If Alec thought she was going easy on him, he would have told her not to bother as she moved gently on him and he was using very little effort although it wasn't quite what he had wanted but close enough for him to hear her softly moaning his name as she melted and Rose lost all coherent thoughts of him not being a well man. As first times went, she was happy enough, he made her feel sensations she'd never had before though she had to admit it had been rather a long time.

She clung hold of him, riding out the tidal wave that washed over her, giggling to herself at the feeling as it seemed to last forever. Alec was quite pleased he had lasted without actually collapsing, that would have been embarrassing to say the least since they were both naked.

Rose looked at him, her eyes still slightly watery and smiled at him. "That was amazing Alec, I would never have known there was anything wrong with you if you hadn't told me. How long have you been ill?"

"A while, it's my heart, irregular heartbeat, I'm supposed to just take it easy, no strenuous activities but no-one knows about it, except you and my GP. If my bosses find out, I'm finished and I'm working an important case that I have to see through."

"But it could kill you Alec, why don't you get something done about it? Is a case so important that you'd risk your life on it?"

"You sound just like my doctor. You don't know him do you?" Alec smiled, pushing her off him and onto her back.

He leaned down to kiss her skin, wanting to take his time but he knew it was very late and he still had to go to work the next morning and face the question of where he disappeared to. He was going to say nothing that he had gone home with the most exquisite woman he had seen in his life and had been to bed with her. The things he actually wanted to do with her would certainly kill him in his present condition.

Rose looked up at him, smiling. She seemed to guess it was way past his bedtime.

"Alec, do you have to go to work tomorrow? If you do, I understand, really, I'm used to the different hours, I should let you get some sleep. Will you stay with me?"

"If you want me to, then I'll get a taxi to my place and get changed, my colleagues from last night will get suspicious if I turn up in the same shirt as yesterday, then I'll get a taxi to the station, tell them I was too drunk to drive home last night."

He smiled at her, he so wanted to just take his time over her but he didn't think she would ever want to see him again, not in his current state of health. He reached for his mobile and checked the time, it was 1.40 am and he would have to leave at eight to get home, quickly change his clothes and get to work for nine so he changed the alarm and put the phone down, reaching over to kiss her as she pulled him towards her.

"Wake me up before you leave Alec, please, don't just go. I'm going to need your phone number."

"Why?"

Rose smacked him playfully. "Goodnight Alec, get some sleep, I'll tell you why in the morning. Oh, you thought this was a one night stand, didn't you? If that's all you want Alec, it's ok, it was your birthday after all, I don't expect you'd want to be seen out with an exotic dancer."

"What? Is that what you think? Why do you think so little of yourself Rose? It doesn't matter to me what you do and yes, I'll give you my number because I do want to see you again, unless that was all you wanted?"

"No, I told you, I don't normally let men bring me home and then have them in my bed and don't think because I was going easy on you that it didn't count, you're far better than some of the men I used to go out with. Most of them were too drunk at the time it didn't really count, they never got half as far as you did."

She smiled at him and ran her fingers through his beard. "It makes you look older Alec, you should give it a trim, make yourself look younger, because I don't care how old you are, I prefer older men but you're so sexy and cute it's not fair on other men, they don't stand a chance against you."

She ran her hand over his chest and noticed him flinch as she got to his heart and he tried to move her hand away. She fought against it and rested her palm and felt it beating slightly faster than it should be.

"You need to get help Alec, before it's too late. I'll help you, if you want? You need someone to trust you can trust me and I'll trust you, I don't go around telling people what I do for a living. Even my mother just thinks I'm an ordinary dancer, she'd literally kill me if she found out the truth. Please Alec, trust me?"

She pulled him down and kissed him. He needed someone, that much was certain and he couldn't think of anyone better than Rose, if she was willing to take him on but he wasn't sure he could cope with all those men leering at her every night. Rose fell asleep, Alec's arm under her as he lay on his side after putting his shorts back on and passing Rose a clean pair he retrieved from the top drawer for her and he smiled. He felt safe with her, she would never tell anyone his secret, that he was certain of and as for his arm under her, that was probably her way of saying he wasn't getting away without saying goodbye to her.

Despite only a few hours sleep, Alec slid his arm from under Rose, who was now facing him with her head nestled on his shoulder and neck. He laid her gently on the pillow and got out of bed, he had no intention of just leaving but gave her a few minutes to wake up. She opened her eyes and smiled.

"Not creeping away are you Alec?"

He turned around to fasten his shirt, Rose admiring the hairs on his chest. "Wouldn't dream of it."

He picked up his phone and put it in his jacket pocket and picked up her mobile from the dresser. He tapped his number and left it on the screen. "I have to go now Rose, call me later and give me your number. Are you working tonight?"

"Yeah, tonight and tomorrow, then I'm off until Thursday night. Will you be coming to watch?"

"No, I can't Rose, I'm really sorry but I'd just get jealous, I admit it. I'll come and pick you up though, after you finish? Same time as last night?"

