The Reluctant Assistant - Book One

Home Part 28

"What do you think?" Jackson asked nervously, after having stowed Raymond's suitcase. Taking Jackson's hand, he walked through the house. Everything was light and airy, but had that cozy feeling of home. The upstairs were taken up by two massive bedrooms. He smiled when he noticed that there were pictures of him and Raymond on the dresser. Downstairs, Jackson took him to two rooms that were screened from the rest of the house. 

"This is your office." He pulled Raymond into a room with light wooden book shelves littered across a white wall behind a desk, where another photo of Jackson was stationed. Everything felt clean and modern, without loosing the coziness that made it feel like a home. Finally, they stood in the kitchen with butcher's block tops, French doors leading out to a herb garden that smelled intoxicating. Turning to Jackson who had a slight frown on his face, he smiled. Jackson was worried that something was off, since Raymond had said nothing throughout the tour of the house.

"It's perfect, and the windows are normal people windows, well for the most part." He leaned up to kiss Jackson.

"Really? You think so?" Jackson was relieved. He had a hard time picking and was even considering buying something, but Raymond would probably be tracking his bank account for any crazy transactions. He settled on this smaller stone house, because of it's rustic garden and modern interior that would appeal to Raymond most and practically speaking, it was close to work. 

"You picked this yourself?" Raymond raised and eyebrow, while Jackson pulled him closer and nodded. "You surprise me a lot these days."

"In a good way, I hope." he leant down to kiss Raymond again, sighing against his mouth, enjoying the feeling that they won't be interrupted and would have the place to themselves. 

"So, which room is mine?" Raymond pulled out of his arms.

"What?" There's only one room for us, the other is a guest room, for when we have guests over!" he moaned.

"I said move in, not set up house and play mother." he reminded Jackson, putting up a fight for old times' sake.

"We need at least one guest room for when your drunken friends decide to stay over." he reasoned. "Anyway, there are a few house rules that we need to get straight if we're going to be living together." Jackson pulled him over to the couch, facing a fireplace.

House rules and Jackson? Now he's heard everything! For someone who thought rules were mere suggestions, here he sat with a very serious Jackson, who had a folder in his hand. "Here are the rules. There are only a few, but we will have to stick to them."

 Raymond looked from the folder to Jackson, snorting. "Do you really think I'll agree to this? Three meals are a lot, I'm not even sure if we'll be seeing each other that much." he shook his head. "And then, a minimum period of two years? Seriously?"

"Okay how about one and a half. Seems fair right?" Jackson fought back for as much time as possible.

"One year, take it or leave it." he held his hand out to Jackson, who immediately grabbed it with a grin pulling a pen out of his jacket pocket, so that Raymond could sign the contract, after he'd made his changes. Grabbing it out of Raymond's hands, he jumped up toward his office.

"Had to make sure it's kept safe, didn't I?" he grinned, sitting down and pulling Raymond onto his lap, kissing him. When Raymond's arms snaked around his shoulders, Jackson let out a satisfied moan, deepening the kiss. His hands slipped under Raymond's sweater to gain access to his skin. When Raymond pulled back slightly, Jackson's eyes were smoky with desire, while his hands were tracing circles on his back, giving him goosebumps.

"I think I should go unpack," he finally said, before they went too far. Not that he didn't want to go further, he definitely wanted to, but he'd never really been in a relationship, so didn't know what was too soon, too fast or even expected. 

Standing in their bedroom, Raymond opened his suitcase and stared at the contents in horror. His clothes were thrown in a mess, his suits scrunched up next to his shoes, that were now all covered in his shower gel. His very expensive shower gel, that he got really cheap. It was probably a knock-off, but it smelt like the real thing. He poked at his suit jacket that had slime oozing over it.

"JACKSON!" he watched as a smiling Jackson walked into the room. "I thought you said you packed my bag?" he pointed at the suitcase in front of him. "This is not what normal people call packing, Jackson." He threw his hands in the air. "Ruined, everything ruined." 

Jackson hugged him from behind. "I really did try. Will you forgive me?" he kissed Raymond's neck.

He really wanted to stay pissed off with Jackson, but he knew that in his distorted mind this was equal to having a professional butler pack your bag. But, dear lord, did he have to go to such extremes? "You can't just kiss me and think everything will be okay, you know. It doesn't work like that." Raymond thought someone had to be the adult in this relationship or house share or whatever you call this.

"Come on Cook, we'll go get you some clothes tomorrow, so everything is sorted. There's no point in trying to save that mess." he reasoned, pointing to the suitcase, his mouth near Raymond's ear.

Raymond was lost the minute Jackson's lips moved to graze across his ear. He couldn't even remember why he was angry at Jackson, he just didn't want him to stop. Turning around, he linked his hands around Jackson's neck, leaning up to kiss him. Jackson didn't need much invitation to deepen the kiss, nearly lifting Raymond off the ground in an effort to get even closer to him.

"You are freakishly tall, you know that?" Raymond asked, as he pulled away. His head still dizzy from kissing Jackson. 

"No, you're just a tiny, skinny little thing, who turns into superman at work." he grinned at Raymond, pulling away from him to get rid of the offending suitcase. "You're going to have to go through my cupboard again, until we get to the shops tomorrow."

"Come on, let's go and eat, I'm hungry." Raymond grabbed his hand and led him downstairs. Let tomorrow worry about tomorrow he thought.