Saturday soon came around and Rose was getting nervous, not that Alec wasn't as well. He'd gone to the 'posh' supermarket down the end of the High Street because it would be embarrassing if Rose were to see him pushing the trolley around filled with the ingredients for the meal he'd invited her for.

Rose was sat having her afternoon break, the others talking about their boyfriends and what they had planned the following day and they all noticed when she didn't join in.

"What about you Rose, any plans?" one of the girls asked.

"Oh, I just met someone, he's cooking tonight," Rose admitted, glad she'd not been bold enough to say she was in a pretend relationship with her friend.

Would she ever have actually admitted it to everyone, in a strange small town? They'd jumped into it without thinking it over she supposed, in their haste to leave London and their old lives behind them.

"Wow, lucky you, finding someone who can cook," one of the others laughed.

"Well I cooked for him the other night, he lives next door and he helped me out when I lost my key, it was just to say thanks but he invited me back. I don't know if it's going anywhere," Rose replied.

"Just keep telling yourself that," the first one laughed as Rose got up.

Did she want more though? Was she ready to start 'dating' again, not that living next door to the man who was asking you round for a meal would count as 'dating' she supposed. Maybe she should have let him take her out after all? At least though if things got awkward, she could back off and go home.

Alec had got home and was planning on surprising Rose by being in the car park again, since he'd nothing else to do after he put the meal in the oven for forty minutes, she probably wanted to get changed first anyway, giving him time to prepare everything. He was out of practice with this sort of thing, the last time had been to prepare a simple ham salad when he'd dragged Ellie Miller round that time when he'd lived by the river.

She'd tried to find out what he was up to the night before but he'd given nothing away – well he hoped not but come Monday morning, he may want to tell someone. He was going to ask Rose to go out with him the next day and hoped she wouldn't invite her friend, not that he had anything against her friend but he wanted to spend some time getting to know Rose, who he didn't even know her surname yet.

She had the advantage that he'd been all over the news for the past few years, though he was trying to forget that and had been relieved the town had got back to normal but he expected during the summer months, people would wander around the harbour trying to see where Danny had been found and visiting the crime scene.

He was messing with the car radio, remembering Ellie Miller smacking his hand a few times on their outings to Sandbrook and telling him to stop messing with it. That had taught him since she'd made him tell her what happened the day he'd found Pippa. He almost missed Rose as she came from a side door and he got out hurriedly and waved.

Rose stood looking at him, not expecting him to be waiting for her and wondering if he was breaking off their evening together. Two of her colleagues were nudging each other as they recognised him.

"No way! You live next door to him?" one of them whispered to her.

Rose ignored the remark and went towards him.

"See you Monday Rose, we want details," the other one laughed.

"Sorry, I seemed to have attracted some attention?" Alec asked as Rose reached him.

"Don't worry about store gossip," Rose replied as he opened the door for her. "Been shopping again?"

"Actually no, I wasn't sure what time you'd get home and I started dinner so I thought I would offer you a ride home."

"I should get changed first," Rose smiled, putting the seatbelt on.

"By all means, take your time. Do you normally catch the bus home?" he asked as he drove off.

"Yeah, though I have to wait ten minutes or so but it would take me that to cross the main road at this time," she told him.

He saw what she meant as he tried to cross the busy roundabout. Once back at their cottages, Rose thanked him for the ride home.

"Just give me half an hour or so," Rose told him as they got out of the car.

"There's no rush," Alec assured her. "What about your friend?"

"She knows I'm eating out," Rose smiled.

"So you were going to let me think you and your friend were, you know, more than friends?" Alec smiled.

"Sorry, we were just being careful. Besides, you worked it out," Rose smiled back.

Rose went inside and to her room, Shareen was watching TV.

"Are ya gonna be late back?" Shareen asked her when Rose came back downstairs.

"Are you going out?" Rose wanted to know.

"Yeah, some of the girls from the office go across to the pub by the beach, I think I'll go over for a while. I might meet another cute sailor," Shareen grinned.

"Alec figured us out ya know?" Rose asked her.

"I already gathered that Rose," her friend replied. "Are ya gonna see him again after tonight? It'll be a bit difficult to avoid him."

"Well if it doesn't work out I'll have to avoid him, won't I?" Rose asked. "He was waiting outside the store again."

