The Way of Things, Chapter 14
Title - The Way of Things (14/45)
Author - jlrpuck
Rating - T
Pairing - Peter Carlisle/Rose Tyler
Spoilers - For both Blackpool and S2 of Doctor Who.
Disclaimer - Characters from Blackpool and Doctor Who are the property of the BBC, and are used with the greatest of love and respect; no profit is intended from the writing or sharing of this story.
Summary - A post-Doomsday story, set in the Alt!Verse. It's been over three years since Rose and the Doctor said goodbye. What happens when she not only meets his doppelganger, but has to work with him?
Author’s Notes - As promised-a change in rating for this chapter. I know, it’s not what many of you had hoped for...but it’s a start. :)
As always, many thanks to my betas, earlgreytea68 and arctacuda. Any mistakes in this document are my own, and exist because I added that bit after they went to much trouble to edit this. Muchas gracias, as well, to rosa_acicularis (assuming she can dig her way out from under coursework to read this). misssara11 is the one who encouraged me to start writing in the first place, and who read over my early efforts at this story.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 | Chapter 25 | Chapter 26 | Chapter 27 | Chapter 28 | Chapter 29 | Chapter 30 | Chapter 31 | Chapter 32 | Chapter 33 | Chapter 34 | Chapter 35 | Chapter 36 | Chapter 37 | Chapter 38 | Chapter 39 | Chapter 40 | Chapter 41 | Chapter 42 | Chapter 43 | Chapter 44 | Epilogue
Peter was not best pleased to be soaking wet, sitting in a car with cloth seats at least an hour away from a dry set of clothes. He’d been sulking until Rose’s cheerful laughter had made him realize the innate humour of the situation; her joy was infectious, and he found himself joining with her in laughing at their situation. He’d never seen her so relaxed, her eyes glowing with laughter and a smile lighting up her face. She was beautiful.
She looked over at him as he continued to laugh at himself, and he was caught off-guard when her laughter faded and was replaced by a look of breathtaking intensity; for once, that fantastic, single-minded gaze was actually focused entirely on him. She was seeing him. He sobered in response, and stared at her as openly as she was staring at him. Suddenly, the electricity was back, flowing freely between them; he could feel it travelling from her eyes into his soul, up and down his body. She had to feel it too.
Sod it. Slowly, tentatively, he leaned across the gear box towards her. She paused, leading him to worry he had misjudged what was going on in the car. He had images of her backing away, getting out of the car to flee into the storm, and paused to give her the chance of flight. That seemed to decide it for her; she slowly moved forward to meet him halfway, eyes closing as her lips neared his.
They met with the briefest brush of lips, gentle pressure on both sides resulting in a sweet, short kiss. Peter leaned back a little, giving Rose one more chance to back away. Instead, she leaned towards him in search of another kiss. He leaned back into her, brushing his lips against hers with more pressure. The feeling was indescribable, like a jolt of pure energy running from her mouth to his and lighting up every nerve ending he had. His left hand on the seat back, he brought his right around to cup her face as he continued to kiss her, before once again gently breaking the kiss. He was savouring the sensation, but he didn’t want Rose to feel like he was forcing her. She slowly blinked her eyes open and looked up at him with a slightly dazed expression. He smiled softly at her, stroking the back of his hand along her cheek, and she smiled in return.
Peter wanted to say something, perhaps vocalize his amazement that this was actually happening, but was at a complete loss for words. Instead, he leaned in and began kissing her once more, hand now cupping her jaw as his thumb continued to stroke her cheek. In response, Rose fisted both hands in his soggy jumper, trying to pull him closer to her as they gently brushed their lips. Involuntarily, he moaned, moving his hand into her hair to try to bring her closer to him. That seemed to stir something in Rose, who pressed her lips even harder against his, hands sliding from the front of his jumper, up and over his shoulders, clasping behind his neck.
