Page 5 of Rescuing Abbey

“Pepperoni is my favorite,” she answered from the kitchen breakfast bar. I nearly jumped out of my skin. This was not good. I was normally so in tune with my surroundings, but she had consumed my thoughts. I was no longer paying attention to anything else. I had expected her to go to the living room, but she had quietly taken a seat on one of the stools. Heat laced my veins as I watched her eyes track my every movement. No one had ever paid attention to me this closely before. It felt weird, but in a good way.

“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s fine. I thought I heard you in the other room.”

A tiny giggle escaped her lips. Pulling the pizza from the freezer, I made quick work of getting it prepped for the oven as it preheated. “Can I get you anything to drink? Water, Coke, whiskey?”

“A Coke, please. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“You really don’t have to.”

She raised an eyebrow. “You’re letting me stay with you. It’s the least I can do.”

I fought a grin, liking that she spoke her mind. “You can set the plates out.” I handed her two plates, as well as forks and napkins. “You can choose where we eat.”

Placing the pizza on the rack, I set the timer and went in search of Abbey. I stopped short in the doorway as I watched her carefully fold a napkin into what looked like a hat. It was so sweet to see the care she used for such a small thing. Pizza wasn’t a fancy dinner, but a simple touch like that showed me the little things were important to her. I went back into the kitchen and poured two Cokes into glasses and added some ice to them.

“The remotes are on the side table if you want to pick out something to watch.” I brought our drinks out and set them on the coasters Abbey had dug up. Funny how Liam had insisted we have them, but we never used them.

“Is there anything you don’t like to watch?” Abbey looked at the three remotes sitting on the side table and then at me. “Umm…”

I grabbed the smallest one and turned the TV on, then grabbed the next one and turned on the stereo. Handing her the TV remote, I settled on the couch and watched as she scrolled through the channels. When she looked at me, I realized I hadn’t answered her question. “I don’t like reality TV.”

“Not even the cooking shows?”

“Those I can deal with, but not Housewives or those singing competitions.”

“What about the prime-time cop shows? You know, being a cop and all, do you like those?” Her eyebrows ticked up.

“I don’t like those either. I can’t get into them. Being on the job all day, I want to get away from it.”

She flipped through the channels some more, stopping on a network channel currently showing a commercial. It was the station scheduled to televise the football game I had hoped to watch tonight.Score.

“It’s Thursday. Isn’t there a game on tonight?” She eyed me over her shoulder.

“There is. If that’s what you want to watch.”

“I haven’t been able to watch a game in so long.” A smile lit her face. She placed the remote on the table and tucked her feet onto the couch.Well, fuck me, a woman after my own heart. I smiled to myself. This tiny little thing was full of surprises. Jax jumped up and settled on the middle cushion between us.

We dug into the pizza and watched the game. I couldn’t stop my gaze from seeking her out. We rooted for the same team, and it was fascinating watching her excitement over the game. She called the refs out on bad plays, cheered when the team did well, and even jumped up and down after a well-earned touchdown. My night of wanting to relax and veg out on the couch watching sports still became a reality. Little did I know how much better this night was going to turn out.

Having the little brunette on the couch beside me was a refreshing change. There was something about her that was oddly comforting. Opening up to new people wasn’t easy for me, but with her sitting next to me, I felt like I was at ease. Almost like I’d known Abbey more than just hours, for years. I could feel the edge from the workday slipping away and wanted to sit around, doing nothing, with Abbey.

It scared the crap out of me. I wasn’t ready to open my life to someone yet, not even the pretty woman only inches from me.

Abbey stifled a yawn as she uncurled from the cushion. Her arms stretched over her head when she stood, and a moan escaped her lips. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to do that.”

“It’s okay. It’s been quite a day,” I said, fighting my own yawn. I would have gone to sleep before the game ended, but I was in no rush to leave Abbey’s presence. As my eyes grew heavy from exhaustion, I knew I couldn’t stay awake much longer.

“Can I get you anything?” I asked when we got to her bedroom door. Jax barged his way into the room and made himself at home on the bed.

Her hand flew to her forehead. “I forgot my bag in the trunk of my car.”

“It’s okay.” The image of her in my clothes flashed through my mind, and my cock grew hard. “I’m sure we have things around the house you can borrow. Let me hunt around.”

It took a few minutes of searching, but I found a spare toothbrush, Liam’s travel shampoo and conditioner, and an old t-shirt and boxers of mine she could sleep in.

“Is there anything else you think you might need?” I handed her the pile of supplies.

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