8. Rabbie
8
Rabbie
I don’t know why I’m so nervous to have Crystal in my space, it’s been me and Edie for so long that I’ve got used to being alone. I don’t usually have people over unless it’s my friends or my nan, I only let the closest people to me in my home. I think it stems from my abandonment issues, the uncertainty of being uprooted when I was a wee lad has left a lasting impact on me. I own my cafe and my wee flat above, and nobody can take that from me. This is my safe place.
So now I have a beautiful, little cowgirl living with me who fills me with nerves. I couldn’t stand to see her sitting at that table, looking exhausted and worn out day after day.
It doesn’t take long for us to pull up in my parking spot behind the back of Sweet Treats. My hands shake as I turn off the ignition. I look over at Crystal, and her red hair shines in the setting sun, her rosy red lips turn up into a smile. I hope I can trust her in my space. Sweet Treats means a lot to me, but my wee flat means more. I had a lot of things taken away from me when I was a boy, but this is mine. I cherish it more than anything in the world, and I only let my inner circle up here. So this is a big deal for me. I try not to let it show on my face, I don’t want her to think I’m some psychopath who is protective of their space.
We sit there in silence for what feels like minutes, hours, and I blink away the tingling feeling I have whenever she looks at me with those cat shaped eyes.
“Come on, you must be hungry. I’ve got some pies leftover from today, we can have for dinner.”
I jump out of the car, and grab her suitcase from the trunk of the car. For someone who wasn’t planning on being here long, it sure does weigh a lot.
“Jesus, this thing weighs a tonne. What have you got in here?”
She laughs as she follows me through the back door of the cafe. I leave her suitcase by the stairs to take up to the flat, and I make my way over to the fridge in the kitchen.
“Just my clothes,” she shrugs with a smile.
“Yeah, but you hardly wear any clothes,” I laugh with my back turned to her as I open the fridge and take out two pies to put in the oven.
I turn around with two vegetable pies, and the look on her face sends me into a panic. I instantly regret what I said, I didn’t mean it to come across as if that was a bad thing. She leans against the doorjamb of the backdoor, folding her arms, with her eyebrows raised, waiting for an explanation.
I break out into a cold sweat. “Oh, I didn’t mean it to sound like that. I mean, you look great in the clothes you wear. Not that I’ve been checking you out.” She doesn’t say anything, so I fill the silence. “I’m not one of those misogynistic guys who tells women what they should do. You can wear whatever you like, it’s all about what you feel comfortable in.”
Stop talking, you idiot!
There is another long awkward silence between us, and I’m scared I’ve offended her. She hasn’t even moved in yet, and I’ve already insulted her. A look of amusement spreads across her face, and she smirks at me.
“That was quite the speech.” She pushes off the doorjamb and walks to the stainless island in the middle of my kitchen. She leans her hip against, still eyeing me amusement. I turn on the oven, and put the pies in to heat them up.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean it to come across as a negative thing. You should be able to wear what you like without any judgement.”
“Tell that to my mama,” she says in a sardonic tone.
I find this interesting, another piece of the puzzle to finding out who she is. Crystal may come across as open when it comes to talking about sex or other things, but she seems closed off when it comes to her family. I’ve only ever heard her mention the small town she was from, and even then she was vague. I can tell she doesn’t want to talk about anything family related, and to be honest, neither do I.
“These pies should be warm enough for us to take upstairs, I have some salad in the fridge in my place, we can have it with the pies.”
I see a wave of relief and gratitude wash over her face. I take the pies out of the oven and put them on two plates. I walk over and hand the plates to Crystal, I look down into her moss green eyes, and I badly want to ask her questions about her life, and get to know her on a deeper level, but I know I need to keep this relationship professional.
“I’ll grab your hefty bag,” I smile down at her, keeping the conversation light.
She looks up at me and wrinkles her nose at me, and my eyes gravitate to the freckles that are sprinkled over her nose. Fuck, why do I want to kiss them?
I clear my throat and distract myself from her soft, plump lips.
“We better get upstairs before the pies get cold,” I grab her suitcase.
She follows me up the stairs, and I put her suitcase in her room. We head to the living room, where she puts the plates down on the dining table, and I grab the salad out of the fridge. I join her at the table, and we dig into our meals. Her phone rings on the table, she glances down at her phone and frowns. I try not to peer down at the screen, I don’t want her to think I’m invading her privacy.
“Do you need to get that?” I point my fork towards her phone.
“Nope,” she smiles at me and flips over her phone.
I find this odd, but I don’t want to pry.
She cuts a piece of pie and puts it in her mouth, she closes her eyes and makes a satisfied moan. My stomach dips, and my cock tingles. If she moans like that when tasting my food, I can’t help but think what she’d sound like tasting my cock. Jesus, what is she doing to me? I’ve been so good at keeping the thought of women and anything sexual out of my mind for so long, and as soon as she came rushing through the door of Sweet Treats that day, I’ve not been able to stop thinking about doing dirty things to her.
“Rabbie, I don’t know how you do it. Everything you make tastes amazing.”
I find it hard to accept any praise, purely because I was told I was never good enough most of my childhood. My nan changed that though, she really tried to change the way I think about myself by constantly reminding me how amazing I am.
I swallow the bitterness of the past, and look at Crystal giving me genuine praise, and a little seed of acceptance starts to form.
“Thank you, scones are really my speciality but they’re super easy to make.”
“You guys have scones. We have pumpkin pie.”
