When Mummy came home, Ian ran and gave her the usual hug, then returned to his seat to play with his iPad. James had shown him a new game where he could make sentence trains with words on train cars, for con...conjuctures, or something. It was fun, but it didn't give him a lot of words to make sentences with, so he was left with silly things like, "Would you like a dog or a cat?" But he just rolled his eyes and focused on the way the train would blow its whistle when he made a sentence before leaving the station with its chuga chuga noise. Besides, Mummy and James always talked forever when she came home now, so at least that gave him something to do. After a few minutes, though, he looked up with a frown, watching Mummy. She was always nice to James, they were friends, but now she was being grocery store nice, the stiff way she had with people that talked too much in check out lines.

"Mummy, didn't you have fun last night?" he asked, wondering if maybe they'd made the raviolis wrong and she just didn't want to say.

"Of course I did," she said, sounding surprised.

"You liked the raviolis?" he asked, leaning back and picking at his fingernails. Mummy said he shouldn't, but she did it too, and anyway, it was only when he was worried. "And the cake?"

"I loved them," she said, coming around the table and crouching down next to him. She glanced down at his hands, and gently pulled one away to hold it. "Why're you suddenly so worried?"

"Cause you're being grocery store nice to James," Ian said. "How come?"

"I'm not-you know, I think I'm just tired," she said, smiling at him. Mummy had the most beautiful smile ever, but she did look a little tired, now that she was close. But Mummy looked tired a lot. "But you know, that's why I'm going to stay home tomorrow."

"You are?" he asked, his eyes widening in excitement, ideas already coming together in his head for things they could do together.

"You are?" James asked, his eyebrows moving close together.

"Yeah," she said, standing up again and ruffling Ian's hair. "I don't have much going on at the office just now, and what I've got can be done from here. Think I need a mental health day. So, I guess we'll see you Monday, then?" she asked James. Her smile still seemed a little wrong when she looked at James, but it didn't matter now. She'd be better on Monday, after they spent the weekend having fun together.

"See you Monday, James," Ian said, smiling at his tutor before turning back to Mummy. "Can we go see a film? Can we got to the park? Can we get chips and ice cream again? Can we-"

"We'll talk about it tomorrow," Mummy laughed.

"Well...I'll just be going then," James said, and Ian frowned again. He almost sounded...sad. "Have a good weekend, you two."

It wasn't til he was almost at the door that Ian thought of something, and scooted off his chair to run after James, hugging him around the knees.

"Don't worry, James," he said. "I promise I won't finish the King Arthur story without you."

"You swear?" James asked, smiling as a hand ruffled his hair a little.

"I swear," Ian replied seriously.

"That's alright, then," the tutor said with a wink, then looked back at Mummy for a second before shaking his head. "I'll see you and King Arthur on Monday."

oOoOo

By Monday, Rose was feeling better about the whole...kiss...thing. It was just a kiss, nothing to freak out about. It was her birthday, after all. And with the talk about James staying, well, everything had been a bit...emotional. But it was just a kiss. He clearly had no problems displaying affection, it was probably some extension of that. Probably something that happened to him often; that would make sense, the way he could charm his way around anything. So it was just a matter of redrawing the line more clearly. That was all.

And doing it in a way that her over-observant son wouldn't call undue attention to.

She thought she was pulling it off rather nicely when she got home from work. James was leaning on the table, hands buried in his pockets, when Ian dragged Rose over to tell her about the new chapter they'd started in his book about King Arthur. She stood by his chair as he scrambled onto it, and carefully positioned herself so that her body language was friendly and said that James was included in the conversation, but far enough that the little touches he was so fond of would be impossible without being awkward. Drawing lines. She could do this, this was easy.

"Are you okay?" James asked when Ian paused for breath.

"Fine," she said, giving him a tight smile. "Why wouldn't I be?"

His head tilted a little as he studied her, and she got that unnerving feeling that he was seeing a whole lot that she wasn't saying. She started picking at her nails absently, and James' eyes narrowed when he caught the movement.

"Uh huh. Listen, Ian, why don't you read that chapter on your own for a bit?" James suggested, taking Rose's arm and steering her into the kitchen. "Your mum and I are just going to get some tea."

"No, really, I'm-"

"Tea," he repeated, pushing her lightly and shutting the door behind them. He let go of her and crossed his arms, studying her for a moment. "Rose, this has to stop."

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking away as she moved to get mugs out of the cupboard. He wanted tea? Fine. They'd have tea. Just tea.

