Rose didn't resist as Emmett brought his lips up to hers and kissed her. She kissed him back and sought them again when he let go.
"No Emmett, I didn't get that close to him. Why don't we go to your room and we can establish a few more facts?"
Emmett was all for it. Despite his hatred of the name he'd been given, he wasn't minding Rose calling him it and supposed she was just doing it on purpose to see if he'd let her. Well she could call him it all she wanted if she came back to his room with him. They finished their drinks and he helped her up, leading the way out of the bar, his arm almost around her and Gemma couldn't help but notice they had left together for the second time. They climbed the stairs and walked past Rose's room and on to his and he opened the door. Once inside, Rose wanted to be questioned further about just how close she had got to his twin.
Within a few minutes, Rose was sitting on Emmett's lap on a chair getting a better look at the differences between the two men. She had relieved him of his jacket and established he was wearing nothing under his shirt and further assuring him she hadn't got as near as she was with his twin. Emmett was hoping his luck would hold out and he wouldn't get too overexcited. He couldn't just come right out and tell her there was something wrong with him. He just had to make sure he didn't go too far, it was only over-exertion that set him off. He could take his time and make it last, he was in no hurry.
Emmett decided him now being shirtless, he was at a disadvantage and unbuttoned the front of the top Rose was wearing, Rose holding onto his neck and kissing it. Thumbing the hem of her top, his fingers strayed under it, touching her skin which made her tingle as gently he edged the top upwards and over her head. Then carefully, he edged down the zip on her black trousers and leaned her back so he could pull them down, Rose helping him by moving herself, still clinging hold of his neck and kissing it.
He would have picked her up and carried her to the bed but he wanted to save his strength for later.
"So Rose, would you care to remain in my custody for tonight while I check out you've told me everything you know?" Emmett smiled.
Rose pretended to consider it for a while as she stretched her legs out sideways. Emmett took advantage and pulled her trousers all the way off, revealing her matching underwear, well he could see they were matching now, he was more interested in getting the top part off for now, anything more may be the end of him. He would have to work up to that bit and judge just how far he could go but he might have to let her in on his big secret.
"I think I can safely say I never got this close up to him. What's his name by the way?"
"Alec Hardy, he's on an exchange programme from England. I don't know any more details only he holds the rank of Detective Inspector so I hope he doesn't think he's going to be in charge, he'll find things are very different over here. For one, he'll have to get used to carrying a gun and learn the way we do things. There's just one more thing Rose, if he doesn't talk to you in an American accent, it's not me."
He pulled her back up and began kissing her. Rose came up for breath. "I'll try to remember that Emmett, I have to make sure there are no distinguishing marks on you and I can't do that from here."
Emmett started to get up, indicating for her to get up and he led her towards the bed. Rose unzipped his trousers and he stepped out of them but she wasn't interested just yet, she wanted to rake her fingers through the hairs on his chest first. Emmett lay her on the bed and pulled back the covers, Rose crawled beneath them and felt the cold sheets, even though it was supposed to be summer, it seemed to get chilly in the coastal town at night. She knew it was after ten when they had left the bar. Emmett chose to hover above her, feeling his hands around her back to unfasten the clasp on her pink bra but she stopped him.
"What you do that for?" he asked, quite annoyed when it was going so well. "Are you going to keep that on all night then?" Disappointment was in his voice.
"Depends. Have you got your alarm set, I have to be up at seven?"
"It's set, I have to go to work too. Now are you really going to keep that on all night?"
Rose whispered, "Just turn out the light Emmett," after which she felt his hands around her back again as he unclasped her bra and tossed it over the edge of the bed.
Although the bedside lamp was out, with the light from the street lamp outside, Emmett could see Rose laid under him as he hovered, kissing her breasts. He moved lower down, as far as he dared before she would expect something else, how was she going to react if she expected more? Emmett moved over onto his back, Rose followed, finally getting her fingers on his chest hair and then kissing his neck. Emmett just lay back and enjoyed it.
She settled down on him, just laying on him, Emmett thought she maybe was just going to go for what they were already doing as she nudged her head up to kiss him again. He was holding her around her waist but his hand strayed down to her bum and without thinking, slipped it under her pink knickers. Rose let out a sigh and didn't stop him, continuing to kiss him.
She finally whispered, "Emmett, this is really nice but I never have sex with anyone on a first date."
