Page 159 of In Too Deep

Which made Monday morning arrive like an absolute bastard.

Jake showered first, dragging himself into work gear, as Harrison stood in the middle of the bedsit buttoning himself back into the same suit he’d arrived in Saturday night, though the creases in it now told a very different story. Watching him put himself back together again felt strangely sobering after the softness of the weekend. As if reality were rebuilding itself piece by piece around them.

“Want a lift to the station?” Jake asked as he tugged on his boots.

Harrison glanced up while fastening his cuffs. “Might be best if I go home first and change.” He adjusted his sleeves. “At the very least into different underwear.”

Jake barked out a laugh. “Fair enough. I’ll give you a lift home then.”

He crossed the room and kissed him anyway because apparently, he’d become incapable of not doing that now.

A few minutes later he pulled up outside Harrison’s cottage, van idling at the curb while Harrison climbed out carrying himself with that same careful composure he always wore outside work.

Jake wound down the window and stuck his elbow out. “Might finish this job soon. Actually have some money in my pocket for once.” He pointed up at the half-done roof above Harrison’s cottage. “Could finally sort yours out.”

“And I’ll pay you to.” Harrison fished his keys out of his pocket as he meandered up the garden path.

“Then you should know…” Jake called out of the window and waited for Harrison to glance back over his shoulder. “Changed my rates.” He grinned, roaming his gaze downward. “Now I know what you’re packing.” He winked.

Harrison snorted under his breath, then unlocked the front door. “Careful on the roof.”

Jake shook his head. “Keep telling you, your job’s more dangerous than mine.”

“Hm.”

Then Harrison disappeared inside his cottage and Jake drove away smiling like a fucking idiot.

By eight, he was back at the industrial estate.

He killed the engine and climbed out, stretching the stiffness from his shoulders while grabbing his harness and tool bag from the back. His body still ached pleasantly from Harrison. Christ. Even thinking it made heat crawl back up his neck again.

He was halfway across the yard when Levenson spotted him. “Whitton!”

Jake looked up at the scaffolding expecting a bollocking for being two minutes late. Except as Levenson climbed down from the first level platform, he realised he was the only one there. Jake was early for once in his life, or Levenson had given all the others a lie in and not him.

“Morning,” Jake said cautiously.

Levenson wiped his hands on his trousers. “Need you elsewhere before you start here.”

Jake frowned. “What, now? Where?”

Levenson jerked a thumb across the estate. “Old admin block. Unit Twelve. Demo crew’s in first thing tomorrow and the survey lads have flagged movement around the upper roof access.”

“Movement?”

“Part of the decking’s moved.” Levenson shrugged. “No one knows if it’s the access platform, the hatch frame, or half the bloody roof deciding it’s had enough. I need someone experienced up there before Blackridge sends a dozen demolition lads wandering about.”

Jake frowned. “Why me?”

Levenson snorted. “You’re the one who banged on about understanding these old roofs, aye.”

He had said that, hadn’t he? More than once.

That old don’t-lie-on-your-CV coming back to bite him.

“It’s a safety check,” Levenson said. “Make sure the access route’s sound, tell us what’s moved, and whether the roof won’t come down on the demo crew tomorrow.”

Sounded reasonable.