Chapter 43
BAILEY - ONE WEEK LATER
“So you’re both going back tomorrow?” I ask, looking between Jake and Noah.
“Yeah, it’s been far too long since I’ve been in the office. Don’t want everyone thinking they can slack off,” Jake says, downing the rest of his pint. He smirks at me.
“What?”
“You don’t want to leave, do you?”
“No,” I mutter, picking at the chipped wood on the pub table.
“What if you didn’t have to?”
I peek up at him to see his green eyes glint in the firelight. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve been wanting to expand the company for a while now. I have some money saved up that would allow me to set up in the Highlands and Islands region. Specifically, one island.”
“What are you saying, Jake?”
“I’m going to set up a branch here on Skye, but I’ll need someone to run it, seeing as I’ll be down in Cumbria.”
“Seriously? Shit…” My voice wobbles. “I can stay?” I whisper.
Jake chuckles. “Yeah, kid, you can stay.”
I’m almost bouncing in my seat. I want to go home to tell Teddy, but he’s supposed to be sleeping, and I don’t want to wake him up.
I jump as someone coughs behind me. When I turn around, my eyes go straight to a pair of heavily tattooed arms crossed over a broad chest, then up to a thick ginger beard and blue eyes.
“What’s up, Luke?” Jake asks.
“I, ah, I need to talk before you leave,” he mutters in his deep Scottish burr.
Jake’s fingers go straight to his septum piercing, fiddling with it like he does when he’s nervous, then he looks at me. “Bailey, I’ll talk to you later about the details of everything, but for now concentrate on you and Theo, alright? You’ll still be paid while we set the business up.”
“Alright,” I say, smiling at him. “Thanks, Jake.”
He stands up and tucks his chair under the table, then follows Luke out of the pub.
“What about you? Are you still going?” I ask Noah.
He stirs his gin and tonic with the straw, frowning. “Yeah, I’m going back with Jake tomorrow.”
“Will you be alright? You know, without—”
“I’ll be fine,” he says quickly, cutting me off before I can mention his sleeping habits. It’s going to be weird not having him crawl into my bed every night, and I’m worried about how he’ll get on without me. He really doesn’t do well when he’s on his own.
“If Jake is setting up an office here, why don’t you just stay too?”
“Why would I stay?”
I frown at him. “You’ve been sleeping at Robbie’s for the past few weeks, I assumed—”
“Nothing happened,” he snaps. “He let me sleep in his bed, and that was it.”
“Oh.”
“I’ll come up to see you in a couple of weeks. See how you’re getting on with all the police bollocks.”
I groan at the thought of it. They’ve left me alone for the past week, but I know it’s all coming. There’s the small relief of not having to go to court, but I’ll still have to do interviews, and I’m not sure if they’ll let me bring Teddy with me …
“I’m glad you’re staying,” Noah says. “I think you’re good for each other.”
“You feeling okay? Was that something nice that just came out of your mouth?” I tease.
“Alright, I’m glad Teddy showed up because I was worried for a minute that you’d be perpetually single,” he smirks. “Better?”
“Much,” I say dryly. “Alright, I gotta go. I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”
He salutes me, and I head out the pub, eager to tell Teddy the news.
When I get back, I can’t control the grin that spreads across my face as I run into the cottage and upstairs to the bedroom. He’s already awake, thankfully, so I jump on the bed, avoiding his leg, crashing my lips against his.
“What the hell?” he sputters into my mouth.
“I’m staying,” I murmur against his lips.
He grabs my shoulders and pushes me away forcefully, frowning. “What do you mean you’re staying?”
“Jake said he’s going to set up shop here on Skye and he wants me to manage it,” I grin, watching his eyes search my face.
“Really?” he asks, breath puffing out of him like a weight’s been lifted from his chest.
“Really.”
Teddy grabs my collar and drags me back into the kiss, and I melt against his side. All my anxiety drifts away, and I realise that Teddy was right. My home has always been with him.