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The cold water is a startling feeling against Aurelie's skin as she tries to overcome her sudden scare from the attractive farmhand named Luke, whose smile and dimples were too pretty to be real.
She kicks her legs to swim up towards the surface but her skirt tangles around her legs, making it hard to do so.
Her next scare is the sudden feeling of arms wrapping around her waist and a broad chest against her back as she is dragged to the surface quickly.
With a loud gasp of breath when they break through the surface of the water, Aurelie swiftly turns in Luke's arms and gives him an intense glare, her hands flinging up to push back her hair from her eyes and splashing them both in the face.
"Are you crazy?" She snaps, ignoring how adorable his nose is and how it's littered with freckles and how he was biting his lip to hold back his laugh.
Wow, his eyes are beautiful. Crystal blue like two bright sapphires.
"Me? Maybe, but I'm not the one standing at the very edge of the pier in the middle of nowhere, Miss. Stone! And, that is certainly not the way to speak to the man who just saved you," His eyes twinkle as she fights the urge to scream.
"I wouldn't need saving if you hadn't scared me!" She exclaims as she finally notices how close she is to him, their chests right up against one another, and his strong arms still wrapped around her waist as his legs kicked steadily to keep them treading water. Placing her shaky hands against his chest, she pushes off him and clumsily grasps for the edge of the pier.
Seeing her try to pull herself up, she jolts when his arms now rest against her legs and he helps push her up. "I'm just helping you," he mutters, seeing her expression, and she relaxes, pulling herself back up with his help.
Plopping her bum down on the pier and with her chest heaving from the sudden exertion, she watches with weary eyes as he easily pulls himself up, his biceps bulging, and he sits beside her as well to catch his breath.
"I have certainly enjoyed meeting you, Miss. Stone," he laughs musically as she huffs, wringing our her wet skirt and hair.
"Oh, yes. It's certainly been a pleasure, Mr. Hemmings," her voice is riddled with sarcasm, knowing she sounds like a brat, but too damp and cold to care at the moment.
He lets out a hum, staring at her face with an odd look in his eyes, before she looks over at him with a sigh.
"I'm sorry. I'm acting like a full blown brat. Thank you for saving me," he begins to grin before she throws a hand up. "Even though you're the one who caused this whole predicament in the first place!" She quickly adds before he can get too cocky.
"I accept your apology," he smiles softly, running a hand through his wet hair that was slowly drying to blonde ringlets. "Even though it was half assed at best."
She gapes up at him like a fish out of water and he lets out a loud laugh, slapping himself in the knee in amusement. "Don't worry. We will work on it." He continues to simper, standing up and offering a hand down to her. His entire body dripped wetly onto the pier, causing a puddle to slowly appear as she groans playfully, taking his hand and allowing him to help her up.
"Come on now. It's getting too cold for a little lady like yourself. Plus, you've gotten yourself all soaking wet somehow," he mutters with a playful tone, placing a hand on the small of her back and pushing her forward slight. She flushes at the contact and scurries forward a bit to get away from his touch that sends butterflies through her stomach.
God, Aurelie, she screams internally, have a little self control.
The walk back to her cottage is a quiet one, only filled with the sounds of twigs snapping under their feet and Aurelie blushes once again as he grabs her hand to help her across the slippery, mossy stone in the creek so she didn't fall.
Entering her yard, she is surprised as he immediately heads over to the large pile of wood he spent all morning chopping and starts picking up a few pieces.
Looking up and noticing her standing there gawking at him, he smiles and makes a motion towards the house. "Go on inside and dry up, Miss. Stone. I'll make you a nice fire so you're warm. Don't worry." With a few long blinks at him, Aurelie decides she's too cold and wet to argue and trudges into the cottage.
But, just before she enters, she peers back just to get a glimpse of him bending over the pile of wood.
Nice ass.
She actually facepalms at that thought and before he can turn around, she slams the door behind her so he doesn't catch her being a perverted, peeping Tom.
Entering her bedroom, she takes her time to dry off and change clothes and when she emerges back out, she sees the roaring fire cracking in the hearth.
She hums happily, leaning over to warm her fingertips when she sees a note on her kitchen table and she picks it up to see the endearing, boyish handwriting.
