Page 7 of Grounding the Baker
Liam Wells was the most beautiful man Austin had ever seen. He looked to be about five feet eight, which he loved. He had a compact build with nice biceps and thick thighs– yes, Austin was a thigh man– and his dark brown hair was wavy rather than curly. It looked like it could fall into his eyes at any moment, and Austin felt an urge to brush it away with his fingers. Of course, that would be very inappropriate, but he couldn’t help himself. Austin had definitely seen a spark of interest in those deep hazel eyes too. But the man was grieving his mother, and now wasn’t the time for Austin to be flirting, although he hadn’t been able to stop himself. They’d left Sylvie’s Slice, and he heard Nathan trying to suppress a giggle.
“What?”
“I told you so.”
Austin snorted. “I’m not admitting anything.”
“You didn’t need to. I felt like I was intruding.”
“You know, I prefer it when you’re less chatty.”
Nathan looked at him with a frown, but Austin was smiling at him to be clear he was being sarcastic. Nathansmiled back, but it was his shy smile, so Austin knew not to push it anymore.
“I think you’ll like him even more when you try his muffins,” said Nathan, completely deadpan.
Austin cracked up laughing. He couldn’t help it. Nathan was smiling, so he must have said it deliberately, or realised he’d made an accidental joke quickly after.
“What are you going to do?” asked Nathan.
“About what?”
“Liam. Are you going to ask him out on a date?”
“Let’s say . . . not yet.”
“But it’s clear you both like each other, even I noticed that.”
Austin was pleased to know it wasn’t just him picking up on Liam’s interest, but the timing wasn’t right. From what he knew, Liam didn’t even live in Heartwood. He was based in London, which wasn’t far away, but still not close. His mum had just died, and Austin knew what that felt like. He might have seemed friendly and flirty, but Austin had seen the tiredness in his eyes. He had a lot going on right now, so he was just going to get to know him, and when he was certain the interest was reciprocated for something more than a quick fuck, he’d ask him out on a date.
“Dad,we’re going to be late.”
“We’ve got half an hour, sweetheart.”
Maisie pouted, which made her look so much like her mother. She was basically a mini-me of Ellie. She had the same blonde hair and pointy face as her mum, but she had Austin’s eyes. Ellie had said she had the best bits from both of them. He never understood that. It was usually blue orgreen eyes that were called out as being special, not brown. But then Liam had hazel eyes, which were mesmerising.
Austin hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the sexy baker for the past week since they first met. He may have been into Sylvie’s Slice every day since to get one of those incredible chocolate orange muffins, which Nathan had not been wrong about. Austin would need to get his arse back into the gym. He usually got all his exercise from being outdoors, but since he’d scaled things back at work, he’d needed to use the gym as a way of working out his frustrations at the unfairness of everything. There was an independent gym in town, so he would find some time to check that out.
“I need time to meet my new friends.”
Austin smiled. That was his daughter. There were no nerves about starting a new school where she didn’t know anybody. She was already assuming all the other people in her class would be her friends.
“Alright, let me just finish doing your lunch.”
He wrapped the ham and coleslaw sandwich in foil and put it in her lunchbox with some healthy snacks and a mini chocolate roll for balance. He wasn’t a monster. Austin had a few design jobs to finish this morning, and then he’d be able to invoice a client. With Ellie’s life insurance, he didn’t have a mortgage, but he didn’t have an infinite pot of savings either. He needed to get the business up and running again so he could go back to doing what he loved.
DroppingMaisie at the school gate, Austin had nothing to worry about. Within ten seconds she’d run over to a group of girls who were skipping, introduced herself, and was joining in. That was something she also got fromAustin. He could talk to anyone, whereas Ellie had been more reserved.
Unable to stop himself, he walked down to Sylvie’s Slice for his morning coffee, even though he’d already had one at home. Walking in, his heart sank– Liam wasn’t at the counter, it was just Chloe. The place was as busy as usual.
“Morning, Austin. Usual?” she asked.
He nodded. “Thanks, Chloe.”
Austin looked at the display counter to see the sweet treats on display. They looked as delicious as always, but he noticed one omission.
“Chocolate orange already sold out?”
“We didn’t get any today. Liam had to go into London for a meeting at work this morning.”
