Sorry for the delay in oosting. This is a WIp and been a bit of a busy week again. Extra long chapter to compensate
"Thanks, mate," Steve told the taxi driver as he paid their fare. Putting his wallet back in his back pocket, he quickly followed Kate out of the car and joined her on the pavement as the taxi pulled off.
"You ready?" Steve asked her.
"Absolutely," Kate replied confidently. "Let's get this investigation started…. honey," she added. Steve smiled at the term of endearment as she got in to her role.
He held his hand out and Kate took it as they walked the short distance to the Indian restaurant where they would be meeting Matt and his wife and Claire and her partner.
The restaurant was fairly busy but Steve quickly caught sight of Luckie at one table. He saw Steve and raised his hand in greeting, beckoning them over to the large round table. As Steve and Kate got nearer he stood to greet them.
"Hi," Matt said as he held his hand out to greet Steve.
"Hey," replied Steve.
"And you must be Kate," Matt said, turning his attention to Kate. He held his hand out and Kate shook it.
"Nice to meet you," Kate replied.
"This is my wife, Natasha," he introduced the woman at the table who got up to greet the guests.
"You can call me Tash," she explained as she shook hands as well.
"Are we first to arrive?" Steve asked, once all the introductions had been made.
"Yeah," Matt said. "Take a seat. I was thinking, boy, girl," he suggested. Kate and Steve agreed and Kate found herself sitting between Matt and Steve. "How was Spain?" Matt asked Kate once they were seated.
"Ooh," said Tash. "Sounds nice,".
"It wasn't," Kate replied. "I was looking after my mother," she continued, "and we don't have the best relationship," she explained to Tash and Matt. She had no problem telling them the truth. Hopefully it would disguise any lies she might have to tell later that evening.
"I'm a Daddy's girl as well," Tash replied, thinking she understood the problem.
"Sorry we're late," Claire said as she approached the table, saving Kate the need to reply. Everyone turned to greet her and her partner who they were informed was called Jeremy.
With the table now complete, the waiters were soon in attendance to look after their guests and get their meal started.
"So how did you two meet?" Tash asked Kate during a lull in conversation over their main courses.
Kate had been expecting this question at some point during the evening and it was time to put the story that her and Steve had created the previous day to the test. "It was in a police station of all places, wasn't it?" Kate replied as she put her fork down and placed her hand rather high on Steve's thigh as she looked at him with a smile.
Steve was a little shocked at the intimate gesture but covered it as he smiled back. She was just playing at being his wife.
"Really?" replied Tash, interestedly. Matt too appeared to be interested in her story. "Had you been arrested?" She teased.
"No," Kate replied as she turned to face them but kept her hand on Steve's thigh. He felt a little twitch in his downstairs region and tried to mask his surprise. It was the first time his body had responded to a female's touch in quite a while. "My precious Syd had been stolen,".
"Who's Syd?" asked Tash.
"My car. My first car," Kate explained. "He was a grumpy old bastard, especially in the cold weather, but he was mine and I loved him," she continued, getting in to the role. "And one morning he wasn't there,".
"Oh," sympathised Tash, enjoying Kate's story.
"So I went to the police station to report the crime, except I was having trouble with the door," Kate continued and Steve found himself remembering the actual first time he had met Kate. "'You alright?' I heard behind me," Kate recountered, doing an impression of Steve, "and I turn to find this one keen to help," she said, turning to face Steve again. "'I can't seem to get in,' I told him and then I remember feeling so embarrassed when he told me I had to pull the door instead of pushing it!" Kate finished.
Tash laughed at the story and Matt too seemed to enjoy it.
"Anyway, Steve pulled the door open for me and then helped me get to wherever it was I had to report my missing car," Kate said, "and he was waiting for me when I'd finished. He offered to take me home seeing as I didn't have a car anymore,".
"Aww," Tash said.
"Well I couldn't let her walk home," Steve added. "Not after I'd seen that her front view was as nice as her back view!" he joked with his audience. For some reason with Kate beside him he was feeling much more relaxed about being undercover and felt able to divulge he had liked Kate's backside on first viewing. Tell some truth Kate had told him the previous evening. This wasn't a lie.