She had just saved him the embarrassment. "That's ok Rose, neither do I, I like to get to know someone first, so if it's all the same to you, that's just fine with me, let's just take it easy shall we?"
Rose was relieved too. She really liked him but she couldn't just go the whole way the first time and he seemed to feel the same way.
"That's fine with me too Emmett, this is more than just nice."
Emmett flipped her over, keeping his hands where they were as Rose did the same, slipping her hands down the back of his shorts, feeling he had a really nice bum, smiling to herself. She could go for more of this if he wanted, she was in no rush either. Emmett then moved his hands from under her, running them down her hips, slowly, moving his head and kissing across her tummy, Rose was raking her fingers across his back as he kissed further down, stopping at the waistband of her pink knickers, running his thumb under it and moving it to kiss below.
Rose was bubbling with delight, his kiss was soft on her skin as was his beard as he stopped just above her intimate area and looked up at her. Rose was smiling, now messing his hair, running her fingers through it. He came back up, Rose thought he knew exactly where to stop for maximum effect to make her want more, he knew she would come back and maybe let him finish but it would be all he could do and he would owe her an explanation but she might understand.
After more kissing, Rose got settled and got comfortable and fell asleep on him. She was woken by an alarm going off and an American male voice telling her to wake up. She smiled when she remembered where she was, with the extremely cute American detective. Emmett scrambled from under her and got out of bed, throwing her bra at her that he stepped on when he put his feet on the floor. He had a grin on his face and had reached down to pick up the item and it had landed on her.
"Cheeky," Rose laughed. She started putting it on and turned around for him to fasten it. "You unfastened it, you can fasten up for me again," she laughed, waiting for him to climb back on the bed.
He did, kneeling on the bed and fumbling with the fastener. He was obviously better at taking it off. They went down for breakfast, getting a funny look from Gemma again and since Rose was leaving at roughly the same time, she walked out of the hotel with Emmett, standing in the doorway.
"Have a good day Emmett and don't scare your new co-worker off."
Emmett smiled, he wanted to do more than that, he didn't want or need a new co-worker, especially if it was his twin. Still, since they were being forced together, someone's insane sense of humour, just as long as he stayed away from Rose and she didn't confuse the two of them again but he didn't think she would, now they had established a few facts.
"Bye Rose, don't write anything bad about me, will you?"
Rose turned and kissed him on his cheek. "Don't give me a reason to. See you tonight? Call for me and we'll go down to dinner together."
"I was thinking we could go some place else? Try that new French restaurant just outside town? We could get a cab there. I might see if I can have the use of a car at some point."
"Great but if we're going out, call for me at seven, ok?"
"Fine but don't go trying to steal French-fries again or I might have to arrest you and keep you in custody again."
Rose laughed and walked off in the opposite direction. It seemed her new friend had a very dry sense of humour. She might just have something to tell her mother the next time she called.
Alec had gone down to breakfast, disappointed that there was no sign of the blonde woman and assumed she must have gone out for the day already. He didn't even know if she was on vacation or if she worked in the town but she was English and more likely to be the first and therefore may not be staying long anyway but he was slightly envious she was spending her time with Carver. He'd spent a good part of the night thinking about her. He'd only seen her once, what was wrong with him? It wasn't like he hadn't fancied women before, women who he'd not known their names but this one was different. She'd had the nerve to come up to him and interrupt his meal then left just as quickly, thinking he was someone else.
He had to concentrate. It was Wednesday, he started work at ten, having to first go see the chief of the police department, get his new badge and ID and go practice on the firing range, something he was not looking forward to. He'd done firearms training but never had to use a gun before, there had been no call for it but carrying one in the state of California was a requirement for all officers, non-negotiable unless you were the office janitor and he suspected even they had a gun stashed away somewhere. Still, he wasn't required to wear one all the time, just when he went out.
He didn't think he'd ever get used to taking one out of his desk drawer and putting on a holster and would leave it behind more often than not but he would be putting himself at risk if he couldn't defend himself. He wasn't in Kansas any more so the saying went, he was somewhere over the rainbow in the land of guns and harsh criminals. Some say it was the real world and he'd been living in fairyland. Well the sooner he got back the better for his liking.
