“Good to know. Barista will be a good option should I need a second job.” He sat beside me and watched me eat. “What time you done today?”
“My last conference is at two-forty-five, so I’m guessing around three thirty. Sometimes we’re done early, but I can text you when I know.”
He nodded. “It stays nice, you’re on my bike.”
“No.”
“What? Why not?”
“I can’t.” I set my mug down. “I... I’m terrified of motorcycles.”
“You’ll be fine.”
“You’re going to go all the way home to get your bike?”
“I’m going to be over that way, anyway.”
I shivered. “I’ve never been on a bike, Austin. I’ll make you crash.”
He chuckled. “There is nothin’ you could do to make me crash, baby.”
I picked up my coffee again. “I’m sure I could think of a few things.”
“Listen, there’s nothing you could do outside of giving me head on my bike that would make me crash,” he said. “And if you can figure out how to give me head while I’m riding, it’ll be a fuckin’ awesome way to go.”
“Don’t be gross,” I ordered, my face on fire.
“Can’t promise that.”
“Why not?”
“Because you’re gorgeous when you’re caught off guard.” He sipped his coffee again.
“You’re an evil man.” I wagged my finger toward him. “You know that, right?”
He leaned toward me and stroked my cheek. “I’myourman.”
“You’re myevilman.”
Austin laughed and let me finish my breakfast.
* * *
Imuddled through theday, my thoughts constantly turning to Austin and my total besotted-ness with him. I was never a fan of insta-love, particularly in romance novels, but now that I was living it, I was realizing how quickly I was falling for him.
My final parent was the single mom to Maverick, and he was one of my favorite kids, despite Austin’s aversion to his name. His mom, Cassidy, was doing the best she could with limited resources, and I had nothing but respect for her.
She actually hung around and walked out with me once our conference ended. As we pushed open the double doors at the front of the school, she grabbed my arm and hummed in delight. I looked up to see Austin walking towards us.
“If I could have one night... just one... with a man who looked like that, I’d die happy,” Cassidy mused. “I wonder who he belongs to.”
I giggled. “That would be me.”
“Shut the front door,” she said. “Does he have any brothers?”
“Like a hundred,” I retorted.
She pulled me to a stop. “Figure out a way to introduce me to them.”