"Yes, I'd like that and please, don't get jealous, I take no notice of them. I'll just pretend I'm dancing for you and when we get back, I will dance only for you. Pass my phone, I'll call a cab for you."

Alec passed her the phone, sitting on the edge of the bed as she put his number in her contacts and called for a cab. She put her robe on and walked out of the bedroom and switched the kettle on then Alec got his shoes on and they walked to the door. Rose put her arms around him and kissed him.

"See you tonight and Alec, if you change your mind, I'll tell Mick to let you in and not to charge you for it."

Alec smiled. He may just take her up on that but he would have to pay to get in and wasn't sure he actually wanted to watch the other woman just to see her, well he would meet her at the stage door at the very least because now he had someone in his life again. He managed to get to the station just after nine, claiming he'd ordered a cab and it had been delayed, his cohorts from last night not believing him and saying he must have got off with one of the dancers and had been shagging her. He wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of naming Rose, no-one knew her real name and if he did happen to mention he had a girlfriend, he certainly wasn't going to say she was also known as Rosepetals.

He wouldn't be able to introduce her anyway, the men would recognise her and derive her for her profession and it wouldn't do his already fading reputation any good to admit who he was seeing outside work and that was going to be a challenge. If he talked about her, he would say she worked in a bar, they wouldn't be any wiser and it was sort of true, well almost. He wondered if she would talk about him when she got to work that night, although he hoped she wouldn't tell her friends that he was a detective, the one working on the Sandbrook case.

The day went slowly for him. Going over the same old things, nothing new was happening, some old witnesses were re-questioned and anyone without an alibi were being rounded up. He finally got home, debating whether to give in and go to the club until at just after nine, he couldn't stand it any longer. Rose had sent him a message, giving him her number and he'd saved it to his contacts saying she would wait inside the club until he came to collect her and not get a taxi.

Rose got to the club at her usual time, chatting to her dressing room companion and never saying a word about Alec, she knew word would spread like wildfire if she mentioned she was seeing a detective, especially after she found out what he was actually investigating and had kicked herself for not recognising him from the news and was surprised no-one else had spotted him. There again, she doubted the type that came in here actually could comprehend the news and would find it difficult to handle a quiz programme.

She saw Mick just as she was going out for her first turn. "Hiya Mick, can you do me a huge favour?"

"Sure Rose, anything for you. You want me to keep that detective from coming back here then?" he laughed. "If you do, I can kick him out for you."

Rose smiled. "Nah, quite the opposite actually, I was going to ask if you'd let him and not take any money from him, I know it's asking a lot."

"Right, never expected to see you asking anyone to come back but I'll make an exception just for you, so long as I'm here and it's not Jerry. If it's Jerry though, your boyfriend will have to pay or get rough with him and show his ID again."

"He didn't get rough with you did he? To get back here last night?" Rose hadn't thought Alec had it in him to get rough, considering.

Mick laughed. "I was just winding you up Rose. No, he just showed his ID and said he needed to talk to you so I just let him pass, don't want a run-in with the law, do I?"

Rose was relieved. "Thanks Mick, catch you later. If he doesn't come backstage, he'll be waiting outside for me when I finish so I won't need a cab tonight unless he leaves his car at home."

Rose started to walk off but Mick called after her. "Hey Rose, you serious about this bloke?"

She didn't know, maybe she was. It had just happened, she'd not intended to let him get any further than the sofa and even then she had not intended to strip off and dance in her underwear just for him but he had looked so despondent, like life had let him down and now she knew the reason why.

"That remains to be seen Mick."

She did her first and second sets but there was no sign of Alec as she looked amongst the sea of faces of the men who had filthy looks on their faces. Some she had seen before, some new ones, all looking at her and drooling. She blocked them out as usual as she started her second dance, wondering if Alec was going to show up before her next turn but he wouldn't know when she would be appearing, they varied the turns of the girls to add variety, it wouldn't do to have set times for them every night so each night they worked, they rotated so no-one could guess when they were going to be and they weren't told until they arrived.

On her third set, she walked from her dressing room, escorted by Jerry and she thought she caught sight of Alec but he looked different, standing where he had been the night before, a bottle in his hand. He had given in and gone down to his car and tried to remember where the club was, getting lost and then discovering it by accident and hoping he wouldn't get pulled up by a uniform for curb crawling as he stopped several times to see where he was. He parked in the street, not many cars around and supposed most men came there to get sloshed and got cabs. He paid the entrance fee, which he was surprised at since he had been paid in last night and had a quick look around on his way to the bar but there was no sign of Rose.

He'd had a brainstorm at lunchtime, forgoing his food and going to a barbershop, got his beard trimmed and his hair re-styled so his fringe was gone and his hair swept back and when the stylist had finished, he looked ten years younger, despite his still rather pale look but he knew he couldn't do anything about that. Then he had time to call in the men's shop near the station and bought a new white shirt, with subtle greyish stripes down it, a new tie and some cologne.

He was going to get a snazzy new blue chequered suit but didn't have time to try it on so he was going to go back the next day, maybe getting Rose to come with him to give him her opinion. Well she had said he was looking older than he was, it had been her idea, he was just trying to please her. It had been a while since he'd had to impress a young blonde, in fact any woman at all and he wasn't going to fail.

