Barbecuing

"Alright, what's next?" Jed Bartlet asked his staff as he whipped his jacket over his head.

Josh Lyman looked down at the schedule. "Uh…it says here 'Barbecue' but I don't have the details on that anywhere. Toby?"

Toby Ziegler looked up from the corner. "I thought Leo had that."

Before they could find Leo, Jed realized what it was. "Oh no, that was me. I've got a barbecue at the Hyatt. Private."

"Private?" Toby asked dubiously.

"You're not invited." The governor left the conference room.

CJ Cregg passed him in the doorway. "Excuse me, Governor Bartlet." She turned her attention to her fellow campaign staffers. "Where's he going?"

"Barbecue at the Hyatt," Sam Seaborn answered.

"That wasn't on my schedule," CJ replied, confused. "I thought we had the afternoon off for strategy meetings."

Leo McGarry entered the room. "We do have the afternoon for strategy meetings."

"Without the governor?" Josh asked.

"He's busy. He's barbecuing. And I promise you, we're not invited," Leo insisted.

Toby eyed Leo suspiciously. "He's barbecuing."

"Yep."

"By himself."

"No, I'm pretty sure Mrs. Bartlet is playing a fairly important role," Leo said delicately.

The truth dawned on everyone, eliciting shocked and disturbed sounds from everyone.

Leo explained, "Apparently he and Abbey had a big fight yesterday about the demands of the campaign."

"Yeah they did," CJ interjected. "I could hear them from across the hall. And let me tell you, she was pissed. But I didn't know that's what they were fighting over!"

"Regardless, he made me clear space in the schedule."

"For barbecuing?" Toby asked.

"For barbecuing."

Jed practically ran down the hall and banged on the hotel room door. He could hear Abbey inside.

"Hold your horses!" she shouted. As soon as she opened the door, she was inundated with a grand show of affection. "Jed!" Her voice was muffled by his mouth on hers.

He kicked the door closed behind him. His hands were busy roaming his wife's luscious form. She had been waiting for him in the short robe he had gotten for her the Christmas before. The emerald silk was soft under his hands but he could feel the heat of her body underneath. He clawed at the fabric to move it away. Suddenly he felt a sharp pinch on his bicep. He jumped back. "Ow! What the hell was that for!?"

Abbey took a step back, breathing heavily. Her robe was coming open, revealing the black lace lingerie she was wearing underneath as well as the expanse of her tan, freckled skin. She watched her husband's eyes gaze upon her hungrily. "You need to cool it, boyfriend," she scolded.

"Why? I thought this was the purpose of clearing my schedule."

Abbey rolled her eyes. "Intimacy, Jed. I told you I wanted intimacy. And yes, sex is a part of that. But we've barely spent fifteen minutes alone together in the last month. You said Leo gave us three hours. I'd like us to make good use of that time, if you don't mind."

Jed took a deep breath and spent a moment reining in his lust. "You're right," he admitted. He looked back at her and smiled. "It's been a while since I romanced you, hasn't it?"

She grinned, wrinkling her nose happily. "Yes it has." Abbey walked over to the table she had set up in anticipation for their private afternoon.

He followed her and examined the caviar and champagne she had ordered. "How in the world did you find caviar here?"

"We're in California, Jed. They've got everything here."

They sat down together, eating and drinking and talking about everything under the sun. Jed was glad she hadn't let him just jump her when he walked in. He hadn't realized how much he missed this, the teasing and the flirting and the simple joy of being together. His memory drifted back to the early days of their relationship when he would take her on picnics at the Bartlet farm in New Hampshire or for long walks along the river in Boston when she was in med school.

"Where did you go, Jethro?" she asked, waving a hand in front of his face.

He was brought back to the present. "Sorry. Just remembering."

"Remembering what?"

"Us. In the early days."

Abbey smiled. "You were so good to me. You still are. When you have the time."

"I know, honey. I'm sorry. There's only gonna be more months like this one."

"Yes, Jed, I know that. When you're the president, we'll have even less time," she admitted with a sad smile.

He reached across the table and took his hand. "We'll make time. I'll make sure Leo schedules us more barbecues."

"Barbecues?"

"Yeah that's the code word we decided on. Barbecuing. Private time for you and me."

She laughed. "That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard!"

"But it's effective!" he insisted.

Abbey stood up and crossed to his side of the table. "I think it's time we got down to business and did some actual…barbecuing." She took his face in her hands and leaned down to kiss him gently.

Jed grabbed her around the middle and pulled her onto his lap. Her surprised yelp turned into a moan and he began his work on her neck and down her chest. Her fingers ran through his hair, spurring him on. He paused to take a breath and stood up, carrying her to the bed.

Donna walked into the conference room with a message for Josh. "Hey, where's the governor?" she asked.

Leo, Josh, Toby, CJ, and Sam all simply said, "Barbecuing."