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He jumped when the spray connected with his skin, then his face relaxed a little.
“I’ve got a couple of anti-inflammatory tablets here. It’ll help with any swelling and pain.”
He took them from my hand. “Thanks. I have a flask with some coffee in the shed. Could you grab it for me, please? There are two mugs in there as well if you want to join me.”
I frowned, and a chuckle rumbled up his chest. “The least I can do is offer you some coffee for being my Florence Nightingale.”
I poured the coffee into mugs and went outside. He nodded his thanks. I sat down beside him and nursed the mug in my hands. There was a real sense of peace being at the lottie. The warm sunshine and sound of birds singing was better than any tonic. This was something I hadn’t experienced for a while. Maybe I was becoming outdoorsy once more. I sighed.
“Are you okay, Felicity? Or do you prefer Fliss?”
That brought me up short. It was the first time he hadn’t called me Red. I actually missed it, even though it had annoyed me initially. I imagined him calling me Red while he pushed me up against the side of the shed, his mouth against my ear.
For the love of God, just stop it.
“I prefer Fliss, but Felicity is okay. I was just thinking how calm the allotment can be. I didn’t realise how much I’d missed coming here with my aunt.” I toed the earth with my foot.
“I agree about it being calm. My job is pretty boring at times and can also be stressful. Being here is good for my soul. What do you do for work?”
“I work in IT. I design video games. To be honest, I used to love it. Although, recently, I’ve started to become restless.” I had never admitted that to anyone before. What a shock.
“A gamer, huh? Sounds more exciting than number-crunching all day.”
I laughed. “I guess we both work in boring, nerdy jobs, don’t we?”
Silence grew between us while we sipped our coffee. I could hear people talking around some of the plots. The sound of spades hitting the earth, lawnmowers cutting grass, and the sweet smell of the freshly cut grass hung in the air. Yep, this was a pretty restful place.
“Did you drive here?” I asked after a few minutes of silence.
“I did, but I think I’ll call my mate to come and get me. He doesn’t live that far from here. I can leave my car where it is and pick it up when my toe isn’t as swollen.”
“That’s a good idea. I’d give your toe a couple of days to settle down. Do you want me to stay until he gets here?”
He smiled. “No. I’ll be fine.”
Why did that sentence disappoint me?
I nodded, and after putting our mugs back in his shed, I headed for my plot.
“Oh, Fliss?”
I turned. “Yeah?”
“Thank you.”
I shrugged. “No problem.”
* * *
Luke
I called Marcus, who laughed at my predicament but said he’d come and get me. He was a good guy, really. And I’d bailed him out of some tricky situations in the past, so he owed me. His tricky situations were usually to do with a woman. He was pretty much a manwhore. I waited patiently for the day some lady would get him under her spell and he’d settle down. God only knew when that would happen.
“I hear someone is on their deathbed.”
Marcus strode up my plot with his trademark whiter than white killer smile. The one that had the ladies swooning and waving their panties at him, metaphorically speaking, of course. He leaned up against the shed, still chuckling.
“Not funny. It fucking hurts.”
