Heat burned through my body. It felt like I couldn’t breathe. “You always buy my drinks?”

“Yes.”

“Oh. I’ve always said thank you to Niamh. I assumed she just had Ivy House pay her back.”

“And I’m sure she thought it was hilarious to take credit for something I was doing.” Austin grinned and opened the fridge.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “So you’ve been silently telling me you want to bang me this whole time?”

Kingsley choked into his wine and bent forward so as not to spill it down his crisp beige button-up.

Austin turned back from the fridge with a plate of scallops and a long dish with covered compartments that probably contained his prepped ingredients. He pulled the plastic off the scallops and set the plate on the island. “No. With you…it’s complicated.”

“You bought me a bottle of wine my first night. Or…gave it to me, I guess.”

“Yeah…” He drew out the word. Kingsley sat down beside me, and Austin sprinkled some salt and pepper over the scallops. “You frazzled me that first night. I couldn’t make you out, and then you were politely calling me out for my wine selection and blindsiding me with knowledge about women. I didn’t know up from down. I didn’t know what I was doing. I gave you that first bottle without thinking about it, then bought you another because you were so funny and unique that I wanted to keep you from leaving.”

He pulled out a pan and set it on the burner, located on the island. It was a perfect design for cooking while still chatting with guests. Given the house was custom built, he must’ve planned it that way.

Kingsley swirled his wine in his glass, giving it air to open up the flavor. “I can sympathize,” he said. “She rammed into me, challenged me, and then mocked me, all within the space of five minutes. It took everything I had not to burst out laughing. Like a little fly buzzing around, talking tough.”

“Little did you know,” Austin said, setting the flame before pouring olive oil into the pan.

He placed the scallops on the hot pan, searing them. Steam rose toward the hood above the stove, and he flicked on the fan, a soft whirring now accompanying his words. “Anyway, Jess, after that, it was like a snowball effect. It felt normal buying you drinks, and because you thought nothing of it, it seemed harmless.”

“Unless her intention was to move on another shifter,” Kingsley said, setting his glass down. He grunted at the wine. “Good. Much better than the wineries around me.”

“The winemaker is a contender for our new winery.” Austin pointed a spatula at the bottle before carefully but expertly flipping the first scallop. The cooked side was perfectly golden brown. “I tried to make it known that I was her protector but didn’t have a claim on her.”

Another flip of the spatula.

Kingsley huffed. “I bet that came across loud and clear.”

Austin tensed but didn’t comment.

My heart beat strong and sure. My core pounded. Both were a response to hearing that Austin had essentially claimed me so long ago. He may not have meant to or tried to, but he’d done it all the same.

“Thanks.” I took a sip of my wine, the flavors of chocolate and spice exploding on my palate. “I’m sure it kept a lot of unwanted attention away.”

“It was probably Niamh who kept a lot of the unwanted attention away.” Austin grinned, flipping the last two scallops and then taking plates out of the cupboard.

“That too.”

“You still haven’t told me what you want for dinner.” Austin removed the scallops and slid them onto a waiting plate.

“Oh…um…whatever. I’m happy not to decide, actually. I always hated choosing what was for dinner. Even takeout. I always had to decide literally every meal. I’d ask the ex, he’d defer to me, I’d choose something, and he’d argue about the choice. It drove me nuts. Now I’m just happy I don’t have to cook. I’ll eat whatever, even if I don’t really like it. Mr. Tom makes eggplant every so often, and I can’t stand it. But whatever. He goes to all the trouble.”

“Wow. So that’s a bonus,” Kingsley said. “Easy to please with food.”

Austin glanced at Kingsley. “Do you care what I make?”

“Baked potato. I’m a simple man.”

“In the head, yeah,” I said, because honestly, the setup was too good.

Austin dropped butter into the pan and swirled it around the bottom before adding garlic, moving it around with a wooden spoon. He grabbed a bottle of white wine from behind him and poured in a big splash, a plume of smoke heading for the fan, liquid jumping and spitting.

I leaned back, feasting my eyes on him while he worked, now stirring to reduce it down, his biceps and shoulder muscles popping and rolling, his movements so graceful, even here. A sheen of sweat covered his face from the heat, and an image of his glistening body in low light crowded my mind.

He looked up through his lashes at me, as though he knew what I was thinking.

