Into the Dark (ORIGINAL AND UNEDITED EDITON)

Thirty One

"Do I look excited?" I ask dryly.

He nods. "Yeah, you do actually."

"You know you want to so just bloody do it already," I sigh, before attempting to move out of his hold. His grip stays firm and he pushes me back against the sink.

"You think you're that fucking irresistible, doctor?" His eyes and voice are playful.

"Well you seem to think so. You haven't left me alone for days." I grin.

"You are pretty addictive..." he says softly, skimming his hand up to my face, which he strokes with his thumb. "But you know why I can't move in right?" His face is a little more serious before he lowers his mouth to my neck.

"Well, about that.... I was thinking..." I begin.

"Mmmmm?" he presses his lips gently to the column of my neck where he kisses downward. "Thinking about what?"

"Why doesn't Caleb come and stay here this weekend? We could do the Wyndham walk? There are cows and sheep and a few Shetland ponies. He'd like that, wouldn't he? I think he would." Jake lifts his head up to stare down at me. "We could bring some of his things from your place and put them in the room upstairs for when he gets here — you know, to make it less scary for him." Am I rambling?

"You've been thinking about this?" He asks.

I nibble my lip. "A little.." A lot.

He stares at me wordlessly for a bit, his face an odd mix of expressionless and confusion. I've no clue what he's thinking. I'm about to tell him to forget I ever mentioned it when he speaks. "Are you kidding me?"

"No..." Why would I be kidding him?

He smiles then. "You seriously want Cale's stuff cluttering up that fancy spare bedroom? Messing up your tidy clean house?" He raises an eyebrow and casts a look about the kitchen. "You saw the mess he makes right? You saw the fingers? He puts them everywhere, baby. Everywhere." He waves his fingers at me playfully, eyes wide.

I giggle. "Like father like son — I'll cope."

He chuckles and pulls me closer to his body. "Okay. Then let's make it happen," he says. "I'll bring some of his stuff over tomorrow when you're at work."

That was easy. "Won't you have to clear it with Vicky first? You seriously think she won't have something to say about it?"

"Oh she'll have something to say about it." He gives a dismissive half shrug. "But she'll have to get used to it — you know for when I move in." He winks, moving away from me to snatch a piece of bread from the basket.

"Because you have absolutely not moved in yet."

He tears a chunk of bread in half with his teeth, saying his next words with his mouth full. Actually a very un-Jake like thing to do. "Alex, when I move in, you'll fucking know about it." He mumbles. It sounds like a threat.

I grin. "Oh, is that so?"

He nods. "Yeah, it is."

I turn back to the sink. "So... have you gotten rid of your cleaner yet?" I ask.

"Nah, but I should do. I've been trying to make a mess every time I go over just to give her something to do."

I turn to pout at him. "God, that must be tiring, you poor thing." He smiles. "You know what I think? I think you're trying to move in with me quietly, so everyone thinks you're still London's most eligible bachelor."

Suddenly he's behind me again, nuzzling the scratchy length of his beard against the back of my neck. My shoulders rise in reflex as I try and twist out of his touch. "Hmm. That's what you think is it?"