Having brought his left hand to join his right in Rose’s hair, Peter ran his tongue along the crease of Rose’s lips. He had a suddenly insatiable need to taste her, and was thrilled when she parted her lips in response to his unspoken request. Slowly, his tongue slid into her mouth, the taste of her spreading across his taste buds and her warmth stirring something deep inside him. He felt rather than heard her whimper as he languidly began exploring her mouth, tongue running lightly along her teeth before crossing that barrier and tripping along the roof of her mouth. As he moved his exploration to the underside of her tongue, Rose began an investigation of her own. Her tongue reached out, briefly battling with his before gaining entry into his mouth. The feel of her lightly running the tip of her tongue around his mouth elicited another groan from him, this one amplified by the confines of the car. He was mortified, but Rose seemed undeterred. She persevered in her study of his mouth, if anything encouraged by his response, and the two of them quickly lost themselves in each other.
~ - ~
Rose pulled back from the kiss some indeterminate amount of time later, hands falling into her lap as she gasped for air. She had become completely absorbed in her union with Peter, and was still slightly dazed as she tried to catch her breath. His hands sliding out of her hair and back into his lap, Peter slowly opened his eyes and looked right into hers. Rose’s breath caught at the passion in his look; she couldn’t help but blush, and broke the gaze by glancing down at her own folded hands. The intensity of emotion she was feeling was overwhelming, and knowing that Peter was equally affected only served to knock her more off balance. The car was quiet, the rain drumming on the roof the only sound.
After a brief pause, she saw Peter’s hands reach over and gently cup hers. “Y’ alright, Rose?” His gentle voice caused her to look back up at him. He looked concerned, and not a little afraid; was he worried that she was going to run off? The man had just snogged her senseless-she wasn’t going anywhere.
She took a shaky breath, turning her hands over so she could clasp his. “I...I just...That was...Wow.” She smiled at him. “You?”
“I can’t believe that just happened.” Rose’s focus sharpened. If he was going to say he regretted it, she couldn’t be held responsible for her actions. “I didn’t think...” He paused, trying to figure out how to convey what he was feeling. “I wasn’t sure that you...would want to.” He ducked his head, as though ashamed of his doubt.
“Bold move then, don’t ya think?” She squeezed his hands, trying to get him to look back up at her. He did, and she smiled before leaning in for a quick kiss. “I wanted to...to kiss you. I didn’t think you would,” she said shyly as she sat back.
Peter’s face brightened at the admission. “Oh, I’ve wanted to for ages.” That comment deserved another kiss as a reward, and for a few moments the conversation stopped as they again became lost in discovering each other. Eventually, Rose felt Peter slow down to a few brief, sweet kisses before he sat back. “I could do that for hours,” Peter commented, causing Rose to blush.
“As could I, but someone might get worried about us and come looking. Could you imagine, getting caught snogging in your car?” She giggled at the image as Peter looked half-horrified at the thought and half-tempted to do it anyway. Instead, he reached up with his left hand and gently stroked down her cheek, pausing at her jaw before returning his hand to her lap. “Oh, there are worse things to be caught doing.” The tenderness of the gesture, combined with the underlying heat of his statement, caused Rose’s breath to hitch. She was completely at a loss for words.
Peter’s brown eyes gazed once more into Rose’s. “I have to warn you, Rose. There’s no turning back for me. This step we’ve taken? I’m not going to be able to just step away and pretend nothing has happened. I can only go forward.”
Rose nodded her head, still having a hard time putting words together. Who would have thought a kiss would have knocked her for six? It was just a bloody kiss-she should at least be able to string a sentence together! She squeezed Peter’s hands, swallowing convulsively as she struggled to come up with a reply to his statement. “I don’t want you to step away,” she managed softly, trying to convey the sincerity of her statement with her eyes.
Peter’s already powerful gaze gained in intensity at her reply. “Good.” He practically growled the word, leaning forward to claim her lips in a passionate kiss. His hands cupped her face, guiding and supporting her as their tongues and lips once again met. Where their earlier kisses had been about exploration, this one was about staking a claim. As she focused on running her tongue along every nook and cranny of Peter’s mouth, she was revelling in the feeling of him doing the same to her. She lightly ran her hands up over his chest, eventually resting them on his shoulders; several more minutes passed before the kiss softened. They ended with their foreheads touching, both panting for air, her hands still on his shoulders while his still cupped her face. He brushed both thumbs along her cheekbones as he sighed. “I repeat that I could easily do this for the rest of the day. But I suppose you have a point. We should get back.”
