Page 18 of Short Stack 3

“I bought Charlie one too,” I say indignantly.

“Spiffing. They can be twins in your over-the-top consumerism.”

“Have you always used such long words, and did I always find it aggravating?”

He laughs, and after grabbing a mince pie, he wanders out of the kitchen, shouting about tea.

I look down at the new addition to our family. “Happy Christmas, Tricky,” I say, and he nudges my hand, giving me a lick. I pat him and wander into the lounge with him at my heels.

I can’t wait to see Dylan’s face when he opens the presents I’ve bought for him. I’ve gone completely over the top, as usual. I’d love to give him the world, but what looks like half of Harvey Nicks will have to suffice. I grin. It’s a certainty that our morning will round off with great sex and then a huge meal later on.

Happy Christmas, indeed.

Jude and Asa

Deal Maker

Old Acquaintance

This was written for my Facebook readers’ group. It’s set after the events ofGreen Eyes(a short story you can find in the firstShort Stackbook).

Asa

I pull the car to a stop and switch off the engine. For a second, there’s silence. Then, my companion stirs and turns to me.

I look at him and can’t help the uptick of my lips. I love his face. It’s mischievous and merry and one of my favourite things in the whole world. At the moment, it happens to be covered with a cloth that I grabbed off the kitchen work surface this morning.

“Are we at our mystery destination?” he asks. “Can I take this thing off my eyes now?” His full mouth twitches into a wicked smile. “Unless tea towels are becoming some sort of sex aid to us. You can tell me, Asa. Has our sex life become boring?”

“So dramatic,” I bemoan, trying not to laugh.

“You say dramatic. I can’t imagine what people thought when we stopped for petrol this morning.”

“Probably the mundane thought that I was taking you away to a mystery destination,” I offer. “Rather than kidnapping you to set off over the wild seas in my pirate ship or whatever ideas your latest bodice ripper has given you.”

“Bodiceripper?” He’s trying for indignation but failing badly. “I’ll have you know, Asa Jacobs, that the women in those books could teach you a thing or two about fortitude. Why, on any given day, they’d have to disguise their identity, clean the ship, and fight a duel. And they’d still manage all of this while making the hero fall in love with them and also keeping their hair shiny and tangle-free.”

“Alas,” I say mournfully. “Your hair willneverbe tangle-free.”

He chuckles, and I reach over and pull off the tea towel I covered his eyes with at the start of the trip. His warm brown eyes blink at the light, and he offers me a smile before looking around eagerly.

There’s a protracted pause. “Oh, Asa,” he says in a tone of delight. “You’ve brought me to a… to a car park.” He winks at me. “Can there be aluckierboy in the whole world than me?”

I can’t help my laugh. “Not just any car park, Jude Jacobs. This is a Fowey car park.”

He stares at me, and I see the moment it clicks. “Oh my god,” he says. “Fowey in Cornwall?”

I nod.

“You’ve brought me totheFowey where Daphne du Maurier lived?” he exclaims.

I nod again and watch as he looks around eagerly as if he’s going to see the famous author at any minute. I sincerely hope not because she’s been dead for over thirty years.

He looks back at me, and his expression is impossibly soft. “Oh, Asa,” he says and then seems to run out of words. This should surely be a red-letter day in the Jacobs’ household because it’s a rare occasion, but I fail to mark it because he kisses me. When I come up for air, my dick is hard, and my thoughts have scattered.

“Wem,” I say intelligently.

He smirks at me. “Earth to Asa Jacobs. Come in, Asa Jacobs.”

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