Chapter 17

As night draped over Hillcrest Villa, the house glowed warmly with light.

Brinley slipped inside after a long day at work,but the moment she opened the door,her breath hitched.

Austin stood in the living room, bare-chested, his muscles rippling as he moved through a weight training routine.

Under the glow of the chandelier, his skin gleamed,sweat tracing down the ridges of his back before vanishing into the waistband of his low-slung workout pants.

His jaw was tight with exertion, his breaths rough but steady, the veins along his arms stark against the swell of muscle.

A sharp flutter rattled through Brinley's chest.

She had seen him composed in sharp suits, relaxed in casual attire-but never like this, stripped of clothes and unguarded, every line of his body speaking of strength. Her eyes lingered helplessly on the sculpted lines of his shoulders, the hard definition of his abs, the smooth flex of his back.

Rooted in place with one hand still on the doorknob,Brinley could only stare, caught in the moment as though spellbound.

Just then, a sharp metallic clang shattered the quiet.

The dumbbell slipped from Austin's grip, crashing against the floor with a sharp clang that jolted Brinley back to herself.

"Careful!" she blurted out.

Her body acted on instinct, hurrying forward to steady him.

But before she reached the weights, strong arms swept her close.

Her spine pressed against the hard wall of his chest,and his damp heat surrounded her, his breath carrying the raw edge of exertion and sweat brushing against her neck.

"I'm exhausted," Austin murmured, voice husky, his face buried in her hair as his hold tightened around her waist. "Let's rest a little." The tip of his nose grazed her earlobe, sending a shiver racing down her back

Brinley froze in place, her thin blouse clinging as the heat and sweat from his chest seeped through,raising goosebumps across her skin.

"Austin, you..." Her protest faltered the moment her palm met the slick firmness of his abs.

The taut muscles flexed beneath her trembling fingers,making it impossible to push him away.

It only took a moment before her composure returned.She twisted sharply, her knee digging into his side with practiced precision.

Austin grunted, and in that instant of weakness,she seized the opening-rolling him flat onto the yoga mat.

Settling astride his waist, Brinley gripped his arm, her fingers squeezing the firm swell of his biceps. An eyebrow arched as she teased, "Mr. Moore, playing at being helpless with muscles like these?"

Flat on the mat, Austin met her gaze with a flicker of amusement in his teasing eyes.

The fading sun streamed through the windows,catching in her hair, softening her sharp beauty into something almost luminous

Brinley dipped closer, her lips near his ear, her voice drawn out and deliberate. "But I must admit, those lines... they're sculpted like a fashion model's body."

Her hand slid down the length of his arm,fingertips tracing every contour until she felt his body tense under her touch.

The intensity in his stare thickened, fierce and unyielding.

With a swift motion, he reversed their positions,pinning her beneath him against the mat.

His arms braced on either side of her head, his face lowering until the bridge of his nose hovered a breath from hers.

Their breaths tangled in the narrow space between them, and mischief flickered so vividly in his eyes it was almost tangible

His hips pressed forward, the taut muscles of his abdomen grazing her waist. His tone dipped into a low challenge. "Is just touching enough for you?"

"You!" Brinley's sharp cry broke out as she jerked her knee upward toward his stomach.

But Austin was quicker.He caught her ankle mid-strike, his grip like forged steel

She twisted, trying to break free, yet his hold didn't budge an inch.

"Let go of me!" Her cheeks flamed red, her voice edged with fury.

Instead of releasing her,Austin leaned closer, his body heat surrounding her like an inescapable cage.

Her pulse raced as she found herself staring at his face only inches away-lashes dark and thick, nose finely carved,lips shaped with infuriating perfection.

As her thoughts scattered and her frame froze, she forgot to move aside. Yet Austin came to an abrupt stop.

Instead of stealing the kiss she'd braced for, he reached out and brushed a feather from her hair,one she must have picked up when tumbling onto the pillow earlier.

"There's something in your hair," he murmured in his usual even tone, as though the heat in his gaze moments ago was just something she'd made up in her head.

He straightened and glanced down at Brinley sprawled on the mat. An eyebrow arched, his lips tugging into a smirk. "So, are you planning to move in down there?" The remark jolted her back to herself. Color rushed to her cheeks, creeping hot all the way to her ears.

She scrambled up, smoothing her rumpled blouse with quick, embarrassed motions, then shot him a glare."You did that on purpose!"

"What do you mean?" Austin pressed, tone innocent but eyes glittering as he dragged a towel across his damp skin. Mischief curled in his expression. "You're the one who couldn't stop staring at me while l worked out-and then went diving straight into my arms."

"I am not staring at you!" Brinley shot back, her temper flaring as color rose in her cheeks."I was just walking past! And why on earth are you working out in the living room instead of using the gym? What's wrong with you?"

"The AC in the gym broke," Austin answered evenly.His eyes lingered on the curve of her flushed earlobe,his lips tugging into a faint smile.

"The AC is broken?" Brinley echoed, eyeing him skeptically. "Why does this place have so many issues?Maybe you should think about getting a new villa altogether."

Austin didn't bother responding, content to study her indignant expression.The longer he stared, the more unsettled she felt,Brinley turned away sharply and stomped toward the dining room, determined to ignore him

She hurried through a few mouthfuls of dinner,but her thoughts kept circling back to the image in the living room-Austin's sweat-slicked skin, the heat of his breath brushing her face, and that teasing glint in his eyes.

Abruptly, she set down her knife and fork with a clatter, pushing back from the table as if fleeing a battlefield. Without a glance behind her, she escaped up the stairs to her bedroom.