She sat back in her seat and nodded mutely, not wanting the moment to end yet knowing they really needed to at least report back before Mickey got worried and sent the entire force after them. She wanted to talk with Peter about what, exactly, he meant by going forward; and she had no idea how she was going to be able to act nonchalant around him when they got back to town. She raised her eyes to see Peter affectionately observing her, looking for all the world as though he were trying to figure out her thoughts.
“Peter. I...We...What do we do now?” She was still having trouble communicating in her native language, it appeared. She was going to have a hard time working, if this is how he would now affect her.
He paused before responding, thrilled to have heard her call him by his name for the first time. “I don’t know. I suppose we’ll just have to see, eh?” He leaned over and gave her one more peck on the lips before settling back into his seat. Both of them buckled in, he started the car and began the drive back to Kendal.
~ - ~
Peter found himself on autopilot for the drive back to town. He’d kissed her. He really had no idea what had inspired that bit of insanity, but what was even more surprising to him was that she had kissed him back. More than once. They’d been like teenagers, sitting in the car snogging, completely oblivious to the world outside the metal and glass of the vehicle. He couldn’t believe it.
He wanted to bask in the elation that the development had created; but his joy was tempered by the fact that this made things quite a bit more complicated. There was nothing in the rulebook against what he and Rose had done, and what he hoped they would continue to do. Rose was from another agency, and was effectively an equal. She wasn’t a suspect, she wasn’t related to a suspect, she wasn’t coming into this from a disadvantage, power-wise; no one could say he’d coerced her, as many had implied he had done with Natalie in Blackpool. His track record, however, and the morals of the organization for which he worked would see his involvement with Rose as a Very Bad Thing. The implication would be that he was Losing Focus on the investigation, that his distraction would lead him to lose the Larger Vision and Distance necessary to conduct a thorough investigation. He thought that was rubbish, of course-how could being involved with Rose do that?-but he knew he’d have a hard time erasing that misconception. They’d just have to be low-key about things. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to confide in any of his co-workers, although given that they were all police he was willing to bet they’d work it out pretty quickly. He had a good enough feel for how Rose and her team interacted to know that she’d tell them what was going on.
The thought of not making a go of it with Rose never crossed his mind.
He sighed as the secondary road they had been on merged with the motorway. Finishing shifting as he completed the high-speed merge, he saw Rose move out of the corner of his eye before he felt her right hand cover his left one on the gearshift. He glanced a smile over at her, briefly, before turning his attention back to the traffic.
“If you were serious, Peter, we’re going to have to work something out.” Rose clearly had been thinking along the same lines he had.
He shot her another glance before replying. “I wasn’t kidding when I said there was no going back, Rose.” Would the blasted rain never end? He wanted to be able to look at her more than occasionally as they had this conversation, and the current road conditions made that impossible. Damn having to get back to the station.
“I’m glad,” came her soft reply. After pausing for a beat, she continued, “I think we’re going to have to make every effort to avoid working together. I don’t think we’re doing anything wrong,” she added, hastily. “It’s just easier to remove any chance for people to think the worst. Don’t you think?”
Peter sighed before replying. “Yes, I fear you’re right about that. I suppose I’ll just have to keep at it with Mickey.” He pulled a face, smiling as he heard Rose chuckle. “Not that there’s any way we’re going to be able to actually keep this a secret. Funny thing about working where I do-people do have a knack for figuring things out.”
“As an American friend used to say-telephone, telegraph, tell a cop. Worst gossips on earth, the police.” She paused, chewing on her lip as she weighed her next words. “Peter, I’m going to have to tell Jake and Mickey.” He nodded, having figured she would. The three of them were clearly close, and he doubted there were very many secrets between them.
