His Barista - Soap MacTavish Coffee Shop AU

4

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Chapter Four
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Johnny was undoubtedly a well built man. He was constantly wearing tight t-shirt's that strained against his muscles and Elsie was becoming aware of just how big he was compared to her. She unintentionally watched his bicep's flex whenever he picked up mugs to walk them over to people's tables, not even realising how much she was staring until a searing pain shot into her hand as it held a beaker.

She'd been heating up some milk for the next line of coffee's but now half of it was spilt on the bench, escaping the metallic cup when she slammed it down and seethed at her burnt hand.

Johnny had turned just in time to see it all unfold in front of him, quickening his walking pace back to the counter to make sure she was okay.

"Shit." He heard her mumble through gritted teeth, cradling her hand in the other.

He was quick in thinking how to handle the situation.

"Come here," He laid his hand on her back and guided her to the back room where the sinks were. "Give me your hand."

She didn't hesitate, letting Johnny carefully take her hand into his big one, the other turning the tap on cold before he brought the burn under the water to soothe it.

She winced at first, the pressure of the water causing her discomfort before it really started to help. And then she felt Johnny's thumb rubbing her palm, a small gesture he did to give her some comfort from the pain, but it only made her cheeks turn a shade of crimson.

Her delicate hand resting in his made the unfamiliar feeling rise in Johnny's stomach again, his finger feeling as if it was on fire as he stroked it against the inside of her palm. He tried to shake the feeling away, annoyed with himself for feeling this way about Elsie when he'd only known her for a short amount of time.

"Thank you. I was daydreaming, I should've been paying attention. Stupid of me." She scolded herself, more for the reason of why she got distracted and not for getting hurt.

Johnny chuckled.

"It was an accident, don't put yourself down too hard. You've been swamped all day, if it was me I would've burnt myself a hundred times by now." He looked up from their hands and saw she was already looking at him. He smiled.

Elsie returned the smile, grateful for his words. He really did always know what to say to make her feel better and his overall presence today put her in a better mood than she would've been if he hadn't of stayed.

They only had an hour to go before Elsie could shoo away the remaining customers and close up for the day, something she was looking forward to but also dreaded, not wanting to leave Johnny just yet.

"Thanks for helping out today, Johnny. It really means a lot," She began, her eyes fixated on their hands again. "I like having you around."

Johnny smirked, eyes snapping up to her head, but she didn't take her eyes off where she stared. He liked hearing that she enjoyed his company, god knows he loved being around her too. Something about her drew him in whether he wanted to believe it or not, but he often found himself mentally slapping himself to try and rid those strange butterflies he felt whenever he thought of her.