031 !! MONEY

A pale stream of early morning sunlight sneaks in between the gaps in the curtains, washing the marble floors with lines of golden glory awakening the extreme west of the globe.

The curtains flow lightly against the gentle breeze of the air conditioner floating through the room.

Goosebumps arise on her bare back as she shifts to lay on her side, eyes slowly blinking open to catch sight of the mesmerising boy resting beside her.

His hair reposes messily on the top of his head, some light brunet strands elegantly falling over his forehead.

With his mouth languidly parted and arm resting on the mattress such that his fingertips graze her bare body every time she snuggles under the covers, Rafe Cameron looks truly at peace for the first time in his life.

His intimidating sapphire eyes are enough to darken any prospects of tranquility but with the permanent scowl and furrow in between those finely drawn brows, his mere gaze has the capability of shutting up almost all of Kildare County.

Never cross a Cameron, goes the saying across the island — one must heed by it by all means lest they might chance falling prey to the consequences.

Yet Georgie ignored every admonition to lie in his bed, smiling quietly at the sight of the grace of the Cameron ménage sleeping with the innocence of a beautiful child hidden from the world.

Slowly — and silently for Rafe Cameron looks too beautiful sleeping — she slips out of the bed and glances around for her clothes.

To her dismay, only her undergarments remain in sight, the rest of her clothes probably discarded outside the room or downstairs in the promiscuous hurry of the night before.

The only real clothing seems to be his t-shirt thrown across the floor.

Sighing, she pulls the material over her head and tugs it down the hem reaching just past her knees as she grabs her phone and tacitly shuffles out of the room, quickly descending the steps to go sit on the couch in the sitting room.

Her phone lights up with several notifications of repeated missed calls from her friends — "friends" entailing Pope, Kiara and her brother — as well as a few texts.

There's a couple of threatening messages from JJ followed by some panicked ones from Pope and then a few relatively normals ones from Kiara inquiring about her whereabouts.

Bro are u alive??? — reads the recent text from Kiara, sent about an hour ago.

She pulls up the chat and swiftly types up a reply — sorry, my phone was on silent. Slept at the old shack; referring to the house they shared with that disgusting old man — then sits back, rolling her eyes at JJ's "warnings" about never letting her out of his sight again sent around ten hours ago.

He left me on the side of the road, what does he honestly expect?

"Hmph. Why are you up so early?".

Her eyes cut back to the boy sleepily staggering into the room, fingers ruffling through his hair as his eyes squint taking her in.

He plops down beside her with a grunt and turns his gaze to her.

"I've got work", she curls her lips in an attempt to hide the smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

Rafe hums, eyes slowly glancing down her body regarding the piece of clothing covering her with a sort of sleepy eyed interest.

"Looks good on you".

He tugs the side of the t-shirt appearing massively oversized on her small frame and continues to stare at her, eyes filled with sleep and fingers lazily pulling her forward by the cloth.

Her face breaks out into a grin.

"Yeah?".

His cerulean gaze flicks up to her shiny sage green stare, glittering under the dim morning light and with the anticipation of the toothy grin widening on her face.

"Yeah", he breathes, grabbing a fistful of the t-shirt and hauling her close.

Her lips hover over his, the smile still firm when she pushes her lips on his gently touching the side of his face to bring him closer.

Her fingers trace down to his jaw lingering with a silk soft touch, he inhales sharply through his nose and throws an arm around her waist tightly securing her against his side.

Their mouths move deliciously together, two pieces of some twisted puzzle fitting right in with each other with a delicate ease touching and pulling back for a slight release of breath then coming back in for more, savouring in the feeling of this mad gold rush of emotions swirling inside of them.

Georgie lightly taps her finger against the side of his jaw and slowly pulls back, smiling as she looks up into his eyes now full of something quite unexplainable, a simple falter of demeanor that took years to perfect and sculpt shaken down just by a few tender touches of the golden haired girl staring at him as if he's the most precious thing ever created.

"Skip work", he whispers tangling his fingers with hers.

She shakes her head, "I kinda need the money, Rafe".

He shrugs.

"I'll give you the money".

She frowns settling back against the cushions.

"No. I don't—I don't want your money".

His eyebrow arches.

"Why? 'Cause I'm a Cameron? 'Cause I'm a Kook?".

Georgie releases a shaky breath.

"No. It's just . . . . I don't want any money I didn't earn, okay?".

"I'm offering to help you and you're saying no?", his eyebrows knit, while eyes assessing her with a calculated intensity.

"I didn't ask you for your help", she levies a sharp stare at him.

He scowls, that godawful scowl.

"So? I'm just trying to be nice".

She laughs quietly.

"You're not exactly nice though. Are you, Cameron?".

He purses his lips, "There's always a first time for everything".

Georgie considers him, chewing on the inside of her mouth as she sits beside him fingers tangled with each other's, eyes wandering.

"Yeah, well. I'm too proud to accept any help from you, or anyone for that matter".

Rafe sighs and turns his gaze forward, lips pressing together whilst he ponders over her words.

He subconsciously begins playing with her fingers, the pad of his thumb softly rubbing over the back of her palm tilting her nimble fingers from side to side.

"Are you mad?", Georgie speaks out, amused.

He throws her a side glance.

"My ego's kind of bruised".

"Hmm".

She shifts even closer, her bare knees touching his sweatpant clad ones, and leans forward planting her lips to the side of his mouth.

She feels his breath go awry, a satisfied smile already taking shape on her face.

"Now?".

"No change", his voice comes out hoarse.

"Hmm", her lips trail down painfully slow, leaving tiny lingering kisses in their wake down his jaw and eventually down to his neck.

She nibbles on the skin of his neck, opening her mouth and leisurely sucking in, her warm breath pouring like fine addictive wine all over the cool of his skin.

She presses an open mouthed kiss on the base of his neck, the fingers of her right hand slowly inching up to his sides and unexpectedly wiggling near his bare rib.

"Now?", her once soft touches now turn into a full grown wiggle, earning a choked laugh from him as he inches away from her pushing her back.

"You're tickling me!".

He gasps for breath watching her with gaping eyes.

She giggles, her small deep indented dimples on full show for the surprised brunet looking at her in shock.

"Who knew Rafe Cameron was tickly?".

Rafe shakes his head, struggling and still failing to hide the smile pulling his lips up.

"You're annoying".

She flashes him her signature grin, one which possess the ability of disarming and screwing past all his defenses.

"I wouldn't be a Maybank if I wasn't".

***
i fell asleep writing the first half of this chapter and then yesterday i had to literally walk around my room picturing them in this scene and map out the entire thing in my head before i wrote it all down bc i didnt feel motivated enough to finish writing anymore 😭😭

also thank you sm for 101k on this book !!! i swear yall just keep surprising me every day thank you thank you thank you for your support i love & appreciate each one of you, your comments alone make my day a whole lot better 💞