The car fell into silence, the squeak of the wipers on the increasingly dry windscreen the only noise as they neared the junction for Kendal. Peter idly noted the rain was beginning to taper off and there were patches of blue sky showing in the west as he mulled things over. He had a lot of things to think about-he didn’t want to repeat his past mistakes, but he knew that there was an undeniable and reciprocal attraction between he and Rose. They’d only kissed, but he knew he very much wanted to do so much more with her. It wasn’t about the sex (well, he allowed, maybe just a bit); he wanted to get to know her, what she thought, what made her laugh, everything. As he exited the roundabout that would put them on the road to town, he shook his head-no point overthinking things and getting ahead of himself. He’d done that with Natalie, and he’d be damned if he did it again. Best to start with the simple things, he decided as they entered town.
“Rose? I...I don’t suppose you’d like to have dinner?” He felt nervous asking the question, and wanted to laugh. He was a grown man, he’d done this before-and he had the advantage of already knowing Rose liked him. What was there to be nervous about? Still, he felt butterflies in his stomach as he glanced at Rose for her answer.
Rose gave him a small smile, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she replied. “Oh, I’d love to!” Her cheeks turned pink, and that combined with her answer caused Peter to smile. Rose burst into a grin in response.
“There, now, that wasn’t so bad. Was it? Dinner it is. Would tonight be too soon?” He rushed the last, eager to know he’d have Rose to himself again soon. They were rapidly approaching the station, and his time with her was running out.
“No! Not at all.” Rose looked down at her hands, then back up at him. “Tonight, then.”
“Tonight. Seven o’clock.” He picked up her right hand and gave it a quick peck before reaching the turn-off for the station. “I’ll pick you up?”
“That would be lovely.” She paused. “Thank you, Peter. For everything.”
He looked up at her, surprised at the wealth of emotion in her statement. He wanted nothing more than to give her a proper kiss, but given that he had just parked the car outside the station he fought the urge. Rather, he smiled at her, his brown eyes glowing with warmth. “You’re quite welcome.”
~ - ~
Chapter Fifteen
Author - jlrpuck
Rating - T
Pairing - Peter Carlisle/Rose Tyler
Spoilers - For both Blackpool and S2 of Doctor Who.
Disclaimer - Characters from Blackpool and Doctor Who are the property of the BBC, and are used with the greatest of love and respect; no profit is intended from the writing or sharing of this story.
Summary - A post-Doomsday story, set in the Alt!Verse. It's been over three years since Rose and the Doctor said goodbye. What happens when she not only meets his doppelganger, but has to work with him?
Author’s Notes - As promised-a change in rating for this chapter. I know, it’s not what many of you had hoped for...but it’s a start. :)
As always, many thanks to my betas, earlgreytea68 and arctacuda. Any mistakes in this document are my own, and exist because I added that bit after they went to much trouble to edit this. Muchas gracias, as well, to rosa_acicularis (assuming she can dig her way out from under coursework to read this). misssara11 is the one who encouraged me to start writing in the first place, and who read over my early efforts at this story.
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 15 | Chapter 16 | Chapter 17 | Chapter 18 | Chapter 19 | Chapter 20 | Chapter 21 | Chapter 22 | Chapter 23 | Chapter 24 | Chapter 25 | Chapter 26 | Chapter 27 | Chapter 28 | Chapter 29 | Chapter 30 | Chapter 31 | Chapter 32 | Chapter 33 | Chapter 34 | Chapter 35 | Chapter 36 | Chapter 37 | Chapter 38 | Chapter 39 | Chapter 40 | Chapter 41 | Chapter 42 | Chapter 43 | Chapter 44 | Epilogue
Peter was not best pleased to be soaking wet, sitting in a car with cloth seats at least an hour away from a dry set of clothes. He’d been sulking until Rose’s cheerful laughter had made him realize the innate humour of the situation; her joy was infectious, and he found himself joining with her in laughing at their situation. He’d never seen her so relaxed, her eyes glowing with laughter and a smile lighting up her face. She was beautiful.
