Why was she so anxious? They’d already shared more than most people going on only their second date. Maybe it was simply that it was the second date, more than she’d expected. She wouldn’t have been surprised if their one smoking-hot night together had been it. A satisfying of their curiosity, a scratching of a persistent itch, nothing more.
But this second date—if she didn’t know Austin would be leaving soon, it would be enough to raise her hopes that maybe they were heading toward an actual relationship. But he was leaving, and that meant she couldn’t view Date No. 2 any differently than she had Date No. 1. Of course, now that made her wonder if it would end the same way—naked, sweaty and very, very satisfied.
When she heard a car slow on the road then turn into her driveway, she grabbed her purse and rushed out the front door before she could think about how that might look. She deliberately slowed her pace as she locked the door, then walked along the front walkway to where he’d parked.
Austin met her at the front of the car and stole a quick kiss that made her tingle all over.
“You look beautiful,” he said, echoing his words from their first date.
And hearing those words was just as thrilling the second time.
Once they were in the car and he was backing out, she decided not to ask what his plans were for the evening. She’d liked the surprises their first date had offered so much that she was satisfied with going with the flow, seeing where the night took them. Knowing that her time with him was limited made her hyperaware that she needed to soak up every moment.
“You okay?” he asked as they turned onto the road that led east to Austin.
“Yeah, why?”
“You’re quiet.”
“Sorry. Thinking about work.” Not in the slightest.
“Ouch.”
She smiled. “Don’t tell me I hurt your little ego.”
He glanced over at her. “Someone’s sassy.”
She laughed and shifted her gaze to the surrounding landscape. The Hill Country had its own personality, with an interesting view in every direction. She loved it here, felt lucky that a chance day out with her friend Tamara had brought her to this place that almost immediately felt like home.
“Do you miss it here at all?” she asked.
“Honestly, I hadn’t thought about it in a long time.”
“And now?”
“I’ve enjoyed my time here more than I expected.” He reached over and took her hand in his, making her wonder if he’d enjoyed it because of her but that it didn’t change anything about his leaving.
She had to be realistic. No matter how drawn she felt to him, it wasn’t reasonable to think he might change his entire life simply because they’d had some fun. No, best to focus on the moment and remind herself that becoming any more attached to him wasn’t in her best interest. But she would have a good time tonight, no matter what.
For the next few minutes, they had a friendly argument over what to play on the radio. As many a disagreement had been settled over time, it came down to a game of rock, paper, scissors.
“Okay,” she said, holding her fist against her palm as Austin held his against the steering wheel. “One, two, three.”
A quick glance between them revealed her flattened-palm “paper” covered his fisted “rock.”
“Ha! I win.” She reached for the radio dial and turned it until she found some AC/DC, then proceeded to sing along.
“Just for this, you get to listen to all country on the way back.”
She gave him an evil grin. “Who said I’m going back with you? I might get a better offer.”
“Is that right?”
She laughed in response, pushing away the thought that she was going to miss this when he was gone.
When he suddenly pulled off the road and shoved the car into Park, she yelped.
“What are you doing?”
Austin took off his seat belt and leaned toward her, capturing her mouth with his own. The kiss set every nerve in her body ablaze. She shoved her fingers through his hair, drawing him even closer. It was like their kisses behind the ice machine times ten. Just when she thought she’d experienced the most awesome kiss imaginable, Austin upped his game and proved her wrong.
And then he pulled away, wearing a wide grin. “Still want a ride back with someone else?”
Ella knew she used to be able to speak, but the ability had evidently taken a hike as she stared at Austin and tried to recover from the earth-shattering kiss.
Austin chuckled and refastened his seat belt, then pulled back out onto the road.
“You seem very satisfied with yourself,” she finally managed to say.
“Not bad, if I do say so myself.” He glanced at her, still smiling. “You seem pretty satisfied with it, too.”
Oh, she was far from satisfied. That would require more than kissing, and he probably knew it.
Left without a snappy response, she turned up the radio. Even the hard-rock guitars and lyrics couldn’t drown out Austin’s laughter.
As they got closer to the city, she had a hard time not thinking about how difficult it was going to be to go from steamy-hot kisses to, well, nothing. As she stared at the road in front of them, she wished she could be like a guy and not attach so much meaning to things that were just supposed to be casual and fun.
Don’t think so much. Just be.
She spotted the line for the city limits and got an idea. “Pull over.”
“What?”
She motioned toward the side of the road. “Pull over.”
His naughty grin made her mind go to equally naughty places, but as soon as he parked she hopped out of the car.
“Um, where are you going?” Austin asked.
“Come on.”
She caught the confused look on his face and giggled. Take that, you big tease.
When Austin shut off the engine and got out to join her, he scanned their surroundings. “You’re not going to off me on the side of the road, are you?”
