One Special Love (One Night Only Book 2)

by Abby Gale

  The ding of the coffee machine brings me back to the present, I grab two mugs from the cabinet and head toward the fridge. I come to a stop when I see the letters on the fridge door. I used to play with them when I was a kid but didn’t even notice them ‘til now… until they were put in order to create a message: Good morning…

  I turned back to the living room to see if Acacia had woken up, but she was still asleep after a restless night. I checked the fire; it’s still crackling with the fresh logs I brought in early this morning. I stopped myself from reaching for her to check her temperature or move the hair that fell from her forehead. Instead, I keep walking.

  The same message haunts me when I re-enter the kitchen.

  Who wrote this?

  I caress the letters with my fingers before rearranging and scattering them back all over the fridge. When I turned back to the living room one last time, Acacia wakes up. But she shrieks when she sees me enter the room, trying to mask her fear with eagerness.

  “Is that coffee?” she asks.

  I don’t speak - I can’t, I just nod. My mind is all over the place; my reaction to her, feeling like I’m cheating on April in a way, and finally the message on the fridge haunts me.

  Handing her the mug I say, “How are you feeling?”

  “I’m okay. Thank you,” she smiles, but her scream fills the house the moment my dog Casper flies into the room. I must have left open the back door, again.

  She spills all of the coffee on her, but she is so scared she tries to wrap herself up in her blanket again, not even minding being burned by the hot coffee. I grab Casper and gently push him toward the door again.

  “Acacia, shh… he left,” I try to calm her, but she’s shaking like a leaf.

  “The back door can’t be locked properly. I must have left it open. Sorry,” I murmured as she starts to cry.

  “It’s not the dog. I’m sorry. He must have been scared by my reaction. It’s just the sudden movement… after last night,” she sobs again. “I better leave,” she blurts out, standing to her feet like she is in a rush.

  “No, you can stay ‘til you feel better.”

  “Thank you, but I need to go. I need to be in the bar anyway,” she protested.

  “At least let me give you a t-shirt to wear. You’re soaked. Are you hurt?”

  “No. It’s only my t-shirt. It didn’t burn,” she murmurs, trying to smooth her hair. She looks too jumpy and even though I don’t want to care; I feel angry towards the cocksucker who made her feel like this. I don’t want to think what could have happened to her if I didn’t turn up last night - that thought runs through my mind again.

  Taking a deep breath, I take a step closer to her and carefully reach out my hands and place them gently on her shoulders. “Acacia… relax. It’s okay to be scared. No one expects you to act nonchalant after what you experienced last night.” nodding at me barely.

  I sigh, half relieved, half worried, but tell her calmly, “You can’t go back to the bar like this Acacia, you’re in no fit state.”

  “I have to go, Ashton, I got a newbie, I need to train her and... I need to be busy. I won’t let that piece of shit ruin me. I need to work.”

  Sighing aloud, I nod. “Okay. At least let me give you a tee to wear.” I turn from her and make my way to my bedroom, closing the door behind me quietly, I place my forehead on the cold wood, taking a few minutes to myself to get my head on straight. This girl is doing something to me, pulling me in a direction I don’t want to venture into.

  ~*~

  My t-shirt is falling off of her one shoulder and does nothing to hide her bright blue bra, doing nothing to help me avert my gaze from her perfect bare skin. I should have chosen another color than white, now she’ll think I did that on purpose. I turn my eyes away from her and only look back at her once she’s put her leather jacket on.

  “Are you ready?”

  “Yeah, I can go myself if you’re busy,” she says.

  I look at her ridiculous. “By yourself? On the mountain road? It’s too dangerous and not in the right state of mind to drive along there.”

  Laughing sarcastically, she says, “Right. You’d think I’d learnt my lesson.”

  “It wasn’t your fault.”

  “I shouldn’t have been walking in that alley, Ashton. Of all the stupid things to do!”