"This," he said, reaching out to touch her arm, and she flinched away before she could stop herself. "The constant tension, the feeling of walking on eggshells. It's my fault, I get it. I'm sorry, honestly, about the kiss. It was just-"

"Just a kiss," she said, nodding, feeling better that at least the air was being cleared.

"What?" he asked, confused by her interruption.

"It was just a kiss," she said, turning away again to fill the kettle, and he stepped out of her way as she set it on the stovetop. "It didn't really mean anything."

"I...no, that's not-"

"I guess it's probably just something you do," she said, facing him once more and leaning back against the counter.

"Something I do?" he asked, now looking curious.

"Well, yeah," she said with a shrug. "All that...travelling. Expect it's probably something that just sort of...happens with most women that cross your path."

"Woman in every port, sort of thing," he remarked, nodding.

"Yeah, suppose," she said, looking down and wiping non-existent crumbs away.

"Do you really think that's me?" he asked, his voice low, and she raised her eyes to his face again. "Some sort of...international ladies man?"

Rose shrugged. "Well...why wouldn't you be? I mean, you're young, rich, handsome-"

"You think I'm handsome?" he asked, smiling a little as his tongue ran over his top teeth.

"I'm sure some people think so," she said dismissively, keeping her eyes trained on his face and not down his lean figure, though that wasn't much help. "But I'm sure you've got women throwing themselves at you."

James snorted and moved to her side, crossing his arms and ankles as he leaned against the counter next to her. "That doesn't mean I want to catch them. And really, not as many as you'd apparently think."

"Liar," she accused, but she smiled, relaxing in spite of herself.

"Really?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Rose Smith, I will have you know...without any incredible amount of pride until this very moment...that apart from a few random one-off dates spaced depressingly far apart, I've maintained all of two separate long-term relationships. Not at the same time, obviously. Different times. Different people. Point is, not a ladies man. Although, you're not the first to believe I'd be easily done in by a pretty face as of late," he added thoughtfully, eyes narrowing a little.

"Who else said that?" she asked.

He was quiet for a moment, lost in his thoughts, then looked down at her and shook his head, as if to clear it. "Nevermind. Wrong anyway. So, have I proven myself?"

"Who were they?" Rose asked. He hadn't really needed to prove himself to begin with, he didn't owe her anything…but now she was curious. And trying hard to ignore the little thrill she got at finding out that he wasn't, in fact, a global Casanova.

"Who?" he asked, frowning.

"The 'long-term relationships'," she said, pitching her voice lower for dramatic effect and forming air quotes with her hands. "How do you even manage that, the way you travel?"

"Oh," he said. "Um. They both traveled with me, for a time. There was Romana, that was…good lord, more than ten years ago now. We were together two years. Then she decided to stick around here, go into politics. She's brilliant…we still keep in touch."

"Hold on...Romana Voratre?" Rose asked, stunned. "The MP?"

"Mhm," James said, nodding. "That's her. Like I said, she's brilliant."

"I'll say," Rose breathed, thinking of the outspoken female MP that often made the Daily Mail. "What about the other one? Vice President in America, Prime Minister of Canada? President of France?"

"Mmm...no," he said, shifting uncomfortably. Rose stared at him curiously...James didn't often show discomfort, about anything. "That was Charley. She's in medical research."

"Still keep in touch with her too?" Rose asked, nudging him with her shoulder.

"No," he said shortly. He glanced at her, then took a deep breath and seemed to lock away whatever it was about this Charley that made him so uneasy. "Anyway, doesn't matter," he said, pushing off the counter and facing her again, and her stomach flipped when he leaned in close to her. "The fact is, Rose Smith...when I kiss someone, I mean it."

Then he was stepping back, mugs in hand, retrieved from the counter behind her, and she was blinking at the sudden absence. Not that he should have been standing so close anyway...not that she liked it. It was definitely over her hastily redrawn lines to have his face within inches of her own-

"But I am sorry," he said as he poured water into both mugs and she blinked as he set them aside to steep. "Not really for the kiss. Maybe the timing. But I'm really sorry it made you all...stressed and jumpy. You're right, it was inappropriate. It won't happen again. No matter how handsome you think I am."

She rolled her eyes as he held out a mug, but studied him thoughtfully for a moment. Apart from the kiss, she really had enjoyed her birthday, which was a nice change, and a large part of that was because of the odd friendship she'd forged with James. And…if she was honest…she hadn't exactly…disliked the kiss, either. It just wasn't a good idea. Still…maybe the lines didn't have to be that restrictive.

"See that it doesn't," she said firmly, then took the mug and walked out, ignoring the smirk and arched eyebrow on the tutor's face…but she was smiling as she brought the mug to her lips.