Page 3 of Further To Fall

Throwing an arm over my shoulder, Liam turned me to face angry mountain man. “Austin, this is Carter. My old next-door neighbor I told you was moving to LA. Carter, this is my good friend and old bodyguard, Austin.”

I swallowed my irritation and extended a hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Austin’s hand engulfed mine. It was warm and rough and sent tingles up my arm. “Sorry about that. I thought you were a groupie.” As apologies go, it was a pretty cruddy one. One-part half-hearted amends, one-part insult. Not to mention his jaw was locked so tight, I was pretty sure he was going to crack a molar.

Liam let out a bellow of laughter as he squeezed my rigid frame into his side. Austin tracked the movement with narrowed eyes. “Definitely not a groupie. Other than my mom, no one gives me a harder time than Carter.”

I tilted my face up to meet Liam’s eyes. “I’m not that bad.”

“Sure,” Liam replied, drawing out the vowel sound.

Feeling a nudge at my back, I turned to see Taylor holding up two drinks. “Thanks for getting those,” I said. “Liam, Austin, this is my friend, Taylor.”

“Nice to meet y’all.” She sent them both her most dazzling smile. Liam returned it with one of his own, while Austin gave more of a grimace. What was his deal?

Before the awkward introductions could continue, a tall man with artfully disheveled blond hair and lean muscles appeared at Austin’s side. “Well, who are these two stunners? And how did you trick them into hanging out with the sorry likes of you?”

Taylor giggled, and a smile came to my own lips. Liam gestured towards the handsome man. “Ladies, this is Ford. He owns this place. Ford, this is Carter and her friend, Taylor.”

“Ah, the infamous Carter. Nice to finally meet you.” Ford reached out, grabbing my hand and pressing it to his lips. While handsome, no flush of heat stopped me in my tracks.

I found my eyes seeking out Austin’s, but the fierce scowl on his face had me quickly averting my gaze and coming back to Ford. I forced a smile, trying to shake off the negative vibes Austin was sending my way. “It’s nice to meet you, too.”

The next hour proceeded in much the same way. Ford cracked jokes, and both he and Liam gave Taylor and me the lowdown on all the restaurants we needed to try, where to find the best coffee, and a list of bars and clubs we needed to avoid. But I couldn’t relax.

Somehow, I had ended up sitting between Austin and Liam. There wasn’t a whole lot of room on the banquette, and Austin was acting like I might have Ebola—one touch and he would be a dead man. As the minutes ticked on, my body grew more and more rigid. I was aware of every small movement I made. This was ridiculous. So, Austin and I had gotten off on the wrong foot, I just needed to change our course. If he was friends with Liam, he couldn’t be that bad.

I turned to face Austin and was again held captive by those incredible eyes. They seemed to dance between shades under the lights. I shook myself out my hot guy stupor. “So, how did you and Liam meet?”

“Work.”

“Work?” I parroted, unsure how else to respond to his overly verbose answer.

“Yeah. I was on his security detail at one of his first big gigs.”

“Oh, that’s cool. Is that still what you do?” I asked, drumming my fingers on the tops of my thighs.

The scowl was back, and it was even more ferocious than before. “No. I fight MMA. Mixed martial arts. I just used to do security to pay the bills.”

Clearly asking what he did for work was the wrong question. I tried a different tack. “So, what are some of your favorite things to do in LA? There are so many exciting things to do and see here. I don’t want to miss anything.”

Austin tipped his chin, looking down his nose at me. “I don’t think I do the kinds of things you would be interested in.”

What was this jerk’s deal? I balled my hands into fists, attempting to take slow breaths to ease my frustration. “You have no idea what I’m interested in because you’ve barely said ten words to me.”

He shrugged. I wanted to scream.

I searched out Taylor and widened my eyes at her, the universal help-me signal in girl world. She sent a perplexed look back at me, clearly not understanding my intent.

I needed out of here. Something about angry mountain man Austin had my nervous system fraying. Even though he was beyond rude, my attraction to him was a sharp and visceral thing. I hated myself a little for that.

I pushed off the leather bench, but when I did, the edge of my palm skimmed the side of Austin’s muscular thigh. He jerked back as if he had been burned. “Sorry,” I mumbled. Turning to Taylor and the rest of the group, I asked, “Do you mind if we head out? I feel a killer headache coming on.” It wasn’t a total lie. The tension I’d been feeling for the past hour was bound to give me a migraine if I stayed put any longer.

Taylor’s brow furrowed, and she stood. “Of course, sweetie.”

Liam’s gaze traveled over my face, and his eyes narrowed. Healwaysknew when I was lying. But he didn’t call me out on it this time, he just wrapped me in a warm and familiar hug. “I’ll text you later, and we’ll plan a day for you to come hang out at the Malibu house.”

“Sounds good,” I said. I skirted around the table, avoiding Austin’s eyes and body like he was a bomb that could detonate at any moment. “Nice to meet you guys,” I mumbled without looking in Austin’s direction.

---