  I frown slightly at the way she berates herself like that makes me feel like I should do something, say something to soothe her, so she knows it’s not her fault. I step closer to her, I feel an urge to hug her when she says my name with such vulnerability. I don’t know why, this girl is slowly edging her way into my head, but something stops me from doing what I feel. At the moment, I know that feeling is guilt and betrayal - for April.

  I watch her fingers wipe away the stray tear that is on the cusp of falling, the urge to wipe it away myself is there, but I stop myself by clenching my fist at my side.

  “And that asshole shouldn’t have done what he did. You’re free to walk wherever you want. Animals like that shouldn’t take away your freedom.” She looks down at the floor, avoiding my gaze.

  Fuck it, I can’t stop something that feels so natural.

  I place my hands back on her shoulders and pull her into me gently. She rests her cheek against my chest awkwardly, but she loosens and leans into me with a sigh. Acacia places her hands just above my hips, so I wrap her in with one arm. She finds comfort in me as I try to be some kind of comfort to her, but that fact made me uncomfortable. I remove my hands from her and go out to start my truck. I hear her faint steps just behind me.

  ~*~

  “Where is the Audi?” she asks.

  “At the mechanic in the city. It doesn’t fit here, anyway.”

  “Well, I like this one better if you ask me, but I still need to pay for the damage I caused.” She jumps into the passenger seat as I get into the driver seat.

  “Just leave it. I don’t want you to pay for it - I’ve got it covered!” I answer sharply. She drops her eyes from mine and turns to look out of the window.

  Shit, I didn’t mean to answer like that, but I don’t want her money.

  “No more talking about the money, okay?” She looks my way cautiously and nods.

  I need to control my temper more, but I’m unsure how to so I keep driving in silence. The rain starts again, tapping the car with a soft thud, I clear my mind so I can focus on the road.

  “So, Ashton, what’s your story?” Acacia asks out of the blue, breaking the awkward silence.

  “Huh?” I look at her from the corner of my eye, “What do you mean?”

  “You’re new here, living in the mountains all by yourself. You must have run away from something, or someone?” she asks curiously.

  “People.”

  It’s her turn to be confused now, “Huh?” she asks. A cute little ‘v’ forms between her eyes.

  “I ran away from people,” I say, giving her a quick sideways glance.

  “I don’t think you did a very good job of it.”

  “I was doing just fine ‘til I met you,” I say and can’t help the smile forming on my face, causing her to laugh.

  Hearing her laugh is like music to my ears, something else to ring out in my mind about her. I watch as the smile lights her whole face and makes her eyes sparkle, she is breathtakingly beautiful.

  Fuck, what’s wrong with me? How can I think like that about someone after April?!

  April… for the first time since I lost her, I haven’t thought about her in hours.

  Silence falls on us after our laughter dies down, in creeps my foul mood again. Acacia places her forehead to the window and watches outside.

  “Fuck!” I let out under my breath.

  “What? What happened?”

  “The road is blocked, seems like a tree has fallen down. We need to go back until it’s cleared.”

  “Is there no other way to reach the town?” She asks like the idea of going back disgusts her. “Maybe I can walk?”
/>
  She will walk in the rain just to get away from me? I feel angry at her for it and maybe a little hurt, too.

  “No. If there was, I would have already have headed for it. I’m not thrilled you have to stay in my house ‘til this little problem has been resolved, either. Don’t worry,” I snapped.

  “Jeez, can you be reasonable for just a second? I was worried about the bar and my boss. He would probably give me hell for it, he’s just made me bar manager too. Oh, my gosh what’s he going to think? You can’t blame me for being nervous about staying with you either, you have a multiple personality disorder!” She bites back.

  “Oh, that… you can let them know,” I say.

  Why does this ridiculous smile threaten to show on my face?

  “So, you have no objection for your disorder?” She crooks her eyebrow.