She looked over at him as he continued to laugh at himself, and he was caught off-guard when her laughter faded and was replaced by a look of breathtaking intensity; for once, that fantastic, single-minded gaze was actually focused entirely on him. She was seeing him. He sobered in response, and stared at her as openly as she was staring at him. Suddenly, the electricity was back, flowing freely between them; he could feel it travelling from her eyes into his soul, up and down his body. She had to feel it too.
Sod it. Slowly, tentatively, he leaned across the gear box towards her. She paused, leading him to worry he had misjudged what was going on in the car. He had images of her backing away, getting out of the car to flee into the storm, and paused to give her the chance of flight. That seemed to decide it for her; she slowly moved forward to meet him halfway, eyes closing as her lips neared his.
They met with the briefest brush of lips, gentle pressure on both sides resulting in a sweet, short kiss. Peter leaned back a little, giving Rose one more chance to back away. Instead, she leaned towards him in search of another kiss. He leaned back into her, brushing his lips against hers with more pressure. The feeling was indescribable, like a jolt of pure energy running from her mouth to his and lighting up every nerve ending he had. His left hand on the seat back, he brought his right around to cup her face as he continued to kiss her, before once again gently breaking the kiss. He was savouring the sensation, but he didn’t want Rose to feel like he was forcing her. She slowly blinked her eyes open and looked up at him with a slightly dazed expression. He smiled softly at her, stroking the back of his hand along her cheek, and she smiled in return.
Peter wanted to say something, perhaps vocalize his amazement that this was actually happening, but was at a complete loss for words. Instead, he leaned in and began kissing her once more, hand now cupping her jaw as his thumb continued to stroke her cheek. In response, Rose fisted both hands in his soggy jumper, trying to pull him closer to her as they gently brushed their lips. Involuntarily, he moaned, moving his hand into her hair to try to bring her closer to him. That seemed to stir something in Rose, who pressed her lips even harder against his, hands sliding from the front of his jumper, up and over his shoulders, clasping behind his neck.
Having brought his left hand to join his right in Rose’s hair, Peter ran his tongue along the crease of Rose’s lips. He had a suddenly insatiable need to taste her, and was thrilled when she parted her lips in response to his unspoken request. Slowly, his tongue slid into her mouth, the taste of her spreading across his taste buds and her warmth stirring something deep inside him. He felt rather than heard her whimper as he languidly began exploring her mouth, tongue running lightly along her teeth before crossing that barrier and tripping along the roof of her mouth. As he moved his exploration to the underside of her tongue, Rose began an investigation of her own. Her tongue reached out, briefly battling with his before gaining entry into his mouth. The feel of her lightly running the tip of her tongue around his mouth elicited another groan from him, this one amplified by the confines of the car. He was mortified, but Rose seemed undeterred. She persevered in her study of his mouth, if anything encouraged by his response, and the two of them quickly lost themselves in each other.
~ - ~
Rose pulled back from the kiss some indeterminate amount of time later, hands falling into her lap as she gasped for air. She had become completely absorbed in her union with Peter, and was still slightly dazed as she tried to catch her breath. His hands sliding out of her hair and back into his lap, Peter slowly opened his eyes and looked right into hers. Rose’s breath caught at the passion in his look; she couldn’t help but blush, and broke the gaze by glancing down at her own folded hands. The intensity of emotion she was feeling was overwhelming, and knowing that Peter was equally affected only served to knock her more off balance. The car was quiet, the rain drumming on the roof the only sound.
After a brief pause, she saw Peter’s hands reach over and gently cup hers. “Y’ alright, Rose?” His gentle voice caused her to look back up at him. He looked concerned, and not a little afraid; was he worried that she was going to run off? The man had just snogged her senseless-she wasn’t going anywhere.
She took a shaky breath, turning her hands over so she could clasp his. “I...I just...That was...Wow.” She smiled at him. “You?”
“I can’t believe that just happened.” Rose’s focus sharpened. If he was going to say he regretted it, she couldn’t be held responsible for her actions. “I didn’t think...” He paused, trying to figure out how to convey what he was feeling. “I wasn’t sure that you...would want to.” He ducked his head, as though ashamed of his doubt.
