Chapter Eight
Ross
Autumn straightened up and smoothed her shirt over her curves. She grabbed the paper bag and pushed it across the marble counter top like an offering.
What the hell did I do? Autumn kissed me and I kissed her right back.
I’d probably messed everything up, but I was happier than I’d been in ages.
“Yes.” I cleared my throat and dragged the tie out of my hair. I hastily put it back up into a bun, then busied myself with the coffee maker. I turned my back on her as I ground the beans. They were from one of the latest batches that I’d been experimenting with.
Maybe, if I made my coffee even better, I’d get more customers. Plus, it made me happy to bring out the different notes and tastes. Autumn would be my guinea pig to test these out. I was sure she didn’t mind.
I took a deep breath to calm myself, but my cock did not calm down or soften in the slightest. It still pressed against my flies after that kiss, rock hard and throbbing.
Gods, the effect that woman had on me… Let’s hope she won’t notice my bulge. She was into it, though.
The scent of her arousal still hung heavy in the air.
What on earth were you thinking, Ross? You all but jumped her bones.
We had a rather awkward last cup of coffee before Autumn said she had to leave.
“I’m meeting my sister and my parents for dinner,” she explained as she fussed with her scarf.
“Nice,” I said awkwardly.
“Yeah, we do that once a month. I guess I will see you on Monday morning?”
“Yeah, you will. Same time as usual?” I asked, hoping that our plans hadn’t changed just because I kissed her and she kissed me.
“Of course.” Autumn beamed at me. “Thank you for the coffee and the hospitality.”
“You’re welcome.” My ears flicked.
What am I supposed to say?
I followed her to the door and stood awkwardly as she put on her boots and her coat.
“Thanks for the pastries,” I called after her as she’d nearly shut the door behind her. Autumn opened it again and poked her head back into my house.
“You’re welcome, Ross. I’m glad you liked them. And you did great today.” She cleared her throat. And a cheeky little grin broke out on her face. I exhaled.
“Yeah, thanks. You too. Bye, Autumn.” She gave me a little wave and was gone.
I flung myself down on the couch and turned the kiss over and over again in my head all evening.
By the time I pulled up to her house the next morning, I had convinced myself that it had been a terrible mistake to go along with it and not to stop her. What must she think of me now?
Would she feel uncomfortable in my presence?
As I had requested on the first morning when I had picked her up, she waited inside the house.
For a second or two, I thought she wouldn’t come and just bail on having to sit in a vehicle with me for 15 minutes.
Then the door opened and a beaming, rosy-cheeked autumn fairy entered my car.
Her hair fell in curls around her face and she wore that tight orange jumper again that kept cropping up in my rather telling dreams.
“Good morning, Ross.” Autumn’s smile warmed me from the crown of my head to the sole of my hooves.
“Good morning, Autumn.”
I smiled back, careful not to be too intense, although maybe I should have been because that was when she kissed me, after all.
“I...Did ye have a nice evening?” she asked, clearly clutching at straws.
“Yes, thank you, I did. What about you?”
“Oh, I, yeah, it was good.” Autumn bit her lip.
My spirits soared and, for a moment, I considered leaning over the middle console and kissing her again.
Gods, I wanted to. But then the moment passed and I steered us away from the curb and in the direction of the city centre.
I didn’t know why I felt so shy in her presence all of a sudden. Autumn had always unsettled me and made me nervous, but nowhere near what she did to me after that kiss. I wanted to say more, but I didn’t even know how.
“Do you have any plans for next weekend already?” she asked by the time we drove past the Silverlight Theatre to get as close to Scales & Steam as possible.
Is it normal to ask about someone’s weekend plans on a Monday? Gods, why are social interactions so hard?
“Oh, no, not really. What about you?” I didn’t have any friends.
I’d only ever had acquaintances at work, and once I’d quit the contact had tapered off.
One or two had tried to keep in touch while I’d been at the clinic but building my business had taken over everything.
I’d spend the weekend alone, reminiscing about our kisses.
“Ah, there is a pumpkin patch outing. All of us will go, you know, Taran and Maeve, and we’ll meet up with Bee and Kjartan there. And Stella, of course. She’s also going to come along and we can bring guests,” she stammered.
“That sounds nice,” I said.
Why is she telling me this?
Autumn’s eyes pierced me as if she was trying to convey an idea to me without speaking.
“I hope you enjoy it,” I added.
“Yeah, I’m sure it’s gonna be great.”
I shrugged and then her face fell.
What the hell am I supposed to do? Does she want me to kiss her again? Is that why she’s disappointed?
Because she clearly was fucking disappointed with me.
“Alright, have a great day. I’ll see you tomorrow at five.” I tried for a smile. She had Friday off, so I’d have to go three days without seeing her. I already hated the weekend more than I usually did. Autumn gave me a half-hearted half-smile back.
What the hell did I do wrong?
Two hours later I stopped after the first batch of coffee of the day to have a sandwich and a bag of Singed Lime, my emotional support crisps. I was starving and had my phone next to me to read some new posts in my favourite online magazine, Grind Culture.
I’d just finished the bag of crisps when my phone chimed with a message from Autumn.
Autumn: Hi Ross, the annual autumn feast at the pumpkin farm is on Saturday
She told me this in person earlier. Why is she telling me again?
Autumn: Do you want to come with me?
She wants me to… Is that part of me learning people skills?
Then her messages disappeared.
What the heck?
Ross: Where did those messages go?
Ross: Did I accidentally delete it?
