Page 19 of One Kind Hand

“So ask me, Austin Rayhill.”

Austin turned his head to more fully look at her, his eyes wide. “Would you like to meet my dog, Badass Chopper Pilot?”

“I’d love to.”

A horn beep behind them alerted Austin to the fact that the light had turned green. He jumped a little at the sound then drove forward.

“Berto’s going to kill me if we catch him in the middle of his bubble bath.”

Charlie laughed, but it sounded shaky to her ears. Probably because she was about to go to a movie star’s—her favorite movie star’s—hotel room to meet his pup.

The trick would be seeing what else she could do in a movie star’s hotel room.

Chapter Four

What am I doing? Austin gripped the steering wheel of the hot sports car Cody had rented for him, but he was anything but cool in the driver’s seat. He never invited people to his hotel and hadn’t he reminded Cody this morning about keeping everything professional?

But it was just a pup meet-and-greet. That was all. Charlie seemed interested in Berto and who was Austin to deny his small pooch some interaction? He was providing stimulation for a dog who had been pretty down since losing his owner. Austin hadn’t thought dogs could get depressed, but he’d been wrong. Berto had spent the first full month without Summer hiding under Austin’s bed and whimpering through the night. It had taken a shit-ton of treats and squeaky toys to improve Berto’s spirits and win him over to the idea of belonging to Austin. Now the two of them were good buddies and Berto appeared to be loving life again.

And Austin was loving life right now. Lunch had been fun even though it was sandwiches in an average steakhouse. Maybe it had been fun because it was sandwiches in an average steakhouse. Austin didn’t do a hell of lot of average stuff anymore. The circles he always found himself in tended to be higher end and flashy.

He preferred average.

Especially when the company was so stellar. He’d been impressed by Charlie on paper. Well, on a tablet screen actually, but meeting her in person had only further awed him. He’d appreciated her attempt to make their conversation not all about movies and acting and fame. It was as if she’d actually wanted to get to know the real him.

When she’d rested her hand in comfort over his as he told her about Summer, something untwisted inside him. Something that had been all knotted up. He hadn’t grieved properly for the loss of his sister because he’d been too busy making sure his other sisters were okay while keeping Summer’s passing out of the media. That had been a full-time job on top of wrapping up the movie he’d been doing at the time.

With Charlie today, however, he’d been granted a moment of genuine compassion that had touched him in a way he couldn’t quite understand but wholly appreciated. She might be a badass chopper pilot, but Austin sensed a big heart underneath that camo print shirt.

He pulled up to the front doors of the Stonecrest Inn and Suites and a valet hopped into action to take the car from him. Another valet had opened Charlie’s door and she’d climbed out, thanking the valet.

That was another thing he liked about her. She was grateful to everyone. She’d thanked Janice and Cody back at the airfield. She’d thanked him when he’d held doors for her. She’d thanked their waitress and the host at the restaurant. Austin was so used to being around people who expected other people to wait on them. Charlie was refreshing.

She reached the front doors of the hotel before him and held the door for him, sweeping her arm toward the interior. “Take me to the pup.”

“This way.” He led them to the elevators and Austin couldn’t help but be a little disappointed when four other people got on the elevator with them. What he thought would happen if they were alone in an elevator he wasn’t sure, but he’d wanted the chance to see.

Charlie leaned against the back corner, her hand on the railing between them. What would she do if he put his hand over hers as she’d done at the restaurant? Of course she’d been consoling him. If he touched her now, it’d be pretty damn obvious it was because he wanted to.

Keep your hands to yourself, man. Focus on showing the pretty lady a cute dog. Only Charlie was more than a pretty lady. He’d known pretty ladies in the past. Lots of them. They hadn’t had half the depth Charlie had.

Unfortunately—or maybe fortunately—they had guests in the elevator all the way up to the penthouse suites level so Austin kept quiet. He also kept his hands to himself.

Charlie whistled when they got out and headed down the hallway. “Posh.”

“For the record,” Austin said, “I would have been fine with a little cabin in the woods, but Cody has an allergic reaction to thread counts below a thousand.”

“You’d love my friend Isabel’s place then. Pine River Cottages is rustic charm personified. Cody, however, would despise it. This time of year, the sheets are all flannel.”

And now an image of rolling around soft flannel sheets with Charlie occupied ninety-nine percent of Austin’s brain. The remaining one percent was able to push a keycard into a slot to unlock the door to the suite.

“Sounds cozy,” he managed though his pants had gotten tight. Thankfully, Berto came zooming out from wherever he’d been holed up for the day and Charlie’s attention was all for the barking dog.

“Oh my God,” she said, dropping to her knees and letting Berto climb all over her lap to lick her face. “You are the absolute cutest!”

She’s talking to Berto, Austin told his dick, hoping it would simmer down.

But watching his dog fall in love with Charlie was having the exact opposite effect on Austin’s dick. And the rest of him. Berto pawed at the cool compass necklace Charlie wore as she let it playfully dangle and allowing Austin to have a prime view of her cleavage.