Chapter 3

"I told you you'd have fun," Mark said as he opened his apartment door. Lexie stumbled inside, practically losing her footing as she tripped on the carpet.

"It was fun. Who knew baseball could be so much fun." She stumbled further into the apartment and tripped over the coffee table. "Oops," she giggled, using the back of the couch to hold her up.

"I think someone had a few too many beers."

She put her hand up, putting her index finger and thumb about an inch apart.

"Just a few," she said, laughing. "But it was fun. Did you have fun? I had fun. We should have fun more often. I had fun."

"You said that already."

"I did? Oh…oops."

"Come on, let's get you to bed," Mark stated, throwing his keys on the table near the door.

"I'm not tired."

"Yes you are."

"Really?" She kicked off her shoes, staring at the spot where they landed.

"Really."

"But I don't feel tired."

"I'm sure you don't. But, trust me, you are tired."

"That's too bad because I was thinking that maybe you could tell me how much you love my scar again."

She began making her way towards the bedroom. God it was tempting. It was tempting to follow her into the bedroom, throw her onto the bed, and make love to her all night. But, it wasn't right. Not in the state she was in.

"How about you lay down while I go hop in the shower?" Mark asked as he followed her, keeping his distance. She stopped in her tracks in the doorway of the bedroom. In a second she had closed the gap between them and was running her hands up and down his chest.

"Or we could shower together. Baseball makes you dirty."

"Yes, yes it does." She began pushing his shirt up, running her hands over his naked flesh. "But I still think you should go to bed."

"But I'm dirty. I did all that swinging and running and now I'm dirty." She stuck her bottom lip out, pouting. Mark knew he was done for. He could never resist pouting.

"You're not dirty," he insisted. He was definitely the one who was dirty, and not just physically. His mind was working overtime on what he could be doing to her instead of arguing.

"Yes I am. I'm dirty and you're dirty. And, since we're both dirty, we should get clean. Together."

She lifted his shirt over his head and threw it on the floor.

"No," he said sternly although his mind was thinking something totally different. He took her by the hand and led her into the bedroom. She jumped onto the bed, laughing. On her knees, she crawled to the edge of the bed and beckoned for him to join her.

"Please," she begged.

Mark went right over to the bureau and opened the one drawer that belonged to her. He didn't dare look back at her. He knew if he looked at her, he would want her and he had to resist. He pulled out one of the lacy tank tops he loved on her, but then thought better of it. A lacy tank top was not going to help him in his predicament. Instead, he opened the drawer underneath her drawer and pulled out one of his plain grey T-shirts. Of course, she looked just as sexy in his clothing as she did in her own, but at least there would be less skin involved.

"Oh Mark," she teased.

Mark turned around and saw her sitting back against the pillows in nothing but her bra.

"Are you trying to kill me, woman?" He asked.

"Only if you don't get in this bed with me," she replied.

Mark walked to the edge of the bed and laid the T-shirt out. "Here," he said. "You put this on and I'll be right back."

"Promise?"

"Promise," he answered. He leaned over the bed and kissed her. As soon as his lips met hers, he knew he shouldn't have kissed her. It was ending the kiss that was the problem. Her hands tangled in his hair. She tried to pull him onto the bed next to her, but he resisted.

"I'll be back," he whispered, his head spinning.

"You better."

He winked at her before going into the bathroom and closing the door behind him. When the door was shut, he stood in front of the sink. Placing each hand on either side of the porcelain sink, he leaned on it and looked at himself in the mirror. He wanted to go back in there and ravage her, but instead he went over to the shower and turned on the water. He ran his hand through the spray of water, checking the temperature. As the water turned warm, he could hear her moving in the bedroom and he decided to turn the water to cold. He definitely needed a cold shower. Stripping down, he stepped under the cool spray and tried to forget about the gorgeous woman who was naked in his bed in the next room.

When he was through with his shower, Mark walked out of the bathroom in only his boxer shorts. He definitely felt cleaner, but the shower didn't really help what he was feeling. As he made his way into the bedroom, he saw her, sprawled out on the bed on top of the blankets and sheet. Her hair was splayed out on the pillows, her eyes closed. He walked quietly over to her, watching her chest rise and fall. He smiled, realizing she was asleep. Afraid that'd he wake her by tucking her into bed, Mark walked into the living room and grabbed a throw off the back of the couch. He went back into the bedroom and draped it over her. Even though she was taking up most of the bed, he slid in next to her and kissed her cheek before finally succumbing to sleep.

*****

Hours later, Mark was woken up to a strange sound. Without opening his eyes, he reached next to him, expecting to feel Lexie. All he felt were the cool bed sheets where her warm body should have been. Mark opened his eyes slowly. She definitely wasn't next to him. Allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness, he looked quickly around the room. She wasn't anywhere. Mark rolled over and looked at the bathroom door, hoping that she wasn't feeling the effects of all the beer she had consumed earlier. But, the bathroom door was open and the light was off so she obviously wasn't there.

