Page 28 of Grounding the Baker
“You have a one-track mind.”
“Well, I’ve been with the same man for years, so I need to live vicariously through my friends, and you’re the Mr Romance of the group.”
Austin felt embarrassed again, so he took another drink to cool himself down. It wasn’t the first time he’d been called that, but Michael and Nathan didn’t date, and Tony didn’t commit for longer than a night. With Gerard and Kevin, it was the latter who was the more romantic of the two. Austin would love to romance Liam and take time to woo him. He wasn’t a guy who just jumped straight into bed with someone. Those days were long behind him. He’d rather go without than have a one-night stand.
“Wait... what did you say about him working until the end of June?”
“I only got the news secondhand from Giselle, but she said he’d agreed to stay on longer because they’d offered him aload of money.”
Austin frowned. He could understand Liam wanting to earn some extra money if he was quitting the city, especially if he was earning six figures, but another three months of trying to juggle everything? Austin was worried about him.
“How do you think I should talk to him?”
“Just go into the bakery tomorrow with Maisie. He won’t run off if she’s there.”
“For fuck’s sake. How do you know everything?”
“You’ll learn when you’ve been back here longer that nothing goes on in this village without me knowing about it.”
“Why does that sound terrifying?”
Gerard chuckled and left Austin to himself as he went to serve someone. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do about Liam, but one thing was certain: he was going to have to be a bit more forceful in getting them to talk again.
It was Sunday,and Austin was pissed off now. He’d spent three hours in the bakery yesterday with Maisie, and there had been no sign of Liam. Chloe was playing dumb, so she was clearly in on it. Giselle and Henrietta had stopped by his table and fussed over Maisie as they always did. Maisie was already calling them both her aunties. When he asked if they’d seen Liam, they fumbled some answer about him not being around much this week. The whole thing was ridiculous, and he was going to do something about it. Austin didn’t have Liam’s number, though, and didn’t feel right asking for it.
Needing to de-stress before he picked Maisie up from Uncle Gerard and Uncle Kevin, he decided to go to the gym. A quick detour home to change into his workout gear, and it wasn’t long before he was pulling up outsideRodrigo’s. He could have walked it, but then would have needed to change. He just wanted to get in, do a quick workout, pick up Maisie, and then take a long, hard think about what he was going to do. His instinct was to go round to Liam’s place and force him to talk, which would probably just make him come across as crazy, but this avoidance thing needed to stop, and it wouldn’t unless they talked.
He grabbed his water bottle and a sweat towel and headed inside the gym. It wasn’t a vast place, but was well equipped with everything a gym needed. Rodrigo ran the place himself, with some part-time help, but he did all the classes and one-on-one personal training. Austin’s membership gave him one PT session a week, and the rest of the time he could use the gym however he needed it.
When he walked in, the place was practically empty. He could see Rodrigo training someone in the distance. The guy, who was like a stunning muscled god, waved at Austin. He waved back. Rodrigo then focused back on his client. There was nobody else around, which was perfect for Austin. He did a quick two-thousand-metre row to warm his body up before he hit the weights. He was going for a full-body workout today, which he preferred to do anyway. The most he ever went to the gym was three times a week, so he had no interest in hitting different muscle groups depending on which day it was.
He’d hit chest, back, and legs, and was working on his shoulders with a dumbbell press when he heard a laugh that made him almost drop the weights. Could it be? He lowered the weights and grabbed some water, making it look like he was having a rest between sets. His eyes were focused on Rodrigo and his client, and it looked like they were wrapping things up. They shook hands, and when Rodrigopulled the guy into a hug, it was as he suspected– his client was Liam.
Austin knew he was just staring now, but he didn’t care. Liam had been hiding a gorgeous body under his bakery apron, and he wanted a closer look. Austin wasn’t sure if Liam would see him sitting here. He could leave, but Austin wasn’t about to miss an opportunity to speak to Liam again and clear up whatever catastrophe he’d manifested in his head about Austin.
Rather than overthinking it, Austin picked up his stuff and headed towards them. As he got closer, he saw Rodrigo had his hand on Liam’s bicep, and it looked like he was caressing it. Austin flared with something, although he wasn’t sure what it was. You didn’t mess around with your clients. That was definitely the reason, and it had nothing to do with him wanting to be the one touching Liam’s bicep. He wanted to spend hours exploring his body, and finding all the spots that brought him pleasure, before slowly taking him apart.
“Liam, how are you?”
He startled and then looked at Austin. He went bright red, which was cute and concerning at the same time. Rodrigo’s hand was still on Liam’s bicep, so Austin glared. He removed it with a smirk and a shake of his head. The guy was naturally flirty with everyone, but Austin had made his feelings clear with one look.
Austin turned his attention back to Liam, who was staring at him. Well, it looked like he was focused on his arm. Did Liam have a problem with tattoos? Austin had a full arm sleeve, although that’s all he had on his body.
“You want to see?” he asked, moving his arm closer to Liam.
His eyes flashed with heat as he looked at the artwork.For a second it looked like Liam might want to touch it, but he stuffed his hands in his pockets. That was interesting. Austin would have to rethink his winter wardrobe. If Liam had an ink kink, then Austin was more than happy to indulge him by having it on display more often.
Liam kept staring at Austin’s tattoos and was still bright red. He glanced at Rodrigo, who looked amused by the whole interaction.
“Can we talk, Liam?” asked Austin.
“Oh . . . I . . . I need to get home. My dad’s waiting for me.”
“I’ll only keep you for two minutes.”
“Okay then.” His shoulders slumped, like he was bracing himself for something bad.
“I’ll leave you to it,” said Rodrigo. “See you on Wednesday night, Liam,” he added with a wink.
