Page 20 of The Fete of Summer (Tales of Crumbington #1)

Solicitor

Nathan woke alone. Evidence of Jaymes’ presence the night before was imprinted on the pillow next to him.

The rest of his side of the bed had been tidied.

Momentary disappointment caught him, but he sighed the feeling away.

As quality of sleep went, last night’s had been nothing short of incredible.

Waking more fully, he rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling.

Certain parts of his anatomy bore a delicious soreness.

If he were going to be brutally honest, he would have liked to have woken up next to somebody.

But Jaymes, being Jaymes, would have gotten up and left.

They’d had a roll in the hay, nothing more.

He curled onto his side and was about to yawn when something caught his attention. Faint but unmistakably pleasant odours of cooking. Was that the smell of fresh coffee brewing? And bacon frying? And the sound of music playing?

Perching on the side of the bed, he went to reach for his dressing gown on the back of the door, only to find the garment missing. Instead, he fished out tracksuit bottoms and a baggy tee from the wardrobe and hurried to the front room.

Nathan’s barely functional kitchen table had been given an Impressionist makeover.

Set with a simple white tablecloth, placemats, cutlery, butter, and preserves of marmalade, blackberry jam and Marmite—where the hell had he found that?

—a basket of fruit and croissants as well as cartons of orange and grapefruit juice, the surface resembled a quality hotel room breakfast. Jaymes had even collected the Sundays from the front mat and arranged them at a place setting.

“You’re in the wrong profession,” said Nathan, smiling at the sight. On the wall above the table, the kitchen clock read nine-fifteen.

“Morning, sexy,” said Jaymes, turning from the stove and grinning.

Sexy himself, he wore Nathan’s white towelling gown.

“Told you I love cooking, especially when I’ve got more than a camping stove to cook on and someone to cook for.

And I found everything I needed in your itsy-bitsy kitchen.

Sit yourself down. How do you take your coffee? ”

“Milk with one, please.”

“Sacrilege. Some things should remain pure and untainted.”

Jaymes sidestepped to the coffee machine where a mug already sat and confidently pressed buttons.

“I had to read the manual three times before I figured out what buttons to press,” said Nathan.

“I’ll resist the temptation to answer with a sexual innuendo and quote the lesser-known proverb of where there’s a will-you-get-me-a-damn-coffee, there’s a way. And on the subject of button-pushing, how are you feeling this morning?”

Okay, thought Nathan, so we are going there. Maybe a little unfairly, he’d expected Jaymes to run. He’d most certainly not expected to have a conversation about their night in the sack.

“A little sore, but absolutely no regrets, if that’s what you’re asking. Feels rather nice, actually. And I slept like the dead.”

“You were out cold when I woke. Looked so peaceful I didn’t want to wake you. I’m guessing you don’t get a lie-in very often.”

Toast popped up from the toaster. Jaymes reached over and plucked the slices out, dropping them on a plate he’d already prepared. Nathan marvelled at how effortlessly Jaymes found his way around his kitchen.

“Can I do anything?” Nathan asked.

“If you want something to do,” said Jaymes, moving the frying pan off the flame before turning to face Nathan, “come over here.”

Nathan approached Jaymes, ready to be handed things to take to the table, only to be pulled into a fierce hug. Nathan didn’t mind. He’d almost forgotten the healing powers of a simple hug.

“I’m sorry,” Jaymes whispered into Nathan’s ear.

“Sorry for what?”

“For not following through.”

Nathan didn’t know what he meant. Had he missed something the night before?

“You’ve lost me. Following through with what?”

“My evil plan to snap on a condom and have my wicked way with you this morning.”

Nathan laughed against Jaymes’ chest until he shut him up by bringing their mouths together. Grateful to have no weirdness between them that morning, Nathan melted into the embrace. When he realised Jaymes’ tongue tasted of spearmint, he pulled away.

“You brushed.”

“Who cares?”

“I do.”

“Well, I don’t. And after we’ve both had coffee, it won’t matter. Let me enjoy this before I serve you the best bloody breakfast of your life.”

Nathan gave in without a fight, not too much of a hardship either, and soon his heart began to speed up. Before they went too far, he lifted his mouth away, nipping Jaymes’ bottom lip.

“Looks who’s woken up,” said Jaymes, smirking and pointing the tip of his forefinger to the floor. Nathan spotted Jaymes’ erection poking out from between the folds of Nathan’s dressing gown.

“My new best friend,” said Nathan, grabbing a handful, which had Jaymes laughing and pulling his hips away but going in for another deep kiss. Once again, they parted, this time with Jaymes sighing deeply before leaning in and sucking on Nathan’s earlobe.

