Page 61 of The Perfect Melody

Glancing over at him, I sigh when I note the tension in his jaw and shoulders.Damn it. If I want us to keep talking, I’m going to have to initiate the next round of conversation. Best to keep it light. “Thanks for walking slower so my stupidly short legs can keep up with yours.”

“Your legs are perfect,” he replies automatically, as if that’s obvious. Well, my legsaregreat, even if I do sometimes wish they were a little longer, but that’s not the point. The point isAustinthinks my legs are great. Which means he’s been looking at them, atme. Maybe Phoebe and Mei weren’t wrong about his interest in pursuing me after all.

Red creeps over Austin’s fair, freckled skin right to the tips of his ears, and he clears his throat. My lips twitch with my amusement. For someone with such an intimidating build, he’s surprisingly cute when he’s flustered. “I mean—never mind.” He shakes his head and starts walking again, but I keep pace withhim easily, a spark of warmth igniting in my chest that he’s catering to me even in the midst of his discomfort.

Austin clears his throat. “How are you liking Pine Grove? You’ve been in town for a few weeks now, long enough to get a feel for the place.”

Fine, I’ll let him return to the safe territory of small talk for now. I’d rather that than him shut down completely, which is what I get the sense he’ll do if I push him too far too fast. We can keep things light and sunny even if the actual sun has disappeared behind a dark grey cloud. “It’s great. I can’t imagine growing up somewhere like this. What was it like?”

“It was good. Plenty of places to play outside, a lot of community events, and free kids’ clubs during the school holidays. There’s enough here that I wasn’t itching to get away the moment I got my driver’s license either.”

“No wild teenage years for you?” I tease.

He chuckles. “No. I was too busy taking care of Aria and working part-time at the bar—I didn’t have enough free time to get into trouble.”

Knowing that’s a tender spot for him, I shift the conversation away from his family and back to him. “Something tells me that even if you had time on your hands, you wouldn’t have got up to any mischief—you don’t strike me as much of a rule-breaker.”

“I wasn’t until I met you,” he mutters.

“What?” I ask, convinced I’ve misheard him.

“Nothing. What about you?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. I can see you being the rebellious sort. Am I right?”

“Nope. I did everything Mir—my mother told me to.”

“Really?”

I laugh at his disbelieving expression. “Don’t look so surprised.”

“Sorry.” He raises his hands. “It’s just not what I thought you’d say. I should know by now that you’ll always defy expectations.”

“I’m choosing to take that as a compliment.”

His expression softens. “You should.”

Unsure what to make of the growing tension, I attempt to recapture the playful mood of our conversation. “You’re half right, I guess—I saved my rebellion for my twenties.”

Austin snorts. “I hate to break it to you, but if coming to Pine Grove is your idea of rebellion, you’re doing it wrong.”

“I don’t know about that. I did crash my car the moment I got to town.”

He rolls his eyes. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

“Say what?” I ask, confused.

With a sigh, Austin switches to walking backwards, arms outstretched in surrender as he replies, “It was an accident. It wasn’t your fault. Happy?”

“Ecstatic.” I grin.

He drops his arms, falling back into step beside me. “Seriously though, why Pine Grove?”

Wanting to give him as much of the truth as I can, I reply, “A friend of mine stayed here at Christmas. When I told him I needed to get away for a while, he suggested I come here.”

“Will he be joining you?” Austin asks, voice tight. Wait, is he…jealous? Surely not.