Why Choose? Have Them Both

Date

2

The day Sarah awoke feeling groggy and grumpy. She had spent more time than she should have wondering why Damien had left. All throughout last night, while putting all the food and supplies away, her thoughts flitted between swooning over how gorgeous he was and wondering why he had left so suddenly. By the time she had cooked some food and finished it in record time, she was exhausted and confused about what had happened to make him leave so suddenly.

Sarah groaned as she climbed out of bed and ran to take a shower. She managed to figure out how to get the shower to sprinkle down and took her time in the hot water. When she finished, she dressed in some shorts, a fitted jumper and trainers and went downstairs for coffee and breakfast.

She prepared the coffee machine and let it warm up whilst she opened the fridge for breakfast inspiration. She moved on to the cupboards and still could not find something she fancied. She smiled, thinking about how Jessie teased her for her indecisiveness back home. She hadn’t been gone long enough to miss Jessie yet, but she knew it was coming. Having decided to return to the fridge for a second look, she heard a knock at the door. She headed that way and checked the clock - 11:04am. She must have slept in, but considering her long journey here she wasn’t surprised.

Opening the door, she was not surprised to see Damien. What did surprise her were the wildflowers he held out to her. “Hi,’ he said and handed her the flowers. “Sorry for leaving suddenly last night, I didn’t realise how late it was.” Sarah smiled and took the flowers, smelling them. Flattered by his gesture, she said “That’s OK. I was tired too, and pretty hungry,” as she spoke, her stomach rumbled. Damien laughed at the rumble. “Let me make it up to you with breakfast. My lodge isn’t far if you’d like to join me?”

Sarah thought about it, thinking it was closer to lunchtime than breakfast really. Before she could agree, Damiens said “Please? I would like to make it up to you. I feel awful for deserting you and just when our conversation was getting fun,” he smiled with that twinkle again.

Sarah completely melted, smiled and nodded in agreement. “Let me grab my phone and keys, and I'll be right back.” She found her things on the dining table and stuffed them into a small bag that she placed over her head and shoulder. She then found a glass, filled it with water and placed the flowers in it and returned to the front door. Damien stepped back from the door to let her pass, and closed it behind her.

The air was warm and sweet outside and Damien led her out of the garden and to the left onto a path through the woods that she didn’t notice yesterday.

“Did I wake you, working in the garden this morning?” he asked as he loped down the wooded path.

“You were at the cottage this morning?” Said Sarah, surprised that she hadn’t heard anything.

“Mmmhmm, I was just finishing up with some upkeep. The weeds at the side of the cottage get really out of hand this time of the year,” he replied, looking down at her with those big blue eyes.

Sarah realised how closely they were walking together, feeling her body heat up under his gaze. He was tall, and she had to raise her head to look up at him.

“I didn’t hear a thing,” she said, with a slightly breathy voice. She could feel her heart beating in her chest, but was surprised that she felt more excited than nervous to be this close to him. She took a breath and smelled a rich, woody scent, with hints of leather and spice. It was the most amazing smell she had ever experienced, and it was HIM. She began to feel a pleasant flush throughout her body, primarily from her core beneath her abdomen. What was this guy doing to her? She wondered but was enjoying it too much to resist.

Her eyes found Damien's arms again, and she mentally bit her fist in her mouth and looked away. Never before had she reacted like this to anyone, let alone someone she barely knew. She heard what sounded like a deep, quiet growl from Damien and heat flooded her body. She snapped her head up to see his face. Just as her eyes reached his again, her foot caught, and she tumbled forward. She barely had time to gasp as she fell, the ground rushing up towards her. She closed her eyes for the impact, but it never came. Opening her eyes, she realised an arm was placed across her, just beneath her collarbone. His hand gripped her shoulder and, despite the barrier of her jumper between their skin, fire exploded from where his arm was, and tingled throughout her body. She sucked in a breath, her heart thundering. Looking to her side, she could see that Damien had leaned forward, stretched out his long, muscled arm and caught her before she hit the ground. He was on his knees, arm stretched out, when he suddenly rolled her over, like she was nothing. Sarah's only thought was how strong he must be, and how small it made her feel and how absolutely HOT it was. Now his arm was behind her as he looked at her face and said “Are you alright?”, concern etched on his.

