“I highly doubt anyone would be interested in my basket,” I muttered, my face hot at the thought of Austin and the seriously crazy wet dreams I’ve been having about him enjoying my cookie.
“You never know unless you put yourself out there,” she whined, and I sighed.
“I don’t think so. Plus… I might take the Florida job, so I might not even be in town for Valentine’s Day,” I put out there, trying to feel out how my youngest sister would react.
“Florida?” a deep voice sounded behind me, and my spine straightened.
“Wait, who’s with you? What was that?” Jackie asked. Of course, she didn’t miss Austin’s deep voice. I turned and locked eyes with the prettiest blues I’d ever seen. Damn it, it was him.
“No one.” “Austin,” the two of us answered at the same, and I swear my head was about to explode. If Jackie recognizedAustin’s voice, god only knew what crazy thing would come out of her mouth.
“Austin Hart? Hottie brewery guy?”
“One and the same,” he muttered with a slight twitch to his lips.
“Jackie, we’ll talk later. I gotta go.” I tried to rush her off the call.
“Oh, we are definitely talking later!” I quickly ended the call before she said anything else. Facing the man who had been following me around, I rolled my eyes.
“It’s rude to eavesdrop,” I pointed out, but I could see the determination in his gaze.
“You were the one having a conversation on speaker. Florida?” he asked.
“I’m a travel nurse,” I reminded him and didn’t miss the muscle in his jaw ticking as if he was annoyed. “Jobs pop up all over the country, Austin.” My voice was softer than I would normally use it.
“How long?”
“Three months.”
“Three—“ he started to repeat, but my eyes dropped to the way his seriously sexy jaw clenched. “No.”
“No?” I repeated with shock. “What do you mean, no?”
“No. Take a different job.”
“Austin—“Before I knew it, he’d taken my bag off my shoulder and tossed it over his, tangling our fingers and leading us right out of the patio area of the little coffee shop and straight onto Main Street. “Austin, where are we—“ The look he gave me over his broad shoulder made me go quiet.
“Shut it,” he clipped. His long legs were hard to keep up with, something he must have noticed because he picked me up and carried me.Again!Like a groom would his bride, and for some reason, I let him! I didn’t fight or argue or toss attitude. I simplystayed in his arms because, if I was honest, I’d missed it. Missed him.
“Fine.” I halfheartedly pouted before I rested my head on his shoulder. “You know, I bet you could make millions offering this service to women,” I rambled. “Like Lyft services but literally being lifted and carried to your next destination.” I hated the idea of him carrying any other woman.
“The only woman I’m ever going to carry is you,” he said, and I had to do a double take.
“What?” I whispered. He looked… serious. Like he meant it.
“You heard me. And maybe our daughter, if we have one,” he added. Thankfully, I didn’t need to walk thanks to him carrying me about, or else I would have fallen right on my face.
“What? You’re?—“
“Insane?” he cut me off, and his lip quirked upward. “I know. You kinda bring it out of me.”
“You cannot blame someone’s sanity or lack thereof on another person.”
“Funny, I just did,” he retorted. I frowned.
Before I knew it, we were at my place. He set me down and went through my bag, taking my keys from the front pocket.
“How did you know my keys were…” I let the words drift to nothing because the look he gave me said exactly what I was thinking. He knew because he’d been watching me. Stalking me. And I had just been letting him. Enjoying the attention and maybe even craving it.
