Harry glanced across to where Dempsey lounged against the bar, he looked delicious, edible in a navy blue suit, tie loosened at his neck.

He briefly scanned the room, breaking into a smile when he caught her eye and she broke free from the gaggle of women around her and moved towards him, his gaze reeling her in. She swore he licked his lips as she approached.

'Hey beautiful!'

'Hey, yourself!' She laid a hand on his chest. 'Are you okay?'

'I am now.' His voice was a low growl against her ear.

The music changed from thumping disco to a slow song.

'Ooh I love this' she abandoned her glass and took him by the hand, pulling him towards the dancefloor.

They found a place amongst the swaying couples. Harry rested her head against his chest, his hands were firm on her back, he breathed in the scent of her hair and shifted a little sideways so she wouldn't notice the effect she was having on him. Dempsey wondered what would happen if he leaned down and kissed her. She might kiss him back and he would at last have everything he had yearned for in the past two years. But maybe she would push him away, stalk off the dancefloor and leave him standing amongst the ruins of their shattered friendship.

It was a risk he wasn't willing to take.

The song came to an end and the intro of the next one began.

He leaned in close, still clutching her hand. 'Want to make a move?'

'I'll just say goodbye to Lucinda, meet me at the cloakroom.'

Dempsey watched with longing as Harry began weaving her way through the people and disappeared from sight. He felt the loss of her already and for the first time he admitted to himself what he'd known for months.

He was in deep, very deep.

XxXxXx

They sat in silence, parked outside Harry's house, neither sure how to end the evening. Harry was emboldened by champagne but Dempsey had stayed sober enough to drive and was starting to lose his nerve.

He was pulled from his thoughts by her hand on his thigh and then her lips were on his, he moaned in surprise and leaned harder against her, the kiss was gentle at first, tentative and testing. Dempsey cupped her face and ran his tongue against her lower lip, he felt her lips open in reply. They were perfectly in sync, every move a question followed by an answer, a call and a response. With a moan Dempsey broke away from her mouth and laid soft kisses down her neck to her collarbone. The tightness in his trousers was becoming uncomfortable as he sat at an awkward angle in the driver's seat but he was unwilling to move. His whole world was this car and its misted up windows, the rest of the world was forgotten.

He kissed his way back up and claimed her mouth again, Harry groaned and pushed her tongue against his, her fingers tight in his hair. He pulled back with her name on his lips. 'Harry?'

Her eyes were intent on his, her hand still caressing his leg. He knew that look and he knew they had to stop now or there would be no stopping at all.

Harry had had a lot more than him to drink and he didn't want their first time to be like this.

She covered her mouth to suppress a small yawn.

'You're tired honey' he stroked his thumb over the side of her mouth. 'You should get some sleep.'

'Is that what you want?' She asked, nervous now.

'No, but…you've been drinking and I haven't. I don't want you to regret anything Harry.'

She huffed and started to protest but in the end rearranged her clothes, and picked up her bag. She turned to his gaze and pressed another kiss to his lips and he barely held onto his control; he was so close to grabbing her hand and running up the steps into her house.

Instead he watched as she climbed out of the car and up to her front door. As she disappeared inside he pressed his forehead against the steering wheel.

Why was he such a coward?

His arousal hadn't abated and he felt hot and frustrated as he drove through the London night. As soon as he closed his own front door threw himself on the bed and unzipped, bringing himself to an unsatisfactory release.

XxXxXx

The following day was a Sunday and Harry had gone to visit her father and wasn't returning til the evening. Dempsey stalked around his flat, rearranging things, he flopped down on the sofa and flicked channels for a while. But he felt cooped up, angry with no outlet.

In the end he went for a run, pounding his frustration into the city streets.

But Harry was everywhere, every woman he passed reminded him of her, he felt feverish, dizzy. He was no fool, he knew what his affliction was.

So this is love? Suddenly all the cheesy movies and songs made sense. He was a living, breathing cliché.

XxXxXx

On Monday morning Harry somehow looked different, even more beautiful, more alluring and Dempsey's heart ached, he couldn't tell whether she'd changed or he had.

He couldn't concentrate, couldn't think about anything except her lips on his, her tongue in his mouth, the softness of her skin under his fingers.