It took Sarah a moment to reorient herself. As she did so, Damien took her to her feet but kept his arm around her, draping its weight across her shoulders. His eyes locked with hers, and they were so blue, and big and dark. “Sarah?” he asked, his voice raspy and low.

“I’m OK, thank you”. She couldn’t stop looking into his eyes. She turned toward him, and placed her hand on his chest. His heart beat was fast, and his body was much, much warmer than she expected it to be. The electricity that ran from their point of contact was exhilarating. Damien's breath seemed to catch, and she looked at his soft pink lips. Sarah licked her own, wanting nothing more than to press them against his.

Damien dropped his arm from her shoulders and stepped back, and began making his way along the path. “I’m glad you’re not hurt,” he said as he motioned for her to follow.

Confused, and a bit disappointed, Sarah, carefully, made her way down the path, where it rounded some trees and opened up to a clearing and the lodge.

It was of a modest size, especially compared to the cottage, but still much bigger than Sarah’s studio back home. As they approached, Damien picked his key from his pocket and opened the door and gestured for Sarah to go in first.

It was bigger than she had first thought, and had a cozy, lived-in feel about the place. The layout was almost identical to the cottage except there was no upstairs.

“Kitchen is on the left,” said Damien as he shut the door and Sarah stepped into it.

A dining table was in the middle of the kitchen, draped in books and tools at one end. Damien strode past her to the hob and that was when Sarah realised the place smelled of bacon, eggs and tomatoes.

He clicked the hob on and placed a pan over it. “I cooked the sausages and bacon earlier, but they will need heating up,” he said. After that, he went to the cupboards and took out two plates and some cutlery and gestured for Sarah to sit down. She took the seat nearest to her, not sure if she should offer to help or not.

Damien placed everything on the table and asked if she would like a drink. “I would love a coffee,’ she said, realising she hadn’t had a chance to have one yet.

“I have tea, water, milk or juice” was Damien's reply. “Coffee is for heathens” he joked, winking at her.

“You don’t like coffee?! How do you get through the day without it?” Sarah exclaimed, shocked to find someone who didn’t like the juice of life. Damien chuckled and replied, “As I said, it's for heathens, and I am a good boy”. A wicked look on his face told Sarah everything she needed to know about his being a ‘good boy’. Her heart rate jumped up again at the thoughts his words inspired.

Thinking about how he had spoiled the mood twice now, Sarah replied “More like a wicked boy”, an amused look on her face.

Damien raised his eyebrow at her, as if to say he understood what she meant, but returned his attention to the food.

Once he had sufficiently heated everything up, he brought the food to their plates and dished out a large breakfast for Sarah and an absolutely ginormous one for himself.

Sarah's eyes grew at his serving, thinking he’d never be able to finish that, surely?

“Bon appétit,” was all Damien said, and proceeded to tuck into his food with almost single-minded focus. Sarah mentally shrugged and began to eat her food, happy that they weren’t expecting each other to chat during their meal.

Once they had finished their food and drink, both rather full and satisfied, Damien leaned back, pushing his chair from the table for some room and, rather happily, said “Did you enjoy it? Hopefully it was good enough to be forgiven for my sudden exit yesterday?” with a hopeful grin on his face. Sarah took her hand to her face and flicked her eyes to the ceiling, feigning to think it through and said “All forgiven for last night, but perhaps not for what happened outside.” She looked him in the eye, a playful challenge, pretending to be a little stern. For a moment, Damien looked confused, but it must have quickly dawned that Sarah was referring to the moment they shared after he prevented her fall. A sly grin crept across his face. “As I said earlier…good boy” he repeated, almost preening his upper body playfully.

“Well, if you're playing the good boy, then perhaps I should play the bad girl,” replied Sarah as she rose from her chair and stalked towards him.