I climbed on his back and curved my arm around his neck in a viselike hold. “Austin, no! You’ll kill him, you idiot.”
Michael catapulted to his feet while holding his throat and jogged the hell out of there. When Austin stood up, I lost my grip and fell on my back. He turned to go after Michael but changed his mind when he saw me laid out on the concrete.
“Christ, Lexi. You okay?”
He knelt down and looked me over. I disappeared in his frosty blue eyes—so pale they resembled a Siberian Husky’s. They were rimmed with inky black lashes and wolfish brows, which furrowed with concern.
“Lexi?”
“What are you doing here?” I asked, propping myself up on my elbows.
“Besides saving your ass from a dead man? Walking.”
I lurched up and pushed myself off the ground. Austin slid his large hand beneath my arm to help and I knocked it away. “I can do it myself,” I said.
“You always were stubborn,” he mumbled.
“Capable,” I countered, glaring up at him.
Up. Because I swear Austin had sprouted a few inches in the last seven years. I mentally measured him to be just over six foot, but when we last saw each other, he was probably around five-eleven. I knew this because I was five-feet seven inches. And a quarter.
He stared down his nose. “Stubborn.”
I raised a brow. “You really want to fight with me in the middle of a parking lot? Why are you here, Austin? I know this isn’t the side of town you hang out in.”
He rubbed his jaw and scanned the parking lot once more. “I followed you to work.”
I blanched. “My shift started nine hours ago.”
Austin folded his thick, tattooed arms and belted me with a judgmental glare. “Can you drive?”
“Texas Department of Motor Vehicles seems to think so.”
Austin’s lips twitched. “Get in the car, then. I’ll wait.”
I brushed my dirty apron and lifted my purse from the ground, grabbing the lipstick that had rolled behind a tire. I peered over my shoulder; Austin stood with his hands deep in his pockets and I heard the sound of coins jingling as he looked around.
“Do you normally leave work this late?”
I didn’t answer because after what had just happened, I was too flustered and didn’t think it was an appropriate time to have a conversation.
Once inside my car, I started the engine and fought with the clutch. She sputtered and immediately died. I expected to see Austin laughing the way Beckett often did.
He wasn’t. His brows knitted and he looked like he was about to step in until the engine turned over and I got her running. What bothered me was the distracted look on his face. Austin looked like a man who was three ticks away from beating the holy shit out of someone.
And that someone was going to be Michael Hudson. I should have said something, but I drove off and watched him in the rearview mirror as he stalked toward the pizza shop with a heavy swing in his step.
I always believed Karma would come back to Michael for how cruel he was to me in high school. Karma just happened to be a man named Austin Cole.
Chapter 5
On Friday afternoon, I picked up Maizy for our playdate. It had become a tradition to go to a movie and then stop off at Pizza Zone. It gave my mom a break from reality so she could get a manicure or just take a nap. Maizy was such a good-hearted little girl, one who from an early age considered the feelings of others. She didn’t like to see anyone cry and always cleaned up without being asked. Maizy had her moments like any six-year-old, but she was my Maze, and I loved her unconditionally.
“Lexi?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I go play now?”