Harry looked at him with a frown as he banged down his coffee cup down on his desk and stood up.

'What's wrong with you?' She asked.

He'd kissed her in the front seat of his car just after midnight on Friday evening. How could she act so normal? He wanted to pull her to him and tell her the truth. I love you, I want you, I can't stop thinking about you.

Instead he grunted a non-committal reply and wandered over to speak to Chas.

Dempsey knew he was being surly, but he couldn't help it, he was going through the motions at work and was barely civil to Harry. He had no idea why he was taking it out on her, pushing her away when all he wanted to do was put his arms around her and hold on forever. He went through the day a scattered, horny mess.

XxXxXx

Two hours later they sat in Harry's car watching the traffic on a busy A road. There had been a tip off about a furniture van full of stolen antiques but so far nothing. Three furniture vans had passed, none of them the name of the company they'd been given.

Dempsey barely registered the passing traffic. The atmosphere felt heavy and airless; he wasn't sure whether he was hypersensitive to her scent or whether she was wearing more perfume than usual. His mind swam with the memory of the taste of her lips, the smell of her hair.

'Think we should call it a day?'

She looked across at him as he sat lost in thought. 'Dempsey I'm asking you a question.'

'Uh..what?'

'What's the matter with you today, you're all tetchy and snappy.'

'Tetchy and snappy?'

'Yes, what's going on?'

Didn't our kiss mean anything to you, have you forgotten?

As he opened his mouth to speak Harry sighed 'let's head back, this is a waste of our time.'

Dempsey bit back his words, turned the key in the ignition and slammed the car into gear, they lurched backwards and there was a sickening metallic crunch.

'Dempsey what the hell…?'

He thumped his fist on the steering wheel. 'Fuck!'

Before she could say any more him he scrambled out of the car. The bollard was bent at the top and there was a deep dent in the back of Harry's Escort. 'Fuck!' He said again.

'I'll get it fixed' he muttered as she came up beside him 'don't know what happened.'

'What happened was you put the car in the wrong gear, give me the keys I'll drive back, you're a liability the mood you're in.'

'The mood I'm in? It's you who distracted me.' As soon as the words were out he regretted them as he saw the flash of hurt on her face.

'Excuse me? I was distracting you?'

Dempsey knew he was being unfair. 'I'll make my own way back, I'm sorry about the car…I'll sort it.'

He started to walk off but Harry grabbed his arm and pulled him round to face her. 'You need to tell me what's going on Dempsey, something's clearly upsetting you and I get the feeling it's something I've done.'

'S'nothing.' He wouldn't look at her.

'Is this about what happened on Friday night?' Her voice was softer now.

Dempsey looked down at his feet and shuffled in discomfort, then he slowly lifted his face to hers.

'I can't think about anything else, Harry.'

'Oh Dempsey' he looked so forlorn, she lifted her palm to his cheek.

'And you're just acting normal' he mumbled 'so I guessed you're pretending it didn't happen.'

'As I remember' she smiled 'you were the one who stopped.'

'I know, I know and I've been regretting it ever since, you'd had a bit to drink and I didn't want to…it didn't seem right.' He shrugged 'I want it to be more than a fumble in the car.'

Until then Harry hadn't allowed herself to hope and had convinced herself it was just a kiss after a night out. But she could see how difficult this was for him and knew just how much it meant for him too.

She took his hand, 'Dempsey…'

'Everything alright here?' They both spun round to see a uniformed police officer approaching. 'Had a bit of a prang?'

Dempsey watched Harry pull herself up to her full height, she was wearing her take no prisoners face.

'Sergeant Makepeace, SI10' she held out her badge. 'And this is my partner Lieutenant Dempsey. We're perfectly alright Constable, thank you for asking.' She gave a sweet smile, the one that was edged with steel as the flustered constable started to back away.

'You didn't need to terrify the poor boy.' Dempsey smiled as they walked back towards the car.

He turned to face her 'I'm sorry about your car…and about being grumpy. I just…'

She leaned in and pressed the lightest of kisses to his lips 'why don't you come over later and we can talk about it.'

Dempsey grinned and nodded, once again lost for words. He lifted Harry's hand to his lips, then gently opened her fingers and pressed the car keys into her palm. 'You'd better drive, I'm far too distracted.'