Chapter Seven

When Rhys arrived at the bakery the following morning, he greeted Ianto with a grin so mischievous that he could have given Jack a run for his money. "Morning, boss. So... how was your date with Jack last night?"

Ianto stopped working on the list of supplies needing to be ordered, put down his clipboard and reached for his coffee mug, swallowing a fortifying mouthful of the industrial-strength brew.

He levelled a withering glare at his friend, which, as usual, had no effect whatsoever. When it came to being on the receiving end of disapproving glares, Rhys might as well have been coated in Teflon. "You're as bad as Jack. It wasn't a date. It was a working dinner."

"It sounded a lot like a date. Jack said he was going to cook for you. He asked if you like pizza and wanted to make sure you're not a vegetarian." Rhys tugged off his jacket and retrieved his apron, readying himself to begin work. "What's his cooking like? Oh, and I want to hear all about his posh flat."

In retrospect, Ianto wasn't surprised. Jack had already proven himself to be a devious bastard. He felt fully justified in being cross with Rhys, and after a restless night of tossing and turning, his mind twisting back and forth over the events of the previous evening, he was tired and out of sorts. But Rhys liked Jack, and Jack could be too charming for his own good, so he supposed he shouldn't be too annoyed. Added to which, Rhys would never pass up an opportunity to get some food shovelled into him, convinced as he was that Ianto constantly teetered on the brink of starvation.

He sighed wearily, but tried to push aside his irritation. "The food was good, actually. Really good." The expectant look on Rhys's face indicated that he wanted more details. "I had three slices of pizza and a big bowl of ice cream."

Rhys appeared somewhat appeased, but then he frowned as he moved to stand across from Ianto. "Wait, you always say that you hate ice cream."

"It was chocolate ice cream. With chocolate sauce and dark chocolate shavings sprinkled on the top." Ianto mentally rolled his eyes at himself.

Rhys barked out a full-bellied laugh. "Well, it looks like Jack's got you figured out."

This time, Ianto didn't waste the effort on another disparaging scowl. Instead, he provided Rhys with a succinct description of Jack's spacious and lavishly-appointed flat.

"He's done all right for himself, hasn't he? Lucky sod. Hard to believe he's still single." Rhys seemed to mull that over for a moment. "How's the website coming along?"

Ianto nodded. "Very well. Jack's doing a fantastic job. He's hoping to get it finished off over the next few days. All being well, he thinks he'll have it online sometime later next week."

"Brilliant. I can't wait to see it." Rhys appeared to be relieved, and Ianto wondered if he'd been worried that Jack's dinner plans might have derailed their work on the website. "It wasn't such a bad night, then?"

"No, it was fine. It's just that..." Ianto paused uncertainly, the strange conversation with Jack about sexual exploration still fresh in his mind. "I don't think it's a good idea to encourage Jack too much. He can't seem to accept that I'm not... you know... interested in him. He seems to think I'm repressing my sexuality because I've only been with women."

"Maybe he's just not used to being turned down. Perhaps it's a new experience for him." Rhys chuckled. "You can't blame him for liking you. After all, you're a good-looking bloke. And it's a nice little ego boost, isn't it? To have someone like Jack showing an interest."

Ianto shrugged. "I suppose."

In truth, he couldn't deny that it was rather flattering. Likewise, there was no denying that Jack was a handsome and striking man, who could probably have his pick of just about anyone he wanted. Still, he didn't want Jack to continue under the delusion that anything could happen between them. Almost despite himself, he liked Jack, and he was warming to the idea of them being friends, but that's as far as it would go. Jack would just have to accept that.

Rhys looked at him with obvious curiosity. "You're not the least bit tempted?"

"No." Ianto gave an emphatic shake of his head. "No, I'm not." Against his better judgement, and suspecting that he already knew the answer, he found his own curiosity getting the better of him. "Would you be? If you were single, I mean?"

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't curious." Rhys leaned back against the counter behind him. "You see all those gay couples on the telly these days. Why not see what it's like? Look at Dave. He's completely besotted with the bloke he's been seeing. Reckons he's never been happier, and he says the sex is bloody spectacular. Then there's Alan. Straight all his life and divorced. Then out of the blue he meets a bloke. Big bear of a fellow apparently. Noah someone or other. Anyway, so Noah came to fix some windows on Alan's house, and they hit it off. Next thing they're dating and talking about living together. Now they're on their honeymoon."

