They drove back to the house in silence, Alec thinking he had just done something really, really stupid. What had come over him? Surely she would think he was only playing along for the benefit of those who were watching? She would surely go straight to the bedroom and pack once they got back, he wouldn't blame her, he'd not even intended doing it but she had been asking for it since Saturday.
Why had she kissed him back though? Was he going to get his face slapped when they got home? He was about to find out as Rose turned into the estate, Alec noting there was a car parked opposite again, hopefully Rose would be busy retrieving the camera footage and he might escape for a while.
"Looks like we've been missing something while we were out," Rose mused, pulling in by their rented house.
"Seems you will be forwarding more to the chief, did you know about that?"
"No, they must have missed that bit out, it won't take long to go through it, just fast-forward it, I don't have to watch four hours of nothing. You were hoping I would, weren't you?"
Alec unfastened his seatbelt but stayed where he was, grabbing her arm as she went for the door after taking out the key.
"Afraid I will put off our little talk?"
"Nope, we need to clear the air, what came over you all of a sudden?"
"I am not discussing this out here, you go see to the recording, that is what we are here for."
"I know that Alec. Watch out, here comes the loose housewife of Broadchurch."
"Don't be rude Rose," he replied, opening the car door.
"Hello again Rose, Alec. Home early?"
"Alec's on reduced hours for now, I'm just driving him to work and back, you know and doing a bit of window shopping. I've never been here before, the harbour is nice."
"Oh, what's wrong with you then Alec, nothing serious I hope?"
He was about to reply when Rose butted in.
"Nah, just all the stress from the murder investigation and him getting some time off to spend with me, we've not seen each other since he came here, have we babe? Got a lot of catching up to do."
"Come on Rose, don't stand out here keeping our neighbour talking, remember why I am taking some time off."
"Aw, how could I forget?"
Their neighbour gave Alec a funny look as he went to Rose's side of the car and took the key and remote off her and locked the doors, then putting his arm around her. He didn't like the way she had just looked him up and down, maybe he should just admit what was wrong with him though she must be the only person in the town who didn't read last week's 'Echo'.
Rose tried to suppress a giggle as he got his house key out while trying to turn around to see if the woman had gone back inside her own house.
"Does she actually wait for us coming back?" he asked as the door opened and he took the key out of the lock.
"Maybe the chief should have got her to watch the house across the street?" Rose giggled, closing the door behind her.
"Aye, maybe. I'll go make a drink while you watch the recording then we have to talk."
"Is there something to talk about?" she asked, going to get the laptop out.
"You know there is, you getting the attention of everyone in the office."
"Well I didn't tell you to kiss me, did I?"
"What? You said you wanted a kiss before you gave me my jacket back." Then he realised he had been tricked into kissing her. "Hold on, you would have given it back to me?"
"Well duh, of course I would. "
"You said to make it look good."
"You said I owed you and to make it look good, which it was actually, to say you have a beard."
"Well I never asked you to kiss me back."
"Huh, then I won't bother next time. Weren't you making some tea?" she huffed, rewinding the recording.
"I never said I objected to doing what you asked to get my jacket back," he called behind him as he went into the kitchen. "You should not have said anything to the chief though."
"She accepted your explanation didn't she? Anyway, why hide the fact you're going to the hospital on Friday, what's the big secret? They won't do your operation then will they?"
"No, I will still have to wait," he replied, stopping in the doorway.
"How long?"
"Rose, I have just been transferred there, I do not get priority."
"Well you should. Doesn't your medical insurance cover it?"
"It was invalidated when I failed to declare there was something wrong with me."
"That's not fair."
"Well it was renewed shortly after I discovered what was wrong with me, it is entirely my own fault."
"Come over and look at this."
"Not another one of your tricks to get me to kiss you again is it?" he asked nervously as he crossed to where she was sitting.
"Wouldn't you just like it to be, you didn't need much of an excuse did you?"
"I am not going to apologize, you were just as much to blame. Why did you call me over here?"
She had stopped as the recording showed three men get out of a car, one remaining in the driver's seat.
"That's the car that was there when we just came in," Alec declared as he went to the window.
"Don't pull the net curtain over, someone may have gone back to it."
"Well there was no-one there when we passed," he told her as he tried to get his specs out of his shirt pocket and resisting pulling back the net.
Rose got up and went up behind him.
"I have an idea, come upstairs," she suggested, grabbing his arm.
"What are you up to?" he asked as he followed her to the stairs.
"You'll find out, you want to see don't you?"
"That all depends on what your plan is."
They went upstairs and into the bedroom, Rose going to the window.
"Well don't stand all the way over there."
"Tell me what your plan is first," he hesitated, still in the relative safety of the doorway.
She walked back towards him.
"It won't work with me just standing there."
She took his hand and pulled him to the window, in full view of the street below then went for his tie.
"First, that has to come off."
