A Thief in the Night

5 | Rescued

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"I know I'm always in my head. Some things, they must be said. Hurts me when I think about it"

~ Outside (Nobody is Listening)

GRACE

James opened the door on the second knock, wearing a fitting navy shirt and black jeans. His hair was oddly neat in all of its curliness. My fingers itched to run my fingers through the curls, but that would be harassment. So, I kept my hands to myself and offered him a greeting smile.

"Hey."

He smiled, too. "Hey, come on in."

I walked in, my eyes wandering around the room. I heard him close the door behind me, so I turned to face him. Out of habit, I brought him into a hug.

It was only a quick hug, but it lasted long enough to make it awkward as his hands remained at his sides. I pulled away, meeting his eyes apologetically. "Sorry, I'm a hugger."

He shook his head as if attempting to clear it. "No, it's fine. You just took me by surprise." He opened his arms wider, his eyes softening "come here."

I think I felt my heart stutter hearing those soft words. I cleared my throat and walked into his arms. As soon as we touched, he wrapped his arms around me and gave me a long squeeze. "Thank you for rescuing me last night."

I was too busy relishing in his scent when I noticed he was talking to me. He smelled of musk and cedarwood; I loved both scents not to notice. They were magnets on men, at least, to me. But before I could go as low as sniffing him, I tore myself out of his arms without being too obvious. "You already thanked me, you know?" I cleared my throat again, trying to clear the sudden raspiness.

He only looked weary for a split second. "I don't think I can thank you enough. You rescued me when no one else would."

"You got me dinner, so I'd say you've thanked me more than enough," I smiled, ignoring the warmth that was attempting to infiltrate my chest.

He chuckled. "We can agree to disagree. Come on, you should sit. You must be tired."

"It takes a while to set in, so I actually have energy if you need help setting up dinner," I offered as he led me through the penthouse entrance.

"Absolutely not," he said, then pointed to the living room. "Go sit."

His feigned seriousness made me laugh. The sofas did look awfully comfortable. "What if I fall asleep though?"

He shrugged. "Then you fall asleep. Not like you don't deserve it."

The care in his voice took me aback. I considered him for a second before nodding. "Okay, fine. Can I have water?"

At that, he smiled. "Of course. I'll be right out."

I watched him walk into the kitchen, then turned around and made my way to the three-seater sofa. I want to call it a couch, but it was too fancy and pricey to be just a couch. So it has to be a sofa. At least, I think that's how that works.

I almost laughed at myself as I sat down. A soft groan escaped me as a dull yet sweet pain surged through my muscles, especially in my lower back.

"How was work?"

My eyes flashed open at the sound of his voice. He stood there with a glass of water, which he was gesturing to me. I sat up, grunting at my lower back, then took the glass of water.