He stared at me from wide, terrified eyes. “Are you okay?”
I assessed myself. Aside from surge of adrenaline and racing heartbeat, my body appeared to be fine. “Yes. Just a little shaken up. You?”
His mouth opened and closed. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” He reached out and touched my arm. “Should we take you to a hospital?”
I brushed the suggestion off. “No, I’m fine.” The car hadn’t hit us too hard, and it wasn’t Austin’s fault. I’d been the one to warn him about the rabbit. “Sorry.”
He furrowed his brows. “Why are you apologizing?”
“I shouted about the rabbit.”
“I saw it, too, and don’t worry, I wasn’t going to hit it.” He forced a smile. “We saved an animal, but I better go check on the driver behind us.”
After he exited the vehicle, I smoothed my hands over my lap and attempted to slow my rapid breathing. The screeching tires followed by the crash replayed in my ears, and I winced. It was such an awful, terrifying sound. When my breathing was close to normal, I climbed out of the car.
Austin stood behind his sedan talking to a gray-haired woman driving an SUV. She seemed all right. Both were checking on each other and pointing out how the damage was minimal and could have been much worse. At least this wasn’t an incident leading to road rage.
Sirens blazed, coming closer, followed by flashing lights.
What a disaster. Dinner had been going great. Sure, Austin was nervous at first, but also adorable. He had a lost soul aspect to him, someone searching for home, which tugged at me. Who wouldn’t want to help someone lost find their way? He was also ruggedly attractive and seemed interested in what I had to say. But once the disasters began, first with the spilling of a drink, then the catastrophic mess with dessert, and now the fender bender, I had to wonder—was the universe sending a warning?
It appeared so. Maybe these were signs to run. That’s what I wanted to do now—escape to the comfort and safety of my home where I could put this night behind me. No wonder I didn’t date, if this was even a date, which it wasn’t.
As a police officer approached, I heaved out a sigh. She asked me some questions, and I explained what I saw. Fortunately, everyone appeared to be physically okay, and nobody was taken away in an ambulance.
After we were cleared to leave, Austin drove with hands clenched on the steering wheel.
“I can’t say sorry enough about tonight, Pandora. I was supposed to be thanking you for helping me out. Instead…” He motioned at my still damp outfit.
I placed my hand on his shoulder. “Stop apologizing. It’s not your fault, and everyone’s okay.”
He rubbed his forehead and then gripped the wheel once more. We didn’t say much else during the rest of the drive, seemingly lost in our own thoughts. When this young handsome man had shown up on my back door holding a cat, I hadn’t known what to think.
Now I knew more and was intrigued. I’d grown a little heated when talking about the persecution of witches here in the past because it was something I felt deeply about. I was surrounded by reminders of what happens when intolerance wins and would do all I could not to let those in power subdue and exploit others.
Sure, Austin was attractive, and kind, and he had a soft spot for cats, which made my heart beat a bit faster. But he was still too young for me and there was no indication that he was interested in anything besides friendship. I might as well not even contemplate the idea.
After he parked in his driveway, I thanked him for dinner and said goodnight. Then I walked the short distance to my house. Once inside, I closed the door behind me and sagged against it with a heavy sigh. What a night.
My cats bounded in from various parts of the house to greet me, but not in the usual way. They seemed out of sorts, urging for more than food or pet rubs.
“What’s wrong, kitties?”
I followed them into the kitchen. A set of eyes staring at me through my kitchen window made me gasp.
It couldn’t be. Could it?
I placed my hand on my heart and attempted to control my racing breaths and raging heartbeat. I wouldn’t give him the shock factor he undoubtedly wanted.
After a few more seconds, I opened the back door that led out to my deck and greeted him. “You look good for a dead man.”
CHAPTER6
AUSTIN
What a disaster of a night. I couldn’t think of how to mess up a dinner worse. If Pandora didn’t want to see me again, I wouldn’t blame her. After all, she ended up being drenched in my beer and possibly injured in a car accident. She’d said she was fine, but what a way to blow our first night out.
Likely our one and only.
