A/N – Once again, sorry for the delay. I cut this chapter a lot shorter than it was going to be... I was writing it and realising it was going to end up being about 7,000 words long, so I decided to cut it. Also, by cutting it I could post it now instead of keeping you guys waiting until next week (very busy weekend ahead... sorry!)

Anyway, hope you like. Thanks for the reviews. :-)

Chapter Six

Becker had once slept on the back of a broken-down truck on the edge of a Taliban-controlled region of Afghanistan, with only a handgun and a piece of tarpaulin for protection, so he generally didn't have much trouble dropping off in a new environment. The sofa he picked to sleep on in the suite was definitely more comfortable than that truck had been, and the blanket was a lot softer than the tarpaulin.

Still, it took him a long time to fall asleep. He lay in the dark suite, staring at the ceiling and listening to Jess' soft breathing as he went over the events of the day in his head. He had to hand it to Jess – she really had stepped up to the challenge. He should have expected nothing less, really; above all else, she was a perfectionist. She hated being wrong, or being made to look stupid... so basically he couldn't have put her in a worse position. Or acted so stupidly himself. Now that he thought of it, thought about what Jess had practically yelled at him once they were alone, he realised that the way he'd behaved at dinner had almost given them away. If it hadn't been for Jess' quick thinking and exceptional acting skills, the game might have been up within an hour of them arriving.

But the rest of the evening, once they'd extricated themselves from his family... well, that had actually been kind of fun. Like Jess had said, they'd never really spent that much time together outside of work, not that Becker hadn't thought about what it would be like.

He would be the first to admit that he was pretty slow when it came to women, but even he could see that Jess had... a thing for him. At first, Becker had found it kind of sweet, then a little bit uncomfortable, and then, god help him, he'd started to... well... feel feelings. The problem was he couldn't feel feelings – he just couldn't. Too much depended on him being completely dedicated to his job. And aside from that, he really did care about Jess, and considering his terrible track record with relationships and the stresses of their job, the chances of the two of them lasting were slim. Becker knew he wasn't what Jess needed, knew that he would end up hurting her in the long run. He couldn't – wouldn't – do that.

So they'd never really spent time together until now – kind of by design. Becker had tried to keep things professional between them. He slipped up sometimes – she was just so... so Jess sometimes that it was hard to resist her. Also, he found it a bit more difficult to hide how he felt when she was in danger, which was far more often than he liked.

And him asking her to pretend to be his girlfriend was also a bit of a blip in his plan to stay detached.

He shouldn't have done it – he just hadn't been able to think of anything, or anyone, else. He'd actually felt very guilty about asking her at all, since he'd known she'd say yes. He'd felt like a complete lowlife, using her crush on him to his advantage, but now that they were here and he'd been reminded of what harpies his sisters were, he was really glad Jess was by his side.

He finally fell asleep promising himself that he would do everything in his power not to let Jess down.

He woke up with the sun the next day, as was usual for him. He'd left the curtains of the suite open a crack to allow the light in, and a single shaft of sunlight was creeping across the floorboards when he opened his eyes. He lay still for a few minutes, thinking of the day ahead and how awful it was going to be, before standing up and stretching. He almost dropped down to the floor to start his morning exercise routine before a slight snuffling sound drew him up short.

Jess. She was still asleep, and he didn't want to wake her up, so he crept as quietly as he could to the bathroom. It was still very dark around the bed as there weren't any windows in that part of the room, and Becker could just make out a shape on the bed that was clearly Jess. He ducked into the bathroom, closed the door behind him and then turned on the light. He managed to remember to turn the light off again before exiting a few minutes later, and also to close the door of the dressing room on the other side of the bed before turning the light on in there, but once he had changed into joggers, a t-shirt and trainers he didn't have quite the same level of consideration. He opened the door without thinking, and light from the dressing room spilled out across the bed.

Becker froze, expecting Jess to wake up, but she just frowned slightly and slept on. He reached back to turn the light off but paused for a moment, taking in the sight of her sleeping. She was lying on her back with one arm flung above her head and her face turned towards him. She looked so young with her face relaxed in sleep, and the bright pink strappy top and pyjama shorts she was wearing didn't exactly strike a mature theme either.

But she'd pushed the quilt down at some point during the night, leaving it pooled around her hips. Her top had ridden up slightly, exposing her flat midriff, and the neck of her top was slightly askew, presenting Becker with a little more cleavage than he usually saw on Jess. He swallowed, and was actually kind of relieved when she shifted slightly and opened her eyes – at least it prompted him to stop staring.

"Hi – sorry," he said in a low voice, pulling the door a little more shut behind him to get the light out of her eyes.

"S'okay," Jess said, her voice heavy with sleep. "What you doing?"

"I was just going to go for a run."