  ~*~

  I turn the car back around. I sideway glance her as I say, “You’ll have enough time to prove your theory if they don’t take care of this tree anytime soon.”

  I glanced as she pulled out her phone and typed out a text. I noticed how her slender fingers flew over the keypad of her iPhone swiftly. Once she was done, she dropped her phone back into her bag and turns her head to look out of the window again. I’d love to know what’s going through her head right now, her posture is rigid, with her arms wrapped around herself in defense.

  I speak to Acacia without taking my eyes off the road, “Okay?”

  She turns her head to look at me before turning back to the window, “Yeah it’s fine, I just needed to let Toby know what has happened today and that I needed him to cover me.”

  CHAPTER TEN

  ACACIA

  Spending time with Ashton isn’t as bad as I would’ve guessed. Yeah, he’s a bipolar asshole, but I think after a few hours with him I got used to it. Or maybe I just had a better understanding toward him because I saw his caring side. Maybe I relate to his need to stay away from people; in this case, he must feel like I’m an intruder to his comfortable silence. No matter what, a part of me is happy for the tree incident. Even though it is silly.

  “I’m not much of a cook I’m afraid, would you be okay with mac and cheese?” Ashton comes to the living room with his usual grumpy face, but I got used to it, too. To be honest, I’m beginning to like his rude, grumpy self. It’s refreshing in the world full of ass-kissers, and it’s a part of his personality, I think.

  “That’s great! Do you need any help?”

  “Do you mind preparing the salad?”

  “Since you asked so nicely… sure,” I laugh and follow him back to the kitchen. “Great what?” I ask when I see the letters on the fridge.

  Mr Grumpy likes to play with these letters? I snort.

  “Huh? What’s great?”

  “You wrote ‘great’ on the fridge, I was just messing with you.” I shrug and start to wash lettuce, but he stays there, in front of the fridge, caressing the letters like they are telling him a secret story.

  It’s there again… the undeniable pain and suffering on his features.

  I want to ask, I want to learn the source of his pain, and maybe even wanted to be his solace. I know how ridiculous it is, I know how delusional I sound, but I want to see his smile and be the reason for it. But instead, I start to cut the vegetables into the bowl.

  When he comes back to the stove his eyes are distant, his body is tense, and his jaw is taut with emotions. We work in silence for a while, and like every time I’m in the kitchen, I start to murmur the song Take Your Time by Sam Hunt. I see Ashton as he turns to look at me, the song starts talking, but he turns his attention back to the pot in front of him when he notices I’m just singing.

  As I keep singing, I see his lips move with the lyrics of the song. Relieved that the strange tension gets away I bump my hips to his, laughing as I sing.

  I didn’t even notice the meaning of this song before I start to sing it, but to my shock, he continues.

  He has a good voice, and the small smile on his face makes me giddy. I can’t help my laugh as I keep singing, but when the meaning of the lyrics hit me I stop what I’m doing and my eyes find his, singing the rest of the song with the intensity I feel.

  I don’t know whether he thinks the same thing, but I feel the change in him just like I feel it for myself and my breath hitches as he turns to me and sings the lyrics of the chores with even more emotion than before.

  As we inch closer to one another, I swallowed hard nervously, but can’t look anywhere else than up into his dark eyes, they’ve captured me. They are so intense and so deep; gasping heavily from the feeling he’s aroused in me, I don’t know if I’m relieved or a little sad when he breaks our eye contact, rescuing me from the prison of his gaze.

  I laugh nervously, taking a step back and turning to the counter. “Sorry, I always sing when I’m in the kitchen,” I say, focusing on the salad dressing.

  Ashton’s eyes are burning a hole in the side of my head. I can feel it like a caress on my body, awakening my senses as I try to concentrate on the salad.

  Everything in me is hoping he’d kiss me. No, Acacia! I scowl myself.