"Steve!" Kate scolded him as she slapped his arm. He'd totally ruined the romance of her story.
Matt Luckie smiled at the bickering pair beside him. They were not unlike him and his wife.
"But it worked. Matt tells me you are newly weds," Tash stated.
"Three months," Steve replied as he casually draped one arm along the back of Kate's chair in a slightly possssive move. "Didn't get off to the best of starts," he said. "We just hope it isn't a sign of things to come,".
"What happened?" Tash asked.
"Decided to get in shape for the wedding and went to the gym," Steve said, repeating another part of the story he and Kate had concocted the previous evening, "and lost weight from my fingers of all places. When Kate put my wedding ring on it was too big,".
"Sent him to the jewellers to finally get it resized after he nearly lost it!" Kate chipped in.
"And then your mum broke her ankle soon after we moved in to our new home, didn't she?" Steve said to Kate.
"Oh no!" Tash said. "Sounds a very busy time for you both,".
"Haven't really had a chance to enjoy married life yet, have we?" Steve again said to Kate.
"Not really, but hopefully now we can," Kate said as she stared at Steve.
"How did you propose?" Tash enquired.
Steve froze for a second . This wasn't something he and Kate had talked about. He was going to have to make something up on the spot. He felt Kate give his thigh a squeeze. She believed in him that he could do this.
"Well that didn't go to plan either," Steve said as he jumped in. "I had arranged this big display of affection. I'd booked a weekend in Paris, dinner on a boat and I'd propose as the Eiffel Tower came in to view,".
"Sounds lovely," Tash commented. "I hope you're taking notes," she teased her husband. "This one is not very romantic at all!" she informed the table.
"But Kate got sick," Steve continued, amazed at how easily this story was coming to him. "Gastric flu. Had to cancel,".
"Oh no!" Tash said, seemingly believing Steve which gave him confidence.
"She was feeling really sorry for herself, huddled under the duvet and I just decided to do it then and there. I realised Kate wasn't about the showy stuff. I just wanted her to be my wife,".
"That's adorable," Tash said.
"Made me feel better although I still felt like shit," Kate said, squeezing Steve's thigh gently. Looked as though he had passed that test.
"And what about you two?" Tash asked Claire, not wanting the other two table guests to feel excluded. "How did you meet?".
"Oh, just on line," Claire replied without divulging much else.
Sensing it wasn't a topic that Claire wanted to discuss much more the conversation moved on.
The rest of the evening progressed in much the same way. Most of the conversation being provided by either Matt, Tash, Kate or Steve. Claire and Jeremy were very quiet and didn't contribute much. There seemed to be a bit of tension between them.
Kate and Steve were surprised to find out that the Luckie's actually lived very close to their undercover home. Tash thought it great as she and Kate would be able to socialise during the day when their husbands were at work. Kate wasn't quite so enamoured with that idea but played along.
"We can drop you home," Tash suggested at the end of the meal as everyone prepared to leave.
Steve and Kate looked at each other, unsure if it was a good idea or not but in the end took Mrs Luckie up on her offer. She hadn't been drinking at the meal and was the designated driver.
Saying good bye to Claire and Jeremy, the foursome made their way to a black Range Rover Evoke. Kate and Steve got in the back whilst Tash took the wheel and Matt was shotgun.
"Was Claire ok?" Tash asked everyone as she started the engine. "They both seemed very quiet,".
"She's like that at work," Steve admitted, having found out for himself that she was very closed off. "Keeps herself to herself,".
"I was worried she wasn't enjoying herself," Tash replied.
"I think she's fine," Steve assured his boss's wife. It seemed to do the trick and soon chat was easily flowing between the car for the rest of the journey.
"That's us just here," Kate said as their house pulled in to view. Tash slowed to a stop in front of the driveway. "Thanks for the lift," she said as she unbuckled her seatbelt.
