Chasing Desire (Chasing Love 3)

And for whatever reason, the notion scared the hell out of her.

…

Huck wrapped a single finger around the long neck of his beer and took a drink.

“Good day today,” Ryder said. He was sitting on the stool next to Huck at the bar of Penny’s BBQ. “The whole house is framed, and the electrician was in and out.”

Huck nodded. Yeah, too bad he’d been thinking about a dark haired beauty all day. Usually he could focus on work, but all his mind would churn out was images of Autumn. He was trying to give her space. Hell, to give himself space. But all he wanted was to spend every second with her.

Which scared the shit out of him. He was falling too hard, too fast. He knew it.

Which was why he was in a pissy mood and sitting at the bar instead of stopping by his dad’s shop to see her.

Space.

She’d said she see him later. She was still around. He’d see her in time. No reason to go pestering the woman. Hell, he’d seen her eight hours ago.

They’d had a moment this morning. Hell, they’d had more than one, but she’d actually opened up a little. There was a lot of pain behind the woman that was Autumn Lane. He couldn’t imagine the kind of upbringing she’d had. He thought about his own father, how much he trusted him. It would have been devastating to have him up and leave whenever. His dad was the one stable thing he’d had as a child. Aside from a few friends, his dad was the one stable thing he still had now.

Then there was Autumn.

The BBQ’s door dinged, and he glanced over his shoulder. Like she could read his damn mind, there she was in tight, ripped jeans and a shirt with oil stains. Her hair was swept up in a ponytail and a light sheen blanketed her skin and Huck wanted to taste it.

She looked around. The place was pretty packed as usual around dinnertime. Though her shoulders were square and a look of confidence covered her face, he saw those stormy eyes falter.

She was alone.

And she was nervous.

Huck wondered if she’d ever had a stable thing in her life. He’d at least had his father. Would he be faring any better than she if he had no one at all?

Judging by the conversation this morning, and watching her lip twitch slightly with unease—something no one likely noticed—he’d guess not.

Several sets of eyes landed on her as she made her way toward the bar. He was going to call out for her but instead he sat there, watching her move. And thankfully, she was moving toward him.

“Hey, Autumn!” Penny said, scrambling behind the counter. “I’ve got your to go order coming right up.”

“Thanks, Penny.”

Huck turned in his stool to face Autumn. “Hey.”

He wanted to scoff. He’d been wrapped around her for the better part of the entire night and all he had was “hey?”

There was a flash of nervousness in her eyes, but it diminished quickly. The woman had the best poker face he’d ever seen.

“Hi,” she said back, resting her forearms on the counter. So she was making a point to not face him fully. Yeah, something was definitely up.

“Day going well?”

That got her to face him. “It’s been interesting.” Before he could ask why, she told him, “I got a call from LA. The job is mine if I want it.”

That annoying feeling that had taken up space in Huck’s chest over the past few days throbbed. Throbbed so hard he thought his heart stopped for a minute.

“Oh.” He nodded…then nodded some more. She stared at him like he was some kind of freak, which he likely resembled since he was bobbing in his stool, not saying a damn thing. But what was he supposed to say? She was leaving. Fact. She now had a job waiting for her. Fact. They were always meant to end. Fact.

That last fact redoubled that fucking throbbing to a point he was ready to reach into his chest and beat it out.

“That’s cool,” he finally finished.