Chatter and laughter died down until Austin’s presence extinguished it completely. His face—high cheekbones, straight nose, planes and angles that ended in lush lips—morphed from something handsome into something that might be the last thing his enemy saw on Earth. That enemy, at the moment, was Sasquatch.
Sasquatch froze. He tensed for a beat, clearly feeling a challenge, and just as clearly thinking about answering it.
I could feel the whole bar holding its breath. I’d seen Austin in action in wide-open spaces. He was strength and power and incredible brutality that, if set loose in this confined space, would ruin the bar.
I started edging backward.
4
Sasquatch let out a breath…and about-faced. Picking on me wasn’t worth facing Austin. He muttered an apology as he made his way out the door. Austin couldn’t possibly know what Sasquatch had done, but it was clear he’d identified that something had happened, and it was Sasquatch’s fault. Suddenly I was glad I hadn’t attempted to retaliate.
His silent decree carried out, Austin’s demeanor melted back into that of easygoing bar owner, steering his ship and slinging his alcohol.
“You don’t need to do that,” I said as I approached an open space at the very end of the bar. He met me there, his gaze roaming my face before slipping down over my body.
“You look beautiful, Jess.”
“Thanks.” I smiled at him, suddenly flustered that the hottest man I’d ever known had complimented me. “Turns out the only nice things in my closet are, like, ten years old. Fits, though, so that’s a win. Thanks, Ivy House.”
“Big win. You’re going to knock ’em dead.” He winked at me.
Face heating and trying not to show how nice that was to hear, I checked the time on my phone. I was only a tiny bit early. I had a feeling my date might already be in the bar.
The Sasquatch incident had temporarily derailed my anxiety, but it returned stronger than before. I stopped myself from looking down the bar, afraid of what I would find.
“You don’t need to scare Sasquatch—I mean Ryan—out of here,” I said.
“Yes, I do. He was going out of his way to be rude to a lady. He knows better than to do that in my bar.”
“Well, if you let him keep it up, maybe he’ll get stabbed one of these days…”
A smile wrestled with Austin’s lips. “This is true. Can’t allow it in the bar, but maybe if you hung around in a less-populated area, like in the shadows along his route to the bar, you could surprise him and I wouldn’t be the wiser.”
“Meaning…you wouldn’t feel pressured to keep the alpha’s law and order in this town?”
The grin dripped off his face. “I’m not the alpha of this town.”
“Yes, yes, I know, but you know what I mean. If you didn’t know about my randomly attacking a member of this town, you wouldn’t feel obligated to punish me…”
Confusion and unease stole over his expression. “I don’t think I could hurt you if I tried.”
“Oh.” I twisted my lips to the side, guilt lodging in my gut. “Because of the Ivy House magic?”
His eyes were deep and troubled. He didn’t comment.
“Honestly, Austin, I’m trying to find a way out for you. I really am. We all know you were trying to protect me and not the house. Ivy House knows that, too. She—or it, I guess, but I think of it as a she now—can communicate with me after a fashion. She knows she pulled a fast one. She’s being a real stubborn butthead about the whole thing, but I’m positive that I can break your attachment to the house once I learn more of my craft. I know I can. You won’t be trapped by the magic forever, Austin, and then you can thump on me like you thump on everyone else, don’t worry. I’ll be super scared of you, just like every other normal Dick you meet.” I grinned to show my jest.
He shook his head, a tiny movement that I barely noticed. It was the snap of his magic that had me clicking my teeth shut without meaning to, feeling the command of his power, his presence. I couldn’t remember him doing that to me before.
He grimaced. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to use my magic just then. I haven’t quite mastered controlling my magic around you when it compels me to assert…” He let the thought drift away.
“Your dominance?” I narrowed my eyes. “Not cool, man. I