Author's Note: All usual disclaimers apply
….to Miss Cats and Miss Tess…yes, you're so right, it's addicting. I think you've created a monster.
Shut up and kiss me.
Detective Inspector Tommy Lynley was not happy. He had just left Assistant Commissioner Hillier's office after being told he and his Detective Sergeant, Barbara Havers were being assigned to an investigation in a small isolated village in the Cotswolds. The local florist had been found dead in his shop. It was a gruesome murder and the sleepy little village had been thrown into a panic,
The local police had requested expert help from Scotland Yard. The Met often sent officers and detectives all over the country when it was a situation out of the realm of the local police force. He and Barbara had been on many such investigations all over England, some in large cities and some in small country hamlets. They were well known for being the best team the Met had, so they were often called upon for their expertise….but that wasn't the problem.
Tommy had recently become slightly uncomfortable around Barbara. Not because she was unprofessional or incompetent, she was anything but. She was the best police officer he had ever known. Far better than him, but she had always refused to sit for her DI examinations declaring she just wasn't ready. But Tommy really knew it was because she wouldn't be his partner anymore when she passed her exams and was promoted. That was something both of them couldn't bear to think about.
The trouble was, he was finding it harder and harder to remain professional around her because of the unprofessional feelings he had had for the past year.
Since his wife Helen had died several years ago, he and Barbara had become closer than ever. They had always had a special bond, one that Helen had always struggled to understand, but since Helen's death, Tommy had come to rely on Barbara more and more. She was always there when he needed her. Her loyalty never wavered, even when she had every right to walk away. By his own admission, he had treated her very badly the first year after Helen had been killed.
He had gone into a deep self-blaming depression, medicating himself with alcohol. Barbara had been on the receiving end of a great deal of undeserved anger from Tommy. Even at his worst, she had been steadfast and true to him. He knew he hadn't deserved her devotion.
At times Barbara had let him have it, telling him exactly what she thought about his abysmal behavior, but deep down he knew she would always be there, and she had proven him right, time after time.
For the last year, Tommy had found himself looking at Barbara in a different way, a more loving way. He had started to notice little things, like how she looked in a certain light...how her face lit up when she laughed...or how cute her pout was when she was angry. He had started to notice what she was wearing. Over the years, as her confidence grew, she had started to wear more tailored, form fitting clothes. Very flattering clothes. Clothes that showed off her delicious curves.
She had let her lovely red hair grow longer, it now fell past her shoulders in soft curls. Her new hairstyle only served to complement her eyes. Her amazing expressive green eyes. Sometimes Tommy thought he might drown in those eyes.
Ah…there's the rub…Thomas Lynley, Eighth Earl of Asherton was completely, utterly, and hopelessly in love with his sergeant.
DS Barbara Havers wasn't in the best of moods. She reluctantly packed her suitcase. She, and her boss DI Thomas Lynley had been assigned to an out of town investigation. A murder case in small village in the Cotswolds.
It wasn't the investigation that was the problem. The problem was the fact that she was becoming more and more uncomfortable when she and Tommy were forced into close quarters.
When they were on a case in London, she could always escape to her flat when her feelings started to get the best of her. When they were out of town, there was nowhere to go, she and Tommy were forced to spend all their time together, 24/7.
This wouldn't be a problem for most partners, but it had always been a problem for Barbara. It had been a problem ever since her first case assignment with her tall, dark and handsome boss.
She had struggled other times to remain professional, but lately it was getting to be almost impossible. She had only grown closer to her DI over the ten year span of their partnership.
You see… for the past ten years, Barbara Havers had been completely, utterly and hopelessly in love with her boss.
*Up next, Chapter 2