“Pumpkin pie? Sounds like it would be good with mash and gravy.”
Crystal chokes on her mouthful of pie and bursts into a fit of laughter, the sound of her laugh is infectious and sweet. I smile at her, confused at what could be so funny.
“Sugar, pumpkin pie isn’t savoury, it’s sweet.”
“You Americans are backwards, pies are savoury and pudding is sweet.” I laugh along with her.
“Now I know it’s a dessert, I don’t know if it sounds so nice.” I scrunch up my nose.
“Hey, don’t knock until you’ve tried it,” she winks at me.
I know what I’d like to try, and it isn’t pumpkin pie.
“What’s so special about it?”
She closes her eyes and smiles before she answers my question, when she opens her eyes her green eyes twinkle.
“It’s so nostalgic in so many ways, it’s my childhood. It’s a crisp fall day. It’s Thanksgiving day and my three older brothers are teasing me. It’s home.”
This is the first glimpse I’ve got of her life in America, and I’m shocked to see her speak fondly of it. A difference from the first day we properly met when she practically bit my head off for mentioning it.
“Sounds like you miss home.”
She leans back in her chair, and looks like she’s thinking about what to say next. “I miss the ranch, and my brothers. The small town, and certain people not so much.”
I don’t understand what her complex is with small towns. She hasn’t really said anything about Crossmackie, but I hope she likes it here.
“You have three older brothers? What was that like growing up?”
I don’t know why I’m so curious about her life, she’s mysterious in so many ways that it’s luring. I’m the one who has to keep reminding myself that this is a business relationship, that I’ve paid her to do a job for me and I should be professional and not complicate things. But damn, she’s so intriguing. It’s like reading a good book, I find myself wanting to know more.
She shifts in her seat and I think maybe she will shut me down or be vague, but then her face lightens and the corners of her lips turn up.
“Yep. God, they were annoying to grow up with. Always giving me noogies, or one of them would pin me to the ground whilst the other two would burp or fart in my face. I love them so much, they’re fiercely loyal and protective of me, I miss them a lot.”
The smile disappears from her face, and she pushes the remaining food around her plate.
“Do you get to see them often?” I ask, pushing her a little more to open up to me.
“Not really, they still live in the small town I’m from in Tennessee. I don’t really go back to visit that much, only for the holidays. And my brothers would never venture further than the town we grew up in. They are as country as they come.”
“What about your parents? They must be sad they don’t get to see you often?”
Her head snaps up from her plate, and the look on her face is a mix between pain and confusion.
“My dad, he’s an angel. But he’s a busy man running the ranch they live on, and I can’t really speak for my mama,” she scoffs.
She stretches and yawns, and I have a feeling this conversation is coming to an end before I can ask her about her mum. She stands and grabs our plates and walks over to the sink to wash them.
“Dinny fash about the plates, I can do them.”
“You’ve been beyond kind to me by letting me stay here, the least I can do is help keep the place tidy.”
I watch her as she washes the dishes, she’s taken her boots off, and I notice she’s wearing the thickest white fluffy socks as she stands on her tippy toes to reach the sink. It’s the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever seen. When I moved in, I raised the kitchen counter tops in the flat and in the cafe kitchen. I’m 6”3 and my back would ache from bending over the low counter tops. I’m startled from my stupor when Edie jumps on my lap and starts purring and pawing at me.
“There’s my wee little girl.” I scratch the sweet spot behind her ear, and she closes her eyes.
“Aww, that’s the spot, my wee precious,” I coo at her.
Crystal turns around with her eyebrows raised, and I realise I was talking to Edie in a baby voice. A wave of embarrassment rushes over me, and I cough to clear my throat to make myself sound more manly. Crystal smirks at me, and eyes Edie with caution. Edie blinks up at her, and I can tell she likes Crystal, usually Edie claws at people or their things when they visit. I take this as a good sign.
“I didn’t know a cat could be so loved.”
“Aye, Edie is my world. She’s been my companion since I moved in here, she’s a wee old lady. She listens to my problems and will never tell a soul.” I smile down at her as she nudges her head in the crease of my elbow.
“People can listen too.”
“People can also hurt you. Edie would never hurt me, apart from the occasional scratch.”
“I suppose you’re right,” Crystal yawns softly again.
“It’s way past my bedtime, and by the looks of it yours too.” I stand, and place Edie on the floor. She scoots off to find a comfy spot to sleep. Crystal and I both head down the hallway towards the bedrooms, we hover outside of our bedroom doors.
There’s that tension between us again, it’s not awkward, but it’s electric, it crackles. It’s filled with anticipation, like you’re balancing on a tightrope, filled with nerves, waiting to fall off into the unknown.
Her feline shaped eyes are blinking up at me, and it feels like aeons have gone by without either one of us saying anything. I break the spell, and step back.
“Night, roomie.” I turn the handle of my bedroom door and step into my room before she can say anything. I lean back against my door and run my hand down my face, mortified with how I just acted.
“Goodnight,” I hear her say through the door.
Usually as soon as my head hits the pillow I’m out like a light, especially when I get up at the crack of dawn to make fresh batches of scones, but tonight I toss and turn. My head filled with thoughts of the cute redhead sleeping across the hall from me. I picture her naked in my bed, with her nestled in close to my chest after we’ve just had mind-blowing sex. I try to control myself, but I can feel myself getting hard by the thought of her. I didn’t take into account that I’m the one who’ll be losing sleep now. I go through the memorised recipes in my head, step by step, until I doze off.