A/N: Thanks for the reviews, I love writing this and reading your thoughts on it :)

John tried to keep his disappointment at bay when Alicia didn't answer the door. It was better that she didn't. They both needed time to regroup. He walked back to the elevator and pushed the button to call it back, shaking his head. He didn't even know what he was doing here in the first place.

Their conversation at the hotel played through his mind again. If Matthews hadn't interrupted his conversation with Alicia, and if Prady hadn't decided that he was too much of a coward to continue debating after that kitchen scene, John would only have made an even bigger fool out of himself. Better to just go home and get some sleep before facing her again.

He heard a door open behind him, and his heart began to beat faster.

"John, wait."

You can do this, he told himself as he turned around at the sound of her voice, just as the elevator door opened. It's just business as usual. There are no feelings involved here.

Sure, he could have called to remind her that she had an interview scheduled tomorrow, but he'd been in the neighborhood anyway, so...

"Did I wake you?" he asked, congratulating himself on his steady voice.

He realized his mistake when she told him she'd been sleeping, invoking thoughts of her undressing. Lying in a bed. Which made no sense since she was still wearing the dress she had worn for the debate. The only thing she had taken off seemed to be her shoes.

Or... had she just put the dress back on because it was the first piece of clothing she could get her hands on when she'd heard him at the door? That did it. All of a sudden he couldn't look her in the eye, afraid of what she'd see in his. So he looked at the floor instead.

Her soft lips under his own. His hands peeling her out of that beautiful dress. Silky skin on white sheets. Sexy black lingerie. Alicia looking up at him, her eyes glazed over with passion as he moved lower. To touch. To kiss. To...

"What's wrong?" Alicia's voice interrupted the movie playing in his head.

It took him a moment to process what she was asking, but then he realized she wanted to know why he was here in the middle of the night. Right. Business, no feelings. Be professional.

He heard himself stumble through something that could be some kind of explanation.

Kissing his way down the side of her neck. Running his hands through that beautiful hair.

Mumbling something about campaign stuff that could wait.

Holding himself over her, her legs sliding along his and her hands stroking his back and shoulders, as he slowly...

"John."

"What?" He looked at her again, saw her looking at him with those big brown eyes. He quickly moved his gaze to the door behind her as she seemed to brace herself for giving him some bad news. He'd probably screwed up by showing up here in the middle of the night.

Way to go, Elfman. You just couldn't leave her alone, could you? You should have just called. Now she's gonna fire you, as she should.

He saw her lips move, but didn't really hear what she was saying. Still, somehow, he managed to hold up his end of the conversation while he was busy scolding himself and fighting to keep his thoughts and desires from showing on his face.

"Do you want to… come inside?"

Wait, what?

His legs understood before his mind had processed this. He took a step toward her. Then he just stared at her, thinking he must be more tired than he'd realized. Because there was no way that she had really just said what he thought she'd said. Right? He'd been up late last night, and when he'd finally gone to bed he kept tossing and turning. Thinking about that kiss, trying to figure out what it meant. How to move past it and go back to business as usual. And today had been… eventful, to say the least. So this was probably just his sleep-deprived mind, playing more tricks on him.

Alicia reached out her hand.

John decided he must be dreaming.

His legs started moving again, taking the few steps that separated him from her. His hand came up and took hers, and he couldn't stop himself from rubbing his thumb over the back of her hand to revel in the softness of her skin. She pulled him closer to her and he put his other arm around her waist. She smiled at him, just before she reached up and pulled his head down for a kiss, pressing her beautiful body fully against him.

"We should probably take this inside," she whispered against his mouth.

Oh, yes. He was going to draw this dream out as long as he could, John thought as he followed her through her front door.