A/N: Hello there, wonderful people! I will begin by apologising for the amount of time it's taken me to update this fic, but I've been away on location and then wanted to focus on finishing another one before continuing with this.

Thanks for all being patient and I hope the update is worth the wait!

Please feel free to drop me a comment and let me know what you think :)

Chapter 10

Serena awoke to the feeling of being incredibly thirsty, realising her mouth was very dry. Swallowing stiffly, she opened her eyes slowly and stared out at the room in front of her. She could see the empty bottle of wine along with both glasses on the coffee table and she tried to remember when they'd finished it off. Yawning lightly, she felt the bed move behind her and instantly froze. Her eyes widened as she tried to grasp the situation she had found herself in. Gingerly pulling back the quilt and looking down at herself, she saw she was in fact naked. Groaning and squeezing her eyes shut, she gently turned over so she was looking at her bed-mate. His eyes were open and he was gazing at her, a small smile on his lips. Raising a hand and stroking her cheek, he spoke.

"Good morning." Serena almost laughed and cried at the absurdity of the situation as she stared at him in exasperation.

"We...did we...I mean..." She found she really couldn't string a sentence together, noticing Hanssen shifting closer, draping an arm around her waist.

"Indeed, Ms. Campbell." he whispered before lowering his lips onto her neck, causing her to gasp.

"What...how..." she trailed off as his kisses became more insistent before heading up and reaching her lips. She felt her arms wrap around him of their own accord as they repositioned themselves, their breathing becoming erratic.

"Oh Serena..." mumbled Hanssen as she felt the passion coursing through her and his hand reaching below the quilt...

Serena sat bolt-upright in bed, gasping for breath and raising a hand to her chest. She snapped her head to her right expecting to see Hanssen, but her bed was empty. She looked down at herself and noticed she was fully-clothed and on top of the covers. Frowning, she glanced over at the coffee table and saw the bottle of wine had indeed been finished, but judging by the pounding in her head, she hadn't had much help in doing so. Raising a hand to her forehead, she rubbed it lightly, flinching as she pulled at the skin around her eye, almost re-opening the wound. Forcing her breathing back under control, she swung her legs off the bed and stood up, making her way to Hanssen's room. Peering around the doorway she could see him lying on his front, shirtless, facing her fast asleep. Backing into her own room, she frowned as she tried to piece together last night. She remembered him comforting her, them embracing by the window before he'd made his excuses and left. Sitting on the edge of the bed, she realised she was as confused by his behaviour now as she had been last night. One minute they'd been hugging, comforting one another, the next, he was hurrying towards his room throwing excuses of being 'tired' and having 'a very busy day tomorrow', at her. She looked around at her bed, where she'd imagined her and Hanssen had... No, she decided. She wasn't going to allow herself to think about that now. Noticing it was almost 6am, she headed to the bathroom and turned on the shower before gingerly stepped in, flinching at the initial heat from the water. Standing under the pounding water, she allowed herself to think back to her dream and found herself blushing furiously, but smiling all the same.

As Serena left the room, Hanssen cracked open one eye and exhaled when he heard the shower running. Turning onto his back, he ran a hand across his face and stared at the ceiling in silence. He wasn't sure why he'd thought it would be a good idea to stay over in a hotel, with Serena Campbell of all people, but he had and now he had to face the consequences. The volume of wine consumed the previous evening lead to Hanssen revealing slightly more about himself than he wanted. Sitting up and swinging his legs off the side of the bed, he realised he wouldn't be able to look at Serena in the same way anymore. He had told her something incredibly private about himself and in return, he had seen her defences crumble slightly after enduring the day they had yesterday. He had never imagined he would see her looking as vulnerable as she had done not only last night, but throughout the day too. From the moment Edward had shown up on the train he had noticed a slight change in her, a flash of something in her eyes that hadn't been there before...uncertainty. He never would have associated her with being uncertain about anything, but that simply reiterated to him how little he actually knew her.