Ianto blinked in surprise. Rhys was referring to a man in his late forties who worked nearby and had been coming into the bakery on and off over the last couple of months. Unlike Ianto, who was a private person and assumed by default that everyone else was too, Rhys was the complete opposite. He chatted at length with their regular customers, and, more often than not, he'd end up learning most of their life stories. Alan was one of their customers with whom Rhys had become well-acquainted.

Rhys shrugged. "Makes you wonder, doesn't it?"

Ianto supposed it did, at least in an abstract sort of way, and he couldn't entirely refute that Jack had made a valid point the night before, despite his lack of subtlety in the way he'd gone about it. Still, in the cases of Dave and Alan, they'd probably always been bisexual or at least possessed some sort of yearning in that direction but simply hadn't acted on it until recently. Whatever the reasons, it seemed highly unlikely that they'd turned gay overnight.

He had to admit, though, that if anyone could get a straight bloke to become more sexually adventurous, it would probably be Jack. Together with his confidence and flirtatious charm, the man exuded an allure that he suspected many people would find difficult to resist.

"Hmm, I guess it does." He tried his best to sound non-committal. "Anyway, nothing's going to happen with Jack. We're... well, we're sort of becoming friends... that's all."

He ignored the treacherous little voice at the back of his mind that questioned who he was trying the most to convince, Rhys or himself.

###

It was just after eleven a.m. on Wednesday when Jack came striding into the bakery, his black leather laptop case slung over his shoulder. Polished and preened as usual, and dressed in stylish, casual street clothes, Jack looked like he'd just stepped off a film set or magazine cover.

The moment his gaze landed on Ianto, that familiar white, dimpled smile spread across his face. Jack looked nothing less than delighted to see him, and, try as he might, Ianto wasn't entirely unaffected. After all, it wasn't every day that he was greeted with such unrestrained enthusiasm.

He found himself smiling back in a way that was less reserved than he'd intended. "Morning, Jack."

"Hey, Ianto." Jack stopped in front of him at the counter, still smiling. "How's my favourite baker this morning?"

Ianto barely managed not to roll his eyes at Jack's familiar greeting. He gave Jack a pointed look. "Jack, how many bakers do you actually know?"

"Well, there's you. And Rhys. Why? It doesn't matter how many I know, you'd still be my favourite." Jack failed to look abashed. In fact, he went so far as to give Ianto a sly wink. "You just enjoy giving me a hard time."

"Only when you deserve it." Ianto suppressed a smirk, refusing to react to Jack's innuendo-laced tone. "Coffee? And today's special is blueberry and banana muffins if you'd like to try one?"

Jack assented on both counts with his usual enthusiasm. It was only as Ianto prepared Jack's coffee that he realised he'd been mildly flirting with the other man. Even more shocking, he'd enjoyed it.

"So, I've got good news." Jack raised his wrist and glanced at his watch. "As of one hour ago, Myfanwy's website is online. I brought my laptop so you and Rhys can have a look."

Ianto looked up at Jack with raised eyebrows. "That was fast."

Jack shrugged. "We got most of the groundwork done the other night. The rest was just fine-tuning and tweaking. Only took a few more hours to finish it off."

Ianto suspected that it had taken rather more than that. From what he'd seen, Jack was a perfectionist when it came to his professional endeavours. He had a good eye for colour, design and aesthetics, and no detail seemed to go overlooked. They'd had a number of further conversations since Saturday night, both in person and via e-mail, as Jack worked on completing the layout, content and photographs, and Jack had clearly put in no small amount of effort. Jack had admitted that websites weren't his forte, but he seemed very proficient nevertheless.

Once Jack was settled at one of the tables with a cup of coffee and happily eating a muffin, Ianto called Rhys from the kitchen.

Rhys appeared a few moments later, smiling as he wiped his hands on a tea towel. "Hiya, Jack. Ianto says you've got a website to show us."

"Hey, Rhys. Good to see you." Jack smiled at Rhys. It wasn't the blinding smile he'd greeted Ianto with earlier, but it was warm and friendly nonetheless. Ianto couldn't deny it – Jack had a beautiful and engaging smile, regardless of its intensity.

Wiping his hands with a paper napkin, Jack reached for where he'd placed his laptop case by the side of his chair. "Just give me a second to get this set up."

Ianto retrieved another chair and they both sat down beside Jack as he opened the laptop and powered it up.

Jack clearly loved his tech toys, and Ianto knew from the time he'd spent at Jack's flat that Jack owned the best and latest of what consumer technology had to offer: desktop computer, laptop, tablets, game consoles, the enormous flat-screen television in his living room, and pretty much everything else in between. Jack's laptop was a sleek Macbook Pro with a large seventeen-inch screen, and Ianto watched as Jack configured his latest model iPhone as a Wi-Fi hotspot and proceeded to connect the laptop to the internet.

