I don’t know how much time passes. Only that my feet ache, and so do my arms, filled to the brim. Austin’s are full, too, gentle eyes watchful.
“Drink?” he asks, leading us to two big leather chairs facing the fire.
“Yes, please,” I say plopping down, a stack of books resting on my knees. He deposits the rest on a nearby coffee table. “But let me pay. It’s the least I can do.”
“Old-fashioned,” he repeats, not controlling or stubborn. Satisfied, like he’s enjoying this.
“In that case, I’d love a Moroccan mint tea,” I say, smile thanking him.
He returns ten minutes later with two mugs, and a pretty barista, eyeing him thirstily from a distance.
“Do you ever get tired of it?” I ask, as he takes the seat next to me.
He arches a brow.
“Of every woman in this place checking you out.”
He grimaces, puzzled.
“Wait, are you telling me you don’t notice?” I hiss, leaning closer to him. The barista shoots daggers my way. I feel triumphant despite myself. And despite our dating arrangement.
Austin shrugs. “Only pay attention to what interests me.”
My cheeks heat, his eyes hovering on my face for a moment longer than he needs to.
Suddenly, he looks away, grabbing the book on the top of the pile, the one I showed him before—The Alpha’s Curvy Omega.
“Let me give this narrating thing a try,” he says, almost more to himself.
He flips it open, clears his throat, and starts reading—low, steady, unselfconscious.
Then, he stops.
His ears go red.
His eyes widen.
“…Damn,” he mutters.
I laugh nervously. “You didn’t make it a whole page, did you?”
He shuts the book. Hard.
“That should come with a warning label.”
I can’t help the laugh that escapes my lips. “Giving up so fast, Austin? You sound like you’d make a good narrator.”
He shrugs, resting his hands on his legs, body relaxed, face open.
I wait for the lecture that never comes.
Might as well get it over with. “Indecent reading material. I know. But…” My eyes cast toward the dark patterned carpet, burnished with firelight.
“Read what you like, Allie.”
Five words, like chains breaking.
“Not really much that upsets you.”
