Her eyebrows popped up. He was really into specifics. “Aloha Coconut. Want to try it?”
His eyes connected with hers briefly. “Maybe. What else is in there?”
“Water bottles. Pens. An art book. Sunglasses. My box of movie stubs.”
They’d reached the parking lot. It was about half full. This hike was decent but not too crazy.
“Wait, an art book?” he asked, pulling into an empty parking space.
“Yeah, for notes or inspiration.”
He shut off the truck and looked over at her. “Can I see it?”
She blinked in surprise. “Why?”
He leaned toward her, reaching for the bag on the floor. “Just curious.”
Okay . . . maybe . . . Then she remembered a couple of her recent sketches. “No.” She grabbed for the bag as Austin drew it toward him.
He didn’t release his hold.
“I’m not ready to show anyone,” she said. “They’re doodles and completely amateur.” She tugged harder, and he released the bag.
Pulling it against her chest, which she knew was a pretty immature thing to do, she said, “Sorry. You’re only privy to the granola bars.”
He didn’t move back or seem put off. Instead, he smiled and lifted his hand. She held her breath as he plucked something out her hair.
“A leaf?” he said, holding up the small green leaf. His brow furrowed as if he couldn’t figure out why she had a leaf in her hair.
The leaf was fake, and it must have fallen out of one of the artificial plants above the stairwell in the craft store.
She brushed the leaf off the palm of his hand, but before she could move back, he grasped her hand.
“I’ve love to see your art book, Everly.”
His fingers wrapped around hers was making her pulse skip beats. “Why?” she asked again, lamely.
He moved his thumb over her wrist. “To get to know you better.”
The answer was simple, direct, and it had sent her pulse leaping ahead.
She would probably never, in a hundred years be able to figure out why she dug the art book out of her bag and handed it over, but that’s what she did.
As Austin thumbed through the sketches, she held her breath. They were all of people. Some of them sketched when things were slow at the craft store, or other times she’d drawn from memory.
But instead of sketches of iconic movie stars, these were of ordinary people in Hidden Hollows.
“Who’s this?” he asked, stopping on a picture of Brandy. “Your sister?”
“Yeah,” she said.
Even sketched in pencil, Brandy was beautiful.
“You look like sisters,” Austin murmured, turning the page to a second picture of Brandy.
“Well, she’s the pretty sister, and I’m the creative sister.” Although that wasn’t exactly true. Brandy was plenty creative.
Austin paused and looked at her. “Your sister is pretty, but you’re beautiful.”
Her stomach flipped. “Wait until you see Brandy in person, you’ll change your mind.”
Austin’s gaze hadn’t left her face, and although his eyes were shadowed by the brim of his ballcap, that didn’t decrease the intensity. “I won’t change my mind,” he said in a low voice.
Everly gave him a nervous smile. “I think we should go on our hike now.”
“Almost done,” he murmured, returning to the art book. He’d reached the middle. In a few pages, he’d find the ones of himself. She released a slow breath as he turned the page that showed him.
She’d sketched him sitting in the theater chair, his eyes closed.
Austin glanced up at her, his gaze questioning. “When did you draw this?”
She shrugged, even though she knew perfectly well she’d drawn it the same night she’d met him.
He turned the next page to a sketch of him at Coop’s coffee shop. He was sitting at a table with other people, although she hadn’t defined their faces.
Before he could turn the next page, she pulled the notebook from his hands. “That’s enough.” Without looking at him, she tucked the book into her bag, then opened the truck door. She got out of the truck and shut the door. The warming air was fresh and gave her some breathing room from Austin.
He got out on his side, then walked around the truck. She shouldered her bag. “Ready?”
“Everly,” Austin said, stopping close to her and bracing his hand on the truck next to her. “Do you have a hard time with compliments?”
She looked up at him, then away. “I’m fine with compliments, if that’s what you’re asking. But I don’t really believe them.”
Austin’s fingers touched her chin, and he angled her face toward his. “Why not?”
He was still touching her, and his fingers were warm against her skin.
She released a breath and wrapped her hand tighter around her bag strap. “Maybe because I’ve failed at so many things, and it’s not rocket science to see that others are more talented than me. Or prettier, like my sister. I mean, it never really bothered me. I love my sister. But when Brock . . . uh, dumped me for her, I suddenly became pro at insecurity.”
Austin brushed his fingers across her jaw, then along her neck. When he rested his hand on her shoulder, she wanted to move closer. Press her face against his tanned neck. Breathe him in. Believe that he wasn’t temporary in Hidden Hollows.
“Everly, you need to learn to take a compliment,” he said. “Maybe we should practice.”
“Oh really?”
“Really,” he said moving closer.
Inches. That’s how far apart they were.
“Everly, I think you look pretty today.”
She refrained from rolling her eyes. “Okay . . .”
“Thank you is what you should say.”
She scrunched her nose, then said, “Thank you.”
He smiled. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Then he lowered his voice. “You might want to sound a little more sincere next time.”
“All right.” Everly exhaled.
His hand slid over her shoulder and down her arm, creating a trail of goosebumps. “You smell great too.”