Jack opened a browser window and typed in the address they'd registered for the website. He paused before hitting the Enter key with a flourish. "Voilà!"

Although it was simply the finished version of what he'd already seen, Ianto experienced a thrill of excitement at seeing the end result and knowing that it was now there for anyone to see.

It was exactly what he'd wanted. Simple, clean and understated. Before seeing Jack's design the other night, and despite their prior conversations, he'd been a little worried that Jack might have gotten carried away and come up with something gaudy and ostentatious. Fortunately, his concerns had been unfounded. The website was all about showcasing their range of products, and thanks to Jack's amazing photography, it achieved that objective. Seeing the finished website, he couldn't help feeling a little bit proud of what he and Rhys had achieved with getting the bakery up and running. More importantly, it gave him a renewed sense of hope that the business could actually be successful and all their hard work wasn't in vain. The website was hopefully a step closer to making that a reality.

"Oh, that's brilliant!" Rhys studied the screen with rapt attention as Jack navigated through the site's pages. "The photos are fantastic, Jack. If this doesn't help to get customers in the door, I don't know what will."

"Well, that's the idea. Show people what they're missing out on." Jack tilted his head, giving Ianto a questioning look. "Ianto? What do you think?"

Ianto looked up and met Jack's gaze. He found himself unable to hold back an elated smile. "It's perfect, Jack. Thank you."

"You're more than welcome." Jack smiled back, looking both pleased and relieved. "I'm just glad you're happy with the way it turned out."

One more thing Ianto had learned about Jack was that he didn't try to get by on his looks or charm. He obviously took pride in his work, and that was a quality Ianto both admired and respected. One of the cornerstones of his existence was that any undertaking should be done to the best of one's ability. Jack seemed to share that belief.

The door opened, and a pair of middle-aged women entered the shop. Rhys promptly stood up. "Stay there and talk to Jack. I'll look after the customers."

Jack reached for his coffee, taking a sip. "I've registered the site with the major search engines. Plus, I've set up the Facebook page using some of the text and photos from the site. I was also thinking about a promotional flyer using some of the photos."

They chatted for a few minutes about getting the site onto various online business directories, tourism sites and so on. Ianto had been doing some research over the last few days and had compiled a list, so he was confident he had that well in hand, although Jack had a few further suggestions and promised to email him the details.

Jack drained his coffee cup, putting it down on the table before leaning back in his chair. "So, when are we having our movie night?"

"Oh... er..." Ianto hesitated, glancing over to the counter where Rhys was serving the two ladies in his usual jovial manner.

He remembered how he'd told Rhys only a few days earlier that he didn't want to encourage Jack. Nevertheless, he'd already agreed to Jack's suggestion of a night of Bond, and he was indebted to the man. He just hoped Jack wasn't going to try to use that sense of indebtedness to his advantage. Regardless, he couldn't see a way out without coming across as rude or ungrateful, not that he actually wanted to decline. With almost every waking minute consumed by the business, a night of relaxation in front of the telly with some favourite films wasn't something he'd allowed himself to indulge in for a while, and he couldn't deny the appeal.

He looked back at Jack, who was watching him with those intent blue eyes of his. "Um... Saturday is really the only night I can stay up late. But if..."

Jack didn't give him the chance to finish. "Saturday's perfect. Say seven? I'll bring dinner. Do you like Chinese? Oh, and you'll need to text me your address."

Ianto blinked in confusion. "You want to come to my flat? I thought I'd be coming to yours. I... er... I don't have any nice kit like you do. Just a smallish telly and a Blu-ray player." Compared to Jack's big screen and associated equipment, his modest set-up would seem woefully inadequate.

"You said I could visit you." Jack gave him a suggestive smirk and leaned in close, as if he was about to disclose a secret. His warm breath ghosted over Ianto's skin, causing it to tingle with awareness. "Besides, size isn't everything."

Ianto felt his eyes widen. He pulled back far enough so that his field of vision wasn't completely filled with Jack's smiling, too-handsome face, yet he still couldn't seem to look away. "From what I've seen, that doesn't seem to be your usual philosophy."

Jack laughed, apparently not the least bit perturbed. "I can see how you might think that." His expression became more serious again. "Saturday night at your place, then?"

Not sure what else to say, Ianto nodded in agreement.