Disclaimer: I don't own even a little part of Desperate Housewives, just my overactive imagination and a blog that allows me to write down my obsession in my own safe little world.

Story Summary: It's the classic story of boy meets girl; boy has sex with girl in his office; boy goes off with girl to live in marital bliss. Or something close to that. A Tom and Lynette pre-series story.

The Glow of the Moon on a Starless Night

A story by Ryeloza

Part One: Collision Course

The Elevator

Tom leaned back against the wall of the elevator and stole a glimpse of the leggy blonde who had just entered. To his surprise, she threw a glance back at him, a coy smirk playing on her face. He vaguely recognized her as one of the recent new hires, but they'd brought on so many new people in the past month that names were still iffy.

"Uh, sorry about the kissing," he said, though he didn't really have the impression that this woman disapproved. "Sometimes the only time we see each other during the day is on the elevator ride up to the art department."

"I'm not judging you."

Tom nodded, although the woman was facing the door again and couldn't see him. "I'm Tom Scavo, by the way."

She turned and gave him a tight smile. "One of the creative directors; I know. I'm Lynette Lindquist."

Tom raised an eyebrow at her introduction; he'd heard Annabel mention Lynette before. They'd worked together on a couple of projects now. Smart, Annabel had said, but also very intense. "Oh, you're one of the, uh, new account executives, right?"

"Hmm. Yes."

"Annabel's mentioned you."

Lynette gave a strange, almost insincere laugh, and said, "I'm sure." Oddly, whatever putdown seemed implicit in her phrase didn't remotely grate on Tom's nerves. Instead he found himself chuckling at her and in return she gave him the first earnest smile he'd seen from her, tilting her head curiously as she did so.

A moment later the elevator doors opened and they exited, walking a ways side by side before Lynette said, "Have a nice day," and turned abruptly down the hall. Tom paused, watching her retreating form before continuing to his office.

The Break Room

"Jon went out with her."

"When?"

"Last weekend. Said the night ended with a one-armed hug."

"Ouch. That's rough."

Tom looked up from the proposal he was reviewing to where Tony and Jake stood near the coffee maker. "Who is this?" he asked.

"Jon and that new account exec. Uh, Lynn or Laine."

"Lynette?"

"Yeah, that's it." Jake shook his head. "She's pretty, but she seems like a bitch. She's shot down three of my ideas in the past two weeks. Not even Dickerson was that picky. And Jon said she was stone cold."

"Yeah, well Jon's a dick," said Tony. Tom sniggered.

"Look, all I'm saying is that I wouldn't do her."

Almost predictably—Jake constantly put his foot in his mouth by having conversations like this at work—Lynette chose that moment to enter the room, clearly sizing up all three men with one look. She seemed to dismiss Tom quickly, and Tony averted his eyes when she looked at him, but Jake met her gaze full-on; he was a cocky bastard at times. Surprisingly, Lynette approached him with a half-smile, stopping mere inches from where he stood and throwing his stance off kilter. Without breaking eye contact, she reached around him for the coffee pot and then poured the coffee into her mug mere inches from Jake's pants. When she finished, she turned around and left the room without saying a word.

Jake whistled after she left. "God help the poor bastard who ends up with her."

Tom's Office

There was a knock on the frame of his office door and Tom glanced up from his computer, startled. Lynette stood at the door, resting her weight only slightly on the frame, and said, "Can I come in for a minute?"

"Sure." Tom leaned back in his chair, trying to mimic Lynette's casualness. "What's up?"

"Lou's swamped so he passed on your NutriCrunch Cereal campaign to me. I just wanted to let you know that we'll be working together."

"Oh. Okay."

Lynette rested her hands on his desk and leaned forward, conspiratorially. It took all of Tom's willpower not to look down her blouse. "Look, between you and me I think Lou gave this one to me because Anderson's being a bear about this account. Lou isn't my biggest fan and I think he wants me to take the flack for this. So I'd like to hit this one out of the ballpark if you're up for that."

Lou was a jerk—he'd hit on Annabel in front of Tom on more than one occasion and booted Tom off of an account once unfairly—but Tom found himself agreeing primarily because Lynette was giving him the most intense gaze he'd ever seen. Her eyes were mesmerizing, but he wasn't sure it was in an entirely good way. "Definitely."

"Great." Lynette stood up. "I'll look over what you have done so far and then we can meet tomorrow."

Tom nodded. "Can't wait."

The Conference Room

Tom was staring at Lynette again.

They'd been working on the NutriCrunch account for about a week, and in that time Tom had discovered several things about Lynette. She had an incredible work ethic; she liked pineapple on her pizza; she could talk or argue her way through any disagreement; and her zeal was the sexiest thing about her. She had this way of getting so impassioned about whatever she said or did that it made a light bloom in her. Even when he was so frustrated that he just wanted to tell her to shut up, he still found himself attracted to her.

