Page 25 of The Rescue

We both laugh, and I’m glad that conversation has turned light, we continue to walk back into town, the main street is more lively with some of the locals going about their mornings. People greet and wave at Dylan, and I dip my head and trudge along, letting her catch up to me every time she has to stop to say hello to a local.

“You can say hello to people you know,” she puffs as she catches up to me for the fifth time.

“I’d rather not, they all end up prying into your business anyway. All small towns are the same.”

“You’re so cynical,” she shakes her head at me.

I don’t say anything because she’s right, we stop outside Sweet Treats. I can see Nellie through the window, setting up before they open for the day. She smiles and waves at me, and I smile and wave back before I can realise what a hypocrite I am.Dylan spots Fiona across the road putting out fruit and veggies outside the shop.

“Hey, I’m going to go speak to Fiona. I’m sure you have to start work soon, but I’ll call you later,” she hugs me goodbye.

“See you later.”

I walk around to the back of the cafe, so I can head up to the flat to have a shower before I start work. The sweet aroma wafts from the back door, and my belly begins to rumble. I pop my head through the open back door, and find Rabbie listening to music while kneading out some dough on the stainless steel island.

His muscular forearms contort and tense as he stretches and works the dough. I watch on in admiration, he hasn’t noticed I’m standing there. He’s so focused and in the zone, it’s quite amazing to watch him work at his craft. He bites down on his lip in concentration, and the tingling sensation intensifies whenever I look at him. I step in so he knows my presence, I don’t want him to catch me creeping on him. I’m nervous he’s going to bring up what we spoke about earlier when I bumped into him outside the bathroom.

He spots me standing in the doorway, and a big, bright smile spreads across his face. Relief spreads through me and I let myself relax.

“How was your run?”

“Yeah, it was good. I was going to head up for a shower before I come down to work on my laptop. Unless, you want me to work up in the flat so you can have that table back? I’m not exactly a paying customer.”

He tilts his head to the side, and a frown forms between his eyes.

“Dinny be daft, you can work wherever you feel most comfortable.”

“Thanks, I’ll be back down in half an hour, boss.” I cringe at calling him boss, just like he called me roomie last night. I’ve thought about that a few times this morning. Was that him putting me in the friend zone?

A small smirk spreads on his lips, and fuck, I want to know what it feels like to kiss him.

“No rush. I left you some homemade granola in a bowl, the milk is in the fridge. I thought you’d be hungry after your run.”

“You’re too nice to me, Rabbie.”

His bright green eyes bore into me, and my stomach does that weird somersault whenever he looks at me like that.

“There’s no such thing as too nice.”

“I guess, you’re right. I’ll be back down soon,” I say, still glued to the spot.

It’s weird whenever we’re alone together, it’s like we don’t want to leave each other’s presence or know how to without taking our eyes off each other. I back up towards the stairs leading up to the flat, Rabbie eyes are still on me and my legs begin to wobble and shake from the intensity of his stare. He smiles softly at me, and then our intense moment is broken by Nellie shouting the first order of the day at Rabbie. He blinks and just like that the spell is broken.

I rush up the stairs, and into the flat. My heart thumps in my chest, and I have to take a deep breath to slow it down. How is he capable of making me feel this? I don’t get nervous around men. I’m always confident and self-assured when it comes to attractive men. But one look from Rabbie and I’m a totally different woman. I don’t like the way he makes me feel, it’s like he can truly see me. Like he can see behind all the walls I’ve put up around me over the years, and he sees the real Crystal,and that fucking petrifies me.

I make my way down the hall to my bedroom, when I notice the door is slightly ajar. I swear I closed it this morning, ormaybe I was so distracted by a half naked Rabbie that I didn’t. I push open the door, to find that fucking hairball curled up on my bed, fast asleep. I grab the duvet and whip it up to shoo the thing off my bed, which is now covered in white cat hair. The cat screeches as it flies through the air, and lands softly on its feet near the door. It looks back at me, and scowls at me with its evil yellow eyes. I know that cat is going to have a vendetta against me.

“Shoo!”

The fluffball hisses at me before it wanders off down the hall. I have a feeling that won’t be the end of our little feud.

The bathroom in Rabbie’s flat is small, I can’t help myself when it comes to snooping in his medicine cabinet. I’m not surprised when I find nothing interesting in there, just your usual bathroom toiletries. It seems Rabbie is perfect in every way possible.

In the shower, I let the warm water run over my body and soak into my aching muscles. The water pressure is amazing as the water massages into my shoulders and back. Memories of seeing Rabbie in a towel flash through my mind, and before I know it I’m grabbing the shower head, and running it over my body. I imagine he’s standing behind me cupping my breasts, and pinching my nipples with his beautiful large hands. Those hands, firm and strong. The way they could wrap around my throat and lightly squeeze, making the rush a thousand times more intense. I move the shower head lower to the ache spot between my legs. The pressure from the water over my sensitive clit makes my legs shake, and a soft moan escapes my lips.Fuck, this feels good.

I picture Rabbie pushing me up against the wall of the shower, his long arms caging me in on either side, his length sliding between my legs and rubbing against my sensitive clit.

“Are you sure you want this?” He grabs my chin and turns my face to look at him.

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