“Come for dinner after, then?” she asked Kim hopefully. “I’ve got enough lamb at the farm for the whole town.”
I waited for Kim to refuse, like he’d done everything else that week, but it seemed he was no more immune to Laura’s culinary kindness than anyone else. He left me with a promise to see me at dinnertime.
Later that evening, I still half expected him not to show up, so I was pleasantly surprised when I found him sitting in Laura’s kitchen with my dad. “Did you get all your work done?”
“Nope, but I’ve got seventy-two hours, right?”
My dad chuckled. “And then some. It doesn’t matter if there’s a few things missing, son. What you’ve delivered already is plenty.”
Kim rolled his eyes. “Jas said you’d say that.”
“That’s because we raised him to treat people like humans, not machines. If only he’d apply it to himself, eh?”
Dear God. It seemed Kim and I were both destined to have someone on our case at all times. I retreated to the stove to irritate Laura while Dad and Kim talked shop, and it wasn’t long before the rest of the world and his dog filed in for dinner.
The meal was loud and rowdy, the kind of occasion I usually just endured, but with Kim beside me, his hand on my leg,squeezing, I enjoyed every moment. And if the amount of food Kim put away was anything to go by, he did too. I tried not to consider it an indication of how little he’d eaten while I’d left him to his own devices.
After dinner, my dad cracked out his homemade plum brandy. I took that as our cue to leave and hustled Kim outside.
In the yard, I pushed him against my father’s Land Rover, hoping the taste of wine on my lips wouldn’t upset him.
It didn’t seem to. He kissed me back, then spun us around, slamming his body against me, pressing, grinding. “Come home with me?”
I groaned. “Ican’t. I’ve got to get home so I can drive to Truro in the morning.”
“The Bristol thing?”
“Uh-huh,” I said regretfully. The best job I’d had since coming to Porthkennack seemed like the worst idea in the world with Kim’s cock digging into my thigh. “I’ve got to leave at eight.”
“Eight, eh?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s plenty of time for what I’ve got in mind, mate. Come on, let’s go.”
And bygohe meant drive back to my place.
I let us in, almost shy as I dropped my keys in the bowl. No one outside of my immediate family had ever been inside my Porthkennack flat. “This is me.”
Kim glanced around. “Ain’t got much here, have you?”
“I left it all in London, remember? In bits?”
Kim nodded and continued his inspection while I chucked our coats in the cupboard and went to the kitchen for Jammie Dodgers and mugs of tea. It was just what I wanted, but Kim looked apologetic when I handed him his. “You can have a nightcap if you want, you know. Don’t deprive yourself on my account.”
“I’m not. I live on Jammie Dodgers and tea when Laura doesn’t send me a care package.”
“I don’t believe you. That fish pie you made was awesome.”
I laughed. “I’m glad you think so, because it’s the only thing I can cook, and it’s not something I’d ever cook for myself.”
“You should cook for yourself. It’s good for the soul.”
“Yeah? Done much cooking this week?”
“Piss off.”
I laughed again and let it go. The time for nagging had passed, and I just wanted to go to bed with him—to sleep, as much as anything. I’d missed him the night before, and I’d be missing him even more after tonight.