And now that attraction was spilling over into mundane situations. Just yesterday they had been in a meeting, listening to Anderson blather on about budgets and incentive plans, and Tom had found his attention drawn to Lynette's lips as she tapped a pen against them.

Really, he hadn't been too concerned by this. There had been other women he'd worked with that he'd liked to look at and nothing ever came of it. He assumed it would be the same with Lynette.

Today they were in the conference room again to listen to the second part of Anderson's budget lecture. If possible it was even duller than the one yesterday, and Tom sat back in his chair, allowing his eyes to follow Anderson every so often, but primarily concentrating on Lynette. She looked like she was about to fall asleep and she kept making sharp movements every so often to jolt herself awake.

"We have to make cutbacks, people!" Anderson suddenly yelled, slamming his fist on the table. Lynette jumped and then frowned, uncharacteristically caught off guard. She shook her head as though she was disappointed in herself and reached back to unclip her hair. For a moment, she let it fall loosely around her face and then she began to twist it back up. Unconsciously, Tom shifted in his seat and when it creaked, Lynette looked up. They stared across the table at one another, Tom feeling oddly guilty, and then Lynette smirked at him and let go of her hair. Slowly she ran her hands through it, teasing it out, and then she leaned back in her chair with a satisfied smile.

For the rest of the meeting, Tom forced himself to keep his eyes on Anderson.

The Elevator Part Two

At the end of the week, he and Lynette rode the elevator downstairs together. Annabel had called him earlier to let him know she'd had a chance to sneak out early and Tom had been surprised by how indifferent he was to this news. He had a feeling that he and Annabel were nearing their end; she was becoming too invested in a relationship that he'd already told her more than once had no future. Even though they'd started out casually, Annabel was clearly pushing to get more serious and Tom didn't want any part of it.

And that was the truth. It had nothing to do with the woman in the elevator with him now. A woman he'd started to think of as pure confidence: high-heeled shoes and power suits coupled with coy smiles and knowing looks and an absolute certainty that everything she said and did would eventually land her at the top. A woman that some primal part of him wanted to slam against the wall and kiss until she couldn't see straight.

"Any big plans for the weekend?"

Tom snapped out of a fantasy that involved Lynette's legs wrapped around his waist. "Uh, what?"

Lynette smiled indulgently. "Any big plans for the weekend?"

"Not really. I was supposed to go visit my sister and her family, but her kids all have the flu or something." Tom stuffed his hands into his pockets. "You?"

"My sister Lydia is putting on a one-woman show this weekend as part of her latest plan to 'find herself.' So I'm probably going to pretend I have the flu." Tom chuckled and for a second he swore he saw some flash of fondness in Lynette's eyes. "So you're not seeing Annabel this weekend?"

Tom's mirth faded and his shook his head. "Annabel and I aren't that serious."

"Ah. Right." She fidgeted with her briefcase and then suddenly reached out and hit the button for the next floor. "I just remembered that I forgot something," she explained. "I'll just get off and catch another elevator back up."

"Oh, well—"

The elevator halted and Lynette scooted out before the doors even opened the entire way. "See you Monday," she called over her shoulder.

"Yep," said Tom to the closing door. "See you Monday."

Lynette's Office

They'd been meeting in Tom's office primarily, so Tom had only stepped foot in Lynette's a couple of times. The room was rather impersonal; there were a few plants and the only picture was half-hidden behind one of them. Tom pulled it out as Lynette finished up her phone call, trying not to laugh at the bad perm Lynette sported in the picture. She was sandwiched in between two other blondes with similarly bad hair, but they were all grinning and had their arms around one another.

"My sisters," said Lynette. Tom jumped, turning quickly only to find Lynette practically on top of him. He put his free hand on her shoulder to steady himself while she reached out and caught him around the waist.

"Sorry." He dropped his hand from Lynette's shoulder, skimming it down her arm as he went. After a minute, she returned the favor, dragging her hand from his back to run around to his abs in agonizing slow motion. They stared at each other for a moment, and then Lynette stepped back away from him.

"Art department is done," she said. "We can go pick up the work any time."

"Right. Maybe I should go do that now."

"Yeah. Say hi to Annabel for me."

The Lobby

Since that first day they rode the elevator together, Tom hadn't arrived at work at the same time as Lynette. Lately, he hadn't even been coming in with Annabel, as he'd been spending fewer and fewer nights at her place. So of course both of these unlikely realities came together on the same day to bite him on the ass.

"Hello, Annabel. Tom." Lynette barely looked at either of them, simply staring at the descending numbers above the elevator doors.

To Tom's annoyance, Annabel slipped an arm around his waist. "Hi, Lynette. Did you have a good night off?"

Lynette glanced at them out of the corner of her eyes. "It was fine."

