She gave an involuntary tremble. “I don’t mind.”
“You’re cold. Let me put some more wood on the fire.”
He piled three more logs on, and soon, flames rose, and warmth emanated from the fire. He pulled out his phone and sent a quick text to someone then slipped it back into his pocket. Before sitting down again, he shifted his chair to a ninety degree angle with hers. His leg pressed against hers when he dropped into his seat again.
“This way, I can look at you without kinking my neck.”
Debbie let out a little sigh. Between the fire and the warmth his nearness triggered in her, she could stay here all night.
Dallas came running out with a throw blanket in his arms. “Here, Dad.”
“Thanks, bud.” Austin took the blanket and leaned close to Debbie to spread it across her. “There, now I don’t have to worry about you getting chilled.”
She chuckled. “Are you afraid I’m going to get up and leave?” If she did, it’d only be because she didn’t want to end up doing something impulsive and ruining everything. If Dallas hadn’t brought the blanket out, she could have pretended she was still cold and used it as an excuse to sit on Austin’s lap.
“I just thought it would be nice for us to talk. You know, without kids around to repeatedly interrupt.”
“That sounds nice. Do you think we can remember how to converse like two adults?”
He laughed. “It might take some work, but I think we can figure it out.”
She joined in the laughter, but soon, the sound of crickets and the crackling fire filled the otherwise quiet night.
“So, what did you want to talk about?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Anything. Everything. We’re supposed to be engaged, but I don’t even know your favorite color.”
“My favorite color is blue.” Debbie continued to share snippets of information about herself with him, finding out interesting things about him as well.
The conversation turned much deeper than she expected as each of them shared how devastated they were following their respective divorces and what it had done to their self-esteem. She’d always wanted to help people, that’s why she got a nursing degree. And he saw building homes and apartments for people as his way of providing a better world for his kids.
Austin surprised her when he started talking about his financial struggles.
“Every time I feel like things are going good and that I’m making progress on Cheyenne’s debts, something happens that sets me back.”
“Like what?” Debbie asked. She’d love nothing more than to help him with his debt, but he was too proud; he’d never accept a handout.
“Like an investor backing out of a project, stiffing me and all of the other contractors on a month’s worth of wages and leaving me without a job. Or the truck that I’d driven since I was seventeen repeatedly breaking down and finally dying altogether.” He popped his knuckles as his agitation grew. “And of course with three kids, there have been plenty of medical bills. Some bigger than others, like when Savvy’s appendix ruptured last fall right after we moved here and Cody getting pneumonia and having to be hospitalized for three days back in December.” He raked a hand through his hair. “I’ll be paying on those for a while yet.”
Again, Debbie wanted to offer to help him, but she bit her tongue. Tonight was going so well, she didn’t want to say anything to mess it up.
As if uncomfortable with the direction their conversation had taken, Austin changed the topic back to trivial things. They soon realized their birthdays were exactly a month apart, and that Debbie was older than Austin.
“Does that bother you?” she asked.
“Does what bother me?”
“That I’m two years older than you. Most men don’t like to date women that are older than them. Not that we’re dating or anything.” She rushed to add that last part.
He grinned as he shook his head. “No, we’re just pretending to be engaged.” He studied her. “Does it bother you?”
“You’re asking a woman who was married to a man thirty-eight years her senior if it bothers her to be engaged—I mean, pretend to be engaged—to a man two years younger than her?”
“I take that as a no. Good to know.” He opened his mouth to say something else, then closed it again. He stared at the fire for a long moment before turning back to her. When he did, it was with such intensity it took her breath away. “What was it like being married to a billionaire?”
Debbie sucked in a sharp breath. She didn’t talk about her marriage to Peter much, because most people didn’t believe that she hadn’t married him for his money. Nor did they understand that being married to such a wealthy man was hard.
* * *
