Page 25 of Pitcher Perfect

Austin leaned forward, placing his forearms on the table. He stared at his glass of beer, slowly twisting it around.

I remained quiet, giving him time to think. Whether he needed to process what I’d said or was working up a rebuttal, I didn’t know. I spent the moments brainstorming ways I could involve him in the process of deciding on our dish for the competition to milk more time with him. No one had ever pulled me in so immediately, and I wanted to explore that.

Being around all four of the guys that afternoon was amazing. They were hilarious and nice, but there was something special about Austin. I would be a fool to ignore it.Could my life actually be going where I want it to? Meeting someone in Dahlia Springs, possibly getting a space for my restaurant, and establishing roots where I want to be? Perfect.And if the guy needed a little taking care of with occasional meals when he worked too hard, all the better. I was damn good at that.

When my mom got sick and my dad was still working so he could keep health insurance, I had to step up to take care of my little sister. On the days when Mom was extra weak after chemo, I had learned how to cook, how to sort through Mom’s meds to get her the right ones, how to help my sister with homework, and when to call our neighbor for help. Ever since then, I had found myself in the position of taking care of others. It came naturally to me. I seemed to gravitate toward men who needed the extra care. Though, that usually bit me in the ass with men who only took and never gave.Is that how Austin would be?

“I agree.”

Austin’s words pulled me from my thoughts. “Yeah?”

“That seems to be the best way to ensure they’re a true pairing, otherwise, they would be competing against each other.”

I relaxed in my chair.Good start.“Now we have to decide which is the lead and which is the supporting cast.”

An adorable wrinkle appeared between Austin’s eyebrows. I didn’t want him overthinking it, but his overthinking face was fucking delightful.

“How about we each brainstorm five ideas of our best work? We might find there’s a natural pairing, but at least it would give us somewhere to start.” I licked my drying lips and stared into his bright-blue eyes. “I could fix my ideas and you could come over to taste test?”

The crease disappeared, and he smiled. “Great idea. After I look through my idea notebook, I’ll pull some beers together with some flavor profiles to give us an example from other breweries. I can bring those with me. Yeah?”

“Perfect.” We settled on a date.Day—not a date. It’s a working dinner.

As we wrapped up, I walked with Austin over to the bar to say goodbye to the rest of the guys. Instead of heading home, Austin said he was going back to work to do a few things. I frowned. He said he’d already put in a full day. I wanted to offer to cook dinner for him because I worried he wouldn’t get in a good meal. The urge to take care of him was strong already, which worried me. I could hear my sister’s voice in my head telling me to run the other way and not take on another project.But what if Austin is worth it?

CHAPTER8

CALEB

Caleb:dad said he hasn’t heard from you in a couple of weeks. Can you call him when you have a chance?

Charity:[eyeroll emoji] I called him the other day and he didn’t answer so I sent him a text to let him know I was fine

Caleb:you know dad hates texting

Charity:I’ll try again

Caleb:thanks :) he worries about you

Charity:lol I’m sure “he’s” the only one

Caleb:definitely. I know you can handle yourself ;)

Charity:right. So I’ll pretend I didn’t get the texts from you yesterday with links to self-defense videos?

Caleb:exactly!

* * *

After slicingthe tuna for tuna tartare, I washed my hands and picked up my notebook to double-check what else I had left to do. Normally, I wouldn’t need a list to cook because it was second nature, but Austin’s impending visit had me distracted as hell. Fortunately, I was on track to have everything ready for when he arrived in an hour.

As I washed my knife and cutting board, my attention wandered to the unscented candles on my kitchen windowsill. I hadn’t had a reason to use them since I’d moved to Dahlia Springs because I hadn’t been cooking romantic dinners. I supposed I could use them for dining on my own, but the effort felt pointless.

Would it be weird to light candles?He might get weirded out if he walked into some romantic dinner expecting a professional meeting. Then again, it might be good to plant the idea in his head that letting me make romantic dinners for him could be nice. I liked the idea of dating Austin. Eventually. After the competition was over and that pressure wasn’t hanging over us like an Oregon rain cloud.

My phone buzzed, and a photo of my sister’s smiling face popped up on the screen. I hurried to answer. With her traveling all over the world and having inconsistent access to call me, I had quickly learned to answer no matter what I was doing.

“Hey, Squirt! You’re alive.”

---