Page 142 of Perfect Pitch

I snuggle in. “Do you want to?”

“Make you smile? Always.”

“No, you dork.”

“Ahh. Get married?”

I nod.

“Maybe one day? I haven’t given it a lot of thought. I see how difficult the job is on the married guys and I’m not quite ready to let it go.”

We’ve edged our way to the base of the steps. I contemplate the house in its magnificence and wonder, “How did we get on this topic?”

“Perhaps because this house was filled with love?” he suggests.

I let out a shudder of breath. “I guess we’ll see.”

I place my booted foot on the first step and ascend.

Quick as a rattlesnake, his hand grabs my wrist. My head whips around to his. I could drown in the swimming emotions brimming in his eyes. He opens his mouth to speak, but I lay a finger across his lips. What’s between us isn’t for here.

Not this place.

Not now.

“Follow me.” I jog up the rest of the steps and place my hand on the knob. The minute I feel his presence, I press down on the latch knowing my grandfather’s housekeeper would have left the door open at my request.

The latch gives and I step inside.

That’s when I crumble.

* * *

CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE

Allergies are a large concern at the holiday season. Take an extra moment and print out ingredient labels for all your homemade goodies.

—Fab and Delish

My arms automatically slip around Austyn to support her as she breaks down. I try to assess the threat when I realize it’s not a physical threat but an emotional one. Emotions can turn a hunter into the hunted as swiftly as one breath into the next. They refuse to allow a person to hide from the realities of life.

Right now, my woman is aching as she tries to deal with blow after blow she’s absorbed in the last few days.

Nudging her forward, I close the door behind us so her meltdown isn’t witnessed.

Facing forward, I notice the table littered with silver frames. Easily, I spot Austyn in many of them. This must be what set her off, I reason. Ranging from intimate family moments to old-fashioned portraits, it would have felt like a place of pride every time she stepped through the door.

Now? After everything she’s heard, would she still feel like that? Doubtful.

I just hold her as she pounds out her frustration and sorrow against my chest. The words “lies” “respect” and “family” are used in conjunction with one another before she finally sags in defeat in my arms.

I press a kiss to her crown of braids. “The question you should be asking yourself is, did they lie for you or to you, Beats? Were they trying to hurt you or love you?”

“Does it matter?”

I tilt her face back so I can brush away the remnants of tears. “I think it does.”

She swallows over and over before a vicious curse leaves her lips. Austyn storms away from me and down a hall. I trail her through the main part of the house, through the kitchen, and out the back door in the direction of the barns just beyond the trees close to the house. Wordlessly, I follow, wondering what she’s up to.

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