  Giving him a sly sideways glance, and his eyes haven’t strayed from me. They are as intense as they were a few moments ago, his breathing has quickened in speed just like mine has. Looking deep into his eyes, I watched every little movement in his features. His lips twitch as I turned slightly to face him again, feeling the pull between us. His expression turned into confusion, he blinked quickly as if he’d lost in his head. I see the moment he comes back to reality and turns away quickly back to the stove, breaking our connection.

  ~*~

  We finish preparing dinner in total silence, not wanting to be the one who breaks it even though the silence is uncomfortable.

  Finally, Ashton clears his throat.

  “I only have white wine from the market in the town,” he says without looking at me. I don’t know if he’s asking or just telling me to deal with it. But I still give him an answer since I don’t want to continue with this awkward silence.

  “I like white.”

  The dinner isn’t any different. He doesn’t look into my eyes or talk to me. He tries to put as much distance between us as possible. That bothers me. I know he felt uncomfortable about our closeness in the kitchen, but it doesn’t make sense now.

  He wants to stay away from me? Okay, then so be it.

  “I need some air,” I tell him as I abruptly stand up from the table. I don’t wait for his reply.

  The crisp air hits me as I step outside, but it is exactly what I needed right now. I stood there and watched with a troubled mind as the sky darkened, the wildlife in the woods started to come alive. A black dog slowly stalked closer towards the Cabin, I recognize him - Casper.

  He walked like he was afraid of scaring me as he padded up the stairs to come to a stop in front of me. He is beautiful with his black fur and chestnut colored eyes.

  “Hey, Casper,” I whispered and rubbed the soft fur between his ears, kneeling next to him. He is warm, giving me some kind of comfort as all I feel is the cold and confusion in here.

  “Your owner is very confusing,” I whispered. He nudges his nose to me like he agrees with me… or at least that is what I think.

  “How can a person get under my skin in such a short time? And half of it I thought I was hating him, you know?” I keep whispering. “Not sure if I stopped hating him, though,” I chuckled.

  “Do you know what happened to him, Casper?” He keeps looking into my eyes like he understands me. I wonder if he can understand what I’m saying because he sure looks like it.

  “He looks like he’s in so much pain, you know? Can you feel it?” I asked, rubbing under his chin. “I want to help him… do you think I can make him feel better? Do you think I can make him smile, Casper?” I asked like he has all the answers in the world.

  A cold wind cuts through the layers of my clothes, making me shiver. My hair swirls in the breeze, and I swear
I see something in the woods - something white, shining brightly… totally out of place, but it disappears just as quickly as it appeared… all of a sudden.

  I hear the door open behind me. “It’s cold, you’ll freeze out here - come inside,” Ashton gruffs.

  “I’m good here,” I answer stubbornly without looking back at him.

  I hear him sigh heavily, but instead of going back inside he talks to me again. “Acacia, please. You’ll catch a cold.”

  Why can’t I refuse him when he says please? Is it because he says it so rarely?

  I hugged Casper before standing up. “Thank you for the chat, Casper,” I say as I get up and re-enter the Cabin. Ashton seems confused, and he should be.

  He follows on behind me.

  “You can use the bathroom if you want to take a shower,” he murmurs.

  I want to, but looking at my stained coffee jeans and his white tee I decide against it. “I don’t have anything to wear. I’ll pass.”

  “I’ll get you something to wear. You go and take your shower,” he says with a timid smile.

  I don’t protest much. I want to get rid of these clothes that reminds me of that nightmarish night as well as erasing the smell and touch of that asshole. I notice I’m getting over that experience far better than I should be all thanks to Ashton. My heart grows with gratitude instead of being confused by him.

  “Okay… thank you,” I whisper.

  He showed me where the bathroom was, handing me some fresh towels and clothes. I thank him again and close the door behind me. The bathroom that has the same rustic design as the rest of the house. It feels different to be in his private place. To let people in your house is like letting them into your life and I can’t help but feel that Ashton let me in his life by allowing me to stay here.