"Hi!" Steve said as he greeted Kate at the restaurant. He'd made an effort to get to the restaurant before her and had been waiting at the bar for her to arrive.

"Hi," Kate replied, impressed Steve had shown up on time. "Hope you haven't been waiting long,".

"No. Only just ordered a lager," replied Steve as he couldn't help but check Kate out again. She was wearing skinny jeans that accentuated her backside that had first caught his eye and a soft cashmere jumper. "You look great," he complimented.

"Thanks," Kate replied shyly. She had fretted over what to wear for quite a while at home. She was relieved she appeared to have gone for the right outfit. "You scrub up rather well, too," she added, returning the compliment. He was in jeans and a shirt that went well with his chocolate brown eyes.

They were shown to a table and perused the menu before giving their choices to the waiter.

"You made it to the valet ok?" Kate asked once they had been left alone with a bottle of wine.

"Yeah," replied Steve. "They've given me a temporary replacement car whilst they clean my one. Not sure I want it back though!" He added and Kate smiled.

"So how long have you been in the city, Steve?" Kate asked. "I haven't seen you around before now,".

"Transferred about two weeks ago,".

"How do you like your new home?".

"Haven't really had chance to explore it," Steve admitted. "Landed right in the thick of a case," he continued before stopping. They both knew it was inappropriate to talk about Steve's case out of work. "Maybe when it's finished I can get a local to show me around?" he hinted.

"Maybe," Kate agreed shyly, taking a sip of wine to recover. "So where did you transfer from?" Kate asked as their starters appeared on the table.

"London,".

"The Met?". Steve nodded. "What did you do there?".

"Counter terrorism,".

"Wow," Kate replied, impressed. It certainly sounded more impressive than CID.

"What about you?" Steve asked, keen to stop talking about himself and the tricky subject of how he left London under a dark cloud. "How long have you been in TO-20?".

"Three weeks," Kate said.

"Not long then,".

"No," agreed Kate. "I was excited when I got informed of my move. I'd been in CID for two years. Hated it. Got to deal with everyone else's shit that they didn't want,".

"I got the impression you were an excellent clearer up of shit when you helped me earlier," Steve joked and Kate smiled. "So you applied for TO-20?".

"No," answered Kate. "I was moved because I own 2 X chromosomes. Something that DCI Gates' team lacked. I'm simply there to even out the mismatch of genders," she explained, sounding frustrated that she hadn't been promoted from recognition of hard work.

"I'm sure that's not the only reason," Steve suggested.

The rest of their meal arrived and the two chatted easily about anything and everything until it was time for the bill. Ever the gent, Steve took full responsibility for it declaring it was a thank you for her assistance at work.

"Thanks," said Kate.

"Can I offer you a lift home?" He said as he showed Kate out of the restaurant.

"OK," Kate agreed and Steve showed her to his temporary service car before following Kate's instructions to her flat.

"Would you like to come in for a coffee?" Kate asked. She wouldn't usually make the offer on a first date as it might give off the wrong impression, but she didn't want the evening to end.

"Alright," Steve said as they both left the car and headed in to Kate's home. He was unsure exactly what Kate had in mind when she had made her offer so he took her lead.

They enjoyed a nice drink and then it really was time for Steve to leave. "I'll wash them in the morning," Kate said as she took both their mugs to the kitchen and began showing Steve out the door. "Thanks for a lovely evening," she said.

"Glad you accepted," Steve replied. He stood awkwardly beside Kate. He really wanted to kiss her goodnight but didn't know how it would be received. Maybe a kiss on the cheek he thought as he leant forward.

"Oh," Kate said surprised as his lips touched her cheek. It was as nice as she had thought it might be.

"Was that ok?" Steve asked as he pulled back, afraid he'd been too forward.

"It's fine," Kate informed him truthfully as they stared in to each others eyes.

But not for long as they were soon kissing again, but on the lips this time.