Page 70 of Into the Dark
As Alex leads me down a hall with dark green walls to the back of the house, I look down at my feet. The floor is dark, polished wood I’m scared I’ll scuff with my trainers. Why the fuck did I wear trainers?
The first thing I see as we walk into the kitchen is a redheaded woman with her back to us standing over a massive black stove stirring something. She’s a bit smaller than Alex in height, but they have the same hourglass figure and the same way of holding themselves. The radio is on, but it’s one of those stations with people talking, and not about football. I’ve always wondered who listens to those stations. Now I know.
“Hi, Mum,” Alex says, letting go of my hand to go to her mum.
The woman half-jumps before whipping around to face us both, and I get my first look at her. I’m not sure how old she is, but she doesn’t look a day over fifty. A healthy, looked-after fifty. Her hair is a few shades lighter than Alex’s, but they have the same pale, milky skin and oval-shaped eyes. Alex hugs her mum tightly, and then they both turn toward me at the same time. It makes my arse clench.
As I smile and stretch my hand out to her the panic sets in. Did I wash them properly? Are they dirty, sweating?
“Nice to meet you. I’m Jake.”
Alex smiles encouragingly. “Jake, this is my mum, Eve.”
Eve wipes her hands on a green-striped dish towel and reaches out to take my hand. She’s looking at me like a teacher would a new kid in class, sizing up my strengths and weaknesses, deciding if I’m worth the effort.
“Really nice to meet you, Eve,” I add for good measure.
As she takes my hand she steps into me and reaches up on her toes to kiss me softly on the cheek. She smells like sweets and clean washing. It reminds me of something, but the memory is buried too deep.
“Jake, yes, lovely to meet you.” She’s smiling, but it looks a little forced, maybe. Her accent is posh like Alex’s. “We’ve heard lots about you.”
“Sorry about that.” I attempt a joke. It falls flat, and I feel myself shrink a little.
She stares at me for a second or two more before turning to Alex. “Dinner shan’t be too much longer, sweetheart. What can I get you both to drink?”
“Well, I’m driving, so just water for me, please,” Alex says before turning to me. “Babe, do you want a beer?”
Babe? I blink at that. “Yeah, a beer would be great, thanks.”
Eve nods at me before turning toward the fridge.
“Your house is really lovely,” I say. Seriously? Next I’ll be asking her where she gets her fucking hair done. But I remember Fred telling me one time that women love compliments on their houses. Telling them you like their bodies—which I’d figured out all on my own—and their houses has them eating out of your hand. Fred said it had something to do with them thinking you could imagine living with them or some shit—I forget exactly. I didn’t use it until Alex, though, mainly because I didn’t want women to think I wanted to move in with them, but when I did she smiled that shy fucking smile at me that made me feel a bit dizzy.
Like mother like daughter, it seems, because Eve’s whole face changes. She practically beams at the compliment. “Oh, thank you, Jake! We only had the kitchen done a year or so ago. The old one had been here since we moved in, and we’d put it off for so long—hadn’t we, darling?” she asks Alex, who nods, waiting until her mum turns her back to throw me an exaggerated eye roll. “I just thought getting a new kitchen would be a nightmare. Which it absolutely was.” She laughs.
I smile back, watching as she finishes pouring what looks like a bottle of Carlsberg into a tall glass. I don’t think I’ve ever had bottled beer out of a glass in my life.
“Looks like it was well worth it though.” It is a nice kitchen.
Eve beams wider as she hands Alex a glass of water and goes back to the stove.
Alex seats herself on a tall stool at the island, looking deep in thought as she moves her hand over her stomach. Where is she? Is she speaking French? Then, as if maybe she heard my thoughts, her body jerks to attention and she straightens up, dragging her eyes from me to her mum.
“Where’s Dad, Mum?” she asks, taking a sip of her water.
“Oh, he’s upstairs. He had the radio on and was hammering—he won’t have heard you come in.” She walks across the kitchen, stretches her head out the door, and shouts upward, “Tom! Alex is here! Alex and Jake are here!”
For some reason, this makes Alex smile.
When no response comes her mum mutters something about selective hearing and disappears out of the kitchen. When we’re alone, Alex turns her attention fully onto me, beckoning me toward her. As I crowd her with my body she peers up at me and wraps her arms around my waist. I cup her face with my hands, her skin warm and so soft under my fingers.
“You can tell already if she hates me, can’t you?” I ask.
The side of her mouth twitches up in amusement. “You complimented her kitchen—she probably wants to legally adopt you.” She smiles then frowns. “Wait, forget I said that.”
“I’d absolutely still fuck you, if that’s what you’re worried about.” I smirk. As I run my thumb over the freckle that sits below her eye and down, she trembles. I lean in to kiss her deeply.
“I like seeing you in here,” she says when I pull back. She noses against my beard, chasing my mouth again. I’m lost in the sweet warmth of her when I hear the sound of a male throat being cleared.