"Geez Rose, he must be keen or he wasn't sure if ya'd turn up tonight."

Rose thought it was more the latter. She'd not seen him the day before but she supposed he could have been working late.

He had been working late the night before, leaving Ellie wondering exactly what he was up to. She'd even been in the office a few hours that morning, expecting him to be there but there had been no sign of him. She'd gone to the supermarket before going home and had passed Rose several times, not knowing she was the reason Alec Hardy had been sneaking off early several times during the week.

Alec had put some flowers on the table, opened a bottle of wine and had placed a box of expensive chocolates on the coffee table, smiling to himself that Rose had emptied the contents of her handbag all over it just a week ago. All that time he'd spent, wondering now that he'd come back if he should start dating again and Daisy setting him a profile up on a dating 'app' that he was now debating leaving since the free trial was almost up.

If his teenage daughter thought she was going to play matchmaker, she was in for a shock that he could choose his own 'dates' without any help and the answer had been next door. Rose got up the courage to go knock on Alec's door and waited for him to answer, reminding her of just a week ago when she'd been seeking his help.

"Come in," Alec greeted her, taking in the fact she was wearing a silky red dress and a black jacket. "You look very nice."

Rose tried not to blush as he offered to take her jacket.

"Make yourself at home, dinner is almost ready. Would you like some wine?" he offered as he indicated for her to sit at the wooden slatted table and thinking he should have lit the candles before she'd arrived.

He opened the bottle and poured some wine out for her then went to get the gas lighter to light the candles, though it wasn't really dark but he supposed that was what people did, well that or fairy lights strung from the wall, maybe he'd get some for next time?

"So, whereabouts do you work in the store?" he asked as he placed the plate in front of her and went for his own, turning out the kitchen area light.

"I move around, since I'm new there, I don't really have a department. They won't let me on the fresh foods counters though, I have to get a certificate to go on there and they never offered."

"Maybe they are waiting to send a few at a time for training?" he suggested.

"Yeah, maybe. You're a good cook Alec," Rose smiled at him.

"My limit used to salad, ask my DS," Alec joked. "Back when I was ill a few years ago, I had to be careful what I ate. She bought me fish and chips one night at work and she thought I was being ungrateful."

"Well if you were ill, it's not surprising," Rose replied.

"I never told anyone, it only came out the night before I made an arrest. So, what really brought the two of you to the town?"

Rose began telling him about Mickey, her now defunct boyfriend whom she swore she was never going to speak to again and the other various 'hopefuls' who had harassed her into going out with them every time she threw Mickey out.

"So it all ended badly?" Alec asked her, putting his knife and fork across the empty plate.

"Me and Shareen got in a rut I suppose? We got to the stage we hated them all. I daren't even take anyone home from work, a few blokes there asked me out but when they wanted to take me home, I had to avoid it. Word spreads fast on an estate and if I'd taken anyone back more than once, the welcoming committee would have been waiting."

"Sounds like you had a tough time then?" he asked, pouring more wine into Rose's glass then his own.

"It started getting worse, Shareen had the same problem. Me, I had someone who wouldn't take no for an answer when he kept trying to get me back," Rose admitted.

"Ah, well maybe a friendly warning would be in order?" he smiled.

"Stay out of it Alec, trust me, they're not worth it. If I ever go back I'm staying away from the lot of 'em."

"Would you like some coffee and dessert?" he offered, getting up. He held his hand out to help Rose and indicated for her to sit on the sofa. "I hope you like Italian desserts?"

"How did ya guess?" Rose smiled as she sat down.

After their coffee and dessert, which Rose wanted to know where he'd got it from, he put some music on and helped her to stand up. Before Rose had time to process anything, he was holding her close and began kissing her neck.

"Am I moving too fast for you?" he asked as she leaned into him. "I mean if you've been avoiding men for a while."

"No, it's fine. Non of them even bothered to ask. I'm sorry about leading you on last week Alec."

"It's fine Rose, I can understand but how were you hoping to pass your friend off as your girlfriend?" he joked.

"Yeah, we never went into the finer details, it was just for show. It was a daft idea but it got us out."

"No, you were just protecting yourselves, I can't blame you for doing so. Your friend gave in first though?" he smiled.

