"Hey, Bethany, just the beautiful woman I was thinking about. How about hitting up a movie later tonight? I've been missing your gorgeous face," Austin said, even as he did, Sophie's face intruded on his thoughts.
"Great. Can't wait to see you, darling," Austin said, hanging up the phone, feeling more miserable. He blew out a frustrated breath, glanced one more time at her house, then slapped his leg. "Come on, Axel. Let's get ready for our date. We have better things to do than worry about our crazy neighbor. She's not that beautiful."
As he walked inside the house, Axel trailing his steps, he knew he was lying to himself. She was beautiful and he wanted to see a real smile light up her face.
***
Austin walked quietly into the house, his footsteps barely making an audible sound.
"Did you have fun?" Zane asked quietly as he sat on the couch in the living room, barely visible in the dark.
Austin jumped from the intrusion, a hand jamming to his chest from the scare. "Geez, Zane. What the hell you sitting in the dark for?"
"Where have you been? It's past curfew," Zane asked as he stood up, walking towards Austin.
"What are you, my dad? Nope, you're not," Austin shot back sarcastically.
"I can go wake up Dad for you if you like. Although, I think it's better I'm sitting here waiting for you than him."
Austin sighed. "What's the big deal? Maybe you should try breaking curfew for once. If Dad were so concerned, he'd be up waiting with you."
"I worry about you, Austin. You'll be graduating soon and look at what you're doing."
"What am I doing? Having fun. What's so wrong with that?"
"Jimmy said there's a rumor going on around school that you got a girl pregnant. A Chrissy or something. Is that true? Dad will skin your head if it is."
"Jimmy needs to keep his damn mouth shut! I didn't get any girl pregnant. I didn't even sleep with her. She wanted to and I chose to decline because she's been with too many guys already. If she's pregnant, it's not mine. She started that because she saw me with another girl. Don't worry about it."
Austin started to walk away when Zane grabbed his shoulder. "I will worry about it. You're my brother and I don't want you to screw your life up. If you didn't sleep with her…fine! Just make sure you use some damn protection when you're with a girl. Better yet, wait for the right one to come along instead of sleeping with every damn girl you find attractive. You're only seventeen," Zane said.
"I don't sleep with every girl I find attractive. So I have a reputation with the ladies. Big deal. I haven't actually slept with that many. I do have some morals. I enjoy making out thoroughly, though," Austin said, grinning deviously. "I use protection, Zane. I'm not dumb. Quit worrying about me. And no, I didn't have sex with any girl tonight either. Good night."
Austin walked away without another word.
***
Sophie stood with her fist in the air, ready, waiting, poised for action. Yet, the longer she stood there, the worse it became. Completely frozen.
She still couldn't believe she was standing on Austin's porch about to knock on his door and ask to borrow his lawn mower. What was she thinking?
She needed to stay away from this man. He would be nothing but trouble with that gorgeous smile and smooth words he constantly doled out to her. She didn't need that in her life. She had purposely escaped that sort of thing to lead a normal, quiet life.
Not that she should compare Austin to Kevin because they were nothing alike. Kevin was polished, mannered, and came from where money talked frequently. Austin was more loose, fun, and smooth with his words. She had no idea what he did for a living, but she imagined it wasn't a nine to five job dressed in a tailored suit. She had yet to see him dressed in anything close to that. A small smile lit up her face as she thought about how handsome he would look dressed like that.
Ugh! Get your head out of the gutter like that.
She worked tirelessly all day on the lawn mower with no luck to her unforgiving irritation. She regretted dismissing his offer of help, hoping he would come back, but knew he wouldn't. Why would he? They had a brief moment when they were very polite, perhaps even friendly to each other. But then she ruined the moment by abruptly declining his offer—again—for help and walked away without another word. She kept telling herself it was for the best. She didn't need him.