Striding out into the morning sunshine, he put his sunglasses on and walked the few blocks to the precinct, he'd have to get used to calling it that and walked up to the front desk. The woman who he assumed was the equivalent of the desk sergeant dropped the pen she was holding and stared at him. It appeared it had begun already and he'd not even started work yet.
"Detective Carver, didn't you just go in less than an hour ago? I never saw you going out."
"No, I'm not Carver. I'm Detective Inspector Alec Hardy, I'm here to see Chief Morgan. He's expecting me." He carefully with two fingers reached for his current ID from his inside jacket pocket and showed it to the open mouthed woman behind the desk.
She recovered sufficiently and buzzed him through and directed him to the chief's office and picked up the telephone. The chief was standing in an open doorway and greeted Alec and could only say "Good lord, I never realised you were the double of Detective Carver. If he wasn't sitting in his office over there, I never would have believed it."
He gestured for Alec to enter and pointed to a chair. "I'll just call him over when we've finished talking. Have you two met already? I believe you're both being put up at the same hotel."
"No, we've not actually met but so far three women have mistaken me for him, he must be popular."
The chief smiled. They talked for a while, the chief handing Alec his ID and his new shield and Alec signed for them and then the chief went to the doorway and motioned for Carver to join them. By this time, the entire office had stopped working, staring first to Emmett's office and then to the chief's, like there was a huge mirror in place but only showing the two bearded men and no-one else. Emmett crossed over the office floor, all eyes on him as he tried to ignore them and he stepped into the office.
Alec stood up. They were both exactly the same height, slightly different hairstyles, Emmett wore a black suit and grey shirt, a black loosened tie with the top button undone, it was Rose's little trick, she had unfastened it saying he looked too stuffy with it fastened before they had gone down to breakfast. That was one advantage he had over Hardy – Rose. Alec was contrastingly wearing a light grey suit, a blue tie and a white shirt but disarmingly, his top shirt button was also undone and Emmett hoped it was not due to Rose's intervention. He was hoping to get her to tell him her surname later, he couldn't just keep calling her Rose with no name.
The two men shook hands, the chief, if he'd known what was going to happen, should have warned them to play nicely. Alec was taken out to the firing range by one of the uniformed officers and was declared gun proficient and given a certificate. Then he had to go see the medical officer, they were aware of his recent operation but he was declared fit on the premise he only had light duties, which he would have done back in Broadchurch anyway. It wasn't like he expected another case like his last one that almost killed him – twice. That was all behind him now, his bad case before Broadchurch was all cleared up, he had solved a murder and come through a heart operation, the last one had surprised him more than the other two put together.
He was given a small office, he could have sworn it had been a storage room, Carver's looked twice the size but since he was on home ground and the detective he had replaced had not had an office, he considered himself lucky to have one at all. At least he didn't have to sit out in the main office. Alec was then called into Carver's office for a 'talk' that included a few ground rules. Despite the fact Carver had only been there a day or two longer than he had, he was laying down the law. Carver insisted he take the lead, they would both try to wear different clothing so as not to be mistaken for each other and try not to go out at the same time, the public didn't need to see them together. That suited Alec just fine.
He didn't have to report to Carver thank goodness, he just had to let the desk know if he was going out and to make sure they knew it was him and not Carver. By now, the whole precinct knew about the two identical men and it was the talk of the office. Speculation was running wild with theories, they were twin brothers but no-one could account for Hardy's strange accent, they would just have to get used to it for six months or if he could get out sooner. He waded through some files and decided to go take a walk around the town, hoping somehow he might bump into the mysterious blonde woman again and apologize for his rudeness. Him, apologise, he was getting soft after his brush with death. She had been the one to barge in on him and try to take part of his meal. She was elusive to say the least, like she had floated in yesterday afternoon then disappeared again. Maybe he had just imagined her but even his imagination wasn't that good.
Carver had tried to be civil to his new counterpart, he couldn't really find any fault with him. As long as Hardy stayed out of his way and didn't try to muscle in at work or with Rose, it was fine by him. He noticed Hardy going out but he didn't have to keep the Scotsman on a leash, he was free to come and go as he pleased. Rose had gone to work and there was no reason Hardy would know where she was. Why was he getting possessive? Rose didn't belong to him, she was a free agent and had only spent one night with him, they had just slept in the same bed.
