a/n: In which I give an alternate explanation for how Ben might know Kate likes terraces.

Ben sat in his car staring at Kate.

She said, "You actually made me swoon earlier, and you acted like a worried husband half the night. Please stay with me as my husband for the rest of the night. You definitely earned the privilege."

What a way to tug at his heart. This was such a bad idea, a pale shadow of what he actually wanted. Still, he had to admire her tactics. Despite himself, he grinned. "You, my dear wife, are deeply into playing unfair."

"I learned from the best." She smirked and tilted her head, mocking his favorite gesture.

He laughed and kissed her, trying not to linger too long. He wanted to get to a room. Soon. Not just because she'd just twisted his heart and privates into doing her bidding, but because they were both truly exhausted. He wanted to crash in a bed, not crash his Aston Martin.

Ben called his favorite local hotel to reserve a suite before they arrived, then drove to the Fairmont, leaving the car with the valet. He held out his arm for her, which she took, and they walked into the Fairmont's lobby, with its fabulous white marble floors and gilt ceiling - a beaux arts showcase built around the time of the great earthquake. Ben walked up to the counter, collected the keys, and led Kate to their room. He hung their coats when they entered the room, and she gasped at how nice the room was.

"It has a terrace," he pointed out.

She opened the draperies and French doors and stepped out into the late night. She giggled with delight. "Can we have breakfast out here?"

"Of course, my dear wife. Until then, I have other plans for you," he said possessively.

"Like?"

"Shower, sex, sleep, breakfast. Or shower, sex, sleep, sex, shower, breakfast. Your choice. I do want the hospital smell out of my nose, though."

Kate tore herself away from the view and closed the French doors. "I want an apartment just like this," she said. She bounced up and down. "I love it, thank you sweetie." She kissed him passionately, and her enthusiasm was infectious despite their exhaustion. He unzipped her dress as he opened his lips to hers, tongue tracing the contours of her mouth. He slid it down off her shoulders, then helped her out of it, revealing a rather boring cotton pink bra and matching cotton briefs.

"Wow, you really dress down for Justin, don't you?"

"I wasn't dressing for Justin."

He gave her a look.

"Okay, you're right. The thong was-" She stopped.

He tilted his head and raised an eyebrow expectantly, but she wouldn't clarify.

Within a couple of minutes they'd each stripped each other naked and were in the shower lathering each other.

They dried off quickly and incompletely. Ben carried her to bed, stopping for some condoms out of his resupplied briefcase. He licked a stray drop of water from her breast, lowered her onto the bed, then got into bed beside her.

He said, "First, I ask for one rule. Anything said here stays here, and anything done here, stays here. We are role playing. Whatever either of us feel like in the moment - is fine, so long as it isn't intended to hurt anyone. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

"Then turn your ringer off. I've already turned mine off. I want to sleep in."

"Katherine Reed Grogan?"

"Yes, Benedict Yancy Grogan?"

"Would you permit me the honor of making love to my wife?"

"Only if you permit me the honor of making love to my husband."

"I'm exhausted and drained from the stress, so forgive me if I'm not up to last time."

"You're exhausted. You didn't have some hot man in the office literally make you swoon because he swept you off your feet."

Ben grinned, placed a pillow underneath her bottom, and kissed her all over, spiraling inward toward her clit, using his tongue to make her squirm with pleasure all over. He was gentle, but unforgiving, sensing every movement that caused her pleasure and doing more of that, hands worshipping every part of her they could reach.

She let out a wordless cry, shuddering underneath him.

When she was ready for more, he crawled up her body to kiss her, donned a condom and slid inside her.

"A game. You can ask anything, but any answer you give has to be true - and complete. We alternate, and you get to go first. We stop when both parties come."

She smiled. "Sounds like fun. Hmm. You said you didn't know how many women you'd had one-night stands with. Are we talking dozens or hundreds?"

Well, he'd asked for tha tline of inquiry, hadn't he? "Two dozen, maybe three. About one a month when I wasn't otherwise involved, generally the night I won a case or a big settlement. Sorry, that's as accurate as I can be."

She didn't look as shocked as he'd expected, nor did she seem any less aroused as he thrust into her. Finally, she spoke. "Not as bad as I feared. Your question?"