“Bold move then, don’t ya think?” She squeezed his hands, trying to get him to look back up at her. He did, and she smiled before leaning in for a quick kiss. “I wanted to...to kiss you. I didn’t think you would,” she said shyly as she sat back.
Peter’s face brightened at the admission. “Oh, I’ve wanted to for ages.” That comment deserved another kiss as a reward, and for a few moments the conversation stopped as they again became lost in discovering each other. Eventually, Rose felt Peter slow down to a few brief, sweet kisses before he sat back. “I could do that for hours,” Peter commented, causing Rose to blush.
“As could I, but someone might get worried about us and come looking. Could you imagine, getting caught snogging in your car?” She giggled at the image as Peter looked half-horrified at the thought and half-tempted to do it anyway. Instead, he reached up with his left hand and gently stroked down her cheek, pausing at her jaw before returning his hand to her lap. “Oh, there are worse things to be caught doing.” The tenderness of the gesture, combined with the underlying heat of his statement, caused Rose’s breath to hitch. She was completely at a loss for words.
Peter’s brown eyes gazed once more into Rose’s. “I have to warn you, Rose. There’s no turning back for me. This step we’ve taken? I’m not going to be able to just step away and pretend nothing has happened. I can only go forward.”
Rose nodded her head, still having a hard time putting words together. Who would have thought a kiss would have knocked her for six? It was just a bloody kiss-she should at least be able to string a sentence together! She squeezed Peter’s hands, swallowing convulsively as she struggled to come up with a reply to his statement. “I don’t want you to step away,” she managed softly, trying to convey the sincerity of her statement with her eyes.
Peter’s already powerful gaze gained in intensity at her reply. “Good.” He practically growled the word, leaning forward to claim her lips in a passionate kiss. His hands cupped her face, guiding and supporting her as their tongues and lips once again met. Where their earlier kisses had been about exploration, this one was about staking a claim. As she focused on running her tongue along every nook and cranny of Peter’s mouth, she was revelling in the feeling of him doing the same to her. She lightly ran her hands up over his chest, eventually resting them on his shoulders; several more minutes passed before the kiss softened. They ended with their foreheads touching, both panting for air, her hands still on his shoulders while his still cupped her face. He brushed both thumbs along her cheekbones as he sighed. “I repeat that I could easily do this for the rest of the day. But I suppose you have a point. We should get back.”
She sat back in her seat and nodded mutely, not wanting the moment to end yet knowing they really needed to at least report back before Mickey got worried and sent the entire force after them. She wanted to talk with Peter about what, exactly, he meant by going forward; and she had no idea how she was going to be able to act nonchalant around him when they got back to town. She raised her eyes to see Peter affectionately observing her, looking for all the world as though he were trying to figure out her thoughts.
“Peter. I...We...What do we do now?” She was still having trouble communicating in her native language, it appeared. She was going to have a hard time working, if this is how he would now affect her.
He paused before responding, thrilled to have heard her call him by his name for the first time. “I don’t know. I suppose we’ll just have to see, eh?” He leaned over and gave her one more peck on the lips before settling back into his seat. Both of them buckled in, he started the car and began the drive back to Kendal.
~ - ~
Peter found himself on autopilot for the drive back to town. He’d kissed her. He really had no idea what had inspired that bit of insanity, but what was even more surprising to him was that she had kissed him back. More than once. They’d been like teenagers, sitting in the car snogging, completely oblivious to the world outside the metal and glass of the vehicle. He couldn’t believe it.
He wanted to bask in the elation that the development had created; but his joy was tempered by the fact that this made things quite a bit more complicated. There was nothing in the rulebook against what he and Rose had done, and what he hoped they would continue to do. Rose was from another agency, and was effectively an equal. She wasn’t a suspect, she wasn’t related to a suspect, she wasn’t coming into this from a disadvantage, power-wise; no one could say he’d coerced her, as many had implied he had done with Natalie in Blackpool. His track record, however, and the morals of the organization for which he worked would see his involvement with Rose as a Very Bad Thing. The implication would be that he was Losing Focus on the investigation, that his distraction would lead him to lose the Larger Vision and Distance necessary to conduct a thorough investigation. He thought that was rubbish, of course-how could being involved with Rose do that?-but he knew he’d have a hard time erasing that misconception. They’d just have to be low-key about things. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to confide in any of his co-workers, although given that they were all police he was willing to bet they’d work it out pretty quickly. He had a good enough feel for how Rose and her team interacted to know that she’d tell them what was going on.