"Is that all? Don't pull it undone," he instructed as she loosened it and undid another button at the top.
She smiled and pulled it over his head, tossing it away but wasn't finished yet. Where his shirt was open at the neck, she began kissing it, Alec trying not to squirm as her lips felt soft just below his left ear.
"Done are you?" he hoped as he reached for the top button of her blue short sleeved blouse she wore for work.
She stopped what she was doing and as he moved his hand away, she pulled it back.
"Ah, not so fast Alec, no, we're not done yet."
She kept her fingers on his, making him open another two buttons of hers until he could see her low cut black bra, not that his eyes were actually looking at her bra for more than a second as they then rested on her cleavage.
Satisfied, she went for his shirt buttons, Alec stunned and being unable to stop her, even though he knew he should really but this was her idea of surveillance, he didn't want to spoil her illusion and the view was pleasant enough. She got down to the last but one button and pulled the shirt out, resting her hands on his chest.
"What now?" he dared to ask, knowing he was going to regret being so dumb that he knew what was going to happen but wanted her to confirm it first.
She put her arms around his shoulders, pulling the shirt down over them, making him put his arms around her waist but not before he decided he was going to take this over, if she wanted to play games with him. With one hand on her waist, he fumbled with another two of her buttons, getting him an even better view, then he pulled her close and began kissing her neck.
"Seen anything?" she asked him, not believing how good it felt and knowing she had missed having a boyfriend, well one who would pay her this much attention and her boss was not her boyfriend, more like he would never be her boyfriend but she could live in hope.
"Oh, I've seen plenty, you made sure I did."
Rose looked up. "I meant outside you plum."
"Oh, you should have made that clear."
"Concentrate then."
"What do you think I am doing?" he asked as he got lower down towards her collarbone.
"Not that kind of concentrating, here, turn around, let me see."
As they changed places, he pulled the blouse over her shoulders.
"Now who's the one taking this seriously? No, there's no-one in that car, whoever it was must have gone inside with the others. Ouch!"
"Sorry," he said, as he kissed the part he had just bitten.
"I should slap you silly right now."
"Be my guest, I probably deserve it but if you are going to, I may as well finish what I started."
"No you don't, it's my turn."
He looked up and saw her hazel eyes meant business.
"Maybe we should go and check the rest of the recording?" he asked as Rose reached up to kiss his shoulder.
"What? Oh, I never thought of that."
"Seriously? You dragged me up here under false pretences then? You mean to say you never checked the end, just as we got back?"
"Well I didn't get that far, did I?" she asked him, kissing her way down towards his chest.
"Rose, I thought you had just gone back to show me that bit."
"Oops, sorry."
He tried to pull her away as she was about to start kissing her way across his chest. If she was going to start that, he wasn't going to let her be the only one to have that pleasure, he planned on doing the same to her and since she was still wearing her black lacy bra, well that was just plain unfair.
"You are sorry?"
"Are you mad at me Alec?" she asked, staring into his brown eyes.
"I have every right to be, you should have checked to the end."
"Well you never asked me if I had, did you?"
"Do I have to supervise you?"
"You know this is my first surveillance assignment?"
"Stop using that as an excuse."
"Do you want me to fasten your shirt back?" she smiled, fingering one of the shirt buttons with one hand and the other still on his chest.
He looked down at more of her cleavage and knew he was doomed. He held her hand in place for a few seconds then looked like he was going to back away.
"Close the curtains and I'll tell you," he just replied, placing a kiss just above her bra.
She got out of his grasp and grabbed one of the curtains, Alec going for her waist and kissing her neck from behind and reaching out with his other arm to grab the other curtain. They had hardly got them closed when their lips met and he went behind her back to unclasp her bra.
"Alec, I thought we were going to talk about this?"
"Are you protesting now?" he asked, the strap still between his fingers.
"Well not exactly, what made you change your mind?"
"I haven't changed it entirely, it's still not that good an idea to get involved. Besides, what happens if I am told on Friday that I'm not suitable for surgery?"
"What? Why would they say that? What aren't you telling me?"
He fumbled with her clasp and fastened it again, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking serious.
"Because the last time I was told I may not even survive an operation."
Rose staggered backwards and he caught her, sitting her on the bed.
"You should have told me Alec."
"Why? So you would feel sorry for me?"
"Don't you think I deserved to know, being your partner? I'm supposed to look after you."
"Yes, you are but only for a week then you go back to your boarding house and I go back to the hotel. If they don't tell me on Friday it's all over for me, then I'll probably make my way back towards Sandbrook and tell my daughter."
Rose remained quiet, not even bothering her blouse was still mostly unbuttoned.
"So you went along with this, thinking it was your last assignment?" she managed to ask.
"Maybe. Once I'm seen by the consultant, they will send a report to the CMO, he won't let me stay on. I just got a two week reprieve."
"It's all my fault then, insisting you call the hospital, isn't it?"