"Well ours was great. Thanks for finally letting this one leave a little early. You two have been putting in way too many late nights lately."

Tom tried to pull away from Annabel, but he didn't succeed before Lynette finally turned to face them. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. But you know we have the final presentation coming up next Monday, which means that we're going to be here late the rest of the week. But I'm sure you'll find some way to survive." Lynette glanced at her watch. "Well this elevator is taking forever and I have to be in a meeting in five minutes. I'll just take the stairs. See you two later."

Tom watched Lynette's retreating form—she was wearing a skirt that really clung to what few curves she had—until Annabel pulled away from him and punched his arm. "You're a real pig sometimes, you know that?"

The Break Room Part Two

"Sorry about yesterday morning."

Tom took a sip of his coffee and considered Lynette, who sat at one of the tables nursing a mug of of her own. After the scene in the lobby the day before, Lynette had successfully avoided him for the rest of the day, leaving him to work on his own. Finding her in the break room seemed to be a fortuitous moment.

"That woman just gets under my skin for some reason," Lynette added. "And I let her push me too far. So I'm sorry."

"I'm going to break up with her."

"What?"

Tom shrugged. "I'm thinking about breaking up with her."

"Not because of—"

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Lynette—"

"Look, I didn't want to make this into a big deal. I just wanted to say I'm sorry and let things get back to normal, you know? Whether you break up with Annabel or not, it's none of my business."

Tom dumped the rest of his coffee down the drain, no longer craving the caffeine. "Fine. That's fine. I guess…" Tom shrugged off the words.

"You guess what?"

"I just wondered if maybe you'd want to make it your business?"

"I shouldn't."

"That's not what I asked."

"I know. I'm sorry." Lynette gave him a helpless look that he never would have imagined seeing and then pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration. Suddenly, Tom couldn't fathom another second of being alone with her without kissing her senseless. Knowing that she wasn't going to admit any attraction between them, though, left him hurt and angry enough that instead he just left the room.

Tom's Office Part Two

By Thursday night, they no longer had the option of avoiding one another, so they hunkered down in his office to work. The atmosphere was stilted in a way it had never been; he still felt wounded in some indefinable way and she crept around on tiptoe, clearly an unnatural behavior. They ordered pizza around nine and ate it in his office, side by side on the floor. An eerie, unusual quiet hung in the air as they ate; normally they constantly bantered, even if it was only about the account, and Tom could feel that something was coming.

"I'm not good at this, you know."

Tom dropped the crust of his pizza back into the box and feigned ignorance. "You wouldn't be working your way up the ladder if you weren't good at your job."

"Don't be like that. You know what I mean."

He turned to look at Lynette, ready to go on the offensive, just as her head drifted down to rest on his shoulder. It was the most deliberate contact they'd had and he paused, startled by the sudden physicality. Her hair tickled his nose and without really considering his actions, he pressed it closer into her smooth blonde locks, inhaling the fruity scent of her shampoo. In response, she burrowed nearer to him, her nose nuzzling his neck.

"Lynette…"

Lynette shifted and her lips settled right on his Adam's apple, bestowing the lightest of kisses before fluttering away. It took every scrap of willpower Tom possessed to keep from pushing her down onto the carpet and taking her right in his office. Slowly, she pulled back and raised her big blue eyes to meet his. They were as intense as the first day he really looked into them, but this time he felt a flutter of excitement. He could read one thousand different things in her eyes, but the most important one to him was the explicit invitation: she wanted this as much as he did.

The tentativeness of the situation held Tom spellbound; before anything could break the moment, he leaned forward and pressed his lips to Lynette's. For a moment, the kiss stood still, just his lips meeting hers. Then Lynette captured his top lip between hers, moving in a way so softly sensual that every ounce of blood rushed straight from his head to a lower extremity of his anatomy. Much too soon, Lynette pulled back, but she lifted her hands to rest against his cheeks, running her thumbs over his lips. Tom kissed them, stilling their movement, and she sighed. "What are we doing?" Unable to respond in words, Tom leaned forward and kissed her forehead, her cheek and then her mouth again before drawing his lips away. "Tom," she breathed softly, and Tom took a deep breath to calm his shaky nerves.

"We're kissing," he said finally.

Lynette pecked him again, more playfully. "Why?"

"Because I've wanted to kiss you from the moment I first saw you. And now that I have, I don't think I'm ever going to be able to stop."

A large grin broke out on Lynette's face, lighting all her features as though they were glowing from the inside out and in that moment she was the most stunning sight he'd ever seen. With a cheerful little sound he knew he wanted to hear again, she kissed him, more searing, more passionately than she had yet. Any restraint Tom had left vanished, and he wrapped his arms around her, tugging her up into his lap, and shivering at the contact of her body so close to his.

He never once considered it to be cheating.