Page 92 of Cold As Ice

“Okay?” He mouthed, and I nodded a little ardently.

I didn’t want him to lose his cool again. It wasn’t good for business or my fickle heart.

“Give me twenty,” I mouthed back.

Austin’s eyes stayed on me the whole time, and by the time we left the bar together, my encounter with Julian was the farthest thing on my mind.

* * *

“What happened tonight?” Austin asked me the second we got into my apartment.

“What?”

“When you came back into the bar, you looked… spooked.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” I made a beeline for the kitchen. I needed a drink, something strong.

Between Hannah and Kingsley, and now Austin quizzing me, I felt on edge.

Or maybe that was just my strange encounter with Julian. He hadn’t bothered me again, hadn’t so much as looked in my direction. But I couldn’t shake Hannah’s warning.

“Okay,” he said coolly. “I must have been mistaken.”

“Must have,” I murmured, pulling a bottle of vodka from the freezer. “You want a drink?”

“Sure.” He watched me closely.

A little too close.

I spun away from him and set about making our drinks: a cube of ice each, a generous pouring of vodka, topped with some lemon juice and a dash of sugar. I wasn’t a mixologist by any means, but I’d picked up a few tricks from Bryn, our resident cocktail maker.

When I turned back to hand him his drink, Austin was still watching me.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

Silence stretched before us, heavy with insinuation. He knew I was lying. Yet, he didn’t push me for answers.

I slid the drink across the breakfast counter. “It shouldn’t be too sweet.”

“Thanks.”

The air shifted. That cool, strained tension between us melting into something warmer—a simmering heat that seemed to exist whenever we were in close proximity.

Whenever he turned his hazel eyes on me.

“It’s good,” he said, taking another sip.

“Mm-hmm.” I practically drained my glass, wiping my mouth with the back of my hand.

Suddenly, I was parched. My skin vibrated with delicious anticipation.

“What do you want, Madi?” The low, rough tone of Austin’s voice sent shivers racing down my spine, and I licked my lips, trying to focus on anything but the erratic beat of my heart.

Austin made me nervous. He made me feel desired and beautiful and strong.

All things I hadn’t felt in so long.

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