Afternoon

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"I'm glad you came." Tommy smiled and turned her hand to kiss the inner side of her wrist.

These gestures made her knees weak. First the old-fashioned kiss on the hand and then this intimate gentleness - both were nothing she had experienced before. A real gentleman. she thought. I wonder if he's as gentle when we... she forbid herself to think this to the end but blushed anyway.

His eyes narrowed at the sight of a half inch long silver gecko on a thin chain that seemed to try to hide in her bosom. It hung very low in her cleavage and made Tommy nervous.

"Promise me not to wear something like this at work." He had to struggle to let his voice sound somewhat normal. He wanted nothing but to pull her inside, slam the door shut and shove her against the wall in the corridor.

Barbara snorted amused. "Why that?" and went past him.

Because I want to make unbridled love to you.

Tommy needed to shake his head to get rid of those thoughts. Tonight...

"First - " he said. "I would be too distracted all throughout the day. And second - I'd be entirely jealous. No other man would be able to get his eyes off you and that means I would have to blind all of them."

Once inside and with the door closed he did what he had thought of. He pressed her against the wall and kissed her properly.

"Tommy!" Barbara moaned when he licked her throat. "What's with the museum?"

Tommy just grunted an answer. He loved to hear her moan his name and wanted to hear it again.

Right in this moment the backdoor snapped and she heard someone walking up the rear stairs so she pushed Tommy away. As deeply as she wanted to go on being enchanted right here, right now, she could not do it as long as she knew Denton around. She blushed and placed her hands on his chest, having her eyes on the hallway.

"Please." she whispered.

She has to get used to the butler. Tommy kissed her cheek and composed himself for a few moments.

"One day you have to get used to Denton." he smiled and dragged her into his living room.

He collected some things and they left his house.

"We'll walk there!"

It turned out to be an entirely pleasurable afternoon.

They spent about 4 hours at some very touristic places of London where they knew that none of their colleagues would eventually show up. The average London local usually did not spend much of his time there, even when their office is as near as the Met actually is to the palace.

The newly united couple managed a twenty minute walk and paid 'a visit to the Queen', like Barbara called the sightseeing at the guard's post at a back entrance of the Buckingham Palace. They bantered next to the poor stoic guard about the Earl of Asherton's position in the line of succession to the English throne. An old and friendly japanese lady shot a photograph of the two standing next to the guard. Before she returned his mobile phone the old lady shot another one when he stole a quick kiss from Barbara, accompanied by the giggling of the group of japanese ladies.

Afterward they had an ice cream in the St. James's Park, then spent an hour in and around the London Eye, but for Barbara's liking there had been too many people. In the early evening they went to the British Museum where, granted by a good friend of his Lordship, they were allowed to stroll around the deserted halls of a side wing an hour longer than the usual visitor. It was absolutely silent and the only sound audible from somewhere far away were the guards and the electric floor polishers.

During this afternoon they did not show many intimacies and the only real sign of their togetherness had been that quick kiss next to the palace's guard and Tommy's arm around her shoulder when they walked. Well, and some sweet moments in the park, when they ate their ice cream and Tommy suddenly needed to taste a tiny bit of her vanilla-cherry scoop, not from her cornet but from her lips. Okay, and after the ride on the big wheel when they had strolled away to some less peopled area that ended somehow in a passionate kissing in a house entrance in a side alley of a street nearby.

Though both had it clearly in their minds the entire day nothing extraordinarily suggestive happened. It was like they had been together in a relationship for years. The awkward restrictions were vanished as if they never had been there.

When the museum's guard politely had put them on inquiry that he wanted to clock off they left the air conditioned premises and stood in front of the building. It was a still very warm evening though it was not as hot as it had been yesterday. The clock said something about 7:30 and the sky was not yet dark.

"Your place or mine?" Tommy cheekily asked.

"I've been promised a fancy dinner, Sir." Barbara answered. "So, if you're not going to weasel out it's the restaurant."

"Oh, this I won't!"

Much to Barbara's surprise the cab Tommy had called brought them back to Belgravia.

After Tommy had closed the door behind them and had given Barbara a kind kiss in the corridor while he had taken off her handbag he led her straight onto the balcony from where they could overlook his garden.

"My surprise!" Tommy made an inviting gesture.

In front of the bench between the rosebush a perfect picnic had been laid out.

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