“I all ready told Scott I wanted to set you and Austin up, and he wasn’t totally against it, believe it or not.”
“Really?”
“Really, so don’t you dare text Nick back. All he ever wants is a booty call anyway, and he’s not good to you.”
I nodded, “I know, I know. Sometimes I just get lonely, and he is good in bed.”
She finished for me, “And then you regret it, he gets clingy, you hate it, and then you break his heart again. No more Nick for you. Focus Kate, Austin is your future.”
“Ha, I wish!”
“Have a little faith,” she winked, “I’ve got Scott on our side, and that’s a rarity. Normally, he tells me to stop interfering, but for some reason he thought you guys might hit it off.”
“Nice, I’m impressed.”
As Austin’s car pulled up outside, he sat on the horn. Shit, we expected he’d come in, not just honk.
“Scott,” Heather prodded, “tell him you’ll be a minute, and have him come in.”
He rolled his eyes, “You’re so subtle.”
“What?” She shrugged and waited.
Scott and Austin found their way back into the house. Making up an excuse, Scott went off to the other room to act like he had something to finish for a few minutes, leaving the hot and sexy Austin in our presence.
“Hey Austin, you remember my friend Kate, right?”
“I do,” he said, shaking my hand. “It’s nice to see you again.”
“You too,” I was blushing madly, unable to control it. I forgot how handsome he was. I mean, I knew, but wow!
“Did you know our Kate here is a runner?”
I wanted to crawl under the carpet and die of embarrassment. I felt like a show dog she was parading in front of him.
“Is that right?” He was polite, making small talk, but obviously just being polite. I don’t think he felt the spark that I did.
I nodded and looked down. “Do you run?”
“I do sometimes, but not seriously. I do it to stay in shape, but I’m not big on long distances.”
“I love endurance,” I said, trying to keep the conversation going, but I could feel it fizzle before me.
Heather jumped in, “You should join us for dinner tomorrow night, when you guys get back.”
“Thanks that would be nice. I’d love to catch up,” he said. I sized him up, but he was happy to see his friends, not the desperate girl who was drooling over him at the moment. Oh well, it was worth a shot.
Scott rejoined us, “I’m ready,” he called out, walking back into the room.
“Sounds good,” Austin said, and together they walked out.
I looked at Heather, “Thanks for the offer, but I think I’m going to skip your dinner tomorrow night. I don’t think he’s interested.”
“Shame, he’s such a great guy. It does seem like his mind is elsewhere. I hope it’s not another girl, which would suck.”
“You tried. I appreciate it. I’m done. I should just call Nick back.”
“No Nick! He is not an option,” she groaned.
Chapter 4
“So, guess who was asking about you over dinner?” She said with a sing-song voice, pleased with herself.
“Yeah? Really? What did he say?” I should have gone.
“Just that he thought you seemed nice. I mentioned maybe he should call you sometime, and he said he might. Scott was talking you up as well.”
“He’s being polite. He didn’t ask for my number, and only said he might.”
“Okay, Miss Smarty Pants, before you get all negative on me here, he did ask me for your number, so have a little faith!”
“He did?” I squealed into the phone.
“He did,” Heather gloated. “I can’t promise he’ll use it, but it’s something!”
It took exactly two days for him to finally contact me after that. Tuesday evening, I was lounging in my pajamas, eating a bowl of ice cream, and crashed out on the sofa watching reruns.
When I first saw the text, I didn’t recognize the number, so I wrote back with a simple question mark. I was pretty sure it was him when I saw “Heather gave me your number,” but then Heather has given my number to a couple of guys over time.
“Austin, from the barbecue,” he responded.
A smile lit my face and I texted back. At least if I texted, he couldn’t hear my giddiness I wouldn’t be able to hide on the phone.
“Mind if I call you sometime?”
“Call anytime,” I texted back.
“Now?”
Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap. I tried to compose myself, but before I had time, the phone was ringing. I took a deep breath and answered, “Hello?”