Have a good night, Miss. Stone. Try and stay out of trouble, okay? Sweet dreams.
-Luke
Maybe this attractive farmhand isn't as bad as she thought.
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Waking up the next morning, Aurelie lets out a loud groan of disapproval. She had to interact with several humans today with going to the bakery and having a shift at work.
Somehow unraveling herself from many layers of blankets and two fluffy, sleepy cats, she frowns as she reaches up to stretch her tired limbs and blinks her puffy eyes.
Tiredly smacking her lips, she picks up her glasses from her bedside table and places them on her face, the room now becoming crystal clear. With sluggish legs, she makes her way to the bathroom before she suddenly stops, letting out a loud sneeze followed by multiple smaller ones.
She groans loudly, now feeling the effects of her sore throat, stuffy nose, and she notices the aura and prism starting in her vision, a migraine on it warpath.
"Nope. Can't do it," she begrudgingly says, picking up her phone. With shaky fingers, she dials her manager's number and feels a pang of guilt in her stomach. She hated calling in sick, so much so that this was only the second time she called in in over a year of working there. She would feel even more guilty if she got anyone else sick as well though.
After sadly explaining her symptoms to her manager, she is granted the day off and she hangs up the phone. Flopping backwards onto the bed, she lets out a loud sigh as she squeezes her eyes shut, feeling the pounding already settling in her temples.
Knowing she was out of medicine, she rolls out of bed again and starts to slowly gather some clothes for the day. With no patience for her contacts and makeup, she pulls on a pretty, pleated, pink skirt that stopped around mid-shin and a soft, cotton, pink sweater to keep her warm. She, then, pulls on a pair of brown loafers and places her blonde hair into a high ponytail to complete the look.
Grabbing her bag, she totes it on her shoulder and walks out of the house, locking the door behind her. Walking over to the side of the cottage, she grabs her bicycle and climbs on. The village was only a short ride down Primrose Path, a right turn down Lily Valley Road, and then a sharp left onto Lakeshore Lane.
She had the stones and trees memorized, the romantic carving of "Trenton loves Carla" on one of the trunks always making her smile and daydream that love was actually real. She always enjoyed her ride to the village even though she didn't really like the people in it.
Peddling her way across the cobblestone streets, she decides to get the bread flour as well and finally parks in front of the small bakery fondly named "Snickerdoodles."
Climbing off her bike, she grabs her bag from the wicker basket attacked to the handlebars and enters the shoppe. With a quiet ding, the workers are notified of her presence and Aurelie looks around for the familiar face of Mary-Beth, the owner.
Frowning when she doesn't see her smiling face, she sees a worker squatted down in front of the cupcakes. "Excuse me? Is Mary-Beth here today?"
What she didn't expect was to come face to face with Luke Hemmings, beautiful farmhand by day and bakery worker by night.
"Sorry, Miss. Stone. Mary-Beth is off today so she asked me to fill in. Is there anything I can help you with?" He asks with a small grin, loving the way she was staring at him like he had three heads. Her expressions always made him laugh.
"What on God's green earth are you doing here?" She can't help it as the question pours out of her mouth and he lets out a loud cackle of a laugh, shaking his head at her.
"Mary-Beth is my aunt and I used to work here during my high school years. She knows I live close by so when she had an emergency, she called me. Don't look so disappointed to see me, Miss. Stone," he continues to chuckle as he walks behind the counter, placing a new fresh batch of giant chocolate chunk, cherry cookies out for display.
Before she can respond, her sick body does for her with several loud sneezes escaping. Luke nearly drops his tray of cookies as he stares at her wide eyed.
"Are you sick?" He mumbles in a shocked whisper as Aurelie absentmindedly runs her nose.
"I think so," she says, a nasally tone to her normally upbeat voice. "I had to call into work. I've got a migraine from Satan himself."
"Did I get you sick?" He looks horribly guilty, eyed saddened as he places the tray down and Aurelie can hardly swallow the lump in her throat at the sight of his puppy dog eyes.
"No, no, don't blame yourself," she shakes her head as he frowns harder.
"I'm blaming myself." He deadpans.
"Well, don't. It's not your fault that I'm horribly clumsy and decided to stand at the end of the pier." She tries to make him feel better.
"Well, I'm the one who scared you and made you fall, so technically, I am the one who got you sick." He throws his hands up exasperatedly.
