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.
BAILEY - FOUR MONTHS LATER
“How’s the office coming along?”Teddy asks as he prepares some sandwiches. The last month has been spent getting everything set up at the new office, and there’s been a lot of driving back and forth between Skye and Cumbria. Much to my annoyance. I don’t like leaving Teddy for long, and every time I go, I feel sick, like I’m never going to see him again.
“It’s coming …” I mutter, walking over to him and giving him a kiss.
“Do you need to go back again soon?”
“No, that should be it. If there’s anything left, then Noah can bring it up when he visits next.”
Teddy stops making his sandwich and grabs me around the waist before I can walk away, pulling me back against him, my hand getting trapped between us. “Good, I miss you when you’re gone.”
The tips of my ears heat up as I feel his voice rumble in his chest. “Yeah?”
