“Keaton Mills,” Austin finished.
Keaton was new to Whisper Lake, but Austin had met him at the BBQ. He ran an MMA gym. He was successful, good-looking, and he’d seen him notice Sara. More than once.
An unfamiliar emotion that felt dangerously close to jealousy hit Austin like a punch in the gut. Never in his life had he experienced a run-in with the green-eyed monster. But the sucker was in his face now. The thought of Sara going skinny dipping with Keaton, or anyone else, brought out his inner caveman. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and pound his chest while growling mine.
Then he remembered what his grandma had told him, and he had to laugh.
“What? What’s so funny about Keaton Mills?” Sara sat up straighter.
“Nothing. It’s not him. It’s that Mrs. Chen suggested that you go with him.”
“Oh.” Sara accepted his answer as her brows furrowed in confusion.
“Mrs. Chen, Mrs. Weathersby, and Mrs. Dobrinski are self-appointed matchmakers—”
“Matchmakers.” Sara said at the same time. “The girls told me about that. So, she’s trying to set me up with Keaton.”
“No.” Austin rested his forearms on the table and leaned toward Sara. “Want to know a secret?”
She nodded and he saw her throat move up and down as she swallowed. Hard. He hoped it was in response to his being closer to her. He hoped she felt the same thing he did, which was more sparks than a welder working on a skyscraper.
“They don’t try and set up the people they want to be together. They set up people they don’t think would have chemistry to light a fire under the true target.”
“How do you know that?”
“My grandma told me. She was the fourth cupid musketeer before she passed.”
“I’m sorry,” Sara’s face softened.
Austin grinned, touched by her sincerity. “She told me that nothing sparks true love like a little competition.”
“And no one in town has figured it out?”
He shrugged. “I don’t think so. I think they’re all so scared of them, they’re not really analyzing their track record.”
“Wow. So her telling me to ask Keaton…”
“Worked exactly how she wanted it to. You told me and I got jealous.”
She sucked in a short intake of breath. “You did?”
“I did. Their methods might be unconventional but it worked like a charm. And just to get something straight, if you’re going skinny dipping with anyone, it’s going to be me.”
Her breaths grew choppier and he watched as the tip of her tongue slid across her parted lips. The innocently seductive sight had him swallowing a groan.
He’d wanted to keep this exchange light, but his voice dropped several octaves and images of all the places he wanted to lick her flashed in his mind’s eye.
The energy in the room shifted, and now both of their breathing grew shallow. He’d felt desire and arousal before, but this went beyond either of those. He didn’t just want Sara, he needed her. He craved her.
“I like you, Sara.” They’d been dancing around their attraction from the minute they’d met, and Austin was ready to meet it head on.
The smile on Sara’s face told him she might be ready too.
“A lot.” His pulse was racing and his palms were even a little damp. Sara made him feel like a boy with a crush on the prettiest girl he’d ever seen. “I know we just met, and that you’re leaving in a few days and your life is…complicated. But I want to spend every minute I can with you. And the kids. Is that what you want?”
“Yes,” she breathed.
“Good.” Austin knew to leave the courtroom when the jury came back with the verdict you wanted. He stood and made his way to the door but stopped midway and looked back. “Oh, and one more thing. I don’t know how much longer I’m going to be able to stop myself from kissing you.”
Her cheeks flamed and her eyes widened as she nodded. “Okay.”
“Goodnight, Sara.”
“Goodnight,” she said, her voice threaded with need.
Austin forced himself to walk out of the kitchen. If he stayed even a second longer, his thin thread of self-control would snap, and he would have her spread out on the table, kissing her, touching her, marking every inch of her body as his. Which after their talk, he was more confident than ever was going to happen.
Just not tonight.