Page 36 of Sliding into Home

She fought the urge to roll her eyes. “Yes. I pick him up in the morning.”

“That mean you’re going to let me stay over?”

Did it? No. Not necessarily.

Man, she really needed to get her head out of her ass and knock this shit off, like now. They were in a relationship. She should want to spend the night with him. Shouldn’t she? Pretending to be coy, she tapped her finger against her lip and looked him up and down. “Undecided.”

Austin’s smirk turned into a sexy, predatory grin. “Well, I guess I have my work cut out for me.”

If only he knew just how true that statement was. She patted him on the chest as she walked past him to the front door. “Wouldn’t want to be too easy.”

He snorted. “No one would ever accuse you of that, Kia.”

Chapter Ten

Afterlockingthefrontdoor, she followed him down the path to his truck. Grabbing the handhold, she hoisted herself up into his enormous truck.

Austin cranked the engine, and music blasted through the speakers. He winced and adjusted the volume. “Sorry about that.”

“No problem.” She shifted in her seat to get comfortable, then grabbed the buckle and snapped her seatbelt into place.

Austin pulled away from the sidewalk. He clamped his hand on her thigh, and she fought the urge to remove his fingers. She rolled her shoulders. She just needed to relax and unwind. Forget about Jeff and Max and everything else and just focus on the evening ahead.

“So how was your week?” she asked.

“Eh, it was there. Same ol’shit, different week.”

“Was the shop busy?”

“The usual.”

She rolled her eyes. He could give her something to work with here. “What are your plans for the weekend?”

He flicked a glance at her and smiled. “I don’t know. You think Max’s fancy dad will want to take him again?”

Kia bristled. Why did he say it like having Max was a chore? “That’s not why I was asking.”

“But he could take him, right? I mean, it’d be nice for us to get some more alone time. Although I guess, realistically, we could get a lot of alone time pretty soon.”

“What do you mean?”

He eased the truck into a parking spot outside the restaurant. “Let’s go,” he said as he opened the truck door and jumped out.

Kia’s mind raced. What had he been talking about more alone time?

She hopped out and rounded the front of the car. “What did you mean?”

Austin’s gaze tracked down her body, and he bit his bottom lip. “Man, I wish you would have agreed to stay home.” He pulled her against him and pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. “It’s been so long since we got to spend any time alone.”

“Sorry, it’s been a bit of an adjustment helping Max get to know his dad.”

Austin pulled open the door to the restaurant and waited for Kia to enter. She stepped up to the hostess station. “Two please.”

The hostess looked up at Kia, then scanned behind her. When the woman’s eyes landed on Austin, she licked her lips and straightened her spine.

Kia didn’t miss the little smirk on Austin’s face. He caught Kia looking and winked, then shrugged. The little aww shucks look used to be cute. Tonight it just irritated her. Couldn’t he just ignore the girl checking him out like a normal person?

Once they were seated, they both quickly ordered a drink. As the server left, Austin steepled his hands on the table. “How’s it been going with Wonder Boy?”

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