She glanced at her checkbook and decided she did. After many hours of irritating tinkering, she figured out the motor was busted. She estimated the cost to have it fixed would roughly cost the same amount as it would to buy a new lawn mower, if not more. Plain and simple, her lawn mower was kaput. She had to mow her lawn and figured the best solution was to borrow Austin's until she sold a few more items to cover the cost of a new lawn mower.
She could always open a credit card and charge it, but she didn't want to be in debt so soon. She wanted to make it on her own without more worry pressing into her mind.
She sincerely hoped he didn't harbor any hard feelings and would kindly let her borrow his lawn mower. She had at least ten orders she was working on right now and they would generate a nice allowance, but she wouldn't be finished until the end of the week. She couldn't delay cutting the lawn anymore.
The sweet older woman, Carletta, who lived on the other side of her house, had stopped her just the other day making a brief comment on the lawn. She had been nice about it in her own friendly way, but basically told Sophie she was making the neighborhood look like trash with the way the lawn appeared. She was right, of course. She wished she could ask Carletta to borrow her lawn mower, but noticed the other day that she hires a lawn service. She barely interacted with any of her other neighbors, her hesitation to let others in so ingrained from her past life. That only left Austin.
Sophie took a deep breath, tried to wipe the fear from her body, and finally completed the motion of knocking. She realized after her knuckles hit the door that she barely made a sound. Simply impossible that he would've heard that even if he was standing right on the other side of the door.
"Don't be a ninny, Sophie."
She raised her hand again to knock harder when she noticed the doorbell. She knew right then, she would never get a loud enough knock out of her. Her nerves were wired high. She lowered her hand and gently reached for the doorbell, pressing lightly. She heard the ring echo throughout the house and almost fainted with apprehension as she waited in dread for him to answer the door.
Chapter 3
Austin groaned as an irritating sound perforated his mind, making him throw an arm over his eyes to block it out. He realized that didn't work when he heard it again.
"Austin, someone's at the door," Bethany whispered in a sleepy voice.
Austin lifted his arm, glanced at Bethany and tried to remember how she got in his bed. He drank way too much last night all because he was trying to get one woman's face out of his mind. She didn't even like him that much and she was messing with his mind, his way of life.
He couldn't remember having sex with Bethany. Another groan almost escaped from his lips, irritated that she was even in his bed. He could only blame one person—himself. He was the idiot who called her. He just wanted something to take his mind away and he definitely got that. It was the first time in his life he regretted sleeping with a woman. What was wrong with him?
Bethany nudged him. "The door, Austin. Are you going to get it?"
Austin muttered under his breath and grabbed his head in pain as he sat up. "I'm getting it. I have to head to the farm. I had a nice time, Bethany."
Austin grabbed a pair of sweats lounging on the floor, put them on with an aching pain, and walked out of the room without another word. That was his nice way of saying get the hell out because he was done with her company.
Austin groaned the whole way, wondering who was at his door this early in the morning. He glimpsed at the clock on the way to his destination, realizing it was already ten. It wasn't that early. He was surprised Zane hadn't called wondering where he was
, but figured Zane knew he liked to enjoy his Friday nights. What a nice brother letting him sleep in. Of course, he also knew Zane probably left the nasty, annoying grunt work for him to finish. Maybe it wasn't so nice.
Austin reached the door, pulled it open, and nearly fell over in surprise. "Sophie? Good morning." No other words surfaced as complete bafflement crossed his mind that she was at his front door.
"You don't have a shirt on," Sophie blurted as her eyes slid up and down his chest.
Austin grinned, his headache suddenly gone from her roaming eyes, enjoying the way her delicate stare brought him to an instant aching. "No, I don't. It didn't really occur to me to grab one."
"Well, I mean, anyone could be on the other side of this door. Do you always answer the door in such a manner?"
"No. This is the first time. I had a headache. I wasn't really thinking about it when the doorbell went off."
"You have no headache now?"
"Nope. Seems to have suddenly disappeared," Austin said smoothly.
"Oh, well, you should get a shirt. You know, never mind. I'll just leave," Sophie said, clearly embarrassed, as she turned around.
