Saved by the Marine

Chapter 5

"I can't believe you two!" I turned and walked into the kitchen. They both follow me with worry written on their faces.

"I'm sorry Doll. Please don't be mad. We just want the best for you. Humor us, just this time. I know you'll love my grandson."

Hands on my hips, I stared angrily at the pair of them.

"Please sweetheart." Burt pleads.

"I thought your grandson was in the military or something. Always off around the world". I attempted to stall from giving them an answer.

"He was a marine, but he's just retired. It's great timing. He's bought a place just outside of town, so no more traveling." Al exclaims with a big Cheshire cat grin.

"Just talk to him and see where it goes. You might be pleasantly surprised. He's quite the handsome chap." I was about to tell Al no when I heard the door chime indicating someone had left or arrived. Burt sticks his head out of the kitchen door to check.

"Too late to say no now, he's here." Burt says, looking back at me with a big toothy smile.

"You are kidding me?!" This is so mortifying.

"Come on. Come say hello."Al says hurriedly, walking past me into the diner.

I peeked around the kitchen door to see Burt and Al greeting the man, both of them taking turns to give him a hug. I could hear Al and Burt's excitement. I can't make out much detail from where I'm stood but what I can see is that this guy is a f*****g giant. He's got to be around 6"5 and is thick with muscle. He's seriously massive. He's wearing blue jeans and a white polo. His biceps are thicker than my thighs! All three of them turned to my direction as I heard Al mention my name. I quickly pulled my head back from around the corner, praying he didn't see me.

"Rose, come out here. I have someone I'd like you to meet." Al calls. I squeezed my eyes shut with my back pressed against the wall, wishing I could evaporate into thin air.

"Rose" Burt practically sang my name. I might as well get this over with. These two are lucky that I love them so much. I took a deep breath and walked out of the kitchen towards the three of them. I try my best not to look at the man mountain and fix my eyes on Al.

"Rose, I'd like you to meet my Grandson. This is Austin."

Reluctantly, I plaster a polite smile on my face and turn my gaze to Austin and I'm speechless. He's absolutely gorgeous! His hair is dirty blonde and he has piercing blue eyes. He's got stubble that wasn't far off being classed as a beard and has a square jaw with a dimpled chin. He smiled, showing me his pearly whites, which caused butterflies to swarm in my stomach. His tanned skin makes the blue of his eyes stand out even more. I don't know if I emphasized it well enough before, but this dude is huge. He's more than a foot taller than my short 5"3 frame. His shoulders are practically as wide as he is tall. He could be a living, breathing Hercules. His top is tight across his pecs and his biceps are constricted by the sleeves. I realized I was just silently staring at him. Come on Rose, say something, but my brain and mouth weren't connecting.

"Hi Rose, it's so good to finally meet you. Pops has told me so much about you." His voice is deep and smooth.

Thankfully, this fixes my ability to talk.

"It's nice to meet you too. So you're the famous grandson that I've heard so much about" To be honest, my mind is so frazzled I can't recall any of it at the moment.

"Hopefully he hasn't muddied my name too much" he says with a laugh, patting Al on the back.

"Al, didn't you want to show me that thing over there by the uhhh..... you know?" wow Burt, smooth. This is so awkward.

"Oh yeah the thing. If you don't mind, we've both just got to go fix this gadget. We'll be right back." I watched as they both walked towards the kitchen.

Since it's late morning, breakfast has pretty much finished, so there probably won't be many more customers until lunchtime. It's just me and Austin in the diner watching the old meddlers walk away. I finally turned back to this giant s*x god in front of me.

"Soooo... Can I get you a coffee?" I turned and walked toward the counter before he could respond.

"Sure, that'd be great, thanks." he says whilst taking a seat.

"Any cream, or sugar?" I inquired.

"No, thank you, just as it is." I passed him his coffee. This little set up Burt and Al has put me in is such an uncomfortable one. This guy is so f*****g good looking that it's made my mouth go dry.

"Al thinks really highly of you. He talks about you every time we have a catch up on the phone, He said you were a beauty, but he didn't do you justice." he smiled, and now I'm blushing like an i***t.

"Oh really, thanks." I mumbled out.

"Al say's that you've just retired and bought a home here." I thought to myself that he seemed a bit young to be retiring. He must only be in his early 30s.

"Yeah, that's right." he beamed. "I served as a marine and felt that it was about time for me to settle down in one spot. You can't do a job like that forever. I'm going to start a carpentry business. I've always been quite good with my hands." I bet you are. Jesus, my mind is well and truly in the gutter. I need to focus. I don't want a relationship. Especially when I'm still tormented by the ghosts of my ex.

"Al also tells me that you have a little girl."

"That's right. Sienna, although she's usually called Cici for short." I turned to grab her photo that I had pinned to the wall and pass it to him.

"She's a pretty little thing. Must get her good looks from her mother."

"Thank you." I said, taking the photo from him and putting it back on the wall.

"I wonder if I can get your number. I'm about to pick up the keys to my new place and I'm in desperate need of some help decorating it and making it feel homely. Al said that you might be able to help since you're good at that kind of thing."

"Umm, yeah sure." I said whilst grabbing a piece of paper and pen to write my number down. I hand him the paper which he takes and puts in his pocket.

"You're a lifesaver. I'm rubbish at that kind of thing. I better get going. I wouldn't want to distract you from your work any longer, I know what a tyrant my Pops can be." He says as he winks with a smile, causing me to giggle. I know those two have been listening to mine and Austin's conversation from the kitchen because I heard Al scoff at hearing Austin's tyrant remark. He throws back the remainder of his coffee as he stands, leaving some cash on the counter for payment.

"It was an absolute pleasure meeting you, Rose, and thanks again for agreeing to help me. I'll give you a call soon?"

"Yeah, of course." I said with a smile.

"See ya Pops. See ya Burt." He calls out. With that, he makes his way to the door, giving me another smile before walking through it

.

Time to deal with the gray weasels in the kitchen.