Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 92417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92417 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 462(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 308(@300wpm)
Don’t think about that, I warned myself as I caught my breath.
Austin fell back and took me with him, so my head rested on his chest. His arms came around me and his heart thundered in my ear. I closed my eyes and listened to its rhythm slow.
“So was the massage just an excuse to put those kiss marks all over me?”
“No. But I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. Did you?”
“Yes. But you can never put on lipstick in front of me again, because I will immediately get a hard-on.”
I smiled. “Good to know.”
We slept at my apartment. Saturday morning, Austin was gone when I woke up. I reached for my phone and saw he’d texted.
Didn’t want to wake you. Working with my dad today, then running a few errands. I’ll call you later.
My shoulder and neck feel better than they have in months, so thank you for that.
And thank you for this.
The next thing he’d sent was a photo of his chest—his collarbone still wore the kiss mark I’d put there last night. It made me smile.
I washed the rest of them off in the shower this morning. DAMN that stuff is hard to remove. But I couldn’t resist leaving this one alone.
I’m glad. I like thinking about it.
And about you.
Must be why I’m always doing it.
After I hit send, I wondered if that was too much. We didn’t really message mushy stuff to each other, just logistics and sometimes dirty things. Maybe I was overthinking it.
But I couldn’t help comparing the experience of receiving his photo to the last time a guy had sent me one—Neil’s wedding-day dick pic. I shook my head. That one made my stomach turn. This one made my heart flutter.
I lay back in bed, draping an arm over my forehead. If I’d met Austin at another time in my life, or in his life, could things have been different between us? I couldn’t imagine when that might have been, since I was only twenty-two when he’d become a father.
We’d never really stood a chance.
That afternoon, I ran into Ari at the salon, where I’d lucked out with an appointment to get my nails done last-minute. She’d just gotten a haircut and highlights.
“You look fabulous,” I told her as we left the salon together. “I hope you have a hot date tonight.”
“I do—with my Kindle.” She laughed. “We get hot and steamy on my couch every Saturday night. I light a candle, open some wine . . . book boyfriends never let me down. Hey, you want to grab coffee or something?” She tossed her mahogany waves over one shoulder. “I don’t want to waste this hair entirely.”
“Sure,” I said. “I have some time.”
We headed up the block toward a place called L’Arbre Croche Café. “What are you up to tonight?” she asked.
“Austin and I are going to dinner at The Pier Inn.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Austin Buckley?”
I laughed. “Yes.”
“So are you two . . .” She trailed off dramatically.
“We’re just friends.”
“Austin’s never taken any other friends to dinner at The Pier Inn,” she said, elbowing me.
“I’m sure he has.”
She shook her head. “This is a small town. And Austin is one of its most eligible bachelors. Trust me—I’d have heard about it. The man doesn’t date.”
“He’s mentioned that a few times.”
We reached the café, and she pulled the door open. “Mabel is always giving him shit about it.”
After placing orders at the counter, we moved toward the pickup station. “You and Mabel have been friends a long time, huh?”
“Oh, yeah. For as long as I can remember. If we weren’t at her house, we were at my house. My mom was really close to her mom,” she explained. “So my parents were always trying to help out. Mr. Buckley had his hands full—although Austin did a lot too.”
“That’s what I hear.” We picked up our drinks and moved to a table by the window.
“When he wasn’t working, he was doing something for one of the other kids. It had to be frustrating to see all his friends goofing off or going out when he had responsibilities.”
“Yeah.”
“He’d take it out on Xander. Those two used to beat the crap out of each other.” Ari shook her head. “But if anyone else messed with Xander, Austin would be the first to defend him, and vice versa.”
I nodded and sipped my cold brew. “They’re such a close family. I hope I get a chance to meet the other siblings.”
“Devlin doesn’t get home too often. Dash usually honors everyone with his presence around the holidays.” She rolled her eyes.
“Not a fan?” I asked.
“He just gets on my nerves,” she said with a shrug. But the way her cheeks were suddenly painted raspberry-pink told me there was probably history there.
“Do I sense a crush?”
The raspberry turned to crimson. “No,” she said emphatically. “He’s like an older brother to me. And he treats me like another little sister. He always has.”