“Nah, you’re evidently my ride home.” She started walking up the side of the highway.
“What are you doing?”
She stopped and pointed toward the sign. “Getting your picture. After all, not everyone has a city named after them.”
He ambled toward her. “Pretty sure the city was here long before me.”
“Oh, details, details. Now go stand over there.” She gestured toward the sign again.
“Women,” he said, but there was no animosity or any real frustration in his tone.
When he reached the sign, he proceeded to hug it, one jean-clad leg lifted along the front.
“Goofball.”
“Take it or leave it.”
She’d take it, and wished she could take him, keep him. Oh, jeez, there went her renewed determination to remain casual.
After a series of funny poses, she lowered her phone and propped one hand on her hip. “Come on, give me one decent shot.”
At first she thought he’d refuse, but instead he leaned one forearm against the top of the sign and smiled at her. It wasn’t one of those smiles meant to melt her insides, but it did nevertheless. Because this was the real Austin, the cowboy, even though he refused to acknowledge that’s what he was at heart. Damn, she was going to miss that smile, the sound of his voice, the feel of him next to her.
“Okay, that’s good.” She turned and started retracing her steps to the car before she messed up and showed him how she felt about him. She wasn’t willing to scare him off, not when she’d been looking forward to tonight ever since he’d convinced her to go out again.
“So, you going to make a big, blow-up poster of me?” Austin asked as he slipped back into the car beside her.
“Again with the thinking highly o
f yourself. Though I did hear they were in need of a new dartboard down at the Frothy Stein,” she said, mentioning the bar that had been in Blue Falls longer than any of its residents.
Though she wanted to scroll through the photos she’d just taken, she slipped the phone back into her purse. Within a couple of minutes, Austin made a turn that would take them along a drive that afforded a lovely view of Lake Travis and the expensive homes dotting the area. When he pulled into the parking lot for Mizuumi, a high-end Japanese restaurant, her breath caught.
“I remembered you said you liked Japanese food,” Austin said as he parked and switched off the engine.
Ella experienced the most ridiculous urge to cry, but she held it at bay. Her mouth already watered as culinary options raced through her mind.
When Austin took her hand as they walked inside, her heart filled with such an expansive warmth that she wanted nothing more than to be wrapped in his arms, just to be held by him as if he felt the same way about her.
How had she let herself get so close to him so quickly? Had she taken leave of her senses?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the maître d’, who led them to a table next to the wall of windows that overlooked the lake. When he handed them their large, leather-bound menus, she had to fight the sensation that she didn’t belong here. This was the type of place a man took a woman if he loved her, if he planned to propose. Neither of those things was true, so she forced herself to focus on the menu offerings.
“What are you having?” Austin asked.
“I don’t know. Everything looks delicious.”
“Yeah, it does.”
The tone of his voice, deep and sexy as sin, caused her to look up. There was no doubt he wasn’t talking about anything on the menu.
“Behave,” she whispered.
He grinned. “That’s no fun.”
As she perused the menu, she started having fantasies about making sudden business trips to Dallas. And if she just happened to bump into Austin, well, all the better.
The waiter arrived and thankfully pulled her back to the real world, one where she indulged in lobster stuffed with Dungeness crab and seafood risotto. She was going to make the most of this night in more ways than one.
Though she’d feared her blossoming feelings might cause her to be awkward in conversation, luckily their dining location for the evening offered a natural topic of conversation. She told him about some of her favorite memories of living in Japan, the foods she remembered eating, the older couple who had run a little market near where she’d lived who’d always given her panda cookies, the places she visited.
“What was your favorite?”
“There are so many, but something that really sticks out in my memory is the Tejikara Fire Festival.” She could still remember the awe she’d felt watching the men carrying the portable shrines with millions of fire sparks shooting out of them. “It was like the Fourth of July times a thousand. Just beautiful.”
When their food came, Ella was pretty sure she’d died and gone to taste bud heaven. And the fact that Austin seemed genuinely interested in all her tales of life in Japan and other duty stations just made the night even better.
After they finished their dessert of dango sweet dumplings, Ella was certain she’d never been happier in her life.
“Thanks for listening to me ramble on. I don’t get to talk about my time in Japan much.”
“Not even with your mom?”
She shook her head. “It makes her sad because we were all so happy then.”
Austin reached across the table and took her hand in his. “You’re the only person I’ve ever told about my grandparents.”
Another piece of her heart opened up and let him in. She was allowing him to occupy too much real estate there, but she seemed helpless to stop it from happening.
“I’m glad you felt you could tell me.”
He rubbed his thumb across the back of her hand, and she knew the teasing and lighthearted part of the evening was over. She also realized that she couldn’t end this night the way she had after their first date. She had to stop her free fall before her heart went splat when he left to go back to his real life, leaving her to resume hers—alone.
