Page 36 of Austin

“Something like that. You sound like you’re on the run. Did I disrupt anything?”

“I’m on my way to get coffee from the break room.”

“You hate coffee,” he declares. “Are you stalking a chick?”

“No, I am not stalking a chick.” I wave off the insinuation. “For the record, women stalk me.”

“You know, there are better ways to get a girl’s number than following her into the break room.”

“Again, I’m not following anyone. She might not even be in there.” I immediately smack my head at my quasi-confession.

Tanner laughs out loud. “You need to stop watching old spy movies and read some classics.”

I chuckle to myself. Tanner has always been the most touchy-feely one of the three of us. His artsy ways show through in everything he does, and I wonder sometimes if he’s actually related to us at all. But I know he gets every aspect of who he is from our mother.

Since he was the baby in the family, she spent the most time cuddled up on the couch with him. She knew he was her last son she could do that with, so it seemed like she took advantage, trying to make up for every moment she’d missed with us.

“Not all of us read Shakespeare for fun,” I deadpan.

“Obviously. And I was thinking some Jane Austen, not Shakespeare. You were named after her, you know.”

“Were you calling for any other reason than to bust my balls?”

“Not really. I’m on my way to class. Call me when you’re done stalking.”

“All right. Later, T.”

“Love ya, A.”

After I place my phone in my pocket, I straighten my tie and try to look casual. When I enter the break room, it’s to the sight of the sexiest ass I’ve ever seen. She’s bent over, looking in the refrigerator. I lean against the doorframe to take her in.

“Oh, sorry, Mr. Sexton,” Rosie, another employee, bumps into me on her way into the room.

Thud.

“Ouch. Damn it,” Jalynn cries.

I turn to see her rubbing her head where it must have smacked against the top of the fridge.

“You okay there, Pyle?”

Her eyes narrow, and I grin in response.

“Please, stop calling me that, and”—she rubs her head—“I’m fine.”

“Yes, you are, but your head doesn’t look okay.” I approach her, laying my hands on her head to examine her bump. The skin is pink around her hairline, so I tenderly run a thumb over it to see if it hurts her.

I can feel her body quiver and then stiffen as she pulls away, glaring at me.

“Isn’t this sexual harassment?”

“Making sure my employee is okay after she hit her head? No, not at all.”

“So, you take care of all your employees like this?” Her teeth graze that lip again.

I see Rosie making coffee in the Keurig, and I bring her in to have someone on my side. She used to work in my department until she got promoted, and we love to rile each other, so she knows I’m all fun and games at the office.

“Rosie, how long have you known me?” I ask her.