He studied me. “I’m driving you, babe,andyou’re going somewhere other than Blush.”
I threw my hands up in frustration. “You are not the boss of me, Austin!”
His phone buzzed and he swore again, but answered it after he checked the caller ID. “Yo. Yeah. Fuck me. This shit needs to be dealt with, brother.” He rose to his feet and headed out my door just like he had the other night. Only, this time, I didn’t really want to let him back in. I took my minute of reprieve and called Kim.
“Wow, two calls before eleven,” she said. “I must be special.”
“Hey. Austin’s being all alpha male about Blush and won’t ‘allow’ me to go.”
“What the hell?”
“Yep. So, either we go early and blow him off, which I have a feeling won’t work, because he’s here and I don’t really know when he’s leaving.”
“Or...” Kim said.
“Or, he drops us off somewhere else and we either walk or cab it back to Blush.”
Kim chuckled. “You really want to play that game this early in your relationship?”
“Please, if he keeps going like this, there isn’t going tobea relationship.”
“Well, I’m up for whatever. I really do want to try for Blush, though.”
“Me too,” I said. “Okay, it’s sorted. I might call you later to fake make plans, you good with that?”
“I got your back, Dani. Always.”
“This is why I love you best,” I said.
“Okay, I’m going for a run. Love you.”
“Love you too.” I hung up, finished my bagel, and was downing my last gulp of coffee when Austin walked back in. “Everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he said, but I didn’t believe him. He looked pissed. “But I have to go.”
“Okay. See ya.”
“Don’t be like that, Dani.” He frowned. “Just trust me on the Blush thing.”
“You got it, buddy,” I quipped, and stood.
He narrowed his eyes and gripped my chin, albeit gently. “Don’t go thinkin’ you’re gonna do anything stupid, Dani.”
“Oh, but you said I’mnotstupid, so how could I possiblydoanything stupid?”
“Do I need to put a recruit on you?”
“What does that even mean?”
“Have someone watch you.”
I gasped and pulled out of his grip. “Youwouldn’t.”
“I would if I felt I needed to.”
“You know you just erased the experience of a sweet morning breakfast, with me regretting I let you in my house because you’re being the biggest dick on the planet.”
“When you see mine, babe, you’ll see how right you are.”
