"Morning," Steve said sleepily. His voice all gravelly having just woken up himself.
"Morning," said Kate.
The friends stayed looking at each other, not wanting to move and both comfortable with their close contact. They were both still fully dressed so nothing untoward had happened. Kate remembered sitting down on the mattress with a drink for a quick break in unpacking. They must have fallen asleep.
"What time is it," she asked.
Steve looked at his watch. "10:30," he replied.
"We should get up and finish this unpacking. Just the bedroom to go right?" Kate stated as she removed herself from Steve's arms and sat up.
"Don't you want to go home?" Steve asked.
"You trying to get rid of me?" Kate teased.
"Course not,".
"Josh'll be at nursery until 4pm," Kate answered. "Although Mark works from home he still likes Josh out of the way. I'll go home later," Kate explained as she got up off the mattress. There was no way she was going home when it was just her and her husband.
Steve watched her moving around from his spot on the floor. If he didn't know any better he was pretty sure his partner was avoiding going home.
"You gonna help or what?" Kate asked, hand on her hip as she gestured at him lying on the mattress.
"Sure," Steve said and got up.
They wandered in to Steve's bedroom where they spent some time making up the bed frame before returning to the living room and getting the mattress and accessories. There was a few other pieces of bedroom furniture to arrange before finally the last box was flattened and Steve had finished his move.
"Done!" exclaimed Kate happily as she flopped back on Steve's bed. She was glad the job was finally completed.
"Thanks, mate," Steve said as he joined her on the bed. He couldn't have done it without her. "Fancy a shower?" He asked.
Kate looked at her new friend. What had he just asked? Did he mean shower together? A flash of them together in the shower entered her head as she imagined him making love to her in the cramped cubicle as hot water poured down on them. The tiled wall against her back as he rhythmically pushed in to her again and again.
Steve looked at Kate as he realised how his last question had sounded. She was just staring at him, mind on something else, probably on what an idiot her new partner was. "I mean did you need a shower to freshen up," Steve corrected himself but not before he had an image of being in the shower with Kate, licking water droplets off her skin as he slowly ground his hips against hers.
"Err...sure," Kate said as her mind returned to the present. "That'd be good,". It would certainly help her cool down.
Steve busied himself in the kitchen as he heard the shower start. He tried not to think about a naked Kate very close by as he made them both some lunch. Was it normal to invite your female partner to shower at your place? He had no idea. Mainly because he'd never had a female partner before. He had a feeling that even though she was married, it hadn't changed his feelings about her.
He was going to have to push those feelings down and concentrate on being a friend.
"Do you mind if I quickly wash my clothes?" Kate asked as she appeared before him in the kitchen. With all the unpacking and the fact she had worn the clothes to sleep in, they could do with a little freshen up.
"Sure," said Steve as soon as he could speak. He hadn't thought everything through before he'd invited her to shower he realised. She was wearing his brown dressing gown over her naked body. He was never going to be able to wear the garment again without thinking about that fact.
"Thanks," Kate replied as she bent down to start the washing machine. Standing back up again, she caught sight of Steve staring at the curve of her breast visible in the V of the dressing gown.
Kate found herself half wanting to remove the gown and see what Steve would do, but instead she readjusted the gown and pulled the cord tighter at her waist.
"Err...I made us some lunch," Steve said once he realised he'd been caught staring.
"Thanks," Kate said gratefully.
They had a nice lunch, chatting again as they ate. Kate found it so easy to talk to Steve, unlike Mark. "I better go," she said reluctantly as the drier beeped to say it was done. She looked at her watch, Josh would be home soon. She got off her stool and put her dirty things in the dishwasher.
"Kate?" Said Steve. She turned to look at him at the table from her place at the sink. "I might be totally barking up the wrong tree here, but is everything ok at home?".
"Why do you ask that?" Kate asked defensively.
"It's just you seem to be avoiding it, that's all," Steve said as he approached her. "It is ok, isn't it?" he asked again.
"Yes," Kate lied. She didn't quite know Steve well enough just yet to tell him her marital woes. She didn't want to scare him away with worries about her being hysterical or clingy. "It's just always a little difficult to slot back in to family life after a case," she said truthfully.
"Aren't they happy to see you?" he asked.
"Josh is,".
"And your husband?" Steve asked tenderly as he brushed a hair out of Kate's eyes. If Kate were his wife he'd be so glad to have her back beside him after a spell away.
"As I said," Kate said, "it takes a while to get used to being married again,".
"I'm not sure why," Steve said as he leant forward and brushed his lips against Kate's.
It was the sweetest kiss she'd ever had. Not like when Mark kissed her. Kate felt herself kiss Steve back before she realised what she was doing.
"I can't do this," Kate said as she broke away and headed over to the tumble drier. She was married but she was so confused. She was a good person who took her wedding vows seriously but she really liked Steve.
"I'm sorry, Kate," Steve apologised. "I shouldn't have done that,".
"No you shouldn't," she agreed.
"Can we forget it happened? I don't want to fuck this partnership up already. I'll behave I promise,".
"Ok," Kate agreed. She didn't want to end this partnership either. She wanted to maintain her contact with the man in front of her.