"Makepeace about the ball" Dempsey suddenly ventured out loud, although how to raise the subject had been preoccupying him for days on and off and completely for the last half hour.

"Which one?"

"The Deputy Commissioner's. Are we going?"

"We?" Harry was perplexed

"Yeh – you and me"

"Well I seem to remember Spikings putting a three line whip down" Harry reminded him

"I thought he offered to pay"

"As I said" Makepeace flicked her eyes and picking up the RT radioed in the lack of progress on a half hourly report.

Dempsey just watched her as she replaced the handset and jiggled around in her seat to get comfortable. He offered Makepeace some gum which she refused; he put a fresh piece in his mouth and started to chew and contemplated the enormity of broaching the subject a second time. His logic told him to leave the subject well alone, his wisdom told him not to get involved but there was something in his being, some desire that kept rising out of the ashes no matter how many times either she or he extinguished it, that drove him to open up the subject again. "How many women police officers are there in the MET?" he asked

"Too many in your opinion I'm sure" Makepeace was scouring Trafalgar square and the few people passing by as she spoke.

"But there's bound to be more men than women at this ball" Dempsey was watching Makepeace, he was frustrated with her disinterest

"I doubt it – the women will be more likely to go"

"You reckon?" Dempsey sounded relieved which led Makepeace to form her supposition

"Don't worry Dempsey" she followed someone walking across in front of the car and because her gaze was now nearly on Dempsey she looked at his face "I'm sure you'll find someone to charm and allure" her eyebrows raised themselves in that knowing way

"That wasn't what I was worried about…"

"Oh!" her conjecture had been wrong but Harry had no idea what his concerns were

"Who you going with Harry?"

"SI10" Harry offered somewhat baffled

"You remember at the dog races?" Dempsey asked

"Plenty… for instance I won"

"But if you lost you would have come with me" Dempsey pointed in his usual matter of fact annoying way

"I'm not some prize to be handed around" Harry indignantly protested

"I never meant that you were"

"I'm sure you'll pick some unsuspecting woman police officer up…"

"That ain't my worry"

"Well what is?" Harry demand in exasperation

"I just want thought it would be good to go together" he turned away pretending to observe the square "– as we're partners"

Makepeace shrugged and pursed her lips a little "I still don't get it – you want to pick me up - fine – we'll share a taxi" she too made the effort to look as if she was working

"Good ….and dance?" he ventured

"You want to dance with me?" It wasn't the fact that baffled her – she would dance with most of the SI10 guys and that Dempsey was one of them she thought a bonus; most of the others were too young, too old, married, no looks - at least dancing with Dempsey was pleasurable. No what did mystify her was why he thought he had to take her to the ball to do that. 'Ball' she contemplated – it would be a glorified office outing…

"Yeh" Dempsey's reply brought her back to the present

"Why wouldn't I?"

"But there's gonna be other guys there…"

"And?"

"Who will want to dance with you." He glanced at her

Harry looked back into the car at Dempsey "Oh wow" she mocked "Billy Newman not knowing how to waltz, Dave waving his arms round, Jimmy treading on my toes…"

"But there'll be other guys from Murder and Drugs and places" Dempsey knew she had turned back to him, he could sense her questioning eyes and despite his continued reticence he turned to her as he spoke "and they all seem to know you."

"I'm easy to know – there aren't many undercover police women"

"But you always seem to know their names" he pointed out

"What is this Dempsey? Are you jealous?" such a thought had never crossed Makepeace's mind before; now as it made its first journey she found herself strangely warmed to know she could arouse such a reaction from Dempsey.

"No" was his immediate comeback but as he spoke he averted his eyes and Makepeace read the tell; she wondered what to do with it.

Dempsey looked firmly out of the car window again. If the truth be told – yes he was jealous, he wanted her on his arm; he most certainly didn't want to see her go home with anyone other than himself.

Subconsciously Harry went back to test her longstanding assumptions "I've seen you out Dempsey – you never leave women alone – you can't stop eyeing up a bare back or cleavage. You'll be the romeo of SI10 that's for sure."

It made Dempsey smile – what man couldn't resist looking at beauty paraded in front of him. It was hardly his fault if all he did was smile and pass a compliment and women fell into his lap "Makepeace are you jealous?" he asked finally turning back to glimpse her beauty.

"No" she defended.

They both went quiet and Dempsey was once again left wondering whether to let things rest. He decided to concentrate on the job and watched the empty square for twenty minutes whilst Makepeace did likewise in silence. He radioed in on the half hour that this definitely looked like bum stake out. As he put the RT back down he decided to give the ball one last push. "You see I thought if you let me escort you at least I get a dance with you…" he paused feeling uncertain about the next part. He didn't want anything to sound more than he meant, but he wasn't completely sure within himself what actually he did mean "… and to take you home" he added

"That matters?" Harry's eyebrows furrowed but she was secretly flattered – she'd been to similar occasions and hated the varied men of the MET who had all fawned over her. The only consistent thing about men and the MET was that they were all bummers.

"To me? Yeh" he admitted as he searched her face for clues

"Dempsey I promise you a dance" she tried to break away from his gaze but couldn't bring herself to do it.

"But can I take you home?" he asked so innocently that it caused her to grin.

"What do you usually do to take a girl home" she asked, her smile increasing in size and starting to light her eyes.

"I'm new in town - could I have directions to your house?" he proffered

"Is that a chat up line?"

"Would it work?"

"You know where I live!" she pointed out as she bit the inside of her lip and held his gaze. The spark had caught.

"Excuse me could I have your phone number? – I seem to have lost mine" he grinned back

"352 2249" she parroted out

"That's my number!" he objected

"So you do know it" she winked

"Can you catch – I think I'm falling for you"

"Me? No - I have butterfly fingers"

"O come on Sergeant cut me some slack" he begged as he moved forward towards her

"I'm rather enjoying this Lieutenant" but she didn't back away; the frisson was palpable

"You know you look a lot like my next girlfriend" he spoke low and softly

"But not exactly" she was forced to reply and they fell into a regretful silence.

The morning finally dawned and the sun warmed the occupants of the car who were both lost in their contemplations. Dempsey now felt a dogged determination that Harry was not going to defeat him; it was now a matter of his pride versus her obstinacy. He started again

"Ten ton polar bear"

"What?" she turned to him, grateful for a return to conversation

"Ten ton polar bear" he repeated looking straight at her

She wrinkled her nose as she tried to workout where he was coming from "I'm sorry…"

"Well… it broke the ice!" he smiled a cheeky school boy grin and she giggled "Come on Harry…" he took a deep breath "let me take you to the ball"

She bit her lip and paused but she knew her answer already "just for fun"

"Oh just for fun" he confirmed.

Satisfied at long last Dempsey noted the increasing activity outside as London woke up to the beginnings of the rush hour. "So how come it's turned warm and sunny again?" he asked

"It's called an Indian summer" Makepeace explained as she leaned over into the back of the car to pick up some food. "Breakfast?" she asked as she offered Dempsey a choice of fruit.

"Cherries at this time of year?" Dempsey questioned, he didn't know a lot about fruit but the market stalls they walked past had stopped having them some time ago.

"Fortnum and Mason" Harry informed him.

Dempsey chose an apple and left the cherries to Makepeace, vowing in his head to get a proper breakfast from the canteen.