"Yeah, it was bound to happen, we never really thought how it was gonna work. We were just gonna mess around if any blokes were eyeing us in the pub but Shareen got annoyed when this cute sailor kept watching her and I told her she was gonna give the game away."

"Then you lost your key and came to me for help," he reminded her as another slow tune played. "Did you know who I was?"

"Yeah, sort of. I remembered that case here a few years ago, it was very sad. You'd been away though?" Rose asked him.

"Yes, to try and win my teenage daughter back, she's still thinking about it but she may come down for a holiday. That's why I took this cottage, instead of where I lived before."

"So where did ya live before then?" she asked him.

"Just around the back, by the river though everyone criticised it. My daughter would not have been impressed had I gone back," he smiled. "Rose, do you trust me?"

"What? Yeah, I trust you Alec, I know you're not like the blokes on the estate who never grew up."

"Then you won't slap my face if I try to kiss you?" he asked hopefully.

Before Rose knew it, he kissed her gently to see what her response would be but she soon melted into it, Alec leading her to the sofa and trying to unfasten the zip of her dress. Rose didn't seem to be minding so he pulled the dress off her shoulders, revealing a strapless bra then he continued kissing her neck.

"Had enough dancing?" he asked as he leaned her against the cushion.

"Whatcha think?" Rose teased him, wagging her finger at him to come closer.

They resumed kissing, Alec pulling her arms out of the dress and Rose going for his shirt buttons. He kissed all along the top of her bra, Rose content to ruffle his thick brown hair and Alec being glad he'd shaved some of his beard off, though he didn't fancy getting rid of it altogether. He reached around the back of her black silky bra and went for the clasp as Rose pulled his shirt loose.

The bra came away and he moved it out of the way, his now bare chest touching her delicate skin and he got a surprise when Rose smiled at him and putting her hands on his shoulders, began pulling the shirt down his arms while trying to get him to start kissing where she'd just taken her bra off.

Alec was only too willing to oblige, feeling her hands on his back as she tried to take his shirt off and trying to help her without losing contact with her cleavage. Trying to toe off his shoes, Rose having already kicked off her black strappy sandals while they'd been kissing, he finished with his shoes and tried to climb on top of her to get a better angle at kissing her more than inviting cleavage that he was staring at in the light from the candles on the table behind them.

Rose twisted around, thinking he wanted her on her side but he held her steady, smiling then kissing her exposed skin. He'd thrown his shirt on the back of the sofa, Rose was rubbing his shoulder with one hand and ruffling his hair with the other, making what Alec thought were contented noises.

"Mmm, Alec, this is nice," Rose managed to tell him, not that he hadn't already gathered that.

"Rose, would you maybe stay with me tonight?" he dared ask.

Rose thought it was a refreshing change she was actually being asked.

"I'd love to stay but you'll have to lend me a t-shirt," she teased him.

He looked at her in the candlelight.

"You need to borrow a t-shirt?"

"Well yeah, I can't sleep with nothing on," she replied, trying to sound serious.

"I knew you were teasing me," he replied, kissing her cleavage again. "Let me help you on with your dress or do you want to borrow my shirt?"

"Your shirt's too big for me," Rose smiled at the thought of putting it on.

"That was the idea," he smiled back, taking her arm and trying to put it on her. "I will just clear the dishes."

"Oh, let me help ya then?" she offered, trying to fasten a button before she stood up and the dress fell to the floor.

"You are my dinner guest," he reminded her, staring at the gap now she had his shirt on, since she'd only fastened two buttons so far, one too many for his liking.

Rose had to roll the sleeves up as they were too long, Alec insisting they left the dishes to soak. Rose went to retrieve her clothes, Alec putting the kitchen light on and blowing out the candles.

"Do you like the chocolates I got for you?" he asked, since they were still on the coffee table.

"Yeah, thanks. We could share them?"

"Save them for tomorrow eh? Would you like to go out somewhere with me maybe?" he asked, leaning back on the chair.

"Yeah, I'd love to. Alec, don't take it the wrong way, that I didn't want to be seen with you when you suggested we went out tonight, will ya?"

"I think no such thing. You are new in town, everyone knows who I am, it's understandable."

