Page 36 of Thinking It Over

“That sounds good.”

He peppered me with the barest of kisses and pulled back, heading to the fridge. “Beer, wine, water…?”

“Water’s great, thanks.”

He nodded while I pulled off my own tie and undid a couple of my buttons.

“We’ll be fine on the back deck and throw from there to keep Penny happy rather than worrying about getting changed or muddying ourselves up.” He led me out, placed our drinks down, and picked up a ball and ball thrower.

Penny immediately turned into a bopping, bounding, jumping creature in her excitement, drawing a laugh out of me.

We leaned against the railing, side by side, his arm brushing mine.

“I’m sorry for Rupert, his behavior, and what he said.” As Austin spoke, I turned my gaze toward him. “He’s ajerk. And I wish like hell he hadn’t targeted you.” Intense eyes peered back at me as he continued. “When you left, which I don’t blame you for,” he hastened to add, “it seemed like you may have believed what he said. I’m not going to lie, the thought of you hurting and letting his words carry weight has been difficult for me to keep my mouth shut about.” Austin placed his hand on top of mine as I held onto the railing. “But I need you to know you’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a really long time.”

There was the punch. The hit of his words took my breath away and made it difficult to get my thoughts together and know what to say.

After only three weeks of knowing each other, it was already clear we cared for each other. I wondered for a second if I was being naïve, rushing into my reaction for him rather than pulling back, which surely would have been the sensible thing for me to do.

Glancing at his hand, I considered our ease, liked that we were so comfortable. The thought had me turning my hand palm upward so I could hold his properly. Returning my gaze to his, I smiled. “He was a jerk,” I agreed. “I know you warned me about him, but”—I shook my head in both wonder and amusement—“whatever did you see in that guy?”

Wide-eyed, Austin seemed unsure whether he trulyneeded to answer or not. I took it easy on him and snorted.

“You don’t have to answer that, but I’ll admit, what he said pissed me off, maybe made me question what you saw in me,” I admitted. He made to speak, but I squeezed his hand and continued before he had the chance, “I’m not in need of an ego boost, honestly. I know who I am, and I also know I like you, a lot. Maybe I don’t quite understand why I feel so comfortable so fast,” I said, pausing with a small shrug, “but I don’t need to question it.”

Penny reappeared, dropping the ball on the wooden deck, giving us both a reprieve from the heavy conversation. A ball throw later, and Austin turned back to me.

“This is new between us,” he said, and I nodded, waiting for him to continue. “I know that you’re smart. I know that you’re hot.” He grinned, and I smirked. “I also know that you make me laugh, and I’m really enjoying spending time with you.”

“I feel like a bit of a dick laying all of this out there like this,” I admitted.

He bobbed his head, amusement in his gaze. “The whole time I was talking I had my own little mantra going on in my head.”

“Yeah? What was it?”

His grin was kind of shy, not a reaction I expected. “Something to do with hoping I didn’t sound like a dickhead and wishing like hell you didn’t laugh in my face.”

The flip in my stomach was instant, and my breath caught. After taking a few steadying breaths, I reached out to him, my thumb brushing his cheek. “So we’re on the same page.” When he bobbed his head, a smile flittered to my lips. “I’m good with that.”

The beeping of the oven filtered out to us. He looked down at Penny, who wagged her tail and panted, the ball at Jasper’s feet. “Can you throw her the ball a couple more times, and I’ll handle the food?”

“Gladly.” I took the thrower from him and snagged the ball, my eyes watching him leave before returning my attention to Penny, who danced out onto the lawn, her focus intent on the ball.

TWELVE

AUSTIN

The loud barkpulled me from my sleep. I scrunched my face, not quite ready to open my eyes yet. Penny had other ideas, her irritating bark tearing a groan from me.

“What time is it?”

Hearing Jasper’s sleepy voice, I woke up enough to realize he was draped over my body. With him so close, waking up didn’t seem like such a hardship. A smile wiped out the frown Penny had created, and I tugged Jasper close, saying, “Too early.” Another bark. “But she doesn’t bark over nothing. She must want to go out.”

Jasper tapped me on the back as I withdrew. “Good job. You go deal with that.” Immediately, he snuggled further under the sheets and curled his arms around my pillow. He looked good in my bed, and seeing him now, just as the faintest of morning rays were trickling in through the slats of the blinds, contentment eased through me.

I headed out of my room after pulling on some shorts, making my way to the back door, while thinking of last night. Dinner had been great. Not only had the food been delicious—courtesy of Billy—but we’d spent the evening sharing tales, plans for the future, and discussing the most random of topics. Our conversation was effortless. It didn’t mean we agreed on everything or even supported the same football team, but everything I discovered simply made me want to know more.

“Hey, girl, what on earth is the fuss about?”

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