“Last night was amazing. I could get used to this, Nate,” he whispered, his breath tickling Nathan’s ear.

“Me too.”

Jaymes pulled back then, a sadness in his eyes.

“Except I’m only here until May. Got the call this week to confirm. They need me in Kinabalu National Park, Malaysia. Probably until the end of the year. And then I’m off to New Zealand in January.”

“And?”

“And are you okay with that?”

Jaymes had never hidden the nature of his vocation, or the fact that he spent much of his time travelling the globe. If anything, Nathan was envious. Unlike Nathan, Jaymes had his dream job.

“Three months with you as opposed to what?” asked Nathan. “Not a difficult one to answer, Jaymes.”

“But—”

“No buts. Well, maybe in the bedroom. This way, we both know the score going in. We can keep things physical and unemotional.”

“You can do that?”

“The crucial thing, Jaymes, is that I don’t want this to be a one-off.”

Even as the words left his mouth, Nathan knew he would have a hard time trying to keep his heart in check. Jaymes smiled affectionately before taking a deep breath and shaking his head.

“Nathan Fresher, you are full of surprises. Sit down and let me serve you breakfast.”

Over plates of poached eggs on Fresher’s toasted ciabatta, Mikey’s Lincolnshire sausages and strips of back bacon, with sauteed mushroom and onion and grilled tomatoes, Nathan and Jaymes sat enjoying the morning.

Jaymes believed in starting the day right.

Nathan rarely enjoyed his living space as much, usually spending Sunday mornings sitting in bed poring over a Sunday newspaper with coffee and a plate of buttered toast. Jaymes provided easy company, laughing easily and filling the pauses with talk about his work or reading something aloud out of a newspaper.

At first Nathan wondered where the music came from, but then he noticed Jaymes had placed his phone upright against the fruit bowl, letting soft jazz from a music app accompany the morning fare.

“Don’t you play footy on Sunday?”

“There’s no game this week. Just as well. I have my solicitor’s appointment today in Eastbourne.”

“And I’m coming along,” said Jaymes before apparently remembering something. “Shit, my Rover.”

“We can take my van. If you really want to come.”

“Of course I want to come. Give you a bit of support. What time do we need to be there?”

“Appointment’s at eleven-thirty. I’ve dug out my birth certificate and some other papers they’ve asked to see.

It should take around forty minutes to get there, but I suggest leaving an hour, in case of traffic and finding parking.

And after cooking breakfast—along with everything else—I think it’s only fair I buy you a light lunch after we’re done. I know a great little spot.”

“Lunch date, huh?” said Jaymes, grinning playfully.

“Excellent,” said Nathan, taking a mouthful of coffee. “For a change, my calendar has more than just bill payment reminders.”

They fell into a comfortable silence again as Ella Fitzgerald sang A Fine Romance from Jaymes’ phone.

“You called me Jay last night?”

“Did I? I don’t remember. I might have been distracted. Is that a problem?”

“I liked it.”

Nathan felt his cheeks warm and went into deflection mode.

“Hey, do you think Polly went out with Benny Cheung last night?”

In the process of popping a corner of buttered toast into his mouth, Jaymes froze.

“Footballer? From the pub? Good-looking Asian guy?”

“The same.”

Crunching loudly on the bread, Jaymes shook his head.

“Not in a million years.”

“Really? Why do you say that?”

“He’s not her type.”

“Does she have a type?”

“Almost the same as mine,” said Jaymes, peering across the table at Nathan.

Beneath the table, a bare foot landed gently on top of his.

“Dark hair, green eyes, handsome, nice smile, lean and takes care of himself. Oh, and for her, definitely older. By at least a handful of years. She has enough on her plate teaching kids. She doesn’t want to have to provide instruction in the bedroom. ”

Nathan stared at Jaymes then, wondering if their getting together might cause problems.

“Are we going to have to tread carefully around her?”

“How do you mean?”

“She warned you off me. Do we have to keep our distance? You know, be discreet?”

“Nate, forgive me if I’ve read this wrong, but I believe we’ve just agreed to become fuck buddies. Other than that, nothing’s changed. We’re not going to be skipping down the street hand in hand or kissing in public. If we both stick to that, Polly should be none the wiser.”

Nathan wasn’t so sure. Polly had a way of detecting tiny details that others might have missed.

“I don’t want to be the cause of any friction between you two.”

Jaymes picked up his coffee and grinned at Nathan over the rim.

“No wonder she likes you so much. Always looking out for her.”

“It’s mutual.”