Austin reached out and grabbed her arm gently, feeling the sudden jerk in her body.
"Don't touch me," she exclaimed.
"I'm sorry. Please don't leave," Austin said, holding his hands up in an innocent gesture. "You knocked on my door for a reason. I apologize for making you uncomfortable. I obviously do a good job of that."
"No, I'm sorry. You're right. It's not your fault I freak out over the littlest thing...oh dear," Sophie said as Bethany came up behind Austin dressed in a slinky black dress that she wore last night.
Austin turned his head to Bethany, for the first time in his life, horrified to have brought a woman home.
"Call me, Austin. I had a great time," Bethany said, kissing him on the lips quickly before he could turn away. "Who's your friend?"
Austin looked Sophie in the eyes, noticing her uncomfortable posture. "My neighbor Sophie. I'll see you around, Bethany."
Bethany grabbed another quick kiss, winked at him, and turned around to glance at Sophie. "Good morning, Sophie," she said as she sauntered by her.
Sophie didn't respond as she watched the woman walk to a car that pulled to the curb and wave good-bye to Austin as it drove away.
"Your girlfriend seems nice."
Austin rolled his eyes, her missing the action. "She's not my girlfriend."
"Oh. Who is she?" she asked curiously, turning her eyes back to him.
"A woman I date occasionally," he said, tentatively.
"So, you mean sex?"
Austin laughed. "Way to get to the point there, Sophie. Yes, I guess if you want to call it that. I don't do relationships. I just date casually and enjoy myself."
"Why? You don't want to get married?" she asked with surprise.
"This is a very weird conversation we're having, Sophie. But to answer your question...no, I don't ever plan on getting married. I'm not the marrying kind of guy, if you get my drift. I like women. They like me. That's all I want. That's all I really need."
"Wow."
"You seem surprised."
"You're very honest. Men generally aren't truthful."
"You haven't met the right man. I would never lie to you," he said, wondering how this situation escalated into what it was. "Why are you here, Sophie? Besides dissecting my love life. Or lack thereof."
"Oh, right. My lawn mower decided it doesn't ever want to start again in its miserable life. I was hoping I could borrow yours until I find the money to purchase a new one. If it's not too much of an imposition," she said nervously.
"Sure. I can—"
"Nope. If you're offering to do it yourself, I can handle it. It's my lawn and I will do it. I just need a machine that will actually work," she said, interrupting him.
Why was he surprised? She would never give in to his help. He couldn't believe she was asking to borrow his, but then again, if she had no money, it made sense. He imagined it took a lot of effort for her to knock on his door. "Let me grab a shirt and get the keys to the shed. Come on in."
"I'll wait out here, if you don't mind," Sophie said, backing up a step.
Austin noticed her retreat, the slight fear in her eyes. He scared her. Why? He had never been rude to her.
"Okay. I'll be right back," he said, trying to act casual.
Austin ran upstairs, grabbed a clean shirt from his closet and ran back downstairs to the kitchen where the shed keys hung on the wall by the fridge. He snatched them from the hook and made his way back to Sophie where she stood fidgeting in place waiting for him.
"Okay. Here we go. Let's head to the shed," Austin said as he started to walk out when he heard the phone ring. "Or not. That's probably my brother calling. Here. I'll just give you the key."
"Thanks. I'll go grab it and return your key promptly," she said, taking the key from him, her fingers lightly brushing his.
"No worries or rush. It'll probably take a while to mow the monstrosity out there. But I guess I don't have to offer my help because you know it's there if you need it," he replied, glancing behind him as he heard his phone go off again. "Just return it when you're done. I better get the phone. Enjoy your day, Sophie."
"Thank you so much, Austin. You too," she said, quickly turning around and hopped down the steps as if she were eager to get away from him.
Austin sighed as he watched her walk away. What he wouldn't have done to pull her into his arms when their fingers briefly touched. She was slowly becoming hard to resist. Everything about her ached inside him to find out more. He sensed there was a tremendous amount of secrets lying deep within her.
