Page 9 of Midnight Rain

Austin shot her a quick text saying he was out of town at a cosmetology conference. He’d never been to one and wasn’t sure if such a thing existed, but the lie would satisfy her for the time being.

“Change your mind?”

Austin jumped, nearly dropping his phone at Cormac’s deep voice behind him. “You just scared the bejesus out of me.”

“Sorry I frightened you. I just came in here to grab something to drink since I forgot to grab one from the chest outside.”

Austin’s phone buzzed to signal a text, but he shoved it into his fanny pack and zipped it closed. “Tell me what you want and I’ll bring it when I come back.”

Lila trotted into the kitchen, looked between them, then jumped up, resting her front paws on Cormac’s pant leg. It was a complete one-eighty to how she’d behaved before. Austin still couldn’t figure out her strange behavior. Maybe it was the long drive and a new place. Animals could tell when something was wrong, and Austin was still on edge, terrified that Jaycee would find him.

“A Coke,” Cormac said. “Thanks.” He reached down and scratched Lila’s head as Austin hurried out the door.

Lila wasn’t the only one who’d done a one-eighty.

Austin was attracted to Cormac, though, right now, he didn’t need the complication. He was already going through too much. Luckily Paloma told him there was a salon in town and had given him the address.

He was going to head there tomorrow and talk to the owner. Austin had a small savings, but it wasn’t going to last if he didn’t start working again.

“Everything okay?” Orion asked as Austin approached.

“It is now.” He grabbed his plate from the table and then went to the chest. “I had to rescue Cormac from Lila. I thought for sure she was going to take him down, but I wrestled her away from him.”

Duncan laughed. “Tell me Cormac was standing on the couch, afraid to get down.”

Siblings were known for giving each other a hard time, but Austin felt a strange need to defend Cormac.

“Actually, Lila warmed up to him. I think they’re best friends now.” Austin turned on his heel and walked away. He must not have gotten enough sleep if he thought Cormac needed Austin to defend his honor.

The guy looked like he could kick ass with one hand tied behind his back. Austin had never been attracted to deadly-looking men that were riddled with tattoos and had hair longer than his own.

In fact, he steered clear of such men, but there was something about Cormac that made Austin want to spend more time around him.

Now that they weren’t being pissy with each other.

“Here you go.” Austin handed Cormac the can. “I didn’t grab Lila a burger. I have too much on my plate already, so I’ll let her nibble on one of mine.”

Cormac took the can from him. “Thank you.”

Austin sat at a respectable distance on the couch, not wanting to give the guy the wrong impression, but honestly, he wanted to sit right next to the man, maybe even in his lap. “Did you cook any of this?”

Austin had seen Cormac at the grill, but he wasn’t sure what else to say to him.

“I cooked the meat. I hope you like it.”

“Honey, you’d really have to screw it up for me to turn down free food.” Austin chuckled nervously.

The guy really was intimidating without saying anything. Cormac just had that look about him. Austin should be afraid of him, considering he was already running from an intimidating man, but there was something about Cormac that made Austin feel at ease.

“I’ve had many, many years of practice.” Cormac ate a forkful of potato salad.

“You don’t look that old,” Austin said. “Mid-thirties?”

Cormac coughed, slamming his fist into chest. Austin jumped up, setting his plate aside so he could pound the guy’s back. “You have to chew your food before you try to swallow it, hon.”

Austin’s gaze slid down Cormac’s broad back as Lila ran back and forth across the cushion, like she was worried about Cormac.

“I’m okay.” Cormac popped the tab on his can and took a sip. “Food went down the wrong way.”

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