Page 33 of The Rescue

“I’m an early bird, what can I say?”

We sit and eat our cereal in silence, and I can’t stop stealing little glances. She looks beautiful in the morning, her hair is tied back in a long braid that travels down her back, and she has little stray strands framing her face. Her eyes are a little puffy from sleep, and her lips look even plumper which I didn’t think was possible.

The sound of our spoons clanging against the bowls echoes around the room, and I can feel my anxiety growing. She knew I was checking her out, and I hope she doesn’t feel uncomfortable by it. I didn’t expect to see her those goddamn sexy pyjamas that I want to rip off of her.

And if I thought my fantasy couldn’t get any more detailed, she had to go and drink the milk from the bowl. Milk runs down from the corner of her mouth down her chin, and I think my cock is about to burst out of my jeans. She looks at me with a sheepish smile as she wipes away the milk. My mind is running wild withall the scenarios of seeing Crystal on her knees, with her red painted nails wrapped around my cock, fucking her mouth. I silently curse my cock, and Crystal’s sexy fucking pyjamas. I will have to deal with my painful erection later. I will myself to think of something else to ease the tension in my body, and in the room.

“What’s on the agenda for today?” I spoon a mouthful of cereal into my mouth.

What is wrong with me, I sound like some stuffy businessman with a stick up his arse. Her rose-coloured lips turn up at the corners, and I’m glad my nervousness has amused her.

“Well, I was thinking I could take those pictures of you working today,” she raises an eyebrow at me.

The thought of my picture being taken makes me retreat into my insecure self, and I want to run away and hide from all responsibilities. The look on my face must tell Crystal that I’m nervous about it because she places her small, soft hand on top of mine. I look down and almost laugh because the difference in size between our hands is comical. She squeezes my hand, and my attention snaps up to her. Her big green eyes tell me that I can trust her. The warmth and firmness from her grip grounds me, and I feel a blanket of safety wrap around me.

The gesture sends my mind reeling. Surely, she’s just being a good friend and reassuring me. Fiona and Dylan grab my hands all the time when they talk to me, but it never feels like this. It feels like someone has lit a thousand firecrackers off in my stomach whenever she touches me.

“Only if you’re comfortable, I’m not going to force you to do it. But if you’re happy to do it. I’ll be in the background taking pictures of you whilst you work. There won’t be any awkward posing for photos. You can put music on, and pretend I’m not there,” she gives my hand an extra squeeze.

Impossible.

I look up from our hands into her green eyes, and back down to our hands, and she lets go as if she just got an electric shock from touching me. She sits on her hands like a child who can’t control their impulses.

“Okay, I’ll do it for you,” I smile at her.

Her bare shoulders twitch for a sec, and I wish I could run my fingers over her soft skin, and slip down the straps on her top and kiss every inch of her exposed chest.

She interrupts my daydream of her supple breasts with a small cough, god it must be so obvious to her that I’m a pathetic loser who’s drooling over her in cute little pyjamas. I look down at my cereal to hide the shame of getting caught. I think she’s about to call me out on it but I’m relieved when she changes the subject.

“I think it will look great on the website, you’re already an impressionable and likeable guy. And having a few pictures of you on there, will really help people understand you and your business. It will make it more personal.”

I’ve never had someone say that about me, well apart from my nan and my friends, but they have to say stuff like that because they love me. Crystal has only known me for a month and she thinks those things aboutme.

I try to accept the compliment, but thoughts of my mum from last night come rushing back. If I allow myself to get too close, too attached to her, it’s going to trigger the issues I have with people abandoning me when she eventually leaves to go back to Boston. I swallow a spoonful of my cereal, and smile at her because that’s all I can give her right now. She must mistake my silence for reluctance.

“I promise it won’t look tacky. They will be candid photos, and if you don’t like them I will delete them, and we can come up with something else.”

I can see she really cares about making the perfect website for me, and is putting in so much effort to make it happen. She’s being so patient with me. She knows a lot about graphic and web design, her knowledge and expertise is reassuring. I knew she’d be great when I only picked the colour scheme for the website and trusted her to come up with the rest. I trust her opinion on what she thinks looks best on the website. Her driven attitude towards her work is inspiring, I can tell she loves what she does.

“I forgot to tell you, but you’re doing a great job with bringing the vision of the website to life.”

The sun slowly rising filters through the window and frames her face just in time to catch the most genuine, beautiful smile spread across her face. I can feel the pride pouring out of her as she smiles at me.

I watch her throat move as she swallows. “Thank you.” She barely whispers.

“I should go start getting ready for the day, I will be down a little later to take some pictures.”

She stands and walks over to the sink to wash up her bowl, I allow myself quick little glances of her perfect arse in those little shorts. I take mental pictures and store them in my head for when I have to deal with myself in the shower later. I’ve been content with being on my own for so long that I forgot how to act like a normal gentleman around an attractive woman. She must think I’m such a weirdo for gawking at her.

I bow my head and shovel cereal into my mouth as she walks past. My head snaps up, and she gives me a cute little smile. My eyes are too busy watching her that my spoon completely misses the bowl, and I’m spooning thin air. Crystal giggles to herself as she disappears down the hallway.

Very smooth, Casanova.

I finish my cereal, and head downstairs to start my morning. I have a few batches of scones to make and some pies for Mac atthe Drunken Duck before we open for service. I put the radio on through the Bluetooth speaker in the corner and get in the zone. This is the only space that I can truly take my mind off things, except for one person.

Crystal has been a distraction since her very first day. I’ll be working away, trying to stay focused and she’ll pop up in my head. It’s been a blessing and a curse, because sometimes I need the distraction and others I don’t. At the end of the day I find myself excited to see her, and find out how her day was. Ever since she took the spare room, it’s been nice having company. Edie’s great, but it’s nice to have someone who can actually talk back to me. I’ve never had this feeling before, and I don’t know how to process it.

Even if nothing happened between me and Crystal physically, I’m still glad that I’ve gotten to know her a little bit.

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