Her gaze snapped to his. “That’s overdoing it.”
His eyes narrowed.
“Thank you,” she said in an obedient tone. Then she reached up and snatched his hat. Plopping it on her head, she moved past him.
He lunged for her, but she dodged him, laughing.
Walking backwards, she continued toward the trailhead.
Austin shook his head, a smile on his face, then he locked the truck with his key fob. “Don’t you have a hat or two in that bag of yours?”
“Nope.” She continued walking up the trail, knowing he’d catch up easily enough. “Thank you for yours, though.”
“I’ll let you keep it on one condition.”
She placed her hand on top of the ballcap as he drew closer. “What’s that?”
“Let me see the rest of your sketches.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Why not?” He was close enough to grab the hat if he wanted to now.
“Private.”
“More sketches of me?” he teased.
“Maybe.”
In a flash, he’d hauled her against him, and snatched the hat from her head. She twisted out of his grasp and grabbed for the hat. But his hands curled around her wrists and held her at arm’s length.
“Fine,” she said, her breathing shortened, her arms still locked by his hands. “You can have your dumb hat.”
He chuckled and released his grip. But not all the way. He kept a hold of one of her wrists, then slid his fingers across her palm, interlocking their fingers.
Everly’s heart about leapt out of her chest. What were the chances? The one man who she was pretty sure liked her, and who she was pretty sure she liked back, was only in Hidden Hollows for a few weeks.
10
Austin
Austin ignored the mantra running through his
mind: Slow it down. You don’t even know this woman.
Except, that he did. Also, he wanted to know more.
But for now, he was content holding Everly’s hand. She’d asked him about his daughter, so he told her more about Jessica and how she kept begging to come visit Hidden Hollows.
“You should bring her for a couple of days,” she said, surprising him further.
“I think her attention would last about an hour, then she’d be bored,” he said. “A job site only holds so much appeal.”
“Any little girl loves to spend time with her dad,” Everly said. “I think she’ll surprise you.”
Maybe she was right. “I’ll think about it.”
Everly cast him a smile, and as usual, it made something in his heart ping. She wore a pale pink lip gloss today, and he wondered if it was flavored. What was it about this woman that made him want to throw away his old precautions about dating? She also looked good in his ballcap. A few minutes after he had stolen it back, he set it on her head, and she’d been wearing it ever since.
“Hear that?” she asked, her hazel eyes focusing on him again.
“The sound of water?”
“Yep, we’re getting close.” She tugged at his hand as she increased her pace. “Come on.”
He laughed. Maybe he could bring Jessica to Hidden Hollows for a day or two. Then she could meet Everly, and . . . He didn’t know.
They rounded the bend in the trail, and the landscape opened up to a wide pool and a waterfall dumping straight into it. A family was there ahead of them, and their two kids were in bathing suits and shorts. Another group of kids, teenagers, were horsing around and jumping off the falls into the deeper end of the pool.
Everly released Austin’s hand and picked her way around the boulders, then sat on one of them and proceeded to take off her tennis shoes and socks.
So Austin did the same.
“Are we going in?”
“Just wading a little,” she said. “Unless you want to jump off the waterfall.”
He considered it for a second. “I don’t think so.”
Everly laughed. “That’s what I thought.”
“What do you mean?” He set his things by hers, then followed her into the water. The coolness was refreshing. The teen boys hooted as they each jumped off the waterfall.
Everly was already calf-deep when she turned to look at him. “You’re kind of the preppy type, not really the daredevil type.”
“And how would you know?”
She set her hands on her hips as he neared her. “Oh, I’ve heard a bunch of your stories, Mr. Architect, and you were a pretty mellow kid. Basketball inside a gym, supervised summer camps, hours spent doodling at your desk.”
“I’ve done some things . . .” he said. “Some dangerous things.”
“Like what?” she challenged.
Austin pretended to think of his long, sordid past. “I can’t think of anything right now. I must have blocked out all of my misdeeds.” He was standing close enough to touch her now, but he didn’t. He’d held her hand on the hike, and he hoped that she’d reciprocate.
“I don’t believe you,” she said with a grin.
He inched closer. “Well, you should.”
“Oh yeah?” She was holding her ground, in fact, she seemed to have swayed toward him.
Another holler from one of the teen boys sounded, but Austin ignored it.
“Yeah,” he said, keeping his gaze on hers.
“Come on then, daredevil,” she said, reaching for his hand. “Show me your stuff.”
His heart thumped as she threaded her warm fingers through hers.
“If I jump, you jump,” he said.
She shrugged. “Okay.”
And just like that, they headed toward the other side of the pool. She released his hand to climb up ahead of him. By the time they got to the top of the waterfall, the teen boys had hiked away.
“Where are they going?” Austin asked.
“There’s another waterfall up the trail a ways.”
Austin nodded and stepped to the place where the boys had been jumping off into the deepest part of the pool. The family that had been playing in the water was now packing up their things.
“Ready?” Everly’s eyes gleamed as she joined him on the ledge. She pulled off his hat and handed it to him. Then she let out a whoop and jumped.
