Sophie adjusted the headphones on her iPod, snugging the earpieces a bit further into her ears before swirling the dial to select a new song.
The Cure first, she decided as Robert Smith began singing plaintively just for her. She stowed the iPod in her pocket as she began picking up the detritus of newspapers, books and notepads she had left strewn all over the family room. By cleaning, she hoped to clear her mind of worrying about the book shop and to leave the world outside alone for a while.
She hadn't seen hide or hair of Daniel Davies, Neighborhood Grizzly Bear, since their 'incident' two days before. She hadn't exactly been avoiding him, but she was definitely careful to avoid the garden when he was puttering around outside just to avoid a possible incident that might escalate into violence. The last thing she needed was to be berated like a child again – she'd probably end up popping him one in the jaw. Sophie couldn't help but grin slightly at the thought…
The Cure switched to Wham, and Sophie giggled as she began swinging her hips back to the 1980s. Dancing her way into the kitchen, she examined the contents of her ever more meager shelves and settled on making a sandwich instead of anything that required much more prep work – or the use of that death trap looking oven.
Straightening, she glanced out the kitchen window that faced Windy Willows and caught sight of Daniel bent over the opened hood (it's a bonnet in England, right? Sophie thought absently) of his car, apparently fiddling with something underneath, his body illuminated by the workman's lamp he had strung up nearby.
She sighed slightly and leaned a hip against the window to take a longer look, her emotions at loose ends.
His eyes were actually a stark blue, she thought absently.
From seeing him across the street before they had met, she'd assumed they were dark brown, but up close, when they had been arguing, she could see that they were a stunning dark blue. The same blue as the faded shirt he was wearing, which pulled taught across the muscles of his shoulders as he worked on the engine.
Mm, Sophie thought. That's NICE.
And he was tall.
At just 5'3", Sophie thought of most of the world as tall, but he was tall tall. Like, a foot taller than her tall.
It made her feel diminutive.
Too bad it didn't make her waist size feel diminutive, she thought with a sardonic grin to herself.
And that dark, dark hair of his… the hair tumbled over his forehead in just such a way that made her itch to push it back off his face…
Or it would, anyway, if she didn't despise the man, Sophie thought with an audible "hrmph".
Cute, but way too scowly for her – he was all barking voices and sullen faces. Ugh. The last thing she needed was another overbearing man barking at her and turning her into his own version of the perfect woman.
Ugh.
A dog ambled from under the car, tangling in Daniel's legs, clearly begging for attention. Sophie nearly gasped as Daniel stopped his work under the hood – bonnet, whatever – and bent to fuss the dog's ears, a wide grin slashing across his face.
He had the most amazing smile.
She wouldn't have thought it possible for the man to smile without hurting himself.
Even in the growing darkness, she could see the bright white of his teeth, the curl of his lips as he smiled, then laughed as the dog promptly sank to the ground, turning over to expose his belly for even more attention.
So it was possible, Sophie thought. He could exist as something other than an ogre…
Well, that's two, she thought as she slid away from the counter. Two emotions she knew about Mr. Davies: anger and affection.
Interesting.
**
Daniel's eyes couldn't help but slide across the lane every minute or so.
He'd been working on the car much longer than was really necessary, but he couldn't help but stay outside just to catch glimpses of Sophie as she moved around Fairfields, the lights blazing inside illuminating her every move through the windows.
He saw the earbuds she was wearing and assumed that he wouldn't be hearing the stereo blare Bon Jovi for a while. The recollection of her laugh when she heard Bon Jovi belting out from the stereo as he stormed him almost made him snicker out loud.
Sighing deeply, he tried to concentrate on the task at hand while trying to avoid tripping over Dex, his mutt.
Glancing up again, he saw her perform a rather complicated rendition of a Pat Benatar dance break and nearly laughed out loud.
She may be overbearing, stupidly silly and a total ball buster, but she was really quite cute in her own way.
There was a lot of energy packed into that tiny package, and most of it seemed to be devoted to always moving – walking, dancing, rummaging, something.
She certainly wasn't the lay around type that Rosa had been.
Her eyes were a bright green, and they flashed with all her emotions – happy or angry, he'd noticed when they had quarreled. And they so complimented that stunning mane of auburn curls that she kept criminally tied in a bun or ponytail at the nape of her neck.
He had to give her credit – aside from the hideous loo blunder, she seemed to be getting along alright, what with moving to a foreign country alone and all.
He absently wondered if she had a boyfriend, then shook the thought away.
The last thing he needed was to tangle with his neighbor, no matter how appealing her hip shake 'round the kitchen was. The best thing, he thought, was to just ignore her. Ignore her, and he can avoid any sort of entanglement with her.
That was best, he thought with a curt nod. No relationships, and no one will leave.
No one can get hurt.
A good plan, he thought with one last, long look at Sophie's adorable face before he slammed the bonnet shut and went back inside, whistling for Dex to follow him.
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