Page 24 of Rules in Love
Scarlett
As the sun rose, my spirit soared with it. Waking before my alarm and at least three cycles of the snooze button was unheard of, but I had been blessed with the sleep of the gods last night. Either that or I suffered a hormone-induced coma.
Finn Austen was the last thing I thought of as I closed my eyes, and his sunny, smiling face, eyes, and scent were the first things on my mind come morning.
Delusional grandiosity carried me to the shower for the first time without coffee in possibly ten years. Its sustenance got me through dressing, hair, makeup, and cooking myself French toast for breakfast. A sip of the good stuff hit my lips only as the first golden toasty bite hit my belly. And man, was it good. As was the roasted Colombian goodness I savored rather than guzzled without tasting.
By six forty-five, I was done with breakfast and washing up, so I decided to tidy the house a little—well, a lot. I couldn’t say for sure what inspired the sudden burst of domesticity at the crack of dawn on a Tuesday, but I think a certain blond Aussie may have had something to do with it.
Finn was methodical. I was not.
At work, his desk was spotless, bordering on compulsively neat. The four separate pencil/pen holder thingies were a perfect example. There was one for pencils, one for blue pens, one for black, and one for red. The rest of the stationery lived in a cute little caddy that was filled to the brim with Post-its, staplers and refills, erasers, and paper clips. By comparison, my stationery items were either thrown into my top drawer, could be found rolling around in my bag, or were stolen from Teddy’s desk when I walked past.
Then there was his morning routine. Studying it as I had, I knew it by heart. Each day when he arrived, first and foremost, his blinds were opened, allowing the morning light to stream in onto his beautiful face. He then sat. His satchel was lifted over his head and seated on his powerful-looking thighs. His phone was removed first and placed on the right of his desk. Plans came out next and went in the center, and pen and pencil were taken from the appropriate holder and positioned above them. Finally, a water bottle and an apple or banana were set on the left. Once, he really shocked me and brought in two kiwi fruits instead. It was a big day. This routine was completed with an adjustment of his iPad, his hot and glorious signature look of concentration, and a satisfied nod.
In all good conscience, I couldn’t let that man walk into my house in its natural condition. It wasn’t that I was a slob or hoarder or anything, just…chronically laidback in this one area of my life. I was convinced my mess would change how he looked at me, and I couldn’t bear that.
I dusted the place from top to bottom, sneezing my ass off while thinking back to last night. The cheeky hopefulness in Finn’s eyes when he asked me out and the playful sexiness in his, ‘Bonsoir,’ served as the perfect motivation. My rugs were vacuumed to within an inch of threadbare. The beds in mine, Ben’s, and the guest room were stripped and remade with my fanciest, highest thread count sheets, and a well overdue load of laundry was started. Cinderella herself couldn’t have done better.
Once I had done all I could, or was willing to do, I ran one last check over to make sure there was none of Ben’s stuff laying around. Because I’d worked up such a bloody sweat, I took another shower and put on my second outfit for the day, a sexy but appropriate black pencil skirt and white ruffled-collar shirt so soft it felt like fingers pressing against my skin each time I moved. It was much cuter than my first ensemble, and I was checking how my ass looked in the mirror when I heard Teddy banging on the front door. “I forgot my keys! Let me in!”
The house filled with light as I swung open the door and puckered up for my morning kiss. I was left hanging, though. Teddy was too busy smirking and inspecting me with an eyebrow raised to his hairline. “Ahoy, Captain.”
“Fuck! Really? Do I need to change?”
“No, don’t you dare. You look like the sexiest pirate in New York. It’s the perfect welcome-back-to-the-office-check-me-out-Finn-Austen outfit. I can just see his dirty mind thinking up all kinds of filthy puns. Plugging your blowhole while his parrot watches, for example.”
I was halfway up the stairs by the time he’d finished. “Okay, I’m definitely changing.”
“Please, Scar, I’m just kidding. I’m sorry. Please don’t. You look adorable, and I’m sure Finn will think nothing of the sort—holy shit!” His jaw dropped. “Someone’s been busy. This place looks fantastic. Did you do it all this morning? What time did you get up?” The penny dropped. “Fuck, Scar, is he coming over tonight? And that’s why you’re wearing the skirt? Easy access?”
“Teddy! No! But also, yes, I have been busy. And yes, I did it this morning. Ben’s at Brett’s place, so I thought I would make the most of the time and tidy up.”
“Andddddd….”
“And Finn asked me to see him again tonight.” My arm was almost ripped from the socket as Teddy dragged me into a ferocious hug. “To work on the project, Teddy. I thought I should tidy up a bit in case he needed to come in to use the toilet or something. Fuck, I forgot to clean the upstairs toilet.”
“To work on the project? Yeah, sure. There’s only one project you two will work on, and it’s all about him anchoring to your port.”
“Eww, you’re gross. Get off!” I pushed my clinging friend off me, grabbed my things, and headed out. Mrs. Horowitz, whose house stood between Teddy’s and mine, was standing at the bottom of my steps, calling out to what was likely to be one of her cats.
“Mr. Pickles! Mr. Pickles, breakfast time.” She turned when she saw us approaching. Tears were pouring down her face, and the spoon and tin of cat food she held in her trembling hands looked close to dropping.
“Are you okay, Mrs. Horowitz? Can we help you with something?” I gently took the can from her hands and instantly regretted it. The scent of tuna and guts hit me hard, so I immediately gave it to Teddy and took her hands in mine.
“Mr. Pickles didn’t come home last night. You haven’t seen him, have you, dear?”
“Gosh, I’m sorry. I haven’t been outside since last night. Hmm, Mr. Pickles…is he the orange one, the tabby, or the hairless?”
“No, he’s my black cat, the one with the white line on his nose shaped like a pickle and two white front paws.”
“Oh, right. I think I’ve seen his little face in the pram when you walk. What about you, Teddy? Did you see him this morning?”
“No, sorry. No black cats crossed my path.” He couldn’t suppress his smirk. “Does he do this often? Have a night out on the town? Maybe he has a girlfriend and spent the night with her?” For that, Teddy earned a hearty elbow in the ribs. He may have been genuine, but it was hard to take him seriously after all the pirate jokes. Luckily, Mrs. Horowitz failed to pick up on the sarcasm.
“Never. But I had caught a bug in the house and opened the door to throw it out. Unfortunately, Mr. Pickles followed with it. I looked everywhere I could but couldn’t find him. It’s not like him to miss his breakfast.” Her eyes shifted furiously between me and the tin. Teddy saw it, too, and began to tap it as she had been. The nervous darting settled.
“Well, I’m sure he’ll be back soon. We’d love to stay and help look, but we really must get to work. I promise, though, we will keep an eye out, and if you haven’t found him by the time we come home, we will help you then.” The can of food was handed back to its owner, who I gave a gentle and hopefully reassuring rub on the arm. With an unconvincing nod, she tottered off down the street, banging the spoon against the tin.
