Author's usual notes and disclaimer: I don't own any of the original characters nor the original Inspector Lynley Mysteries – they belong to Elizabeth George and the BBC. I have borrowed the characters from the TV-Show and solely own the ideas of my stories and the developments I've let them go through.

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Author's note and summary: After a long boring weekend at a symposium Barbara wants nothing but a relaxed evening. Have a shower, some delivered dinner, watching TV for a bit and then go to bed. But it did not go as imagined...

This is a one-shot. ONE! I still have to go on with the other story... *sighs* Anyway enjoy...

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An Odd Evening

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With her arms full of paperbags from the grocery store Barbara came home after a long weekend away in Newcastle. She had been attending some symposium in Leeds and now only wanted a shower, some delivered dinner, maybe a nice film on TV and then her own bed. The symposium was dull, Leeds was not a bit nicer than London and to top it all she had missed her boss Tommy Lynley. They had worked close for over ten years and the previous months they had been stuck almost 24/7 in a few difficult cases that had bound them even closer together. Tomorrow she finally will see him again at the office but for now she would need some rest. Balancing both bags on one arm she turned the key, opened the door to her flat and immediately stopped dead in her tracks. There seemed to be some noise coming from her bathroom. Carefully, so that she won't make any sound, Barbara went past the bathroom door, placed her bags on the worktop in her kitchen, then fetched a huge knife from the knife block. She tiptoed back. Only for a few seconds she thought about calling for back-up but dismissed that quickly. Instead she trusted in her experience and her meanwhile yearlong Aikido practice. The knife only was as a deterrent.

One hand already placed on the door knob Barbara stopped and took a deep calming breath before she tore the door open and shouted at whoever was inside: "Get down on the floor and don't move! Who are you?"

One of her towels landed on the floor.

DI Tommy Lynley had jerked when the door flew open and he still had goosepimples all over his naked body. His hands still were up as if he was drying his hair after a shower. Moving not a single muscle he stood like a statue. The towel had fallen past his back and now laid on the floor behind his feet. The room was slightly steamy.

This was the last she had expected. Barbara stared at her boss in complete shock and he stared back not less terrified. The ticking clock in her living room counted three seconds before her eyes involuntarily went quickly across his naked chest and stomach down to his best piece that obviously started to become a little bragger. Tommy blushed. Slowly he lowered his arms but although Barbara still looked at him and clearly must see his reaction he did not bother to cover himself. He watched her face. It started to blush like his. Seeing her wide, still shocked eyes with her pupils delaying he had to grin. Only when her stare kept focussing down south for a bit too long and fearing she might witness a reaction he would not have expected himself Tommy eventually harrumphed. It made her face glow in an even deeper red but her eyes finally went back to his face.

Despite the solo run of his member there was no denial that Tommy also felt a little bit embarrassed so he still was blushing when their eyes met. She looked confused and still a bit tense from the shock of seeing him here in her bathroom but obviously the unexpected sight of him naked - completely naked - also seemed to please her. It gave him the courage to be cheeky. He did not trust his voice but he had to ask anyway.

"Do you like what you see?"

For another few silent seconds Barbara did not answer. She just looked at him and then she threw the door close with a loud bang. She shouted at him from the other side.

"What the bloody hell are you doing here, Sir? And why are you in my bathroom?"

Shaking - from the sight of Tommy or from the loosening tension, she did not know - Barbara put away the knife. She started to empty her shopping bags in the kitchen, constantly trying to get rid of the image of his well-equipped south end. If she would not know better she would say it had been growing. Or he was really well-equipped. Indecent thought ran through her head so she tried to concentrate on her groceries while she listened to Tommy. Her flat was not big so through the closed door she heard him cleaning the shower and giving her the explanation.

For a few years now Tommy had her spare key for emergencies. Knowing, or better believing that she was not at home he had used it today. There was an urgent need for him to take a shower and put his clothes into the washing machine immediately because while he had attended a rally against animal abuse and had held a speech - Barbara paused for a couple of moments and tried to remember if he ever had mentioned being an animal rights activist - some anonymous idiots with rather stricter opinions on that matter had poured some sticky and foul liquid over him. Her aristocrat boss had not wanted to get into any vehicle and since her flat was so close to the place where the rally had been he had decided to use her shower. It simply was the nearest, only a five minute walk. His clothes were in her washing machine at the moment.