Then it was announced Rose was about to take the stage and he made his way to the front, where he had stood the previous night and saw her passing the gap between the stage and the partition and he suppressed a smile, not wanting to gloat that he had spent last night with her. He was sure all the men in the club would have killed for a night in Rose's bed and she had chosen him. She could have refused to let him take her home, got the bouncers to throw him out of the club, she could have left him in the cab or outside her expensive apartment or even mocked him for having something wrong with him and kicked him out but no, she wanted to sleep with him and take what he had to offer and furthermore, she wanted him to come and watch her dance again and take her home afterwards.

He'd had to admit he was a little surprised at her reaction to him being ill so he had done his best to live up to her expectations, somewhat relieved he'd not landed himself in the emergency department of the local hospital but she had kept her word and been gentle with him. Now he was repaying that with smartening himself up, making himself look younger and making an effort not to arrest everyone in the room and lock them up for leering at his new girlfriend, that's if she wanted to be.

He stood staring at her as she took off her robe, revealing she was wearing a blue g-string as she began to dance slowly to the music, Alec was captivated by her and it seemed she did indeed block everyone else out and was dancing just for him and later on, when he had got her to his place, she would do just that because tonight, she would dance naked for him while he touched her.

She left the stage after her second dance and Alec went to find a table, relieved to find his colleagues were not there again. Then came Rose's final turn and he could take her home with him but he was unaware of a man at the bar who had been watching her from a distance. Mickey Smith had wandered into that part of town and was walking past, looking for a bar to go drown his sorrows that his latest in a long line of flings after he fell out with Rose had left him again, saying he loved the pub and football more than her and never putting two and two together and thinking that was the common complaint in every one of them and saw no reason that should have made any difference.

He had walked past the club then doubled back, swearing he had just seen a photo of Rose in the window. He blinked, yes it was her with the name 'Rosepetals' above the picture of her posed over a chair. "What the hell?" he asked out loud, then closed his mouth. He had seen her mother quite often, he knew Rose had moved out, to a better part of town and got her own fancy place and Jackie had told him she was a dancer in some fancy nightclub but he never expected this – Rose was an exotic dancer. Jackie would kill her if she found out, well not actually commit murder but she would never talk to her daughter again.

He had begrudgingly paid to get in, watching other woman until Rose had come on the first time, never attempting to get nearer in case she saw him and think he was spying on her, which he'd not intended to do. He had cringed as men tucked money into her garter, why was she doing this? Jackie had bragged how well Rose was doing, that she'd taken her on holidays, sent her money every week and even spent a few days with her in her luxurious apartment by the river. Jackie had even said she had met some bloke on holiday but it hadn't worked out but apart from that, she didn't have a regular boyfriend.

Now he knew why and it was no wonder, judging by the type of men that went in there but by Rose's third set, a well dressed man had made his way to the front of the stage, bottle in hand and had stood out from the rest of the crowd. Imperceptibly, Rose had been watching the man, he could tell somehow and he had felt a pang of jealousy and had felt like just going up there and shouting her name and pulling the man away but he had been made to read the club rules and knew he would get thrown out if he did.

He thought he would wait until it was almost closing time and try to get backstage although he'd heard the bouncers made you pay and some of the dancers never saw anyone in their dressing rooms but he was going to try or wait outside for her if he couldn't get in. Her name was announced again and the same man he'd seen earlier got up from his table and went to the front of the small stage so Mickey knew the man was doing it on purpose. He debated whether to move closer to the stage but Rose would see him so he waited for a crowd to go forward and got up, standing at the back.

Rose came back out, seeing Alec but not daring to have a hint of recognition for him, she knew it was frowned on and the men got disgruntled and complained so as she started her dance, a few men waved notes at her and tucked them into her garter then Alec slowly took money out of his wallet and stepped nearer and very quickly put the money under the item, Rose feeling his fingers on her leg and longing for her job to be over so he could do it properly, it was all she had thought about all night, of him kissing her and making love to her again, she no longer regarded last night as a bit of a fling, he had been amazing despite his protests he had been ill.

Alec had just taken his fingers from her leg when he felt someone jostle him from behind. He knew it was against club policy for the punters to hassle each other and thought it was one of the bouncers but he turned around to the offender to see a dark skinned man with a close haircut staring at him, an irritated look on his face. Rose had seen and immediately saw Mickey but had to carry on dancing.

Mickey covered his mouth and whispered in Alec's ear, "I'm watching you mate, hands off."

Alec knew he wasn't a bouncer, they all had badges. He shrugged the man's hand off his shoulder, just in time to see one of the actual bouncers looking over and beginning to move so he backed off and stepped away, not answering him, he would deal with him later. Nothing was going to stop him coming and watching her if he wanted and knew picking a fight would not help his cause or his health. All the punters knew the rules and since he had not retaliated, the bouncer caught hold of the other man and made him step away. It was the same bouncer who had let him backstage last night and maybe Rose had managed to have a word with him.