It all happened so quick that Austin could only stare. She landed with a splash, and he laughed as she bobbed to the surface.
“Come on in, it’s warm in the deep end,” she called.
Austin doubted that. But he tugged off his t-shirt then tossed the ballcap on top of it. He could fetch them later. No one else was in the pool now, and the family had already left. Everly swam several feet away to give him room to jump.
“Come on, daredevil,” she hollered.
So he jumped.
The water wasn’t warm at all. But when he came up to the surface, Everly was laughing, and that made it all worth it. He swam to her in a few strokes. Her hair was darker when wet, and her eyes seemed more green in the water than brown. “Do you take back what you said?”
“For calling you preppy?”
“Yeah.”
“No.” She moved away from him with a laugh, but he was faster.
Catching her around the waist, he hauled her against him. “Take it back,” he rumbled next to her ear.
Her breathing had shortened, and so had his. Although the water was cold, he felt only warmth with her body against his.
“If you don’t take it back,” he said, “I’m going to dunk you.”
She wriggled away from him with a laugh. He caught her around the waist and true to his word, dunked her. When she came up, she was gasping and laughing at the same time. He moved several feet away from her to avoid retaliation. Sure enough, she wiped the water from her face, then lunged.
Dodging her easily, he said, “I warned you.”
She lunged again, and this time he let her catch him. When she pushed his shoulders down, he didn’t budge.
“You’re going to have to try harder than that,” he teased.
So she placed both hands on top of his head and shoved him down. He still didn’t go under, and he couldn’t help but laugh.
“You’re not being fair,” she said, her arms now wrapped around his neck, bringing their bodies flush against each other.
Austin slid his hands around her back, keeping her close. “Life’s not fair. Don’t you already know that?”
Her face was only inches from his now, and he wondered if she knew how tempted he was to kiss her.
“I do know that.” Her voice was softer now, barely audible above the sound of the waterfall. “But you’re stronger and bigger than me, so you’ll always have the physical advantage.”
Her eyelashes were wet, and small lines of mascara trailed her cheek, but her lip gloss seemed unaffected by the water.
Everly wasn’t pulling away, and he wasn’t releasing his hold. So they swayed together with the water swirling from the power of the waterfall. Her arms about his neck warmed his skin where they touched his bare shoulders. The sunlight gleamed against her wet hair, making her look like she was some sort of ethereal water nymph.
He must have been staring at her without realizing it, because when she said his name, he felt like he was being dragged out of a dream state.
“Austin,” she said, her fingers skimming the edge of his hair.
“Hmm?”
When she didn’t answer, but continued to hold his gaze, he lowered his mouth to hers.
She tasted of cool water, warm sunshine, and laughter. Her fingers moved through his hair as she kissed him back. Her warm mouth on his sent all kinds of alarms through him, but he couldn’t have pulled away if someone had dunked him. He’d just draw Everly down into the water with him since he had no plans of releasing her anytime soon.
Her kisses met his with the same urgency, same exploration, same curiosity. Sliding his
hands lower, over her hips, she pressed even closer. And when she hummed against his mouth, he hoisted her legs around his waist as he deepened their kiss.
He’d never been so caught up in a kiss, so on fire with need, at least not in his recent memory. And perhaps never. He wasn’t going to compare Everly to his wife, but he couldn’t help it. Everly wasn’t hiding her desire for him, and it only fueled him hotter. Rachel had always held back . . . at least with him . . .
“Austin,” Everly whispered between the slow kisses that had replaced the hungry ones. “What are we doing?” Her body was trembling and her breathing rapid.
“Are you cold?” he asked, moving his kisses to her jaw, then to her neck.
“Hardly.”
His laughter vibrated against her damp skin. “Good. Me neither.”
She lifted her chin to give him better access. “We need to slow this down.”
Austin pressed his mouth against the rapid pulse of her neck and breathed her in. “I know.”
Her hands slid into his hair again, and the caress of her fingers sent a new rash of goosebumps across his skin. He moved his hands up her back, locking her against him. “Do you want my dry t-shirt?”
“I’m okay,” she said. “I’ll lay out on a boulder.”
And Austin wouldn’t mind watching her. He lifted his head and found her hazel eyes filled with questions. Ones he wasn’t sure how to answer. “Okay.” He kissed her lightly, once, twice. Then he kissed her harder because she was still wrapped around him, and he didn’t want to let her go yet.
She kissed him back as her fingers found their way over his shoulders and down his biceps. Her touch trailed across his bare chest, sending darts of fire straight to his heart. He was out of breath now.
“Okay, you’re right,” he whispered against her mouth. Then slowly, reluctantly, he disentangled himself.
“Come on,” he said, grasping her hand because he wanted to touch some part of her still. “Let’s get you warm and dry.”
She had goosebumps on her arms, and he kept his gaze mostly averted from how her wet clothing clung to the curves of her body. Once they reached the boulders where they’d left their shoes and her bag, he released her hand. “I’ll grab my shirt and hat. Be back in a second.”
Loving Her Fling Page 7