"No, not entirely, I agreed to call them. They were in the process of sending me an appointment though it may have been too late. I am getting worse Rose, I can tell. I should have realised the other week, before I collapsed chasing Joe Miller that night. I should have known when Becca Fisher called for an ambulance when I collapsed in the hotel bathroom."
"I'm so sorry Alec, I've just made things worse for you. I'd better get dressed and I'm sorry for playing these stupid flirting games with you."
"I knew you were flirting with me."
"Yeah, I bet you did."
He took her hand and placed it on his heart, Rose not even flinching but feeling it wasn't right.
"How can you live like this?"
"I've had to. Now you know why I was in no hurry to chase up hospital appointments. Now I'll know for definite one way or the other on Friday morning, if I'll get sent for surgery or if they say there is nothing that can be done for me."
Rose looked at him and Alec saw she was crying.
"Don't cry Rose, at least I've had these few days, you fussing and bothering over me, no-one has done that before."
"Your ex wife never knew, did she?"
"No, not until recently when it all came out. Maybe she would have stayed had she known but there again, it may have made no difference either."
He put his arm around her and kissed her forehead, her hand remaining where it was.
"Want to fasten my shirt buttons for me?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Rose tried to smile back, reaching for the bottom one.
"Only if you fasten my blouse."
"Deal."
They went back downstairs and Rose finished watching the recording, seeing the man in the car get out and going into the house then them all leaving after they had stopped playing around in the window. Alec went to rest on the sofa and when Rose had put the laundry on, she sat on the edge of the sofa, trying to move his feet. He got the hint and she lay next to him, Alec putting his arm around her and Rose daring to kiss him again.
"No unbuttoning my shirt again, not unless you want the same."
"I never objected did I?"
"No, you didn't."
"It was kinda nice, wasn't it?"
He put his hand on her cheek and pulled her towards him gently. They shared a few short, sweet kisses then Alec moved until Rose could reach him properly and the kisses deepened one by one.
"I was wondering what it was like to kiss my boss," Rose admitted.
"Well, I hope you were not too disappointed but we can't make anything of this Rose, you know that."
"Why can't we? You go to the hospital on Friday and you tell them you want to go ahead."
"Then what? I may not come around from the surgery."
"What happens if you don't have it? Do you sit around moping in some hotel room? Well I'm not gonna let you do that. Your daughter can come down here and visit you, you come and live with me and I'll take care of you but only if they say it's too risky for you to go ahead. If they say it's 50/50 or even less, then you have to at least try."
"I'll agree on one condition."
He pulled her for another kiss, putting his hand on her blouse and then up the front, fingering her bra.
"Mmm, what condition is that then?"
"You stay with me until I go for it, still keep me for doing anything stupid. Agreed?"
"Yeah, goes without saying, DI Grumpy."
He shuffled her around, unbuttoned her blouse as she did his shirt buttons then he reached back and unclasped her bra again.
"Hope you're gonna finish the job this time?" she teased, poking her tongue out of the corner of her mouth.
"What do you take me for Tyler? I always finish the job," he replied as he pulled the offending article of clothing away and revealed her soft pink breasts.
He leaned down and placed a kiss on one then the other as Rose pulled his shirt over his shoulders.
"I hope you are going to finish what you started as well?"
Rose eventually went to make something to eat after going to get changed into a vest top and a t-shirt then they curled up on the sofa to watch a film until Alec said he felt tired.
"Just hang on two minutes and I'll come up with you."
"Sure, I guess I learned my lesson. Rose, what I said earlier, I did not mean to upset you."
"I needed to know Alec, how could you not bother telling me?"
"It was personal and I did not know we were going to get involved, did I?"
"So you're gonna fight this then?"
As he tried to get up, he kissed her again.
"What do you think Rose?"
"Why don't you take the next few days off, they can manage without you."
"That's just it Rose, there is no senior officer though they will have to get one, should I either not survive or get thrown out for good. I will not be able to work after Friday anyway."
"Then stay off, we are on assignment and the CS said we didn't have to go in. They can call you if they need to."
"Well ok then, you are very persuasive. I guess there will be no pretending at the window tonight then?"
Rose giggled.
"What?" he asked, lifting her t-shirt and kissing her tummy.
"We left the curtains pulled over."
Alec smiled. "Yes, someone was in a hurry to get my shirt off."
"Yeah and someone was trying to get my bra off."
"Well I regret upsetting you that I never finished."
"You more than made up for it Alec. Come on, I'm not letting you out of my sight for longer than necessary."
"Well I am still not leaving the bathroom door open."
Rose made sure the house was locked up and the laptop was hidden away in a cupboard then went upstairs, Alec just coming out of the bathroom.
"You can make a big difference Rose, now I know you really do care."
"I cared about you from the start, even before the chief put us on this assignment."
"You were not bothered what everyone would think?" he asked as she settled on him, going to kiss his chest.
"Not really, I'm a bit of a rebel."