She let out a long sigh. ‘Fine,’ she said, before she could talk herself out of it.

She left her car where it was and they headed to a nearby pub. It was quiet, with most of the office workers who frequented it having already headed home for the night. It was only Tuesday after all.

When Dani ordered a large glass of red wine Jason gave her his best disapproving look, but he quickly realised his mistake and wiped it away.

‘I hear congratulations are in order,’ Dani said when they’d taken a seat in a leather-clad booth in the corner of the bar. She raised her glass and chinked it against Jason’s.

‘Yeah,’ he said. ‘Thanks. To be honest, with you gone there was a bit of a gap. Too much work, not enough DIs.’

He looked a little sheepish as he said it.

For the next few minutes their conversation was mostly about their jobs, but there was only so much policing that the two of them could take, and soon their conversation turned away from work. Perhaps it was the alcohol, but Dani quickly discovered – or was it rediscovered – just how engaging Jason was. She’d shut him out for so long, but with her defences down the mood was relaxed and their chat free and easy. Somehow Jason managed to ask Dani all manner of questions, without ever putting her on the spot. He also seemed careful to steer clear of the one subject that Dani was dreading talking about.

But after two large glasses of red wine and a steak sandwich, he apparently just couldn’t help himself. If only he’d quit while he was ahead. Instead he wanted to talk about them. Again.

‘You know, I blame myself for what happened,’ Jason said.

‘You blame yourself for my brother trying to kill me?’

Jason looked twitchy all of a sudden. Dani just wanted to get off the subject.

‘No, Dani. I’m talking about us. I should have listened to you. My heart was in the right place, and I just wanted to be there for you. But I know now that I pushed too far. I should have given you more space.’

Dani said nothing to that. Was he really to blame? Would they still be together now if he had taken more of a back seat role during her period of recovery, or would she just have resented him for that too? Who knew, but in a way she was even angrier with him now for trying to turn the situation around and make it about himself.

‘Maybe it just wasn’t meant to be,’ Dani said.

Jason looked hurt by that.