Ruth looked around the restaurant, feeling like she was being treated. It seemed very exclusive. They'd just ordered and Ruth picked up her glass of chilled white wine. She wondered how many women Harry had done this with before. Taken to a nice expensive restaurant, indulged in pleasant conversation and light flirting before he took the woman in question home and made passionate and frenzied love to her. The image of Harry in bed with a strange woman shocked her, both with its clarity and with the amount of jealousy it caused in her.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, seeing the flicker of discomfort across her face.

"Yes," she said.

"Are you missing Lucy?"

"No, not really," she said. "I know she'll be fine."

"Can I just say I admire you," he said softly. Ruth frowned at him. "Raising her while attending University."

"Mm," Ruth said absently. "My mother was a fantastic help. I'd never have been able to do it without her. I'd never have got my degree otherwise. My mum, she wanted me to succeed."

"I'm glad," Harry said. "Otherwise you'd never be working for MI5 would you?"

"And we wouldn't have met," she agreed with a smile. "Harry, I must say though... that your reputation precedes you. As soon as my boss at GCHQ heard I was putting in for a transfer to Thames House, I got warned off of you."

"Warned off of me?" Harry asked amused.

"Oh yes," Ruth said. "I was told…" she paused, wondering if she should say what her previous boss told her.

"Go on," he said eagerly. "I'd like to know what they say about me when I'm not listening. I have a fair idea anyway."

She nodded, and then closed her eyes, trying to remember the exact wording. "Harry Pearce has an eye for pretty young girls and he's a career hazard for every female that passes through section D," she quoted. "I'd do best to avoid all contact with him outside of professional circumstances. He has loose morals, no integrity and is a serial womaniser, not even pausing for one at a time. His only saving grace is that he is a decent section head."

"Glad to know some of my acquaintances think so highly of me," he said sarcastically. Ruth had been expecting him to deny his reputation, so she was surprised. "There's no point in me denying it," he added as if reading her mind. "It would take you mere minutes to look into my file if you wanted to."

"I thought that was protected above my clearance," Ruth said, her lips twitching.

"It is," he said. "But I know that if you wanted to read it, you'd read it. A thing like security clearance isn't likely to stop you."

Ruth let herself smile at that. "You're missing the point," she said, her voice low. He inclined his head for her to continue. "Even knowing all that, I still chose to be here tonight." She caught his eyes with her own and felt the intensity right down to her soul. "With you."

"You are here," he agreed. "Why? Knowing all that about me, why would you still be here?"

"I don't listen to hearsay," she said quietly. "I don't like gossip, and I like to find things out for myself."

"That is very good to hear," he said, his voice low. Ruth suddenly realised that they had both been leaning in towards one another, across the table. The distance between them was becoming less and less as the seconds slowly ticked by. He shifted his hand and covered her fingers gently. The heat from his palm was shocking and Ruth felt almost as if she'd been electrified. She turned her hand over so his touch could glide over more of her flesh.

Suddenly their meals arrived and they sprang apart like guilty teenagers. Catching each others eyes they smiled before starting on their delicious meals.

Harry told his driver to drop them off about five minutes away from Ruth's house. He wanted to say goodbye to her in private, and he had a feeling Ruth wouldn't appreciate an observer. Walking to her house, the distant noises of the London night broke the silence.

"Thank you for dinner," Ruth said. Harry reached for her and grabbed her hand gently as they walked. "It was delicious."

"I like that little Italian," he said. "Very good food."

"Mm," Ruth said. "So how many dates have you taken there?"

"I rather think you have a preconceived idea about me," Harry said. "In spite of popular opinion, I am not a cheat, a rat or a philanderer. Ruth, I like you." He spoke so simply that Ruth felt her face flush. For him, it was that simple she saw.

"I like you too," she said. "Doesn't it bother you that I have a daughter?"

"No," he said. He frowned at her. "Why would it?"

"Men don't tend to appreciate a woman with a history," she said quietly. "Especially a history which demands so much of my time and attention."

"Then ignore them," he said simply. "Your daughter is a massive part of you. She's a part of who you are. Anyone who wants to spend time with you should realise that."

"You're… different," she said slowly.

"Is that a good thing?"

"Yes Harry," she said. "That is a very good thing." They'd reached her front door and he turned to her. She smiled easily.

"I had a really great time," he said. "Can we do this again?"

"Yes," she said. "I'd really like that." Harry leaned close to her and kissed her cheek lightly. He drew back and she shook her head. "No wait." She leaned in and pressed her lips to his softly and gently. He responded quickly, kissing her expertly as his hands rested on her waist. When the kiss ended her breathing was heavy. "Goodnight Harry."

"Night." She opened the door and walked through it. When it closed she leaned against it and closed her eyes, waiting for her heart rate to calm down.

"Good night?" Kate called from the living room.

"Very," Ruth said. She saw Kate on the sofa, a glass of wine in her hand. Out of habit Ruth looked at the level of the wine bottle on the table. She wasn't surprised to see that only a glass or so had been drunk. Kate wasn't irresponsible or stupid. "How's Lucy been?"

"Perfect," Kate said. "Went to bed on time and haven't heard a peep from her since. But that's not the point, how was your date?" Ruth walked out of the room and Kate wondered if she'd overstepped. But then Ruth reappeared with an empty glass and poured herself a generous measure from the wine bottle.

"Where shall I start?"

Harry lay in bed that night thinking of Ruth. She was very unlike women he'd gone for in the past, but he didn't think that was a bad thing. She seemed calm and composed. Obviously intelligent and with an understated beauty that had grown on him the more he watched her across the grid as the days went passed. But he'd have to move slowly with her. He knew Ruth well enough to know that she didn't do anything without thinking it through. Added to that, the complication of her daughter meant she couldn't be impulsive with him. She couldn't simply invite him around to her house with no thought to the consequences. She couldn't go out with him on the spur of the moment: without thinking about it. She would need to get a babysitter first. He didn't mind, but it did mean that their evenings out would have to be planned in advance. It didn't bother him, taking his time. Because he knew in his gut that she would be worth the wait.

Thank you for the reviews and enthusiasm. A bit stuck now, will see how it goes!