"Well, I won't be shy if ya ask me to go out again," Rose promised.

"Then I am glad to hear it. I thought you would be more comfortable dining in with me, I was not trying to impress the town by showing you off."

"I don't think I would have minded being shown off," Rose teased him.

"Now you tell me," he joked. "After you and if you need to, you use the bathroom first."

"You're such a gentleman, I think you're really sweet," she told him as he waited for her to go upstairs.

He remembered to go check the door, though it locked on its own but he wanted to make sure. This time last week, Rose had knocked on the door to seek assistance finding her key and now, she was going upstairs to his bedroom and hopefully a lot more than kissing and touching was on the menu.

Rose finished in the bathroom, trying to freshen herself up but she was worried. She'd only half expected him to ask her to stay after a sort of second date, if the other night had counted as a date. He kissed her cheek as she passed him on the landing and she went to get into his bed, Alec having turned the duvet down and tidied the bedside cabinet of all his junk.

She hoped he didn't want to get serious, she'd not been to the clinic after her arrival in the town, since she'd never intended to be picked up by a bloke, let alone her next door neighbour. She'd have to be very careful if he wanted to make something of it but she knew she'd be okay for a while and she intended now to pay the clinic a visit on her day off.

As Alec climbed into bed, turning to unfasten the buttons of the shirt Rose was wearing, he turned out the bedside lamp and hovered above her. In the light from outside, he could see her inviting cleavage and leaned down to begin kissing there. That lead to other things, Rose letting him take the shirt off her, putting her arms around him and before either of them knew it, they were lost in each other.

Rose had pulled his briefs down slightly, he'd got her underwear off already and was teasing her, making her giggle as he tried to find out how far she'd let him go. Then without warning, Rose whispered she wanted him to take his briefs off.

"Are you sure?" he asked, not believing his luck.

Rose wasn't expecting it either, that she wanted to. As they tossed and turned, Alec turning her onto her side then she ended up on top of him, Rose thought she was going to burst with the sensations and she was still giddy when he offered her underwear back, which he'd grabbed from the headboard with his own.

"That was amazing Alec," Rose admitted as he lay on his back and she was resting her head on his chest.

"That was more than I had expected," he admitted.

"Did you never find anyone, I mean with living in the town?"

"No, I told you, I just came back Rose. I went to try to make up with my daughter, dating was not on my mind but she tried to set me up on that dating site."

Rose giggled.

"That's not funny Rose," he told her, realising she was teasing him. "So, are we now dating?" he asked.

Rose pretended to think about it.

"Yeah, I think we might be but I can't leave Shareen on her own too much, she only came down here for me."

"Then we compromise. We can just see each other on your day off and at the weekend maybe?" he suggested.

"Yeah but there's just one thing. I can't get to the clinic until Wednesday, if we go out tomorrow, you'll have to call and get something."

"You could have warned me," he replied.

"Aw, don't worry, I'm fine for a couple of weeks, it's just I'll have to wait until I can take something. I wasn't planning this when I moved here ya know?"

"I know, sorry. Yes, I will take the responsibility for when you stay but you don't have to stay every night, not if you don't want to?"

"Yes, I do want to stay but maybe we don't have to have sex every time, if ya don't wanna use those things every time?"

"We will work something out, you are not trying to put me off are you?" he asked.

"No, it was just when I came here, finding a bloke was not of my list. So, are we going out tomorrow?"

"Yes, we most certainly are then you can spend a few hours with your friend and come back round tomorrow night maybe?"

"Yeah, I can live with that," Rose agreed, snuggling up to him.

"Good, then so can I. Have you made any more friends?"

Rose yawned. "Not really, just some of the girls at work."

"Then I should introduce you to my DS, then if you need to moan about me, you'll have a sympathetic ear."

"You're not that bad Alec," Rose giggled.

"Then you can tell that to her. She has been wondering why I have been leaving work early."

"Then I'd love to meet her and tell her why. What's her name?"

"It's Ellie Miller, it was her husband who killed Danny, though he got away with it and they drove him out of town."

"Then good, he'd have probably got out for good behaviour, then what?" Rose yawned.

"I'm glad you see it that way. We can talk in the morning, since you seemed tired," he suggested.

"I'm not too tired for more kissing."

"Yes, I can tell that."