Rose was trying to get her head round some reports, trying to see if there was anything worth forwarding to Torchwood. No-one in the newspaper office knew exactly what she did there, nobody had asked apart from the nosey junior reporter called Owen, who had tried to chat her up several times since her arrival but she had successfully fended him off. She never got bothered, people assumed she was working on something and left her alone. Her stepfather paid the newspaper owner to pay her to make it look legitimate and all was going well so far. She could work her own hours and no-one questioned her. If she wanted to go out, she was 'following a lead on a story' which enabled her to finish early when she wanted or have a long lunch break.
Rose just happened to be staring out of the window and caught sight of Emmett. Or was it Alec Hardy? No, it wasn't Emmett, he'd had a different suit on when she had left him outside the hotel earlier. The man stood looking in the window, the office doubled as the tourist information office. So Rose logged out of her laptop and grabbed her phone and her purse and shouted 'back in a bit' to anyone who happened to be listening. They were used to the strange English girl getting up and going out all the time.
Alec was staring into the newspaper office, looking at some notices for the tourist board, not that he was interested in any of the local events. He was just walking away when the door to the office opened and the blonde woman came out. Thinking maybe she had just been seeking information, he noted she stood in the doorway checking her phone. He decided to talk to her and turned to face her.
"Hello again, can I buy you a cup of coffee to make up for refusing to share my French-fries with you yesterday?"
Rose turned around and smiled. "Sorry, I was being rude, I thought you were someone else. You're Alec Hardy aren't you?"
Alec was amazed she knew his name, Carver must have worked it out yesterday and told her.
"Yes, that's me. I take it Detective Carver told you?"
"Yeah, he did actually. I was pretty mad at him when I thought you were him but he explained it to me last night over dinner. He said it could only be you when I said you had an Scottish accent. Coffee would be good, there's a coffee shop one block down. I'm Rose."
Alec gestured for her to lead the way and once inside, he ordered tea for himself and a vanilla latte for Rose and he sat opposite her.
"So are you on holiday Rose? You know why I'm here."
"No, I work at the newspaper office."
Alec should have been put off. He'd had more than his fill of newspapers lately but Rose didn't look like a crazy newspaper reporter out to get a story out of him.
"Then what are you doing all the way out here in California in a small town like Gracepoint?"
"I wanted something different. You can talk, a Scotsman who has been working in England coming out here," Rose laughed.
Alec thought she had a point. "So how much does Carver know about me then?"
"You'll have to ask him that, I'm not privy to that kind of information. I don't expect he'd talk to me about such things, confidentiality and all that."
"Right. So how long have you been here?"
"Two weeks. I came to escape working at my stepfather's company in London, I wanted to travel." She had missed the travelling.
"What company is that then?"
Rose wasn't about to give that up to him. "Let's just say he's in the soft drinks business shall we?"
"Well there aren't that many soft drinks companies owned by independents are there? You can trust me on this."
Rose burst out laughing. "I'm not saying anything. Think what you like, Alec Hardy." Was he smarter than Emmett? There again, Emmett was American but Vitex was international.
Alec smiled and drank his tea. "So, Rose Tyler escapes from Vitex and comes running out to a small northern Californian town. Why here?"
"Because my stepfather knows the newspaper editor and she gave me a job. Not much of a job, I'm left to my own devices most of the time. Just follow up on interesting stories." She had actually told Hardy more than she had told Emmett. Best not say anything else.
Alec had successfully found out more in a few minutes without even asking her any personal questions, not bad. Now all he had to do was steer her away from Carver, hoping she had only talked to him in the bar last night if she had been there and the hotel owner had actually meant Rose.
"Well I have to get back to work now, it was nice meeting you properly Rose Tyler and you are forgiven for trying to steal my French-fries yesterday. Perhaps you'll join me for dinner sometime?"
"Well I can't tonight, I already have a dinner date but another time perhaps?"
"Would that be with a certain Detective Carver?"
Rose considered her answer carefully. Were there any differences between the two men? "Well let's just say he's taking me for a fancy meal at a French restaurant tonight. I have to go now too. I'll see you around, Alec Hardy."
"I hope so Rose."
Rose looked at the time, it was after three, no point in going back. She would call down at the fashion shop she had seen and buy a new dress for tonight. She chastised herself though for admitting to Alec Hardy who she was when Emmett didn't know. She would have to tell him tonight, over dinner. He probably had never heard of Vitex anyway.
TBC
