Page 10 of Midnight Rain

“Are you sure you don’t need me to do the Heimlich maneuver? I took a class after one of my clients choked on the grapes she was eating. I went into a full-blown panic when she turned beet red. Thankfully, one of the ladies knew how to help her. After that, I took a class to learn how to do it. I’m also a card-carrying CPR guy.”

“Client?” Cormac looked at him. “What do you do for a living?”

Austin touched the ends of his hair. “Cosmetology. I cut hair for a living.”

“I knew what you meant.”

Austin grabbed his plate before he sat back down. “You wouldn’t believe how many people think that word has something to do with the cosmos.”

Cormac chuckled. “The words are similar.”

Austin waved a hand at himself. “Do I look that smart? You have to know crazy amounts of math to study the cosmos. I barely passed my classes in school. My brain sees complex numbers and it short-circuits.”

“I’ve always had an affinity for numbers,” Cormac said.

“We can’t all be a genius.” Austin took a bite of his burger and moaned. When he swallowed, he said, “This is so good. I’ve never eaten any kind of meat this delicious.”

“It’s all about the choice of meat and what you use to grill it with.”

“I’ll leave that up to you. I don’t cook. I just love eating.” He had to stop himself from devouring the burger. Cormac was one hell of a grill master. The burger was smoky and juicy. Austin grabbed his napkin and wiped his mouth.

“Glad you like it.” Cormac broke off a piece of his burger and fed it to Lila.

Austin was touched that the guy was going out of his way to make friends with her, especially after the rude way she’d acted toward him.

“I have to say, you’re not what I expected. After this morning, I had you pegged as the grumpiest man alive.” He took a sip of his soda. “Not that I blamed you. You just intimidated me, so I lashed out. Sorry about that.”

“Water under the bridge.” Cormac nodded toward the television, which had the screen saver showing a gorgeous beach. “Any particular movie you want to watch?”

“I’m digging our conversation, unless you want to watch a movie.” After the initial awkwardness, Austin found Cormac so easy to talk to that he could converse with the guy all evening. He also liked hearing his deep voice and seeing the way his dark gray eyes sparkled when he smiled.

Why did he have a feeling that Cormac didn’t smile too often?

“I just didn’t want you to get bored.” He rubbed Lila’s head.

“I’m far from bored,” Austin said. “I usually don’t talk this much when I first meet someone, so that should tell you I’m having a nice time. Thank you for inviting me over. I mean, Orion did, but it’s still your house, too.” Austin pressed his lips together. “Sorry, I have a bad habit of taking too much sometimes.”

The way Cormac looked at him had butterflies erupting in his stomach. “I like listening to you.”

He snorted. “You’d be the first. I used to get on my coworkers’ nerves because a lot of times I don’t know when to shut up.”

Like he needed to do now. What he hadn’t told Cormac was that he tended to talk too much when he was nervous. Although he found the guy easy to talk to, that didn’t mean he wasn’t insanely nervous.

A soft chuckle escaped Cormac. “Honestly, I like that you’re comfortable around me.”

Austin reached over and slid his fingers over the strands of Cormac’s hair. “You should let me cut your ends. When was the last time you had that done?”

If Austin wasn’t mistaken, Cormac leaned into his touch. “It’s been a while.”

“If I worked at a salon right now, I’d give you the full treatment.” Austin found it hard to pull his hand away. Cormac might need his ends trimmed, but his hair was silky soft. Austin had an overwhelming urge to run his fingers through it instead of just touching the ends.

“What would the full treatment consist of?” Cormac locked eyes with him, making Austin feel as if he was falling into the dark gray depths.

Austin was too mesmerized to think. He’d never been this instantly attracted to anyone before. It was as if Cormac had placed some kind of spell on him. Austin licked his lips, his heart racing as his gaze dropped to the guy’s mouth, wondering what Cormac’s facial hair would feel like against his skin. Austin had only kissed clean-shaven men, but he willing to find out.

His breath hitched when Cormac leaned in closer, as if he was about to kiss him. Fuck. Austin had onions on his burger, and now his breath would smell like it. Even so, he couldn’t find it in himself to pull away.

Cormac’s lips brushed over Austin’s before he cupped the back of Austin’s head and deepened the kiss. This had to be a dream. No one kissed that damn good. Cormac slanted his head, swiping his tongue inside Austin’s mouth, as Austin moaned.

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