“Why don’t you stay at mine? I’ll be honest; I’m not keen on the idea of you staying at home by yourself, not until your friend has looked at security. Why don’t you stay with me?” His hand was resting on my side, his thumb rubbing over my breast. My body was reacting as exactly as it should and I had the urge to wrap my leg over him and magic away our chef clothes.
“What about Lauren?”
“She’ll be in bed. Her grandma checked in on her before she left about eleven and she was asleep.”
“What about the morning? What do we say?” I felt mild panic being added as an extra ingredient.
“That you stayed over. She knows I like you. And she’ll be off to an early dance rehearsal before you’re even up so there won’t be any awkwardness.” I was now held close to him, our limbs entwined. I could feel his erection pressed against me and I wanted to make good use of it.
“I can sleep on the sofa if it makes you feel better.”
And I knew he would. All I had to say were the words.
“I’d quite like to check out the thread quality of your sheets. You know, see if they’re up to my standards.”
His laugh vibrated through me, making me feel warm and safe.
“I have no idea what that even means. Don’t worry about Lauren. You’re not a stranger and I don’t really do this.”
“What? Bring your bosses back to your house?”
He sat us up. “Any woman. Not often and only when it’s something that’s not just one night. I want her to see how a man should treat a woman, so she has met girlfriends. And had an opinion on them.”
I stretched. “Okay. Let me grab a change of clothes. I still have some here.”
He didn’t let me go.
“Jack!” I felt a kiss to my neck.
“You pack. I’ll grab a very quick shower. Don’t change your mind without telling me.”
I stood up, feeling empty without his arms around me. “I’m not going to.” I hadn’t thought about going home. If the word had been targeting me, then whoever had done it knew that the building was mine. The chances are they would know where I lived as well, a thought which wasn’t making me any happier.
I heard the shower, found my spare jeans, t-shirts and a hoodie, one with my old dance school logo. If I did see Lauren, it would be a talking point.
Focusing on that, remembering my dance school helped me to not think about Jack, and what sleeping in his bed meant, maybe not for him. For me.
Chapter 8
Jack
The taxi ride back to mine had never taken so long even though the roads were relatively quiet. Simone was curled up to me and I wondered whether she was thinking more about the vandalism and the break up at Toad Hall, or whether she was focusing on staying at mine. Some parts of her were easy to read and predict, others less so.
“You’re sure about this?”
I heard the nerves in her voice.
“If it was a Wednesday, I’d stay at yours, but I need to be here for Lauren. I’ll make her breakfast in the morning before she goes to school.”
“Do you do that every day?”
I nodded. “Usually. Even if I go back to bed afterwards, but usually I’ll feed her and then head to the gym. You can join me if you want. We can swing by your place, check it and you pick your gym stuff up.”
I hadn’t been to the gym with a girlfriend ever. Even when me and Rebecca had been together, the gym had been my respite, an escape away from the rest of the world where I could lift weights and push myself with no one to compete with. If Simone came with me, I wasn’t sure how we’d be.
“Let’s see.” She sounded sleepy. “I’m not against the idea. I was meant to be making more time to go.”
The taxi pulled up outside mine and I managed to pay the driver before Simone did, something she’d woken up to do.
