"Not sure exactly."

"Then I'm pretty d.a.m.n sure I can't help you." Mason put his hands on the arms of his chair. "Good to see you."

Austin grabbed the sleeve of his brother's shirt. "She's different for me, okay? I feel different around her."

With a pointed glare at Austin's hand, Mason settled into his seat again. Austin let go and leaned forward on his knees, looking at the rose garden behind the music house.

"Why does it bother you?" Mason asked.

Austin shrugged. "It's new... Not sure how to handle it. Things. Her. One minute, she's pushing me away and the next, she's uh, not pushing me away."

"Y'all have known each other for a total of what... five days? And she's already got you twisted up inside." His brother, the s.a.d.i.s.tic b.a.s.t.a.r.d, grinned. "Good to hear.

Austin didn't have it in him to disagree. Besides, if he did, Mason was liable to stop talking. "Three dates, too. Plus, I drove her home from school today when she got sick."

"Why aren't you taking care of her now?"

"She kicked me out." Austin looked down at his shoes. "I took care of her as best I could before I left though."

"You let her kick you out?" Mason sounded incredulous.

Austin jerked his gaze to his brother's. "What was I supposed to do-refuse?"

"h.e.l.l yes, you were supposed to refuse."

"You taught me to respect boundaries, not run all over them. You said because I was so much stronger and bigger than most people, that I had to be extra careful," Austin pointed out, remembering how often his brother would lecture him.

Mason stared at him, obviously nonplussed. "You remember that s.h.i.t?"

As if he'd ever been allowed to forget. "Yes."

His brother canted his head from side to side, stroking his jaw. "It was pretty good s.h.i.t," he said.

"That's not helpful."

"Fine." Mason turned his attention back to Skylar's house. "A woman doesn't blow hot and cold without a reason. That reason had to come from you."

"I haven't given her a reason to be cold."

"Have you given her a reason to be hot?"

Austin scrubbed a hand over his face. "Getting hot isn't a problem. It's maintaining temperate weather that's the problem."

"I stand by my a.s.sessment. You've given her a reason... and the only way you can fix that is to figure out the reason and do something about it."

"You make it sound so simple."

Mason gave him a sidelong glance. "Women are anything but simple, dumba.s.s. Thought college made you smarter than that-or have you taken too many hits?"

Austin ignored his brother's insult. "The problem isn't finding a solution. The problem is that there is one in the first place. I don't have problems with women."

"Five million hits on YouTube makes you a liar."

"I can't help what Bianca uploaded to You Tube. It was her choice to make our private life public."

"You looked like an a.s.shole. I bet your PR person was out of her mind with worry over your sterling reputation..." Mason paused for a moment, "s.h.i.t. Brother, tell me you didn't."

Heat began to creep up his neck. "I might have, but... that's the problem. I shouldn't care this much."

"Get the h.e.l.l off my property." Mason stood, intent upon leaving.

Bomber stood as well.

"Hold up." Austin jumped to his feet, blocking his brother from going inside. "I actually do care about her, which is why I'm here. I don't know what to do about it," he blurted.

"You could let her off the hook. I thought you were better than that."

"I am... I'm... s.h.i.t." Austin's jaw began to clench. "I can't stop seeing her and not because of what she could do..." Mason glared at him, and he quickly adjusted his words. "What she is doing for my reputation. I want to be with her."

His brother studied him for a moment... or three hundred, and then began to rub his dog's head. "I believe you."

"Then can you help me?"

"No, not in this I can't." Mason slowly shook his head. "Either you come clean, or stop seeing the woman."

Austin knew his brother was right, but he wasn't quite sure how to break it to Harper. Besides, a selfish part of him wanted to keep seeing her. If he admitted the truth, she would bench him for good.

"Thanks for your non-help."

"f.u.c.k you, Austin. Do you think I like flapping my jaws for no reason?"

It completely amazed Austin how quickly his brother could make him feel like the baby of the family, despite having eighty pounds and three inches on Mason. "No idea. Should I ask Facebook?"

Mason scowled, and then shoved past Austin, Bomber trailing after him. "Go home to your momma, boy."

With a chuckle, Austin walked to his truck, listening to his brother curse him up one side and down the other the entire way. "Great talking to you, big brother."

