Winning Her Rival's Heart

Chapter Three: Desperate

Thanks to Jenn and to Liliane Grouse for their editing suggestions. Thanks to Days and to CM for pre-reading <3 And thanks to sakshi16 for the banner/cover on the side <333 If you need a book cover, please ask her.

               ____________________________________________ 

Chapter Three: Desperate

Abby hurried through the door of Kale & Wells at five past nine on Monday morning. She booted up her computer while noting that even Justin had arrived at work before her. She'd overslept after spending the majority of the night tossing and turning. She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt so stressed out. Never, she decided. She'd never felt this stressed before.

The rental properties she'd looked at on Saturday had been the worst of the bunch so far. Bad neighbourhoods, broken fences, barking dogs and crazy neighbours had been just the tip of the iceberg. Moreover, house prices were on the up, which meant more people were being forced to rent. Subsequently, owners felt entitled to jack up the amount of rent money they charged. If she could actually find somewhere acceptable to live, she'd struggle to pay the full share by herself.

It had been nine years since her life had been this unstable and unpredictable – nine years since she'd left Tasmania and her troubled mother behind. And it had been even longer since she'd had people she felt she could lean on and share her troubles with. Since she was eighteen she'd relied on and trusted only herself. Now life was unstable once more and she had no one to blame but herself. She had no one to turn to for help, either. No one.

For the first time in a very long time, the fact that she was well and truly alone bothered her. Loneliness had always hovered on the outer edges of her world, but she hadn't paid it any heed until now. Yesterday the feeling of loneliness had been so strong it had made her heart ache. She suspected she was ready to reach out and connect with people again – to build friendships – but she wasn't sure where to start.

And what was she supposed to do about the fact that she needed a friend now? Abby needed someone to care about the issue of her being forced out of her home. She needed advice. She needed someone to tell her she wasn't going to be homeless.

Automatically, her eyes drifted over to where Justin sat frowning at his computer. Sure, he'd told her that she could check out his place if she was desperate, but he'd only said it to be polite. The thought of revealing how desperate she was to Justin D'Marco was...unfathomable. Unfortunately she wasn't sure she had any other choice. Even if he thought her utterly pathetic, he might be able to point her in the direction of someone who needed a housemate. Or he might offer againto show her his place.

On Friday the idea of living with Justin had been unthinkable. But now...Now she was so desperate that she was actually considering it.

He looked up suddenly and caught her staring. She'd hoped that once they were back in the office, she would return to seeing him as her competition, but as his sky-blue eyes caught and held hers, she felt her heart rate double and her face flush. Crap. Blushing because Justin D'Marco looked at her was not a good way to start the day. He was her rival – and a rival she might need a favour from. She did not need to complicate her life anymore by developing some stupid crush on him.

She tore her gaze away from his, put down the pen she'd been holding, and picked up the clean mug she kept on her desk before heading for the kitchen.

She was just pouring herself a coffee when she heard someone walk in behind her. The sweet and spicy scent of Justin's aftershave greeted her before he did.

"Gillis."

She turned around to see him at the sink, filling a water bottle with filtered water.

"D'Marco," she returned.