Page 20 of The Rescue

He looks over at me and his sage green eyes glisten as the sun sets.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I didn’t realise how tired I was,” I smile softly at him

“Aye, well, you’ll have a comfy bed to sleep in tonight, in a quiet house,” he smirks.

“Can’t wait.”

We drive the short distance back to Sweet Treats in comfortable silence, my mind races with thoughts of Rabbie sleeping across the hall from me. And how easy it would be to knock on his door, and kiss him.

8

Rabbie

I don’t know why I’m so nervousto have Crystal in my space, it’s been me and Edie for so long that I’ve got used to being alone. I don’t usually have people over unless it’s my friends or my nan, I only let the closest people to me in my home. I think it stems from my abandonment issues, the uncertainty of being uprooted when I was a wee lad has left a lasting impact on me. I own my cafe and my wee flat above, and nobody can take that from me. This is my safe place.

So now I have a beautiful, little cowgirl living with me who fills me with nerves. I couldn’t stand to see her sitting at that table, looking exhausted and worn out day after day.

It doesn’t take long for us to pull up in my parking spot behind the back of Sweet Treats. My hands shake as I turn off the ignition. I look over at Crystal, and her red hair shines in the setting sun, her rosy red lips turn up into a smile. I hope I can trust her in my space. Sweet Treats means a lot to me, butmy wee flat means more. I had a lot of things taken away from me when I was a boy, but this is mine. I cherish it more than anything in the world, and I only let my inner circle up here. So this is a big deal for me. I try not to let it show on my face, I don’t want her to think I’m some psychopath who is protective of their space.

We sit there in silence for what feels like minutes, hours, and I blink away the tingling feeling I have whenever she looks at me with those cat shaped eyes.

“Come on, you must be hungry. I’ve got some pies leftover from today, we can have for dinner.”

I jump out of the car, and grab her suitcase from the trunk of the car. For someone who wasn’t planning on being here long, it sure does weigh a lot.

“Jesus, this thing weighs a tonne. What have you got in here?”

She laughs as she follows me through the back door of the cafe. I leave her suitcase by the stairs to take up to the flat, and I make my way over to the fridge in the kitchen.

“Just my clothes,” she shrugs with a smile.

“Yeah, but you hardly wear any clothes,” I laugh with my back turned to her as I open the fridge and take out two pies to put in the oven.

I turn around with two vegetable pies, and the look on her face sends me into a panic. I instantly regret what I said, I didn’t mean it to come across as if that was a bad thing. She leans against the doorjamb of the backdoor, folding her arms, with her eyebrows raised, waiting for an explanation.

I break out into a cold sweat. “Oh, I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I mean, you look great in the clothes you wear. Not that I’ve been checking you out.” She doesn’t say anything, so I fill the silence. “I’m not one of those misogynistic guys who tellswomen what they should do. You can wear whatever you like, it’s all about what you feel comfortable in.”

Stop talking, you idiot!

There is another long awkward silence between us, and I’m scared I’ve offended her. She hasn’t even moved in yet, and I’ve already insulted her. A look of amusement spreads across her face, and she smirks at me.

“That was quite the speech.” She pushes off the doorjamb and walks to the stainless island in the middle of my kitchen. She leans her hip against, still eyeing me amusement. I turn on the oven, and put the pies in to heat them up.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean it to come across as a negative thing. You should be able to wear what you like without any judgement.”

“Tell that to my mama,” she says in a sardonic tone.

I find this interesting, another piece of the puzzle to finding out who she is. Crystal may come across as open when it comes to talking about sex or other things, but she seems closed off when it comes to her family. I’ve only ever heard her mention the small town she was from, and even then she was vague. I can tell she doesn’t want to talk about anything family related, and to be honest, neither do I.

“These pies should be warm enough for us to take upstairs, I have some salad in the fridge in my place, we can have it with the pies.”

I see a wave of relief and gratitude wash over her face. I take the pies out of the oven and put them on two plates. I walk over and hand the plates to Crystal, I look down into her moss green eyes, and I badly want to ask her questions about her life, and get to know her on a deeper level, but I know I need to keep this relationship professional.

“I’ll grab your hefty bag,” I smile down at her, keeping the conversation light.

She looks up at me and wrinkles her nose at me, and my eyes gravitate to the freckles that are sprinkled over her nose. Fuck, why do I want to kiss them?

I clear my throat and distract myself from her soft, plump lips.

---