The Recovery Assignment. Alison Roberts

virtue of not being blonde?’ Charlotte’s words dripped acid. ‘Listen, Owen, I want to get something straight here, and I may as well do it on my first day. I’m not about to tolerate getting hit on by anyone I work with. Feel free to pass it on.’

      ‘I’m sure word will get around fast enough.’

      ‘I’m hardly breaking new ground.’ Charlotte shook her head. ‘I’m far from the first woman to join the police force. Why am I getting the impression that I’ve stepped into some boys’ only club?’

      ‘You’re the first woman to join the SCS. Here, anyway.’

      ‘I’m here to do a job. The fact that I’m female has nothing to do with it.’

      ‘You’re new. Everyone has to prove themselves. Respect is something that’s earned.’

      ‘That cuts both ways.’ Charlotte’s tone was intended to be a warning. ‘And I’m not going to have any respect for a colleague who assumes I’m more interested in having sex than doing my job.’

      ‘At least we have something in common, then.’ The hint of a smile made Charlotte realise it was the first she had received. In fact, had she even seen him smile at anyone else during the course of today?

      ‘And that is?’

      ‘Not letting personal relationships interfere with a career.’

      ‘So you’ll stop looking at me as if I’m parading around in my underwear, then?’

      Hawk’s jaw dropped. ‘I haven’t been!’

      ‘Yes, you have,’ Charlotte contradicted. ‘And so has every other male I’ve met so far today. I’m getting assessed and that assessment is being based purely on what I look like.’

      ‘You’re not exactly what any of us expected, you know.’

      ‘You mean I’m not short, fat and ugly? Hell bent on a tough career in the police force because I’m too much of a dog to catch myself a husband?’

      Hawk’s laughter was as astonishing as the way his amusement changed his face. Charlotte had been wondering if she’d even seen him smile and now she had elicited a bark of rich sound and a smile that made him look like a stranger all over again. The fierce lines of his face hadn’t changed but any hint of arrogance or aggression had evaporated, at least for the moment. In fact, the gleam in those dark blue eyes confirmed that Charlotte had hit the nail squarely on the head and that her perception was both unexpected and quite admirable.

      ‘Don’t worry.’ The faintly embarrassed undertone to Hawk’s voice as he turned back to his computer gave away the fact that he had shared the general expectation of what she would be like. ‘I can’t guarantee you won’t be hit on,’ he continued. ‘But I can assure you it won’t be by me. I’ve never slept with a partner and I don’t intend to start now.’

      ‘Your partners have always been men.’

      ‘So?’ Hawk turned to face Charlotte again and she held his gaze. A gaze that might just hold the tiniest amount of respect for the way she had confronted this issue.

      He also seemed to be telling her that he wasn’t going to let the fact that she was female make any difference to their professional relationship. She smiled slowly.

      ‘I think we understand each other…Hawk.’ The use of his nickname was only a shade tentative.

      ‘I’m sure we do…Charlie.’ Hawk’s smile acknowledged the new space they were entering.

      As colleagues.