Bittersweet

Bittersweet: Chapter Four

Ava chuckled and walked over behind me. She leaned down and looked through the same hole I was looking through. "When a man looks like he does, I don't often spend much time looking at what he's wearing."

"Ah!" I squealed, as I turned and playfully hit her on the arm. "You're such a hussy, Ava!"

Although, it wasn't too far out to think about, him and her. She was only in her early forties but had aged more than gracefully. She was petite with a light and smooth, caramel complexion. The depths of her dark brown eyes were never-ending. She had a full head of lightly waved hair that laid wildly around her shoulders.

Austin Burkhalter looked like he'd have beautiful, exotic women at his disposal and Ava most definitely fell into that category even if she were 20 years his senior.

She rolled her eyes, and let her hand gently lay on my shoulder. "He is a handsome young man, Eliza. Maybe even a little more handsome than, I don't know, say...A certain someone named Jack?"

My heart clenched at the thought of Jack and I shook my head. "Jack is good-lookin but it's like he's so humble that he don't even know he's good-lookin. That man out there knows he's handsome-like.." I paused for a moment, "He recognizes that women adore him and it's his biggest weapon. My Jack can walk into a room where all eyes are on him and not even notice."

"Oh," She said, as she poked me in the side. "So, you do agree that he is handsome?"

I rolled my eyes and shrugged. "I guess if you're into that clean-cut type, he could be okay."

Ava laughed and walked back into the kitchen, "Uh huh, you've been staring at him like you think he's very handsome. Now, get over here and grab these plates and set the table."

Did I think he was handsome? Heat crept up my neck and then to my cheeks as I nibbled on my bottom lip. Of course, he was. Give me a break, I wasn't completely blinded by my undying love for Jack that I couldn't recognize basic attraction. Maybe it was the fact that he was different than all the other men I'd ever seen in my life. Let's just say that men around these parts were rough around the edges. The man sitting on our front porch was everything but that.

And somehow, it was pleasantly surprising.

He had the type of face that was all-consuming. One that once you let yourself indulge in, it was hard to see at anything else. His eyes were the lightest shade of blue I'd ever seen, but that wasn't what made them distinctive. No. I noticed that, after I'd gotten a better look at him, his left iris was multicolored. While most of it was blue, there was a spike of brown at the bottom, shooting up towards his pupil. Long, thick eyelashes outlined his eyes, making them even more breathtaking. The moment I looked into his eyes; I knew hands down that they were the most mesmerizing pair I'd ever seen in my life. But then, his eyes weren't the only thing that made him handsome.

Oh, no. That list could have been a mile long.

Beautiful eyes, check. High cheekbones and a strongly contoured jawline, check check. Perfectly pink, full lips... Check. His skin was a golden, tanned color that seemingly just... fit with his fascinating eyes and silky dark brown hair which was styled short. It was as if he had it professionally groomed it every other week. While it was a fairly simple hairstyle, I'd caught him running his large hands through it, pushing it back as if it were in his eyes multiple times.

Even sitting down, he physically dominated the area. He was much taller than daddy, and leaner. You could tell that he took good care of his body just by the way his fitted button-up shirt and pants clung to his every movement. I knew that if I looked hard enough, I could very well see the contours of his abdomen through his shirt.