The thought of not making a go of it with Rose never crossed his mind.
He sighed as the secondary road they had been on merged with the motorway. Finishing shifting as he completed the high-speed merge, he saw Rose move out of the corner of his eye before he felt her right hand cover his left one on the gearshift. He glanced a smile over at her, briefly, before turning his attention back to the traffic.
“If you were serious, Peter, we’re going to have to work something out.” Rose clearly had been thinking along the same lines he had.
He shot her another glance before replying. “I wasn’t kidding when I said there was no going back, Rose.” Would the blasted rain never end? He wanted to be able to look at her more than occasionally as they had this conversation, and the current road conditions made that impossible. Damn having to get back to the station.
“I’m glad,” came her soft reply. After pausing for a beat, she continued, “I think we’re going to have to make every effort to avoid working together. I don’t think we’re doing anything wrong,” she added, hastily. “It’s just easier to remove any chance for people to think the worst. Don’t you think?”
Peter sighed before replying. “Yes, I fear you’re right about that. I suppose I’ll just have to keep at it with Mickey.” He pulled a face, smiling as he heard Rose chuckle. “Not that there’s any way we’re going to be able to actually keep this a secret. Funny thing about working where I do-people do have a knack for figuring things out.”
“As an American friend used to say-telephone, telegraph, tell a cop. Worst gossips on earth, the police.” She paused, chewing on her lip as she weighed her next words. “Peter, I’m going to have to tell Jake and Mickey.” He nodded, having figured she would. The three of them were clearly close, and he doubted there were very many secrets between them.
The car fell into silence, the squeak of the wipers on the increasingly dry windscreen the only noise as they neared the junction for Kendal. Peter idly noted the rain was beginning to taper off and there were patches of blue sky showing in the west as he mulled things over. He had a lot of things to think about-he didn’t want to repeat his past mistakes, but he knew that there was an undeniable and reciprocal attraction between he and Rose. They’d only kissed, but he knew he very much wanted to do so much more with her. It wasn’t about the sex (well, he allowed, maybe just a bit); he wanted to get to know her, what she thought, what made her laugh, everything. As he exited the roundabout that would put them on the road to town, he shook his head-no point overthinking things and getting ahead of himself. He’d done that with Natalie, and he’d be damned if he did it again. Best to start with the simple things, he decided as they entered town.
“Rose? I...I don’t suppose you’d like to have dinner?” He felt nervous asking the question, and wanted to laugh. He was a grown man, he’d done this before-and he had the advantage of already knowing Rose liked him. What was there to be nervous about? Still, he felt butterflies in his stomach as he glanced at Rose for her answer.
Rose gave him a small smile, the corners of her eyes crinkling as she replied. “Oh, I’d love to!” Her cheeks turned pink, and that combined with her answer caused Peter to smile. Rose burst into a grin in response.
“There, now, that wasn’t so bad. Was it? Dinner it is. Would tonight be too soon?” He rushed the last, eager to know he’d have Rose to himself again soon. They were rapidly approaching the station, and his time with her was running out.
“No! Not at all.” Rose looked down at her hands, then back up at him. “Tonight, then.”
“Tonight. Seven o’clock.” He picked up her right hand and gave it a quick peck before reaching the turn-off for the station. “I’ll pick you up?”
“That would be lovely.” She paused. “Thank you, Peter. For everything.”
He looked up at her, surprised at the wealth of emotion in her statement. He wanted nothing more than to give her a proper kiss, but given that he had just parked the car outside the station he fought the urge. Rather, he smiled at her, his brown eyes glowing with warmth. “You’re quite welcome.”
~ - ~
Chapter Fifteen