Sara had discovered them a year later than Christine. She’d begun reading them when she’d found a bodice ripper at her grandma’s house in the eighth grade.
“I think romance has an undeserved, negative reputation.” Christine continued, “People assume that they are anti-feminist when in fact, it is the only genre with female driven plots. Nine times out of ten, the heroine is strong, resilient, and empowered.”
She was right, and all the women stood for a moment nodding.
“And the sex isn’t bad either,” Christine added as her lips turned up in a small smirk.
“Holy shit! Maybe you’re not Prissy Chrissy after all.” Jess gave her a high-five, too.
Christine, or Chrissy smiled and the conversation quickly turned to who everyone’s favorite authors were. The women all had a ton of crossover, including a very on topic series by Heidi Betts called Chicks with Sticks that had both romance and knitting.
Sara was still listening to the conversation when she directed her attention to the kiddos to check on them. They were still jumping and couldn’t look happier.
When she started to turn back to her new friends, she got that funny feeling. The flutters. The hair sticking up on her arms. The thrill racing down her spine. She looked over and just as she’d come to expect, Austin was looking right at her.
It had been happening ever since she’d walked down the hallway at the B&B. The same symptoms and the same outcome. Butterflies. Chills. Hair rising. Finding him looking at her.
She wasn’t sure how her body knew when he was, but she was enjoying it so much, for once in her life she wasn’t going to question it. She was just going to enjoy it.
***
“Hey, how’s yourcousin doing?” Ethan lifted his beer bottle to his mouth and took a swig.
Austin had nine cousins that lived in Texas, but whenever he got that question he never had to ask which one the person was asking about. JJ Briggs had been a major league pitcher for a decade. He’d retired recently, but people were still interested in how he was doing.
“He’s good. He’s back home. He’s married. And he started a training center.”
“Nice.” Ethan nodded as he glanced, once again over in the direction of his fiancée who was sitting around the fire pit with Ali, Brynn, and Chrissy. The women had been there all night.1yyy9
Austin had noted that Ethan never went more than five minutes without his gaze landing on Jess. He’d noticed it because the same could be said for him looking at Sara. He was drawn to her in a way that he’d never experienced before. He just couldn’t keep his eyes off of her. And he wasn’t the only one that was suffering from the condition.
It was clear as day, to anyone with two eyes, that Kade and Ethan both had it bad. It seemed everywhere Austin went since he’d been back in the states people were falling in love. In Wishing Well, three of his cousins had gone head over heels in the last few months. One-third of the notoriously single Briggs siblings were either married or headed in that direction.
He was sure after Brielle that he was done in that department. He’d tried love, marriage, and the white picket fence, and hadn’t even made it to the altar. But that was before he met Sara. In less than one day, she’d snuck behind his barriers and made him feel things, think things, want things, that he had no business feeling, thinking, or wanting for a woman he just met. A woman who was a single mom with two kids.
Two amazing, bright, funny kids.
Shit.
There he went again. He’d never been a glass half-full person. But when it came to Sara, every time he attempted to focus on the reasons he should keep his distance, his sub-conscious countered with a positive spin on his reasons she was off-limits.
It was frustrating and exhausting.
Hoping to change the subject, he tipped his beer toward Kade. “So you and Ali, huh?”
His old friend inhaled slowly before he nodded. “Me and Ali.”
“Damn, I did not see that one coming. I don’t have a single memory of the two of you together when you weren’t arguing.”
“I know.” Kade smiled from ear to ear, looking like a kid at Christmas as he flipped a burger. “So, how long are you going to be in town? Are you just here for the festival?”
“I don’t really have a plan.” It was strange to say those words out loud. But after every plan he’d had imploded he just hadn’t gotten around to making any new ones. “I need to get the B&B in shape, so I’ll definitely be here for the summer, but after that, I’m not sure.”
“If you need a hand, let us know.”
Since retiring from MMA Kade had started flipping houses with Axel, who Austin hadn’t known growing up, but seemed like a solid guy. “I will, thanks.”
“I stayed at the B&B a few months back, and I’d love to get my hands on that kitchen. Seeing that someone painted over those gorgeous oak cabinets, table, and chairs was painful.”