Sighing, he climbed from the bed and reached out for his shirt from the clothes rail, pulling it on but neglecting to fasten the buttons, figuring he would brush his teeth first, feeling glad they'd thought to ask for toothbrushes from reception last night. Thinking back to the night before, he wondered if he had gone too far...said too much. He had seen the look on Serena's face when he had told her about his mother and also when he had hugged her. The look of surprise on her face was enough for Hanssen to realise how out of character that was for him. He had immediately regretted his decision, wondering what had spurred him on to do that. The feeling of physical contact with another human being, especially a woman with whom he had a tempestuous relationship with at best, had aroused feeling within him that he hadn't felt in a long time. Feeling increasingly awkward and concerned as to whether Serena would notice, he had said goodnight and bid a hasty retreat. Once alone in his room, he had sat in confusion for a while, trying to understand what was going on in his mind.

Stepping carefully from the shower, Serena reached for the towel left by the sink and wrapped it around herself, checking her reflection in the mirror. Satisfied that she no longer looked like the walking dead, she headed into the bedroom, carrying her clothes, forgetting there was no door separating her and Hanssen. As she placed the clothes on the bed, she heard a sound behind her and spun around coming face to face with a rather embarrassed-looking Henrik Hanssen.

"Ah Ms. Campbell, I do apologise, I had no idea you would be...well..." Hanssen indicated the towel wrapped around her and Serena hastily grabbed at it, pulling it tighter around herself. Blushing furiously, she waved away his apology and stared at the floor, waiting for him to turn and leave the room. After a few moments it became clear that he hadn't left and Serena risked a glance up at him. He was staring at her with a curious expression on his face, his head tilted slightly as he made sure his eyes remained on her face.

"Would you mind...?" Serena asked suddenly, nodding towards his room as he cleared his throat and seemed to snap back to reality as he turned and exited the room quickly. Serena exhaled and laughed to herself at the absurdity of their situation. "This is utterly ridiculous..." she mumbled to herself as she began to dress, throwing cautious glances behind her every now and again. For the CEO and his Deputy to have stayed overnight in a hotel was bad enough, but the fact they were effectively sharing a room made matters slightly worse. Serena thought to herself that if any members of staff were to find out about this, they'd never hear the end of it. She couldn't quite believe it herself, spending the evening chatting with Henrik Hanssen, even learning something personal about him, and now he had seen her half-naked. As she finished buttoning up her shirt, she heard him clear his throat from inside his room, keeping out of sight. "You can come in now!" She shouted through as she went and threw the wet towel in the bath ready for the housekeeping staff to collect. Coming back through into the bedroom, she noticed how awkward Hanssen was looking as he stood still in the centre of the room, his eyes scanning his surroundings. Standing opposite him, hearing his breathing took Serena on a memory-trip of her dream last night. Blushing and clearing her throat, she turned to collect her belongings, trying to pull her mind from where it had gone.

Hanssen had sat in his room, unable to get the image of Serena Campbell wrapped in a towel out of his head. They way she had seemed so self-conscious but also confident at the same time confused him, but also attracted him. He pulled at the neck of his shirt, swallowing stiffly as he tried to keep his mind away from his naked colleague in the next room. It had been a long time since he had seen a woman wearing as little clothing as that, outside of a medical setting of course. Once Serena had called him back through, he could have sworn she blushed when she met his gaze. He studied her carefully as she busied herself with collecting her belongings and studiously avoiding looking at him. He feared that if they didn't nip this in the bud now, things would get progressively more uncomfortable for them. She was clearly uncomfortable because of last night and Hanssen had to agree that he felt the same. Reaching out and resting a hand gently on her arm, she froze and turned to look at him.

"Ms. Campbell. I would like to offer my apologies if I crossed any boundaries last night. It was not my intention to do so, I was simply trying to offer comfort." Serena stared at him as he began fidgeting and pushed his glasses back up his nose nervously.

"You have nothing to apologise for. I shouldn't have gotten overly emotional like I did, I made things awkward for the both of us." Serena didn't normally accept blame easily, but she had to admit that she had contributed to last night's awkward ending. She had been surprised by Hanssen's show of emotion and hadn't known how to respond to it. She also found it rather disconcerting that all she could think about now, was the Hanssen in her dream. He had been so gentle yet passionate and more than happy to allow her to take control. Snapping back to reality, she noticed Hanssen's hand was still on her arm and he was looking at her with a strange look in his eyes...almost like a gleam. She swallowed nervously as she felt the air between them shift slightly and he took a tentative step closer to her.

