Page 33 of Rules in Love
“Red. You call me that a lot. It’s the hair, right?”
“Actually, not for the hair, but because of your name. Scarlett-red, the same color. Though I must say, your hair is lovely. It always looks so soft, but especially when it’s straight like today.” He reached out, tugged at the one curl that refused to stay straight, and tucked it behind my ear. “Feels soft too.” My cheeks blushed the very shades he mentioned as I embarrassingly looked at my feet and lied my ass off.
“Oh, I’ve hardly touched it today. I must look like a wreck.” When I dared look up, I found his spotty, calamine-lotion-covered-but-still-dashing face and dazzling eyes staring right into mine. My bones turned to a liquid runnier than the soup he held, and I needed to lean against the table for support.
“Are you okay, Red? You look a little wobbly.”
“Oh, I’m fine, just tired and hungry. I better get going and leave you to it.” I began to move away, but his left arm ducked out and grabbed my right.
“Don’t go, Scarlett. You, uhh…you need to tell me about the party plans. And maybe I can heat the soup up, and we can split it with some toast. Sound good?”
“Sounds great.”
“All done.” Finn smiled proudly as he placed an old-fashioned terrine on the table, plus three perfectly toasted and buttered slices of bread. The soup was unrecognizable, resembling a thick chowder more than the chicken-and-veggie soup I had made. Hopefully, it wouldn’t affect the taste.
“I love that you have toast with your soup.” I swooned as he served me a piping hot bowl. “It’s very English. Americans seem to prefer crackers, which are nice too, but it’s not the same as having toasty crumbs floating in the bowl.”
“Ahhh, you’re right. It’s toast all the way, especially with tomato soup. Did you make this? It’s bloody great.”
“Yep, I sure did. It is the least I could do after all the coffee and cake you’ve had delivered this week. Oh, cake, that reminds me.” I dropped my spoon back into my bowl and reached for the M&M cookies. “From your secret admirer, although I don’t think it’s much of a secret. She told me these were for ‘the hottie’ when she gave them to me.”
“Did she now?” Finn’s eyebrow rose and wriggled to the level of epic sexiness as he smirked and nonchalantly stirred his soup. “Now tell me, Scarlett, how did you know I was the hottie she was referring to?”
Fuck.
“Uhh, well. I presumed…since the first batch I dropped was for you…that—” Finn began to laugh. “Oh, fuck off, that’s how.”
“Ooh, I’ve hit a nerve, have I? Hmm. Interesting.”
Finn
“Ididn’t realize how hungry I was until I started eating,” I mused as I cleared the table. “Haven’t had an appetite since I’ve been sick.”
Scarlett began playing with the cookie container, longing in her eyes. “I wish I had that problem. I rarely stop eating.”
As the words left her lips, I realized how often I’d heard her mention eating too much. Sometimes she joked about her weight too. I had no idea what for. Her body was banging. Curvy and tight in all the right places. Fat and plump in the even better ones. “Good. There’s nothing worse than hanging out with a chick who pretends not to eat much around guys. We all know they will stuff their faces when they get home.”
“Well, if that’s your opinion, I better eat a cookie…or two.”She slipped her hand under the lip, pulled two out, and took an exaggerated bite of her cookie sandwich. Hot.
“So, it’s to be a costume party?” I asked, wondering when I started finding a woman eating so sexy.
“Yep. And it’s not my fault. Blame Hermie.”
“Oh, I fully intend to. So, what’s your costume going to be? Sexy nurse? Sexy librarian? Sexy—”
“I’m sensing a theme here,” Scarlett interjected, laughing, and throwing an M&M at my head. “I do have an idea. She’s one of my idols, but…” She trailed off, contorting her face till she resembled the eek emoji.
“But what? Tell me.” I sat beside her and waited as she blushed a little and began squirming in her seat.
“Don’t laugh, but when I was a kid, we’d just gotten our first DVD player, and there was this massive pile of old-school videos on the floor ready to be thrown out. Me being nosy, I went through them all and made an ungodly mess.”
“You found your idol in a pile of old movies? Hmm, let me guess who it was. Ummm, Dr Quinn?”
“Nope, she was cool, though. Guess again.”
“Okay, so, if your costume is for a 70’s party, it must be a 70’s show, right?” A cute nod and lip chew was her reply. Fuck she was hot. “70’s idols…oh my God, not Farrah?”
“Nope.”
