An Honest Kiss

Chapter 17

The next morning she awoke to Jack moving around the room as he dressed for the day, and for just a second it was as it used to be, but the second didn't last as the previous night's details flooded her memory. Jack had held her for a long time after she had finished crying before he had picked her up, as he would a child, and carried her up to bed tucking her in and sitting with her until she fell asleep.

Now in broad daylight she should be embarrassed, it was the exact situation that she had fought being in for over seven years, but she wasn't. She actually felt lighter than she had in a long time.

Jack looked over at her noting that she was awake. "I didn't mean to wake you."

He stood in front of the mirror hanging on the closet door, buttoning his shirt and cuffs.

"Where did you sleep last night?" she asked, sitting up and yawning.

"Right next to you. You were out cold and didn't move when I finally came to bed." He reached for a tie.

"Did you all get something to eat last night?"

Jack smiled. "We managed."

Rachel watched as he continued to dress, questions about Nancy chasing through her head. Had Nancy ever watched him dress, had he ever comforted Nancy or carried Nancy to bed? Jack must have been watching her expressions because he stopped and moved to sit in the chair next to the bed. "What's up Ray?"

"Please don't sit there." She insisted quickly her mind going back quickly to the last time they had been right where they were now. He must have understood because a pained expression crossed his face before he rose and sat at the end of the bed.

"Talk to me Ray."

"Ava says you're a dumbass." She leaned back against the headboard watching him as he laughed and the dimple appeared. His easy smile, dress shirt, and tie made him seem very much like the Jack she used to know.

"That I am, but I doubt that's the reason for the pained expression that keeps crossing your face." He watched her as she deliberated how much she should say. "Please Ray, just be direct and honest, we're not going to end up any worse off than we already are that's for damn sure." He reached for her hand and squeezed it.

Nodding, she took a deep breath. "Nancy arrived a few days ago and she was under the impression that she would be staying here. It was evident that you hadn't told her about us, and when I tried to tell her Ava stopped me then dragged Nancy off to stay at her place."

"Then she called me a dumbass."

"Yes, but..."

"But?"

Rachel started to chew on her bottom lip. To say the rest would reveal that she was jealous and upset, and she was so used to guarding those emotions that she didn't know how not to.

"But? Rachel," Jack reached up and pulled her lip out of her teeth.

"Before she left she informed me that I was in your room, and that I would have to move my stuff before you returned." She swallowed hard. "How does she know which room is yours, and why does she feel comfortable enough to be in here when no one else is around?"

Jack sighed, looking weary as he rand his hand down his face. "I told you there was nothing between Nancy and I, why are you having such a hard time believing it?"

"Nothing between you, doesn't mean you haven't slept together. She knows which room is yours, that and the fact that she recognized my stuff as being foreign means that she has been in here long enough to get a good look. Excuse me if that puts doubts in my head."