesn’t date.”
“Never?” she blurted out, looking at Austin in surprise.
He sighed. “Not never.”
“No. But in the last few years?” Lucas tilted his head doubtfully. “Thanks for dinner, see you tomorrow. Sleep well!”
Lilly didn’t sleep at all. Delfina’s eyes closed as soon as her head touched the pillow, but Lilly stared up at the high ceiling as the hands of the alarm clock on the unfamiliar nightstand ticked endlessly. Her muscles ached with tension, even though she wasn’t moving them.
It was the t-shirt’s fault. The t-shirt Austin had given her, the one she used as a nightgown.
Because it smelled like him.
It was freshly laundered and he’d only handled it, yet it smelled like him. Just like the whole damn house did.
He might have changed, but he smelled the same.
Of freshly mown grass and man. Maybe that was why she’d loved and hated mowing the lawn in equal measure for the past ten years.
With an entire ocean between them, it had been so much easier to push Austin out of her mind.
But now? Now all she could think about was the dolphin on his shelf and his eyes on her lips…
Cursing under her breath, she threw back the covers, carefully got up, and padded down the long hallway and down the stairs.
Not even a jackhammer could wake Delfina and lying still only made Lilly more restless than she already was.
She really wanted to swim a few laps in the pool to release the pent-up energy in her stomach, but that would probably wake the entire house. Except for Del, of course.
No, hot milk with honey would have to do. She just hoped Austin had both and…
“Oh my God,” she gasped, clutching her chest with both hands and flinching.
She clearly wasn’t the only one who couldn’t sleep.
“What are you doing here?” she exclaimed.
Austin raised his eyebrows. “In my kitchen?”
She forcefully stifled a groan. He was right, of course, but she needed some distance from Austin, not a reminder of how good he looked shirtless! Because, naturally, he wasn’t wearing a shirt. What, did he only own one t-shirt — the one she’d been given?