"No problem," Tash said before her guests got out. "I'll pop by sometime," she said to Kate over her shoulder.
"That would be great," Kate replied before she closed the door. Steve and Kate held hands on the pavement and waved the Luckie's off before they made their way inside.
"I thought that went ok?" Steve checked, flicking a few light switches on as they headed to the kitchen.
"I thought so too," Kate replied as she followed Steve. Steve felt a great sense of relief not to have mucked the evening up. "I told you you could do it," she said, impressed.
"You think we fooled them in to thinking we're a couple?".
"I think so," Kate agreed as she opened a cupboard door. "Water?".
"Please," Steve requested. "What did you think of Matt?".
"I thought he was nice," Kate said as she handed Steve a full glass of water before she filed her own glass. "They both were. But we have to remember it might be an act,".
There was silence for a moment as they both gulped their drinks.
"Did we know they lived round the corner when we acquired this house?" Kate asked once she had swallowed.
"No," Steve said. "Is it a problem?".
"I think we need to make this place look a bit more homely," Kate said. "I can guarantee Tash will be round here at the earliest opportunity to have a look around. Whether she knows it or not, she'll be acting like a spy for Matt,".
"So what do we do?" Steve asked.
"I'm gonna speak to the gaffer tomorrow," Kate decided. "We need some photos. Holiday. Wedding. That type of thing. Maybe Amanda from Cyber can help photoshop a few for us,".
"Good idea," Steve said before he drained his glass. "Bed?".
"Yeah," agreed Kate as she too finished her drink and made her way upstairs. Steve followed, locking up as he did so.
In the bedroom, Kate grabbed her sleepware and headed into the en-suite. "What do you know about Claire?" she asked from the bathroom once Steve was in the bedroom.
"Not much," Steve replied as he started undressing. "As I said, she keeps herself to herself. Bit aloof. Why?".
"I dunno," Kate said. "If I didn't knew better I'd say she was undercover exactly like you and me,".
"What makes you say that?" Steve asked.
"Just some of the answers to questions. Her general demeanor. She looked quite anxious and her and Jeremy weren't really believable as a couple. He'd probably been plucked at random to play the part whereas we've got ten years of friendship to rely on," Kate announced from the en-suite before Steve heard her brushing her teeth.
"Luckie has caught more than just the gaffer's attention maybe?".
Kate spat in the sink. "Maybe," she agreed before she reappeared in the bedroom. Steve then went in to the en-suite whilst Kate got in to bed. Gone was the awkwardness of the previous night.
"Something else to discuss with the gaffer tomorrow?" Steve asked from the bedroom.
"Yep," agreed Kate as she started applying some moisturiser to her face. "I might be wrong but be careful around her," she warned Steve.
"You've usually got good instincts about this type of thing," Steve countered as he reappeared in the bedroom and settled himself in the bed. "I'll keep an eye on her," he agreed.
"Good," answered Kate as she too settled down to sleep. "Night mate,".
"Night," replied Steve and he flicked off the bed side light.
There was a bit of rustling heard in the dark as each tried to get comfortable. Steve had just about found a comfortable position when he felt two blocks of ice on his bare legs. "Jesus Kate!" he exclaimed as he jumped in shock.
"My feet are cold from the bathroom tiles," Kate explained, "and you are giving off a lot of heat! Thought I'd warm them up!" she giggled. She was in rather a playful mood after the success of the evening.
"Maybe warn me next time," Steve retorted. "What the hell is wrong with your circulation?" he queried as he fluffed his pillow and settled back down to sleep.
"Mark used to wonder the same thing," Kate said remembering the numerous times she had rested her cold feet on Mark's limbs in bed. "He didn't like me doing it,".
"Just tell me before you do it next time," Steve murmured. He wasn't going to deny her anything like her ex-husband.
"Ok," Kate said. "Steve?" she asked after a pause.
"Yes?".
"Can I warm my feet up on you?" Kate pleaded.
"If it'll help you sleep," Steve replied before he felt Kate resting her feet against his legs. It didn't take long for them both to fall asleep.