I humbly ask for forgiveness for the lateness of this update, but I have been inundated with work. Thank you for your patients and support.

"Shit" Sandra exclaimed as Gerry's voice floated through the house. He did not sound particularly happy, this was not the mood that she had intended to create, but he was early it wasn't really her fault was it?

"Sorry Gerry I am just getting out of the shower, I will clean it up I promise." She called back down the stairs whilst creeping across the landing hoping to avoid a face to face meeting. Especially since she was only clad in a towel, hair hanging limp against her head and looking far from what she would consider appealing.

Gerry had walked into his kitchen to find total carnage. There were ingredients all over the work surface. Open jars and dirty spoons held inside them. The smell coming from the pan simmering on the stove however did not smell too toxic. After his initial reaction which was to scream blue murder, Gerry realised that Sandra had probably done this for him, and although cook was one of her pet hates she had tried. Allowing a small smile to cross his face. As he peered in to the bubbling bowel of what looked like pasta Sandra's voice drifted through the house.

Shower? Gerry thought and his mind drifted well away from stirring what was going to be dinner as his eye line drifted towards the stairway.

He couldn't see anything from this angle, would moving into the hallway be too obvious? As these thoughts crossed his mind he had not registered that he was in fact already moving in the direction of the hallway.

"I hope so it looks like someone was murdered in there." He said looking up at the landing and spotting Sandra duck inside her room.

"Ok Gerry no need to go overboard I will be down in a moment." She called back her voice sounding more flustered than angry and Gerry couldn't help but grin.

"Ok I will just see to whatever it is that you have cooking." He teased as he moved back in to the kitchen and started clearing up the mess.

Sandra lent heavily on the back of the bedroom door. It was hot in here, but the heating was not on this time. It was the sudden flush that came upon her after Gerry spotted her rushing into her room. Trying to keep her voice level she had told him to not go overboard and then preyed he would get the message and leave.

Thankfully he did and Sandra had let out a breath she hadn't even realised she had been holding.

Pushing away from the door Sandra moved over to the vanity unit and looked at her reflection. Humphing she moved away quickly and towards her suitcase and pulled out the simple sun dress she had packed.

The thin straps that hung from her fingers fell away into a scoped neck and down to a flowery flowing dress that Sandra always thought flattered her figure.

Thinking now why she had originally packed the item Sandra could come up with no good reason. Yes it was summer and it was hot, the dress was perfect for this weather, but on some occasion, not sitting around in Gerry's living room.

Wondering now if the dress was appropriate at all Sandra dropped the dress on the end of the bed and began digging through the remainder of her suitcase.

Pulling out one work shirt after another Sandra briefly wondered just how long she thought she would have been staying here.

"Have you fallen asleep up there? Dinner is ready." Gerry's voice came not from downstairs but somewhere outside on the landing. Jumping out of her thoughts Sandra threw the sun dress over her head and shook out the moisture from her hair.

"I'm coming just going to dry my hair." She replied and she head the distinct sound of Gerry's chuckle followed by some comment about women she couldn't quite here.

"Probably lucky for him." She muttered to herself as she turned on the hair dryer and settled in front of the mirror.

Gerry had dished up and uncorked the bottle of wine Sandra had selected. She had placed it in the fridge and when Gerry had gone in for some parmesan he had spotted it. he had to admit the lady did know her wine. Placing the Sauvignon Blanc in a cooler and in the middle of the table he was paused in his actions by Sandra walking down the stairs. The pale yellow sun dress she was wearing floated around her calves and brushed her curves all the way up to the dainty straps that caressed her shoulders.

"I'm starving, I thought you said it was ready?" Sandra said looking confused at the empty table then back at Gerry who had decided that he wasn't going to be able to function properly all night if she was going to be wearing that dress.

"Umm yeah I have it, just got to bring it through." He managed to stammer and he mentally slapped himself.

"Get a grip, its not like you a seventeen year old with his first crush." He thought as he almost rushed passed Sandra and back into the kitchen. Unbeknown to him Sandra was smirking from ear to ear. The look on Gerry's face was enough to alert her to the fact that the dress had done its job.

Gerry took several deep breath's told himself not to look at her below the neck and bloody well man up. Walking back in to the living room Gerry placed Sandra's spaghetti bolognaise down in front of her. "Bon appetite" he said in a mock French accent and Sandra gave him a raised eyebrow.

"I thought we had a conversation about you and other languages." She jibed him and Gerry just gave a small shrug of the shoulder's.

"I think the French do a pretty good job of messing up their own language. Beside's I thought if I couldn't win you over with my cockney charm, I thought the language of love just might do it." He said finally feeling like himself once more as he saw Sandra flush at the inference.

Upon seeing Gerry return from the kitchen with dinner, Sandra noticed that he had regained some of his poise, then once he started talking she knew the shock effect had worn off and now he was back in control of this little tet are tay. Somewhere in the last few minutes Sandra's resolved to see what was really there between herself and the man currently sitting opposite had crumbled. Self doubt had crept in, she could not meet his eyes for a while and instead concentrated on her food. Which wasn't all that bad, but she figured Gerry's interference probably had more to do with that than her actual cooking skills. Sandra just had this unshakable feeling of wrongness, she didn't know what it was or where it came from, but looking up at Gerry now who was spinning spaghetti on to his fork she suddenly thought that she was doing this for all the wrong reasons.