Ross: And where is that feast?
Autumn: I didn’t mean to send it. Please ignore that I did.
Ross: It said ‘Hi Ross’? Why would I ignore it when it was directed at me?
So that was what she’d been trying to tell me earlier. She’d wanted to invite me to the pumpkin patch trip? It meant that I would be near her not just for a few minutes but hours on end.
That’s amazing.
I’d have a harmless reason to look at her as much as I liked, perhaps she’d even kiss me again. My heart squeezed a little in my chest the way it sometimes did when I panicked, but this was a happy feeling that my cock reciprocated.
Fuck. I tried to ignore that I hardened and typed out another message.
Ross: If you want to go with me I’d like to come
Autumn: You do?
Ross: Yes, it might give me an opportunity to interact with people
And to shamelessly stare at you.
Autumn: It’s at Hunter McBride’s farm, about forty-five minutes away from my house
Ross: So I’ll pick you up? At what time?
Autumn: How about eight thirty? Is that too early?
Ross: Cute. You know I get up at four thirty, right?
Ross: I never sleep in
Ross: Anything I need to bring except for coffee?
Autumn: Just yourself
She sent a little orange heart emoji with her message which I found oddly…endearing.
Ross: See you on Saturday, then
Ross: Enjoy your day off tomorrow
Autumn: Thank you, I will
Autumn: I’m looking forward to Saturday
Ross: Me too
Autumn: See? You are already so much better at this!
It’s not just practice, Little Fairy. I mean it.
And since when did I get this soft?
The week passed in a flash. Before I knew it, I stood in front of my wardrobe at six on a Saturday, overthinking my fucking outfit again.
I never cared about what I wore!
Why now?
A Wild Bull Roast merch shirt would have been the most sensible choice, but I didn’t like the idea of turning this into a work meeting.
I knew it was an opportunity for me to meet more people and practice my social skills with Autumn’s colleagues.
It made sense. It was a controlled environment with people she regarded as safe.
Of course, that’s why she invited you. What else do you think this is? That she wants you to come along because you kissed? It’s not a date, you prat.
I pulled up in front of her house with five minutes to spare. A few moments later, a ball of energy bounced down the paved path from her house.
She beamed.
“Good morning, Ross.” Autumn climbed into the passenger seat. The way the morning sunlight glinted in her hair mesmerised me almost as much as the look she gave me. It was hungry and blazing.
Her eyes travelled over my chest under the plaid shirt I’d found in my favourite clothing company’s newly opened flagship store near my workshop in Pear Mill.
It came from their new Lumberjacked Line and, according to their ad, was for “men who chop wood, split hearts, and want to look damn good doing it.” Judging by the way she looked at me, I did ‘look good doing it.’
Then her eyes dipped down to the dark jeans I’d grabbed to go with the shirt. They clung to my thighs like a second skin.
“Wow, you look great!” She licked her lips. “I love that shirt on you.”
“Thanks. Uh, you, too.” Autumn looked amazing in a skirt with pumpkins embroidered all around the hem and a chunky knit jumper the colour of oatmeal.
She gave me that proud mum smile again. I hated it. Not that it didn’t look cute on her, but she behaved like this was just me practicing my people skills.
Like I don’t mean it.
I longed to kiss it off her face and replace it with something real.
God, don’t you dare kiss that girl again! Don’t mess this up!
I had a knack for making things awkward because I had never been able to read people before.
Am I getting better or just more delusional?
It took us about an hour to get to the farm. As we did every morning, we listened to Radio-Active.
“What are these, by the way?” She pulled my emergency packet of crisps from the middle console and inspected them. “You always have these in your car. Guilty pleasure?”
“Kind of, I suppose.” I glanced at her. “They help me when it gets too loud in my brain.”
“So they’re a coping mechanism?” she asked.
“Yes.”
Autumn put them back into the console.
“I’m glad you have something that works for you.”
You work for me, too.
“Yeah. And…” I hesitated. “They burn your mouth so much you can focus on that. It’s nice. You should try it.”
She snorted. “I might give it a try. I love spicy food.”
“There’s a great Thai restaurant near my workshop, Thai Me Up. We could, I mean, if you want to—“ I snapped my mouth shut. I slowed down and drove into the roped-off field with a sign indicating it as McBride Farm’s car park.
“Are you asking me out, Mr Graham?”
Out of the corner of my eye I saw her wide grin but focused on steering the van over the bumpy ground and into an empty spot between two cars. Then I took a deep breath.
“Yes, I think I am.”
“Good. Shall we wait for the others outside?” Autumn beamed even wider as she opened her door and got out of the van. “They should be here in a few minutes,” she informed me, craning her neck to look around the car park.
“Right.” We strolled towards a decorated archway in the fence. Scarecrows and mountains of pumpkins flanked either side of the entrance.
I liked all her colleagues, especially Maeve, her boss, who had been one of the first people to believe in Wild Bull Roast. She would forever have a special place in my heart. But in all honesty, I couldn’t have cared less if they turned up or not. I had her, and that was enough.
Beyond the wooden fence lay a sprawling farm with a stone cottage in the centre and a few smaller houses dotted around the perimeter of the courtyard.
More pumpkins, a tractor, and tables and benches built little islands around the yard and decorated the entrance of a maze made from straw bales.
Then a truck pulled up. I recognised Bee in the passenger seat.
Well, I guessed I had to share her, then. But perhaps I could whisk her away and steal a kiss from her in a secluded corner of the grounds.