Author's Note: Thanks again for the reviews – they mean a lot. Here we go with the showdown…

"We'd better talk to him," Neil said quietly. Grace nodded, and reluctantly moved to drop his hand, but Neil kept his grip firm as he led the way to their boss.

"Neil, Grace," Jack greeted evenly, having paid for his food and that of his companion. Neil vaguely recognised her from one of the borough meetings – Julie, or something. A DCI if he remembered right.

"DI Manson," she nodded with a polite smile.

"Ma'am," he replied with a nod. Sensing the tension between the other three adults, Jack's date quickly excused herself and went to wait for Jack by the stairs.

"Jack," Neil greeted his superior informally, refusing to back down. Jack sighed, paying an inordinate amount of attention to their joined hands.

"How long has this been going on then?" he asked gruffly.

"Two dates," Neil replied honestly. "Well, one and a half."

"Two dates," Jack echoed resignedly. "So, you weren't on autopilot, you did just have an inappropriate interest."

Neil looked down, shoulders tightening. "I didn't-" he began, but Jack cut him off.

"We've been over this ground before," Jack said harshly, but his tone was belied by a resigned sigh. The instant Grace had introduced herself to him on the first day, Jack had known there'd be a real chance of something like this happening. She was exactly Neil's type: a highly intelligent, independent, empathetic brunette. True to his prediction, he'd watched as Neil went from respecting her at the beginning of her tenure, to Neil fancying her rotten a handful of months later. Recently, Jack had noticed Neil starting to realise this, and had braced himself for the upcoming complications. Neil and Grace were about as discreet a couple as an employer could hope for, but that fact and his preparedness for this happening did not mean he would not issue a cautionary word or two...

"Neil, for the sake of your career, I just hope you've thought this through. You're in a very uncomfortable position should this not work out – as Grace's direct superior you could be open to all sorts of legal action–"

"I'm not going to bring a harassment suit against him," Grace interrupted firmly.

Jack looked at her evenly. "Not now, no. But what if it goes badly? He's also open to accusations of favouritism and bias –"

"With respect, Jack, you've already levelled those at me," Neil said. Grace looked at him in surprise. Jack switched his focus to Grace.

"It's not just Neil who'll have problems," Jack warned. "Grace, when people find out, and they will, it's a devil of a job to keep anything quiet in Sun Hill…well, Neil's not exactly Mr Popular. A lot of your colleagues won't be impressed."

"I don't think it's their business," Grace said evenly.

"Well, you've made up your minds then," Jack said. "I do trust you not to bring it to work; both of you, but you'll need to be careful. The slightest hint of anything that compromises either of you, and I will step in."

"We'll be careful," Grace answered for them, squeezing Neil's hand. Despite himself, Jack couldn't help but think what a striking and well-suited couple they made.

"Unofficially," Jack said uncomfortably. "Good luck."

Neil smiled. "Cheers, guv, enjoy the movie."

With that, Jack nodded and vanished up the stairs with his own date, oblivious to the fact he took with him much of Neil and Grace's relaxed, easy intimacy.

Neil sat down across the table from Grace at the small burger joint next to the cinema.

"Well, at least that saves me having to find a way to ask you if you were okay with me telling him," he said, trying to keep his tone light but failing. "And trying to find out a way to tell him!"

"Yeah," Grace hesitated, unsure how to phrase her question. "What was he talking about, at the beginning?"

"You remember that gang rape case at the beginning of the year which I pulled you off, saying the Super wanted Jo on?" Neil asked slowly. Grace nodded. "That was him flexing muscle. He thought there was a trend of me offering you 'all the plum jobs' and told me that it would either be interpreted as being on autopilot or as me having an inappropriate interest. He told me not to bring it to work if it was the latter."

Grace couldn't help but laugh sardonically. "Ironically, wasn't that around the time we started having problems?"

Neil nodded slowly, his natural desire for reticence warring with his desire for this … whatever … to become a proper relationship.

"You scared me," he said honestly, and suddenly.

"Sorry?" Grace asked, confused.

"When you asked me to dinner after the Bickham thing," he waved his hands.

"I thought you thought that was a group outing?" Grace frowned, suddenly hurt.

"I did," Neil said. "Or I would've, I would've said yes. Mickey and Terry were packing up and they said they were going straight home and you hadn't invited them out and then I realised…"

"And by that time I'd already left?" Grace finished the story. Neil nodded. "Why did it take this long for you to ask me out? Was it because of Jake?"

"I bottled it," Neil admitted. "I couldn't stop thinking of all the reasons not to ask you out. Our working relationship, the fact that I'm…really really bad at this... And then Jake was ill and we didn't know what was going on then we found out then I just…I couldn't deal with it."

"Well, I'm glad you did," Grace said shyly. "Ask me out that is."

"Me too," Neil said with a crooked, tentative smile.

"Speaking of work," Grace said awkwardly as the waiter placed a burger in front of each of them. "It's not that I don't – it's not that I want to hide this or anything…I just…"

"I think we should take this slowly," Neil took up her train of thought.

"Exactly," Grace said in relief. "Although, they will find out…the Super was right, Sun Hill's a gossip haven."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Neil assured her. "Look, I don't know where this is going, but I want us to find out. And I don't want the nick involved."

"Me either," Grace assured him. "It's decided then, quiet at work, and we're dating, but slowly."

Neil nodded his approval, before glancing down at his plate. "Now, ma'am, if you'll excuse me," he said lightly. "I'm about to demonstrate how uncivilised I am – there's no neat way to eat a burger."

Grace laughed in agreement as they attacked their burgers with zeal.

This time it was Neil whose yawn interrupted their evening. Grace smiled.

"We've got to be at work early tomorrow," she said, lightly touching his arm as she got to her feet. Neil did the same, and then shyly reached for her hand. The feel of his warm hand enveloping hers sent shivers up the right side of her body, and she couldn't restrain a giddy grin which he returned.

"Thank you again," Neil said, hands stuffed in his pockets as he stood outside her door.

Grace ran through the possible responses: Me too, was too … wishy-washy, No, thank you was painfully formal, I had a great time seemed repetitive…

Relaxed by the late hour and the ease of the night, she decided to simply do what she'd been dying to do since he'd turned up on her doorstep in a leather jacket, with pink flowers and a shy smile. Placing her hands on his shoulders, she leaned up on her tiptoes and lightly pressed her lips to his.

Neil froze at the unexpected contact, his eyes slamming shut involuntarily. Her lips fitted perfectly to his, and the contact was warm and electric, sending a thrill down his spine. Relaxing a little, he kissed her back in the same manner.

Grace drew back, removing her hands from his shoulders, lips tingling.

"Good night," she said, somewhat dumbstruck by the dazed look on his face which she knew was mirrored on hers. If a perfectly chaste kiss could do that to them both, she couldn't help wondering what would happen when they took it further. Neil smiled foolishly at her and she felt her stomach flip again.

"Yeah," he said, breathlessly. "See you tomorrow."

"Yeah," Grace replied, watching as he turned back down the hallway, flicking a final smile over his shoulder.