* * *
AUSTIN SEARCHED BACK through what he’d said, trying to figure out what had changed so suddenly. He couldn’t identify what it was, but it was as if the air around Ella had changed. It hadn’t exactly chilled, more like it had ceased to move, as though she was holding it in check.
Maybe she was just tired. And if she was anything like him, she hadn’t gotten much sleep lately.
He paid the bill, and at least Ella didn’t pull away when he held her hand on their way out to the car. And when he brought her into the circle of his arms, she kissed him back with enough energy that he thought maybe he’d imagined the change in mood inside.
As they drove back toward Blue Falls, he didn’t force conversation, instead holding her hand in his as he drove. The darkness of the night seemed to envelop them. He didn’t even change the radio station as he’d threatened to do.
When he pulled into her driveway, he cut the engine and brought his lips to hers. He tasted the sugary sweetness of the dessert they’d shared.
“Come back with me,” he said, aching for a repeat of their incredible night in bed.
When she hesitated, he knew for certain he hadn’t imagined what he’d witnessed at the restaurant.
“Not tonight,” she finally said.
“Is something wrong?”
“No,” she said, squeezing his hand. “I had a wonderful evening. Thank you. I’m just... I think I’m hitting the wall and need a full night of uninterrupted sleep.”
“Okay.” Hell, no, it wasn’t okay. At least not to his raging desire for her. But he wasn’t going to be that guy who put his carnal needs before everything else. And maybe this was for the best.
Still, he kissed her for several minutes, and she let him. He almost asked her if she was sure about her earlier refusal, but he didn’t. Instead, he caressed the side of her face.
“Go get some sleep.”
She smiled, and it actually did look tired at the edges, as if she had a hard time mustering the energy to lift the appropriate muscles.
He sat with his headlights shining on her front walkway until she opened the door and slipped inside. Before he could follow her and beg to come inside, he put the car in Reverse. As he drove back to the Wildflower Inn, he wondered how long it was going to take to get Ella out of his thoughts. If that was remotely possible. Or if he even wanted to.
Chapter Twelve
“This looks great.”
As Paul Westberry, the customer who’d commissioned the tractor wheel table, ran his hand across the round glass top, a sense of pride swelled inside Ella. She was already riding high from how good her week was going—everything she’d been sharing with Austin, the fact that he was giving her more time to move items from the ranch and still considering if he might just rent the place to her instead of selling it, and now another happy customer.
“I’m glad you like it.”
“You do good work. My dad is going to love this.” He handed her the final payment for her work. “I’ll be sure to recommend you to anyone looking for custom furniture.”
“I appreciate it. Thank you.”
She helped him load the table and watched as he left before going inside to get a glass of lemonade. It was hotter than Satan’s underpants today. Before heading to the ranch, she was going to enjoy a leisurely drink while the cranking AC brought her body temperature down.
After plopping down in her favorite chair, she took a long drink, then pressed the glass to her forehead. She’d been trying to keep busy so she wouldn’t think about the fact that Austin was leaving today, and there was no te
lling when or if she’d ever see him again.
They’d had a nice time in Austin the night before, with some excellent kissing when he’d dropped her off. But she’d refused to sneak back into the inn again. True, she didn’t want to be seen, but more than that she knew if she went to bed with him again, it was only going to compound the pain when he left today. Better to start pulling away and shielding herself as best she could.
Her stomach growled, so she went back to the kitchen and grabbed a can of mixed nuts to eat on the way to the ranch. She’d considered not going out there until Austin was already gone, but she thought that might telegraph her feelings too loudly.
The sound of knocking at her front door surprised her. She wasn’t expecting any packages. Had Paul come back for some reason? Or maybe it was her landlord, though the rent wasn’t due for another week and she always sent it on time even if she had to forgo some other things.
When she reached the door, however, Austin stood on the other side holding a big take-out bag from the Primrose Café and a bouquet of gorgeous bright flowers. Her heart leaped at the sight.
“What’s all this?”
“A surprise,” he said with a big smile that made her want to believe that today wasn’t the end for them.
“You have remarkably good timing.” She took a couple of steps back and opened the door wider. “Come on in.”
Austin extended the bouquet to her, and she tried to remember the last time she’d been given flowers. Probably her senior prom.
“Thank you. They’re beautiful.” She brought the bouquet up to her nose and sniffed the flowers’ lovely scent.
Austin stepped into the house and started to follow her to the kitchen. She was at the doorway between the rooms when she realized she didn’t hear his steps anymore. She glanced back in time to see a tense, pale look on his face. But he wasn’t looking at her. Instead, he was staring at where she’d been forced to store some of the items she’d brought back from the ranch, cramming them into the corners of her living room and the rest of the house until she determined if she’d be able to rent the ranch or need to seek out a large storage unit.
Home on the Ranch Page 14