"I would have locked the door but there is no key." he ended apologetically.

Barbara snorted a short laugh while she sat down on her sofa. "Why should I have one? I'm single. No one usually showers there but me."

Before Tommy came out of the shower he deeply breathed. He had not been able to get her eyes out of his mind. She had looked shocked, of course, but there also had been a delighted pleasure, the hint of approval of what she had seen. Plus Barbara had been so close to him he could have reached her if he had held out his hand. After the first shock his body had begged to take advantage of the situation and just grab her, pull her against him and finally tell her what he had wanted to tell her for over three weeks. Since he had realised that he was in love with her he had searched for a good moment to tell her. Tommy hoped, and sometimes even was sure of it, that Barbara loved him too. In the moment after the first shock, when he had realised that she was in her black jeans and the shirt he liked her in, his body had started to react. It had not really stopped while he procrastinated his appearance in her living room. Now he came through the door wearing nothing but a towel with a rose pattern. The small bulge under it was unmissable. He had decided she should see it. His face was slightly blushing again but he could not keep his mouth from being bold.

"That should be changed." he quietly said and smiled at Barbara.

Trying hard not to move her eyes to his promising groin again she gave him a pensive look. She thought that he could shower here every day if he wanted to but for so many reasons that probably never will happen.

Tommy recognised a certain sadness before Barbara diverted her eyes to the menu of a delivery service. "Pizza?" she asked ignoring everything else.

"If you pay the service man. I don't think I should open the door like this." His slightly nervous laugh made her smile again but without looking up.

"Yah. You shouldn't. What will the neighbours think. But I've already ordered anyway." she said with an apologetic shrug. From the safe distance of the bathroom door he watched her laboriously folding the menu. Meanwhile Barbara had discarded her shoes right next to her sofa and pulled her feet under her legs. Now she obviously did not know where to look.

Tommy felt the urge to excuse his presence. "I didn't know you'd be back so soon, Barbara. I'm really sorry."

"Ah, well..." was all she replied first. Then, with a sheepish but slightly smug grin she added "It was worth it... Oh, now could you please sit down, Sir? It makes me nervous when you keep standing there."

Barbara had hoped he would sit down in the armchair but he dropped down next to her on the sofa.

"It's not getting any better." she murmured and got up. She could not keep sitting there while he was half-naked. She opened two bottles of beer, fetched the plates and cutlery, then she went to the washing machine in her bathroom and without thinking she put his clothes into the tumble dryer. Since she was there in the bathroom she also could have her long wanted shower.

"Sir? I'm having a shower. Don't come in!"

"I wouldn't dare!" he replied and thought about nothing but an excuse to accidentally catch her under the pouring water. She probably would kill him. It would be the most wonderful death he could think of.

Under the pouring water Barbara fought against the thoughts of him right next to her. The memory of his naked body still was very vivid in her mind and for a second she thought about him touching her. Her body reacted so dangerously intense that she better hurried to get finished and dried.

Outside in the living room Tommy did not move away from the spot on the sofa. Hearing the shower running and then the sounds Barbara made while she dried herself Tommy tried hard to concentrate on the TV.

The pizza came right after Barbara came out of the bathroom in her new sporty jogging pants and a huge T-shirt. On the sofa and in front of the TV they ate. Slowly first but then more lively Barbara told him about the Detectives she had met in Leeds and how boring it had been although she had learned a few things. Even after she had put the dishes into the sink she kept on telling Tommy about everything. Then she interviewed him about the rally and how long he had been an activist. It was a nice open conversation between two people who know each other for a long time. Barbara would miss this when she got promoted. She would miss him.

Eventually they just watched TV and somehow the space between them was shrinking. Eventually he had wrapped himself in a blanket. It slid down his knees and up his thigs when he casually propped his naked feet on the edge of her coffee table like she did with her one foot that was not tucked under her thigh. Just for a fragment of a second Barbara winced. Her eyes moved almost towards his now naked knees before she looked back at the screen. Then Tommy turned his head. Barbara knew he was watching her but she did not react.

