Page 25 of As a Last Resort
He towered over her small frame and guided her with a hand behind her back to look the opposite way of where I was crouched.He was completely dialed in and listening intently as she spoke with her hands flying all over the place, a Leigh family trait.We both did it—like the energy we felt coursing through us needed some sort of physical outlet.
I watched as she laughed and he chuckled.She grabbed his arm.Oh my God, did she just squeeze his biceps?
She had put on a little bit of weight since I’d last seen her.Her jean skirt was still too short and her polyester shirt was still too tight.But she looked better, like maybe her diet consisted of more than just pills, vodka, and string cheese.
She hugged him and headed in the other direction.She walked into Charley’s as Austin made his way back to me.
“Were youflirtingwith her?”I said, still crouched on my knees.
“You told me you’d sink my boat if I didn’t get her to leave.”
“Well, I appreciate your dedication to my anonymity, butew.”
“Anything for a guest.”His boyish grin turned mischievous.“Give me your bags.”
“As I said before, I am perfectly capable of taking them myself.”
“Let’s not add an ER visit to your stroll down memory lane today.I do have other plans and can’t be your invisibility cloak all night.”
“I don’t need—”
“Don’t argue with me.”He stepped closer to me, his gaze towering down from above me.
“I don’t remember you being so bossy.”I stood up and straightened my skirt.
“I don’t remember you being so violent.”He leaned in and grabbed my bags from my hands without breaking eye contact.So, apparently there’s a navy-blue circle around the outside of his eyes that compliments the green and the gold and all the other wonderful shades of color that I could perfectly see because he wastwo inches from my faceand I forgot what I was supposed to be doing.
“You need me to draw you a map?”he asked, still way too close for rational thought.
My heart stutter-stepped.The Starfish.Right.“No, thank you.I’m going.”I turned and walked up the dock.
“You’re welcome,” he sang as he followed behind me.I could hear the smile in his voice.
Bells jingled above my head as I pulled open the screen door to the hotel.The lobby was small, overrun with pale yellow and bright teal accents, trying to make up for the drab tile floor.
The woman behind the desk lit up as we walked into the lobby.Her name was Josie, according to her name tag that had a little starfish hot glued to it.“Hello there, handsome,” she said, beaming at Austin, before she turned her focus to me.“Checking in, darling?”
“It’s under Sam,” he answered.
“It’s actually Samantha.”
“Great!Just give me one second.”The humming from her old-school desktop computer cut the thick silence that trailed us from the dock.“Samantha Leigh.Looks like we have you for a month?”She glanced up to confirm.
Austin’s gaze pierced my cheek.Busted.
“Uh, should be for only two weeks.Here on a work trip.”
“Oh, wonderful!I love having a face around here a little more than a night or two.I get tired of looking at this one’s mug day inand day out,” she said, smiling at Austin.She looked at me again, this time holding just a tad bit longer.“You look familiar.”She looked back down at the reservation.“Samantha Leigh?My goodness, Bonnie’s daughter?”
My smile tightened as I nodded.
“Oh my, you have grown up!I’m friends with your mother, and I’ve seen about a thousand pictures of you.I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you.Your mother didn’t even tell me you were coming into town!”
Panic set in.I forgot how small of a town this was.Luckily Austin jumped to my rescue.Again.
“How about we keep it on the down-low for now since Sam is surprising her mom once she gets settled in?”He added a wink.
“Oh, of course!She’ll be tickled pink.”Josie winked back and he gave her his winning smile in return.
