Magical Midlife Madness (Leveling Up #1)(46)

“Have some fun, yeah. I heard that line a few times in college. So how does that work? Are you upfront with everyone, or do you get some action and then ghost them, or…”

His expression turned serious. “The town knows exactly where I stand. It is no secret. And if I meet someone I don’t know, then I am upfront, yes. Though…” His brow pinched.

“They don’t believe you,” I guessed, crossing the street.

“No, they don’t. I’ve stopped…entertaining those who are new to the town and plan to stay awhile.”

“Entertaining, huh? I’ve met a few players, in my day. They weren’t very entertaining though, if you know what I mean.” I waggled my eyebrows and grinned, razzing him a little.

“I do know what you mean. You aren’t very subtle.” He held out his hand as we got to the sidewalk, and because I didn’t want to tempt fate by refusing the help, I took it.

He helped me onto the curb like a gentleman from a different era. Once I stepped onto it, he turned and stepped closer, bending down a little to catch my eyes. His face was only a foot from mine, his eyes serious and so incredibly blue.

“I am very entertaining, I can assure you,” he murmured, and I was immersed in his smell, clean cotton and sweet spice. “Multiple times until I am sure she is having a genuinely satisfying night. If you know what I mean.”

He didn’t waggle his eyebrows or grin but spoke with the utmost sincerity, his intensity vibrating through me. My breath caught and butterflies swarmed my belly. I felt unnerved by his sudden proximity. Electrified by the unexpected heat crackling between us. Terrified by my response.

He straightened up and turned, surveying the street, his message delivered.

I sucked in a breath I hadn’t known I’d been holding.

The way he’d said genuinely rolled around in my head. The deep rumble of his voice as he’d said it had caressed me in a place that hadn’t been caressed in a while. Hadn’t been properly caressed in a great long time, actually. But it was the confidence behind that word that was sticking with me.

Many men could be fooled into thinking they got the job done, but from the utter conviction in his tone, I suspected that Austin Steele delivered. He made sure he delivered, even. Just like he’d made sure I got home safely the other night. It was becoming clear that when Austin Steele set out to do something, he did it. End of story.

I let out a long, slow breath, my face as hot as my blood. My whole body humming. I wasn’t supposed to be the one who flicked the red light to green. I had to watch myself around him.

“What did you mean about you choosing a solitary life?” I asked, not facing him so he didn’t see the impact of that little tête-à-tête.

He hooked his thumbs in his jeans pockets. “That’s not something that’ll make sense yet. Let’s wait until we have our talk, then you’ll hopefully forget to ask about it.”

“I never forget.”

“No?”

“Okay, yes. I forget everything. Since having Jimmy—my kid—I cannot keep a thought in my head. It’s a problem. It seems like it’s even worse in that house. You know, Ivy House without ivy. I just get lost in a carving and lose all track of my thoughts. Or go up to the library—which is unreal awesome, by the way—and forget what I was doing there. That kinda thing.”

“Tamara Ivy is the one who built the house. When she was murdered within its walls, she imparted her magic to the house. That magic lives there still, on loan to its master. When its master dies, the magic retreats into the house’s walls, waiting for its next master. And the next. And the next. Thus, the house retains the name of its creator. Which winery do you want to start at?”

“First, the nearest winery, obviously. If we don’t like it, we don’t buy anything. Second, what? She was murdered in the house?”

“Yes.” He started walking as I wrapped my mind around that.

“Where?”

“I don’t know. It was hundreds of years ago. More than a thousand, actually.”

“But this town isn’t that old.”

“It is if you read the right records.”

I shook my head, frustrated and already regretting agreeing to this excursion. He hadn’t seemed as crazy as the others, and then this came…

I checked my damaged phone, the screen spiderwebbed with cracks. I’d apparently dropped it on my run without realizing it. Niamh had found it on the sidewalk and brought it over this morning. I owed her one. The poor phone hadn’t fared very well, but it was still working. Mostly.

“What do you mean, she imparted her magic to the house?” I asked. “Is that your way of saying she haunts Ivy House? Because you said you hadn’t heard any rumors about the house being haunted.”

He stopped in front of the second winery along our path, having apparently decided to be choosey. “You’ll need to forget everything you’ve ever known for this conversation.”

“Pretty hard.”

“You’ll need to keep an open mind.”

“I can do that.”

He jerked his head at the tasting room. “The woman who works here knows everything I am about to tell you. That is the only reason I’ll be frank with you when she’s in earshot.”