"Luke?"
"Mhmm?"
"Shut up."
"Alright."
They stare at each other blankly for a moment before they both crack up in laughter, hers a bit softer because of her headache.
"Now that that is settled. I need some of Mrs. Lillian's bread flour. Probably ten pounds worth. Mary-Beth doesn't normally let people buy it, but she keeps a special stock for me. The prices are in her drawer."
He lets out a long whistle at this, placing his hands on the counter. "Already having me break the rules. That's a big request, Miss. Stone, but I'll do it for you." He winks, placing his pen behind his ear and waltzing away towards the back pantry. Aurelie is happy about that because he can't see her blazing cheeks at his flirty wink.
It could also be a fever settling in but who really knows the truth.
It's not long before he is effortlessly carrying a large flour sack back towards the front counter, a brilliant smile on his lips. "Ten pounds of Mrs. Lillian's special bread flour. That'll be," he pauses typing in the numbers and taking a few glances at the paper in the till. "Four dollars and sixty-one cents, Miss. Stone."
She digs out her wallet and hands him the cash, letting out a hacking cough as she waits on it to process.
"All jokes aside, you don't look so good," Luke mutters worriedly, handing her a written receipt with furrowed brows.
"Don't worry about me, Mr. Hemmings. I'll survive." She cracks a joke despite the tension behind her eyes and she walks out of the small bakery, fighting the urge to glance back at the handsome lad.
"Oh, no," she groans as she realizes a summer rain shower had snuck in, the blue sky now covered in grey clouds. Trying to shield herself, she runs towards her bike and climbs on.
Peddling fast, she normally would bask in the rain, letting it soak her dress and hair with a carefree laugh, but she was sick and there was no time.
It's not even a few moments before she's down the dirt road known as Primrose Path and she slides into her yard with a hard stop. Grabbing her bag and flour, she sprints inside and slams the door behind her with a shiver.
It's not long after she places all her things on the counter does she groans in frustration as her headache worsens.
She forgot her medicine.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid," she smacks herself in the forehead before wincing in pain at her action. Yes, stupid was the right word.
Turning around, she gazes our the window and sighs as a rumble of thunder shakes her tiny cottage. Her climbing roses are being positively pelted with rain droplets, causing pink petals to cascade down and cover the ground along the garden walls.
There's no use now, she thinks to herself, biting her lip harshly before swiftly turning and pulling off her soaked sweater. She tosses it to the floor with a wet plop and she continues down the hall, unclasping her bra and tossing the rest of her clothes behind her before entering her bathroom.
Perks of living by yourself.
Turning on the shower to almost scalding, she climbs inside and feels her tense muscles relax under the hot water.
An hour later, she is curled up on her bed with a good book, a cup of honey chamomile tea, warm pajamas, and fuzzy pink socks. Her blonde hair is in a messy bun and she sighs as the words on the page start to blur from her horrible migraine.
Just as she is about to close her book and take an afternoon nap, her doorbell chime musically through her house.
With furrowed brows, she cautiously stands, looking out her bedroom window to see it's still storming outside. Who would be here at a time like this?
Making her way to the door, she slowly opens it and is shocked as she sees a soaking wet Luke Hemmings with a sheepish grin and a basket full of random things.
"Are you crazy?" The words that tumble out of her mouth are becoming the new normal when she's around him.
"Maybe," he shrugs, pushing back his damp curls, his white cotton shirt clinging to him like a second skin and leaving no mystery for Aurelie. He was certainly a beautiful man.
"I brought you medicine-" he holds up and shakes the bottle of cold and flu syrup. "-and soup supplies. Can I come in? I promise I won't kill you. It's the least I can do for making you sick."
"You know you're probably going to get sick too, right?" She asks, ushering him in and ignoring how her body turns hot as he licks a rain droplet off his top lip.
"I have a strong immune system," he says with a careless shrug, making his way towards the kitchen like he belonged there. "Plus, what's the worse that can happen? A little sniffle won't stop me."
"But, I'll feel awful if you get sick too!" She says, handing him a towel to dry his hair as he finds a pot surprisingly easily and turns on the stove.
"Aurelie?"
"Mhmm?"
"Shut up."
"Alright."
And, they laugh.