"You have no need to apologise for anything Ms. Campbell. Yesterday was a hard day, therefore it is completely understandable that you reacted the way you did."

"I didn't mean to push you away...last night...it was just a bit of a shock." she said quietly as he nodded in understanding.

"As you yourself pointed out last night, I am not one for showing my emotions regularly." Serena agreed with him as they stood staring at each other. She didn't know what prompted her to do what she did next, possibly the dream or possibly the way Hanssen had been last night, but in that moment she stopped thinking. Stepping forwards, she reached up and planted a soft kiss on his cheek, stepping back and gauging his reaction. He said nothing as his eyes focused on her lips and he found himself reaching out and resting his hands gently on her arms, pulling her closer.

"Serena!?" Came a shout from outside the door, causing Hanssen to instantly jump back in fright, leaving Serena feeling flustered as she tried to process what was going on. Hanssen had been about to kiss her, she was sure of it, but some idiot had ruined it by knocking on the door. Sighing heavily and trying to regulate her breathing, Serena approached the door and opened it as Hanssen moved to the sofa and sat down, slightly shocked at his own actions.

"Oh for goodness sake! How did you find me here?" Hanssen could hear the exasperation in her voice and he knew instantly who was at the door.

"We need to talk, please?" Edward stared at Serena, taking in her slightly flushed cheeks and wondered what had been going on.

"We have a train booked for an hours' time...I don't think..."

"I'm on the same one! We'll talk there?" Serena sighed in frustration as she leant her head against the door.

"What do you want to talk about? Because as far as I'm concerned, there really isn't anything left for discussion." Edward narrowed his eyes slightly, noticing Hanssen appearing from the rear of the room.

"Sorry, I forgot...I'll leave you to it." he said as he turned around and stormed off down the hallway. Serena closed the door slowly and leant her forehead against it, taking a deep breath. If the journey home was anything like the journey there, she was sure they'd be one less by the time they arrived at Holby. Turning around, she saw Hanssen pulling on his coat and reaching for his briefcase. She couldn't help but feel angered by the fact their almost kiss had been interrupted, but then again, she surmised it was probably for the best. After all, they were hardly going to begin anything together were they? They didn't even like each other. Smiling awkwardly at Hanssen as she reached for her own bag, she tried to make light of the situation.

"Well, he's definitely going to think something's going on now!" she laughed as she watched Hanssen's reaction closely. She thought she saw his lips twitch slightly in amusement, but his face returned to a blank mask almost immediately.

"Yes." was all he said as he headed for the door, opening it and waiting for Serena to exit the room ahead of him. As they travelled down in the lift, Hanssen thought he would quite gladly strangle Edward for interrupting them. That was twice now the man had turned up at the worst possible moment. Sneaking a glance at Serena out of the corner of his eye, he noticed she was deep in thought, frowning lightly as she chewed her lip. He didn't know what kept coming over him, maybe it was simply not having been intimate with another person in so long, but every time he got a glimpse of the Serena beneath the Ms. Campbell, he found himself incredibly attracted to her. Back in the hotel room, all he'd wanted to do had been to kiss her, feel her lips against his own and hold her in his arms. Thinking clearly now, he realised that was one of the worst ideas he had ever had. He had already allowed her to get too close by admitting a secret he had kept from everybody, he didn't need to let her any closer. He knew how ruthless and dangerous she could be when it came to her career, and he was under no illusions that should the need arise, she would use any relationship they had against him. If he was honest with himself, he didn't very much like the woman and he was certain she felt the same about him too. As the doors to the lobby opened, they stepped out and went to hand in their keys. Stepping out into the damp morning air, they paused and Serena looked up at Hanssen, wondering how they would get to the train station. As if reading her mind, Hanssen indicated a taxi pulling in up the street and set off towards it. Safe in the back of the car, he kept his gaze out of the window as Serena did the same. Feeling the tension between them mounting again, Serena sighed to herself figuring this was going to be another long journey.