"Damn it!" Lexie yelled.

Mark pushed the blankets off of him and put his feet on the floor. He glanced at the clock. 3:00 AM. He rubbed his face, trying to wake himself up, and walked out of the bedroom. He saw her sitting at the dining room table, the blanket he had put on her earlier wrapped around her shoulders. She was staring at the laptop in front of her, her eyes fixated on the screen. For a moment he just stared at her. She was so engaged in what she was doing, concentrating solely on the task at hand. It was one of the things he admired about her. Her ability to stick with one thing until she finished. Not everyone could do that.

"Come back to bed," Mark said.

Lexie jumped at the sound of his voice.

"You scared me."

"Sorry," he apologized. "You better have a very good reason for leaving me alone in that bed."

"I'm figuring out my future."

"I'm sorry?"

"I've got to start looking for another job since I obviously don't have on anymore and if I don't start now, all the other people who got fired today will have a head start and I can't let that happen because then I'll be the only one without a job and…"

Mark made his way over to her. He sat down backwards in a chair beside her. He put one hand on her right hand, which was controlling the mouse and put his other hand under her chin. He applied pressure to her face and turned her head so that she was looking him straight in the eye.

"Stop," he said quietly.

"I can't." She managed to get out of his grasp and turned her attention back to the screen. "I can't stop. I have to start looking for a job. I can't just sit back and…"

"You have a job, Lexie," he interjected.

"No, I don't. The e-mail made that very clear."

"Look, it's late. We can worry about your future tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? By tomorrow it will be too late. And besides, today is tomorrow."

Mark put his hand on her knee and ran his hand slowly up her leg.

"Come back to bed," he repeated, this time using his low, sultry voice that on more than one occasion had talked her into bed.

"Don't do that," she stated, brushing his hand off her thigh.

"Do what?" He asked, trying to sound innocent.

"Don't try to seduce me. I'm not seduceable right now."

"You were a few hours ago."

"I was drunk a few hours ago."

"Lexie…"

"No. I need to find a job."

"It can wait until tomorrow."

"Today," she corrected.

"OK, today. Besides, you have nothing to worry about because I'm going to talk to the chief tomor…today and get this whole thing straightened out and…"

"No!" Lexie practically shouted.

"What?"

She slammed the laptop screen shut probably harder than she should have.

"You are not talking to the chief," she stated.

"I'm not?"

"No!"

"Why not?"

She stood up, pushing her chair back from the table. She let the blanket fall onto the floor.

"Because I said so."

She headed for the bedroom. He stood up and began to follow her.

"But the chief can get you your job back and if I tell him…"

She stopped dead in her tracks and whirled around to face him. "Tell him what? Tell him that you think I should have my job back because we're sleeping together?" She turned back around to go to the bedroom, but he grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him.

"Is that what this is to you? This is just about sex?"

"Of course not, but that's what the chief will think."

He pulled her closer to him, his face just inches from hers.

"Screw what the chief will think," he practically growled.

She dropped her head, tears pushing their way into her eyes. "I know that you're just trying to help. And I know that what we have is more than sex…it's much more." She sighed, feeling defeated. "I just…I need to do this on my own."

He knew that look in her eye. She was scared. And the only thing he could do for her was to be there for her in any way he could.

"Ok," he answered.

She looked up at him, meeting his eyes. "Ok?" She questioned.

"Ok. I won't talk to the chief. Even though I don't agree with you, we'll do this your way."

"You're angry," she stated.

"I'm not angry," he insisted.

"Yes you are."

He took a step away from her and sighed. "I'm not used to this."

"Used to what?"

"To listening to someone else…to compromising. That's not usually how I role."

"Did you just say 'how I role'?" Lexie mimicked, as she tried to hide a laugh.

"Don't make fun of me."

"I'm not," she replied, looping her arms around his neck. His hands circled her waist. "It was just…cute."

"Cute?"

"Yeah, cute." She ran her hand through his hair and took a deep breath. "Look, I know you want to help and I appreciate it. I appreciate it more than you'll ever know. Just that fact that you believe in me enough that you'd be willing to talk to the chief, that means so much to me. But I need to figure this out for myself." She took her hand out of his hair and reached for his hand. "Can you understand that?"

"I guess I don't have a choice," he said, smirking. He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed it. "But I want you to know one thing."

"What's that?"

"I am going to be there for you. You might want to do it your way, but we are going to figure this out together. Ok?"

She nodded. "Ok."

He leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Now, are you sure you're not seduceable?"

She laughed as their kiss deepened.

Author's Note: This chapter was the one that inspired me to write this story. I always start with one chapter and sort of take it from there and this was the one. I really loved writing this chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much!