Who was I kidding? He could feel my thoughts. I hadn’t muted the link.

I didn’t now, either.

“How do you feel about that mage coming to meet you?” Kingsley asked me, leaning forward on his elbows. “Nervous?”

I pulled my lips down at the corners. “Not really. I’ll probably get nervous right before he arrives, but right now there’s too much to do. I need to completely overhaul Ivy House, at least the rooms we’ll be using. I’m starting to think it’ll take much longer than a few weeks to get it right, though. I want it to look like this, like what Austin has done with his place. But I haven’t even ordered anything yet.”

“Stage it.” Austin turned, and I marveled at his big, broad, muscular back. He resumed his place at the pan and splashed lemon into it before adding more butter and stirring again. “Get all the unwanted furniture out and hire a company to rent you something. We’ll only be there for a dinner or two. Maybe even one dinner and a garden party. That was nice, a couple weeks ago. We should do that more often.”

“You missed the basajaun freaking out and fighting his way through the hedge to get out of the maze.” I laughed, lifting my glass for a sip.

“Think we can get him to make an appearance?” Kingsley asked, his focus suddenly razor sharp. He could peel back the fun and games at a moment’s notice.

Austin pointed a spoon at me before lifting the pan and placing it on a cold burner. He turned the flame off before replacing the scallops into the pan.

“She’s your go-to with the basajaun,” he said, turning back to the side of the island with the plates, taking the pan with him.

“I probably could.” I shrugged. “I don’t think he’d hang out for a meal or anything. But he would most likely be happy to stalk them through the woods and scare the life out of them.”

“Yes.” Kingsley nodded. “Scare them, look wild, speak to Jess, and then take off. That’s a good intimidation tactic.”

“The only problem is, what I’d have to trade for it would probably give Edgar a heart attack.” I chewed my lip, then tried to discreetly rub my teeth, hoping I didn’t have lipstick on them.

Austin placed a plate in front of me, two caramelized scallops sprinkled with parsley, sitting atop a bright butter-yellow sauce. He set a plate down for his brother and put one at the end of the island on my side for himself before handing out forks and walking to his plate.

The slight crunch at the beginning, followed by the easy slide of my fork through the scallop, made my mouth water. It was glistening inside, perfectly cooked, and the flavor exploded on my tongue. I moaned softly, closing my eyes, chewing in delight. I rolled the next bite around in that butter sauce, wanting to weep from the heavenly flavors.

“These are the best scallops I’ve ever had.”

I barely opened my eyes through the whole experience, focusing on those flavors, lost in how good it was. After coming to the surface, I was sad to see the plate empty, then mortified to see the guys staring at me.

“Sorry, those were really good.” I laid the fork down on the plate, just barely stopping myself from running my finger through the remaining sauce. Then deciding to hell with it and doing it anyway. “We’re among friends here, right?”

I sucked my finger, swirling my tongue around it, eyes closed. The flavor gone, I pushed the plate away lest I do it again, and noticed Kingsley had left and Austin was staring at me with barely contained hunger.

My face flamed. “Sorry again, but you’re a really good cook. I am never, at my best, close to that good. Mr. Tom isn’t either. It caught me by surprise. Did I scare Kingsley away?”

“No.” His voice was gruff. “He’s checking on the barbecue. You are so incredibly sexy, Jacinta, when you let yourself go like that. So incredibly sexy.”

My body burned to match the heat in his eyes, and in that moment, all the months and months of push and pull between us fell away.

“Kiss me, Austin,” I whispered.

He moved around the corner of the island as if in slow motion, then leaned down and touched his lips to mine. His tongue brushed against my lips, and I opened my mouth, quickly filled with his taste. His kiss was languid, as if he was in no hurry, but he pulled away too soon.

“Would you like to move outside?” he asked, his eyes soft. “I need to barbecue.”

“Sure.”

He put out a hand to help me up, and I moved beside him as if on a cloud.

“We should’ve started earlier in the afternoon so we could’ve enjoyed the view.” He led me to the sliding glass door at the side of the kitchen and stepped out onto a large deck.

“Weren’t you busy earlier?”

He closed the door behind me and pulled a couple of chairs from the edge of the deck toward the barbecue. Kingsley finished spreading out the coals, then put the grate back on the grill and sat.

“Oops, forgot the steaks.” Austin brushed his fingers across my cheek before heading back into the house.