Disclaimer - I don't own the Bill.
PC Millie Brown sneaked a glance at her watch and signed. They'd been staring at this disused loading bay for half an hour now and the drug deal they'd received information about still wasn't happening. She rubbed her arms trying to get some warmth into them and signed again as she thought about the warm coat she had back at the station - no use to her now. She couldn't believe she'd forgotten it - once again she was proving her lack of brains to him. Although she longed to glance at the person at the other end of the bench her pride got the better of her and she kept her eyes on the bay.
DS Max Carter - sitting at the other end of the bench - heard her sigh and he frowned. Glancing at her he saw her rub her arms and sigh again but he was determined to keep his mind on the current job - which was proving much more difficult than it normally was. Having her at the other end of the bench was disturbing him and he found his thoughts and glances straying to her more often. This was disturbing him. Ever since working on the toyshop robbery case she often strayed into his thoughts but he was usually good at distracting himself. He hadn't worked closely on a case with her since then so keeping his feeling at bay had been easy. Being in close contact with her again was harder than he thought it would be but he was determined to do a good job on this case so he tore his glance away and looked at the loading bay again.
Millie's thoughts were wondering again. She couldn't believe she'd got stuck on another case with him. And she couldn't believe that they'd been stuck on this bench for half an hour without saying one word to each other. She hated it when he called her a good girl - it sounded like he was talking about some sort of dog - but she had to admit it was slightly better than when he completely ignored her or her views. The breeze picked up again and she started jigging her feet up and down, rubbing her arms and her teeth knocked against each other. She clamped her teeth down and wondered if she could risk walking up and down before her blood stooped flowing. She was wearing a white turtle neck but it was made of thin material and really wasn't helping.
Max heard her teeth chattering and wondered what he could do to help her. He was debating whether or not to give her his jacket. He was wearing a thin cotton shirt underneath it but he reckoned he would be better at hiding how cold he was. He signed as he shrugged his jacket off and offered it to her.
"Here." His voice was gruff from lack of use, but she looked round all the same. He saw her eyes skim over the proffered jacket and the question in her eyes but he wasn't about to answer it. He moved the jacket closer to her, but she shook her head.
"No thanks, Sarge, I'm ok." She quickly faced back to the loading bay. Max bit his lip. If she didn't want it then fine, he wasn't going to argue with her.
"Of course, I forgot. Jackets from people who kidnap you and threaten you with a gun are fine but a jacket from your boss isn't acceptable."
He didn't see the half smile that twisted her lips as they once again settled into silence.