Author's note: Thank you for all the reviews, they are greatly appreciated.

I had intended to do two long chapters to finish but I am currently grieving for my mother-in-law so it will be several short chapters as and when I am able to do them.

Jean and Laura were almost at the pub when Jean paused, swearing under her breath in Polish. Laura paused too and said,

'What's wrong?'

'That wasn't what I meant to do.'

'What did you mean to do?'

'I was going to ask James to come into my office and then I was going to talk to him...'

'And kiss him senseless?' asked Laura, smiling mischievously.

'Yes,' said Jean, smiling reluctantly, 'Instead, I embarrassed him in front of all of his colleagues.'

'He didn't look as though he minded to me.'

'But he's such a private person...'

'True but there are a couple of advantages to what happened.'

'Really? Me losing control in front of everyone has some good points?'

'Yes. Firstly, you made it clear to James that you're not ashamed to be seen with him.'

'Ashamed to be seen with him? You're joking.'

'I wish I were. Did you know that he'd had a relationship with Fiona McKendrick whilst she was based here?'

'No, I had no idea.'

'Robbie didn't know either, which means that they must have been very careful not to have been seen together, which I doubt was James' idea.'

'Fiona was incredibly ambitious, she wouldn't have wanted to do anything that might jeopardise her promotion prospects,' said Jean thoughtfully.

'And I'm sure James understood that but it would hardly have boosted his self-esteem.'

'No.'

'And the next woman he got involved with told him he wasn't good enough for her.'

'What? That's ridiculous!'

Laura repressed a smile as Jean bristled protectively.

'Indeed, but it's left James feeling completely unwanted so, whilst he may have been embarrassed by what you did, I think it could be a good thing in the long run,' said Laura.

'I hope so... So what was the second thing?'

'Secondly, if you'd dragged James into your office, emerging twenty minutes later to tell everyone that you were now together, everyone would have assumed you'd had sex on your desk.'

'Yes, they would have done, wouldn't they?'

'Which James would have found far more embarrassing.'

Jean smiled ruefully and said,

'It's not exactly the rumour I'd want getting back to the Chief Constable either.'

'I can't imagine it is, no.'

'I just can't understand why I lost control that way.'

Laura looked at Jean in disbelief then said,

'Jean, how much sleep are you getting?'

'Enough,' said Jean, defensively.

Laura looked at her sceptically, seeing the carefully concealed bags under Jean's eyes and the weariness in her walk. Jean met her eyes challengingly but Laura had never found Jean intimidating so continued calmly,

'But you're still having nightmares?'

'Yes,' admitted Jean reluctantly.

'Distracted? Having trouble concentrating? Jumpy?'

'Well, yes, but they're all to be expected, aren't they? They'll wear off after a few weeks.'

'Probably... Are you seeing anyone about it?'

'The Chief Constable decided that I was, so, yes, I'm starting counselling on Monday.'

Laura ignored the anger in Jean's voice, saying bluntly,

'Good.'

Jean snorted but whatever reply she would have made was lost as they reached the pub and the opportunity for private discussion ended.

When James and Robbie got to the pub, Robbie led James to the function room upstairs instead of to their usual spot in the bar. The room had been decorated with balloons and a banner wishing James good luck and on one wall was a montage of photos, which James had a horrible suspicion were going to be highly embarrassing. Before he could confirm it, he was pulled over to a table where four pints of beer were already waiting for him.

John and Gurdip began trying to persuade James to down a pint in one, which gave Robbie a chance to have a quiet word with Laura. Pulling her to one side and checking that Jean was not in earshot, Robbie said,

'Is Jean all right? Only that wasn't...'

Robbie hesitated, trying to find a polite way to explain without suggesting that Jean was uptight and over-controlled.

'Her usual style?' suggested Laura dryly.

'Yes.'

Laura hesitated and Robbie looked at her shrewdly, saying,

'Reaction to what Collins did to her?'

'Yes...well, not exactly...'

Robbie waited patiently as Laura tried to find a way to explain without violating Jean's confidence,

'I think Jean's suffering from post-traumatic stress hence the loss of self-control.'

'And her relationship with James?' asked Robbie worriedly.

He knew that being rejected by Jean now would devastate James.

'That was always on the cards, just...' said Laura.

'Not starting quite like that?'

'Yes.'

'I'll give the troops a heads up tomorrow. Make sure we've got her back. '

They went to join the others unaware that Julie, who had come out of the Ladies behind them, had overheard their conversation. With a sigh, Julie took out her phone and deleted all of the pictures she had taken of James and the chief super kissing, only keeping the last photo she'd taken, which showed them smiling gently at each other and was completely adorable. Reminding herself to get hold of Alex and John's phones later to get rid of any photos they'd taken, Julie joined the group round James.

Jean watched the group from the bar, feeling unsure and emotional and hating it. James looked over and their eyes met and she smiled involuntarily. James returned the smile but beneath it Jean could see uncertainty and she remembered what Laura had said. Whatever other problems they might have there was no way that James was ever going to think that he wasn't good enough for her. Pushing her emotions down, she walked confidently over to James and took his free hand in hers. James curled his fingers around her hand and Jean suddenly felt warm as the body chemistry between them sent desire coursing through her body. Resisting the temptation to suggest to James that they disappear back to her place, Jean smiled warmly and said,

'Well done with the decorations, Gurdip, Julie. Can I see photos over there?'

'Thank you, Ma'am,' said Gurdip and Julie together and Julie continued,

'Yes, Ma'am, with captions.'

Jean turned to James and raised one eyebrow, saying,

'Want to get it over with?'

'Might as well,' said James, 'I wouldn't want all that effort to go to waste.'

James' voice was light and sarcastic but Jean could sense the tension in him and wondered how much bullying he'd had to endure as a child. As a scholarship boy with a genius level IQ, probably a lot, she concluded. Tightening her grip on his hand, Jean prepared herself to distract him if the photo captions were tactless or unpleasant.