There was no denying that she was attracted to him, that last night she had lie completely still until she could here him softly snoring and even then she had refused to relax her body in case she got to close in her sleep. Now she wondered if it was just loneliness that was spurring her on, god knows she had been alone for long enough, and although happy in her own company it was always nice to have someone there to share it with. Sandra did not think that Gerry was that person, but he wasn't just a warm body either. In her confusion she had completely forgotten her dinner and Gerry spotted it.

"Its not that bad, in fact I am quite enjoying it." He said trying to catch her eye as he smiled at her.

"Oh sorry yeah its fine I just got lost in thought for a moment there." She said shaking her head slightly and offering him a smile in return as she pulled pasta into her mouth but barely tasted it.

Gerry was well and truly confused now, when he had seen her coming down the stairs she had been her usual sarcastic self. Ordering him about and making fun of his attempts at humour and flirtation. Now she had gone quite as though she was pondering the very question of their existence.

When it came to women though Gerry liked to consider himself somewhat of an expert, with three ex wives who were still his friends, how could anyone dispute that fact.

He knew something was up with Sandra, and he knew it had something to do with him. It was obviously by the way she wasn't looking at him, and not eating that was not Sandra's style at all. As the cogs slowly ticked in his brain Gerry latched his eyes on to Sandra, she was not looking at him or her food, she seemed to be looking at something on the table, something at was not in fact there.

Finally unable to take it any more Gerry question her to see if she was ok. Her excuse had been lame and predictable to say the least but she was now at least eating and glancing at him.

"Penny for them." He asked as Sandra's gaze levelled to his own once more and the blonde placed her fork down.

"I think your going to need a entire fiver for these ones." She said and Gerry smiled, that was more like it.

"Deal, can I pay you in instalments I am a little short right now." He joked and finally she smiled at him. Teeth showing beyond her full lips and Gerry calked one up for himself.

"I tell you what, how about you pour me another glass of wine and we will call it evens." She replied holding out her glass for him to refill and Gerry got up and poured for her.

"That bad?" He asked as he sat back down and he could here the sigh falling from her lips before it had even begun.

Sandra didn't know how to begin this conversation, her initial thought was to make something up, to invent a problem and go with that, avoid the elephant in the room all together. Then she met his eyes and could see genuine concern in them. She knew she should tell him the truth she owed him that much at least.

"Gerry did you sleep well last night?" She opened with and she could see Gerry mentally baulk at the question.

"Umm not the best night's sleep I have ever had no." He answered and Sandra's lips quirked upwards for a second.

"Neither did I, and it had little to do with your snoring." She replied and Gerry had to shrug, he knew he snored on occasion all he could do was live with the odd elbow in the ribs.

"Ok so what are you trying to say?" He asked cautiously, he had a feeling that she was about to reveal something here, but not willingly.

"I mean I woke up with you cuddling me and I didn't mind, that was until you moved and started talking about potatoes'." She said a slight scowl on her face and Gerry almost spat his wine out.

"You're kidding? You liked me draped all over you, and what you're mad about is that I was thinking about vegetables." Gerry replied completely gobsmacked that his attempt to be as gentlemanly as possible was the thing that was bothering her.

Sandra had realised that Gerry had missed the part about her liking him close last night in favour of her negative comment about his sleep talking when she realised something.

"You were awake" It wasn't a question it was a statement and Gerry nodded slightly.

"Only for a little while, I thought I had better move so it wasn't too embarrassing so I pretended to be asleep and moved away." He admitted thinking this conversation wasn't as bad as he had first thought.

"And so you just whispered potato because?" She asked as her eyebrows went up so high they almost disappeared from view.

"It was the first thing that popped into my head that wasn't remotely sexual." He said as Sandra's expression changed from concern to amusement.

"Oh Gerry so you can be sweet sometimes. However misguided." She added as she drained the last of her wine and watched as Gerry's eyebrows were now the ones to go out of visual range.

"Are you saying you wanted me to have stayed?" He asked allowing a small glimmer of hope to increase his already pounding heart rate as he looked at the woman sat opposite him.

"That's just it Gerry, I don't know, one minute I think something could happen between us, the next I am running from that feeling. I don't think that it is fair if I am unsure of my own feelings to use you." She said now looking at him square in the eyes and not looking away.

"God Sandra way to leave a man waiting, don't I get a say in this?" He asked moving over to sit next to her now. Wanting to take her hand in his but not quite daring to, so he placed his hand on the table in front of them as an open invitation.

"I guess that's why I told you. God Gerry why is everything in my love life so complicated, while my career has gone so smoothly?" She asked avoiding his hand on the table and choosing to fold her hands in her lap and look at them.

"Because you're not afraid of work, I think you just might be afraid of love." Gerry said lifting her chin with his fingers and forcing her to meet his gaze.

Sandra's first reaction was to pull away, to deny his accusation but she ultimately knew she couldn't and so she sighed.

"How do you do it Gerry, find all these people who still loved you even after divorce?"

"It's easy Sandra, friendship and sex, that is pretty much what love is, and I can help you with both."

Ok that was three thousand words of waxing poetic, not sure I like this chapter, but hey it had to be done, let me know what you thought and I will try my hardest to update sooner this time. Thank you for reading XxX