Page 52 of A Simple Mistake
Not that he’d ever admit to something so sappy, but the least he could do was ensure they had photos to remember each other.
Rain came down in streaks as he climbed out of the car outside their house.And headed straight for the locker beside the front door, grateful the courier hadn’t dropped the packages in the porch.
“Did you order something?”Daniel called after him.
“Those photos of Jack I showed you.I had them printed.I hope they didn’t get soaked.”He keyed the locker open and there, between a parcel of books for Nico, and a stack of mail, were his packages: a well-wrapped flattish box, and a padded cardboard tube.
“We can unload and make dinner if you want to go hang them,” Nico offered, fishing his books from the locker.
Gareth blinked himself out of visions of Jack practising kata.“Don’t be silly.There’s enough time for DIY when we’re settled and tidy.”He smiled at Daniel.“Though if you want to cook, I won’t object.”
“Unsurprising, after all the driving you’ve been doing.What do we want to eat?”
“Bangers and mash,” Nico requested.“That feels like being home.And you had a field day at that butcher’s on the moor.”
“They’ve won awards!”
“Exactly.”
“Bangers and mash sounds wonderful.”Gareth carried the coolers into the kitchen and couldn’t stop a silly smile when Nico handed him a beer, cold and dewy and straight from the fridge.“Thank you.I see you’re spoiling me.”
Nico blushed.“Shoe.Other foot,” he muttered, before he ran off to bring in the camping gear.
They dealt with laundry, email, check-ins, and food like any family returning from a week away, but through the late afternoon and evening, Gareth felt the warm glow of anticipation.And as often when he and Jack spent time together, he enjoyed drawing things out.When he finally poured a glass of whisky and carried his purchases upstairs, the house lay silent.
Ever since the photos had arrived on his phone, he’d planned how to turn his idea into reality—and his meticulous preparation paid off.Less than an hour later, he settled into his desk chair and watched Jack step, leap, and spin across the wall, holding a wooden bokken, and wearing nothing but deep green hakama.
The images weren’t sexual, or even sexy, but they left Gareth breathless.He couldn’t wait for Jack to come home and see himself on Gareth’s wall.And while being this riled when he couldn’t do a thing about it wasn’t comfortable, he was delighted with his treat and happy to imagine Jack’s reaction.
Pressure Points
Theirholidaymighthaveended in rain, but Gareth considered their week off a success.Nobody had mentioned Manville, school, or work.Nico and Daniel had left Aidan speechless.He’d talked to Jack.And thanks to a man he’d never met, he now had an incentive to spend more time in his study.Even the towering stack of reports on the corner of his desk couldn’t dent his contentment.
“Boss, do you have a moment?”
Frazer grinned like a naughty schoolboy as he popped his head around the door of Gareth’s office.Gareth waved him inside.“Sure.Help yourself to coffee.”He’d long given up asking any of his staff if theywantedcoffee.Or biscuits.Each of them had a brain that ran on caffeine and a bottomless pit for a stomach.He pulled the biscuit tin from his bottom drawer and set it in front of Frazer.“What’s up?”
Frazer ate three biscuits and drained half his coffee before he spoke.“Ronald Nancarrow and his missing laptop.”
“Ah, yes.You were going to check the backups.”
“In a way, yes.”He ran a hand through his hair, leaving it standing on end.The hand trembled ever so slightly, and Gareth wondered when Frazer had last slept.“You know we image all remote and mobile machines when they log onto the network, right?Especially those that connect infrequently.It gives us better data granularity, and we have extra restore points if—” Pink tinged his cheeks, and he rubbed the back of his neck.“And you don’t need to know all that.”
“How good of you to notice,” Gareth drawled, grinning.“Do I need to call for breakfast?When did you get in?”
“Um.”
Frazer bit into another biscuit and Gareth wanted to roll his eyes.As if he hadn’t seenthatone coming.“Have you been home since Friday?”
“Yes, of course.”
“There’s no ‘of course’ about it.When did you get in?”
“Midnight?”Frazer’s cheeks bloomed pink.“I was about to go to bed when I had an idea and… and then I wanted to see if it worked.”
“Since you’re nearly vibrating, it has to be something good.Tell me what I need to know.”
Frazer nibbled on another biscuit while he sorted his thoughts.“Ronald Nancarrow’s laptop last connected to the network while he was here for the November shareholders’ meeting.At that point, he’d saved a bunch of project information to his hard drive, and they’re all projects we now have competition on.And the security software we installed when we issued the laptop had been disabled.”