"Are you finally used to me sitting here half naked?" he asked. Finally she could not avoid looking at him. Tommy chuckled and she blushed, then looked away again. He leaned a bit closer before he went on. "Although I really do like what you're wearing I think it's a bit unfair that you're fully dressed."

It was meant as a joke but Barbara blushed even more. Her nervousness had returned. During their conversation she actually had started to ignore his bare chest and naked legs and was relieved when he wrapped himself in that blanket but with a few words he had destroyed her willpower to not think about what was under the loose cloth.

"Should I finally dress or will you undress?" Tommy did not know where his new boldness came from. Maybe it was the late hour or maybe it simply was about time that he would give her some hints. Even if they were clumsy and ridiculous and everything here at the moment was rather odd.

Barbara raised an eyebrow and returned her eyes to him. "Sir, are you becoming romantic?" she asked him with a highly sarcastic undertone.

Suddenly Tommy turned serious. "I've always been." he quietly says. Her expression turned quizzical. Watching his face, trying to read his intention, she asked herself if he had meant what she thought he had meant. His arm laid on the backrest and in her nape she could feel the heat that radiated from his hand. But he made no move to touch her. He did not even move closer.

His Adam's apple went up and down while Tommy swallowed. Barbara felt the urge to push down the blanket from his shoulders and cuddle into his chest, or better cling to him and kiss him, show him what she longed for - but of course she did not. Only their eyes were glued to each other. An almost electrically sizzling atmosphere had built up between them. Fear, hope, love, doubts and a deep longing was written in both faces. Then finally Tommy screwed up his courage. He took a deep breath before he spoke. He had to know.

"Is this situation too odd to declare my love for you?" His face was soft, his lips were smiling and his eyes were only full of love now. Barbara started to shake. This declaration was too wonderful to be real. A bit odd but wonderful. There was nothing she had wanted more to hear from him. For a couple of moments she had to breathe away the sobs that started to rise in her throat before she could trust her voice enough to answer.

"I guess." she croakes.

"But it's the truth." he murmured. She knew it was the truth. His face was an open book for her and she never had seen him giving her that expression openly. She only had caught him giving her a glance like that once or twice recently. She always had dismissed it as coming from her own stupidly hopeful imagination. He did not look away now though, and his face kept its loving glow.

Now it was Barbara's turn to swallow. "Well..."

Tommy sighed. Without recognising it he had leaned a bit closer to Barbara. She very well recognised it and her heart starts beating faster. Then the full truth of his words hit her. There was hope again and she wanted nothing more than to be kissed right now but still he did not move on. Instead he sighed again.

"Barbara, I dearly want to kiss you, but as oddly dressed as I am it would be a bit..." Coyly he chewed on the inner side of his cheek. Never had she seen him nervous like this. It only mirrored her own feelings. She loved him, she had for years, but she also would not want to destroy what they already had. They were the best of friends. Could she risk that?

As nervous as Tommy she gave a short laugh and completed his sentence. "...odd?"

"M-hm." He gave her a lopsided grin. Once again his body acted on its own. The hand that had been behind her on the backrest had started to gently caress her neck. Since Barbara did not retreat from his touch he began to hope that this was not so odd at all. Her next words reassured him even more.

"Maybe this situation can't get any more odd." she murmured. "So..."

Her eyes briefly darted from his eyes to his lips. Her face beamed expectantly. Her chest heaved with deep breathes.

"So?" Involuntarily Tommy moved another bit closer to Barbara.

He only needed one word from her and he got it. Suddenly everything seemed easy and not at all odd. Not that she did it on purpose but in anticipation of his lips' touch Barbara bit her lower lip and left it glossy wet. She did not even know that her face had softened when she toneless asked "So why don't you try?" and leaned forward.

The kiss he gave her then may have started tentative and slightly awkward but it soon ended in a very odd situation on her sofa and partly on the carpet in front of it. That was when they decided that her bed would be a much more comfortable place to make love.

Shortly before she fell asleep in the early morning hours, relieved, satisfied and exhausted, Barbara realised that her evening had everything she had wanted when she had come through her door earlier: a shower, delivered dinner, TV and finally her bed. But she never would have believed that she also would share it all with Tommy.

Well, not the shower actually, but she would catch up on that later. With a smug grin she cuddled closer into his body and slept so deep and good like never before.

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