Sherlock might be a manipulative bastard, but he could be unexpectedly sweet when he wanted to. Janine knew there was something going on the moment she received a phone call from one of his friends, and yet she quickly decided she didn't mind at all.
Greg Lestrade was a handsome man; solid, dependable, and blatantly single on top of that. She didn't believe for one second that he was in Sussex for a case, but she decided to play along all the same.
"You don't have to stay at that horrible inn," she told him when he mentioned his intended accommodation. "There's a spare bedroom in my cottage, it'd be nice to have someone around other than the bees."
He paused to consider the option, butterflies stirring in her stomach when he eventually accepted her invitation. The truth was that there hadn't been anyone since Sherlock, and she desperately needed an uncomplicated relationship for a change.
And goodness, he was good at it, she decided as he kissed his way down her cleavage and into her bedroom. It had been so long ever since a man had worshipped her like that, body and mind alike, and he held her afterwards when tears of relief started trickling down her cheeks.
"I'm sorry," she muttered against his neck. "I don't know what has come upon me."
"Hey, you don't have to explain yourself," he whispered tenderly, his voice like honey and balm and everything that was good in life. "It's all fine."
"Please, stay," she murmured into his skin; for the first time in a long while she felt safe and wanted, and she allowed herself to fall into a peaceful slumber.