Page 3 of Pillowtalk

“Chelsea meeting you here?” he asked, extending his free hand to help her up.

“Daniel.” She placed her hand in his, shifting Jared’s ashes under her arm. Though the urn was light, she felt the weight of what she’d come here to do suddenly crash down inside, and she almost lost her grip on it again.

“Probably a good idea,” Austin said, eyes flicking over the urn and back to hers. “Dan is much smoother behind the wheel than Chelsea. Don’t tell her I said that, though.”

Kennedy chuckled. “I don’t make a habit of poking bears.”

The train came to a stop, and the jolt sent her into the hard plate of Austin’s chest. He steadied her with a smile, and Kennedy’s face flushed once more—from her lack of coordination. Not at all because Austin was warm and tall, country grown and musky…Definitely not because of that.

Balancing back onto her ballerina flats, she let out a slightly embarrassed chuckle and fell into step with him as they squished through the narrow train aisle and out onto the platform.

The awkward air that precedes an impending departure surrounded them, so much so that Kennedy could almost taste it on the tip of her tongue. Her stomach swirled, and she nearly clutched at it in an attempt to calm the storm brewing under her skin. She swallowed hard, nervously toying with the handle on her luggage. She wasn’t ready to date anyone seriously, by any means, but despite her tummy turmoil, she felt an almost reassuring nudge by some outside force not to let Austin leave without an indication that she might—at some point—be interested in getting to know him, at the very least.

Or it could very well be her rationalizing the confused parts of her mind.

“Well,” Austin said, breaking the silence, “it was good to chat with you. Maybe I’ll see you around town.”

Kennedy’s voice shrank back in timidity and she found herself capable only of nodding and smiling. Austin nodded back and then started toward a gravel parking lot. Sweat started to form along the inside of Kennedy’s palms, and her hand slipped on her luggage as she struggled to coax her voice out from hiding.

“I…I…um…maybe we could…”

Austin turned, eyeing her over his shoulder with a curious tilt of his brow.

“Sorry?” he asked.

She gulped, and then blew out a shaky breath. “I’m…Well, I’ll probably be in town for a little while. I was thinking…maybe you could show a newbie around? Or we could get a drink sometime? I could give you my number….”

She bit down on her lip, a burn rushing through her neck as she fumbled for her phone. It’d been so long since she’d played the dating game, and she was so out of touch. She could tell by the look on Austin’s face as he studied her awkward stance that the attraction wasn’t mutual; the invitation hung between them like an unwanted second helping of burnt casserole. Desperate for an escape, she pretended to be interested by the missed notifications on her cell.

“I’d be up for that,” Austin said slowly, using a tone that suggested there was a condition for his acceptance. Kennedy watched him carefully, tucking away her voice again until he’d finished his thought.

Austin crooked a half grin, closing the gap he’d put between them and plucking her phone from her fingers. “I feel I should warn you, though,” he said as he added his contact information. “And I apologize if I’m reading this wrong, you could be just a friendly person…but it sounds as if you’re implying that we…that you want to…”

“Are my attempts at flirting really that bad?” Kennedy blurted out with a nervous laugh, desperate for a break in the tension.

Austin joined in on her laughter. “Not bad. Maybe a bit misdirected.” He handed the phone back as her brows pulled together. “I’m gay.”

Her eyes widened, and an involuntary “Oh!” escaped her lips.

Austin chuckled and pushed his hands into his pockets. “But I’d still love to show you around. Get a drink with ya.”

Kennedy nodded, her stomach relaxing back to where it had been before she’d set eyes on him. “Yes, absolutely. I’ll give you a call once I get settled in.”

He tipped his head, and with that beautiful—and now unavailable—smile, he turned and hopped into a van that saidPORTER’S GARAGEalong the side. He waved out the passenger window at her as the driver pulled out and around the platform.

Well, that wasn’t humiliating,she thought, bringing her waving hand immediately down onto her forehead the second Austin was out of sight. Her first experience in even considering the idea of spending time with another man and she’d picked one there was no possible future with. It had to be a sign—just hard proof that it was definitely too soon for all of that.

She shifted the urn, snuggling it close to her side, and waited for her ride. Her time in Lyra was about moving on, and she told herself right then that it wasn’t going to be moving on likethat.

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