"f.u.c.k off."

At that moment, Skylar and a group of her students walked outside. She shot him a glare and gestured sharply to her little group.

Austin glanced at his brother, who looked exactly like a kid who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Look who's in trouble now."

"You're dead to me. I'm removing you from the Facebook group."

"Praise Jesus," Austin muttered.

"Heard that, n.u.m.b.n.u.t.s."

"Mason..." Skylar said with a scowl.

Austin started to laugh.

"d.a.m.n it all to h.e.l.l. It's not funny," Mason all but growled.

It was funny as h.e.l.l to him. "Nice to see you, Skylar," he called out.

Her scowl gave way to a friendly smile. "You'll be back for dinner, right?"

"He's got other plans," Mason answered.

Skylar crossed her arms over her chest, clearly not believing his brother.

"I really do. A friend of mine is sick, and I need to check on them. Possibly stay a while," Austin said.

"Maybe next time," she said, clearly mollified by his explanation.

Mason grunted. "Yeah, maybe next time."

That was as close as his brother would willingly get to inviting Austin over again. He would take it. "Don't worry. It won't be any time soon."

Austin didn't wait for Mason to make a sarcastic remark. Instead, he got in his truck and immediately texted Harper.

Austin: What can I bring over?

After a few minutes, he got a reply.

Harper: Nothing.

Austin: Then I'll just bring myself.

Harper: My momma's taking care of me.

That put a wrinkle in his plans... unless she was lying to him. He didn't put it past her at this point. Despite having the sweetest personality on earth, she could be stubborn as a mule when she put her mind to it.

There was only one person he could think of that would know for sure-his sister-in-law, Lemon.

Quickly dialing her number, he waited impatiently until she answered on the third ring.

"h.e.l.lo?"

"Lemon, this is Austin. Harper is home sick and her mom's taking care of her, but I'd like to help out. Do you know Harper's favorite soup?"

"Chicken noodle. She's a cla.s.sic type. And did you say her momma's taking care of her?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Her momma's down in Acapulco with Harper's daddy, celebrating forty years of marriage."

"Maybe she's back."

"Doubtful. They arrived this morning. My momma forwarded a couple of pictures of their hotel room's bathroom."

Just as he suspected. Harper Bell was lying her a.s.s off. "Good to know. You wouldn't happen to have an extra key to Harper's place, would you?"

"No, but she keeps a spare under the front doormat," Lemon replied, surprising him.

"You know she lied to me, right?"

"I do, but I also know you're a stand-up guy, Austin."

"At least someone does."

"You've also made her happy." Lemon sighed. "To be real honest, Harper thinks highly of you, but she's more than a little intimidated by your life."

If that wasn't the simplest explanation for her extreme moods, he didn't know what was. "I don't want to hurt her. I only want to spend time with her."

"And take care of her while she's sick."

"Exactly."

"Don't you think that's going above and beyond simply spending time with Harper?"

Maybe it was, but he didn't give a good d.a.m.n. "No."

Lemon laughed. "All right, then. Call or text me if you can't find the key."

"Will do."

He ended their call and drove straight to Harper's house.

Groaning, Harper fought to stay asleep. Waking up meant she was freezing cold and in pain, from her head to her toes. Unfortunately, a persistent voice in her ear was preventing her from falling back into oblivion.

She hated that stupid voice. It had alternately cajoled and lectured her to drink something that tasted like bitter beer over what had seemed like days. Years. Eternity.

Perhaps she was being dramatic, but she wanted to choke a voice that sounded like pure s.e.x, which meant she really was sick.

"C'mon, baby. Drink this. Promise it will make you feel better." A cool hand slipped behind her neck, but she turned her head away. "Hmm. I think you are feeling better."

She forced her eyes open. A familiar face came into focus, and then went blurry when she blinked. "Austin?"

He smiled. "Yeah. How are you feeling?"

For the first time, she actively tried to feel pain... or at least an ache, but came up with only the soreness a.s.sociated with having slept too long in one position. In fact, she felt a million times better than she had Tuesday morning. Her stomach growled.

"Like I need to eat," she admitted, a blush heating her cheeks.