Jess nodded and reached up to run a hand through her hair. She sat up slightly and yawned. "What time is it?"

"About six thirty."

Jess' eyes widened. "Six thirty?" She repeated incredulously. She glared at him and then reached down to yank the duvet up over her head as she flopped back down on the bed. She turned away from Becker under the covers, and though her voice was muffled he distinctly heard her mutter "soldiers" under her breath.

Becker grinned, turned off the light of the dressing room, and headed out for a morning run.

XXXXX

When Jess woke up properly an hour later the sunlight had crept its way almost over to the bed, and Becker was still gone. She smiled ruefully at the thought of him going for a run at dawn – somehow she wasn't surprised. She wasn't exactly a slattern in the mornings, but she drew the line at going for a run at 6.30am.

After she'd used the bathroom and felt a bit more human, Jess pulled open the curtains and let the light flood into the suite. It was a beautiful day, a few clouds but nothing that looked like rain. Jess stood by the window looking out over the grounds that she'd been unable to see in the darkness of the night before. At least five acres of landscaped gardens sloped out before her, and beyond the ivy-clad walls of the garden were more wild gardens and forested areas which Jess knew also belonged to the hotel. She walked over to the other window and looked out over the car park. There were a dozen or so cars parked on the gravel outside, all of them flashy and ridiculously expensive – Becker's car didn't look at all out of place.

Jess shook her head. Becker was a secretly rich car enthusiast – who knew?

Jess turned away from the window and saw Becker's bedding from the night before. Being the good little soldier that he was, he had neatly folded the blanket at the end of the sofa, and his pillows were stacked at the other end of the sofa. Jess picked up all of it and took it back to the dressing room – it would be all they needed for one of his sisters to walk into their suite and see evidence that the two of them weren't sharing a bed.

She'd acted not a moment too soon, because the second she stepped out of the dressing room there was a knock on the door. Becker would have taken his key with him, she was sure, so that meant it must be one of his sisters. Jess quickly rumpled up the covers on the bed a little more in a last-ditch attempt to make it look like two people had slept in it, and then hurried to open the door.

It was Becker's niece, Millie. She was wearing a very sweet yellow-tee and pedal-pusher ensemble, a pink bow clipped into her hair and big grin on her face. She had a Hannah Montana cloth bag over one shoulder and was clutching a piece of paper in her hand – Jess guessed it was a new picture she'd drawn for Becker.

Jess smiled down at her. "Good morning, Millie," she said.

"Good morning! Is Uncle Hil here?" Millie asked, trying to peer round Jess to see into the room.

Jess opened the door wider as she shook her head. "No, I'm sorry Millie – he's not here right now," she said.

Millie's face fell, but before she could say anything Tabby rounded the corner, pulling Jake along by the hand. "Millie!" She scolded. "I told you to wait for me."

"Mummy, Uncle Hil's not here," Millie said, completely ignoring the fact she'd been told off.

Tabby looked at Jess then, and raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?" She said. "Where is he?"

Jess met her eyes and forced herself to smile, even though she knew what Tabby was implying with her question. Last night at dinner, Jess had got a very strong feeling that Tabby hadn't believed their ruse. Mindy had obviously bought it hook line and sinker, not because they were especially convincing but because she was so happy at the thought of Becker having a girlfriend. Tabby, on the other hand, had sat peering at them with suspicious eyes throughout dinner, and Jess had grown more and more uncomfortable with her staring.

"He's gone for a run," Jess said lightly. "Up at the crack of dawn, as per usual."

Tabby smiled back, but her eyes were shrewd and assessing. "Did he wake you up?"

"He tried not to, but yes he did," she said. "Luckily for him, I'm a morning person."

"Hmm."

That was it, just a 'hmm'. She and Becker were really going to have to work hard to regain lost ground with Tabby today.

"But I need to give him my picture!" Millie exclaimed suddenly.

Jess turned the smile on the little girl. "Well I'm sure he won't be long," she said. "Do you want to come in and wait for him?"

"Okay!" Millie said happily, pushing past Jess and running into the suite. Jake tugged on his Mum's hand and peered into the room after her. Jess noticed and smiled at him.

"You can come in too, if you want," she said. She smiled at Tabby. "Both of you."

Jake gave Jess a shy smile, once again displaying the fact he was pretty much a five-year-old version of Becker, and followed his sister into the suite. Jess looked at Tabby expectantly.

Tabby gave Jess a genuine smile this time. "Actually, it would be great if you could watch them for a couple of minutes," she said. "I had to rush to get ready and didn't get a chance to put on any make-up – Millie was out of the door and heading here before I could blink."

Jess grinned. "No problem," she said. Tabby nodded and headed back the way she'd come, leaving Jess alone with the kids.

TBC