He cursed softly when he heard his phone start to ring again. He slammed his door shut in frustration and raced to the kitchen, picking up the phone in a rush.
"Hello." He paused as he listened to his brother give him a brief speech on wasting the morning and that he needed his help on a section of fence that went down in the north pasture.
"Settle down, Zane. I'm on my way now. I was heading out the door just as you called." Austin hung up, grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge, a granola bar from the cupboard, and left the house, trying not to catch a glimpse of Sophie before he left.
He made it to the farm ten minutes later. He stepped out of his truck at the same time Zane walked out of the house.
"So, was your evening enjoyable?" Zane asked, amused.
"Yeah. Beer, a beautiful woman, what more can a man ask for?" Austin grinned.
"Companionship, love, a deep relationship with a magical woman," Zane replied seriously.
"Drop the love speech, Zane, please. I'm not in the mood."
"Oh, hung over, are we? Sorry, let me get my 'I feel sorry for you' mood going for you. Wait, I can't, because your damn dog hogged the bed last night. No more sleepovers with Axel. I enjoy snuggling with my wife and I can't when I have to share the bed with that mongrel," Zane snapped.
"Oh, someone didn't get any last night, did they? Well, I got enough for the both of us. You're welcome," Austin said, thinking it was true, but honestly still couldn't remember how the sex was last night. He would never drink to that extreme again. Not to mention, now that Sophie wasn't with him, his headache had come back full force.
"Not funny, Austin. I'm serious. He goes home with you tonight," Zane said as he motioned for Austin to follow him to the barn.
"Fine. I was going to anyway. I missed him. Where is he?" Austin asked as he looked around.
"Ava went for a walk and took him with. She's falling in love with the damn thing and the next thing you know we're going to be buying a dog. It's all your fault. I don't want a dog. It'll probably be bad for the baby."
"No, it won't, not if you get a good dog. You should get one. If Ava asks, you know you'll give in. You always give in to her."
Zane abruptly stopped and glared at Austin. "Don't you dare say anything to her or encourage her to get a dog.
You'll regret it."
"What are you gonna do? Throw more pig shit at me?" Austin asked with a grin.
"Worse. And I won't tell you what it is because the element of suspense will kill you."
"Not scared, Zane. Never have been and never will be," Austin replied. "Hey, does that old push mower we have still work? I think it's in the red barn. We never use it since we bought the rider."
"I imagine it does. It has been collecting dust, so I have no idea if it'll start. Why?"
"I officially met my neighbor yesterday. We talked nicely for once and her name is Sophie. She knocked on my door this morning asking to borrow my lawn mower because her lawn mower is broken. I thought if it still worked, we could just give her that one. Mowers aren't cheap.
"Really? You want to give your neighbor, who you haven't gotten along with until yesterday, our lawn mower. Just like that. In return for what? A romp in the sheets," Zane asked with a suspicious gleam in his eyes.
"Geez, Zane. Is that how you really think of me? No! I'm just trying to be polite. It's sitting collecting dust and would finally get some use. She mentioned she doesn't have the money at the moment to buy a new one and—forget it," Austin said, irritably, walking around Zane, ignoring his questioning look.
"I don't think of you like that. It was an honest question. I've never known you to give a woman a gift before," Zane said.
Austin turned around, anger vibrating in waves. "What do you mean? It's not a gift, it's just being neighborly or nice or whatever. I've given flowers and whatnot to a woman before. I don't see her that way anyway."
"Are you sure you don't? Flowers are one thing. A lawn mower, a whole other ball game."
"What does that even mean? A diamond ring might raise questions, but a lawn mower, I don't think so."
"It means, you say you don't like her, and yet, I think you do. You don't just give anyone a lawn mower," Zane said with a teasing smirk.
"You're impossible. Let's fix the fence already. I'm done talking," Austin said, stomping away in irritation.
"Sounds like what I always said when you pestered me about Ava," Zane hollered at his back.
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