"You said that if we'd gone to bed together that first night, you'd have been intrigued, but also grossed out. My question is: why grossed out?"

He felt the thrill down her body as she reacted to the question, and her nipples became suddenly erect against his chest. "I had a brief flash of things I'd be doing with you, and then when I got scared that I'd spend the night actually doing them, I told you 'too late.'"

"More complete answer, then: what did you imagine?" Her arousal increased, her breathing harder.

"Do we have to do this?" she asked.

"Don't you want your husband to know your fantasies about him?" Ben asked, tilting his head and smiling as he continued thrusting rhythmically. He put his lips next to her ear and whispered, "Teach me how to pleasure you, love."

She shuddered around him. "The first image was of me crawling across a shag carpet wearing nothing but a thong and black patent pumps with you in hot pursuit. I'm not that kind of girl."

Ben chuckled evilly as he imagined the scenario. "And the second?"

"You bending me over the couch."

"Mmm, that sounds like fun, too," he said, "Were there more?"

"Me on top, you on top with me tied to the bed, and the last one was standing with one leg straight up. I don't think I can actually do that one, though."

Ben teased, "Hmm, you imagined sex with me five different ways in just that short bit of time? That's a lot to live up to."

She snorted. "You'd have managed somehow."

"True." He grinned. "So what grossed you out about that?"

She looked away. "That I wanted that much from you right then. And that much variety."

"Don't be embarrassed, Katie. I know you did, I saw it in your face, and I'm happy to provide."

"And I thought you were far more shallow than you actually are, and that I wanted someone I perceived as being that shallow."

"Fair enough. Your question?"

"Why didn't you take me that night?" Her voice cracked, filled with frustration.

"Because when I asked if truth was the way to your heart, I wanted your heart far more than a one-night stand." He turned her head to look at him. "I still do, my wife. Besides, if I had, you'd never have seen me as anything other than shallow, right?"

She nodded.

He asked, "My question: which did you fantasize about the most?"

She looked at him, moving underneath him as he thrust into her, blushing slowly but not saying a word. "The first one," she finally whispered.

He whispered in her ear, "So you may not be that kind of girl, but you definitely are that kind of woman. And that's what the thong was about." She blushed a deeper red, and he kissed her. "Filing that away for future reference. Your question."

"Still carrying the torch for anyone?" she asked,

"Only for you, love. I did carry a couple for a while, but they genuinely seem gone. How about your torches?" he asked.

"Just you and Justin." That stung a little to hear, but this was about honesty. "Sorry," she said. "When was the last time you had sex, apart from me?"

"I haven't been on a date or had sex with anyone since about a month before I met you."

"Really?" She looked surprised.

"Really. Anything interesting you'd like to do in bed?"

"I want you to tie me up." A thrill went through him at the image that came to mind. He moved her hands into his, then leaned on them as he thrust into her, pinning her underneath him.

Ben purred. "I'd like that. Silk or leather?"

She smiled as he thrust into her, harder than before. "Silk first, I think. Ever been tied up?"

"Yes, that's how I know I don't like handcuffs." Ugh. Lydia. "You?"

She said, "I don't like handcuffs either." The sour look on her face told Ben it was a sorer subject than that. "Never tried anything else, but silk sounds . . . possible. Your turn: why haven't you dated anyone since then?"

"I met someone. Smart, sexy, gorgeous. Haven't wanted anyone else, so I turned down other offers. Dating anyone else wouldn't be fair to either me or them, let alone you. Your question: how do you feel about me?"

Kate stared at him, unable to speak for almost a minute. Moments passed as they moved together, her arousal building.

"You are the most infuriating man I've ever met."

Ben chuckled. "So. I've. Been. Told. But that was not a complete and truthful answer, love."

"I-" she said, but suddenly started to writhe. "Ohhh." He felt the beginning of her climax.

"Let it out, Katie."

"Ben?"

"Mmmm?"

"I love you," she whispered. She began to peak, digging into his back with her short nails.

"I didn't quite hear that," he teased, knowing perfectly well what she'd said.

"I love you!" Just then, she climaxed, digging in farther as she pulled him further inside. The pain was exquisite, and he was not into pain.

"I love you too, Katie." He was completely lost inside her as he came.

He held his temporary wife, stroking her gently, unable to say anything. Eventually, he rolled over next to her and curled up in her arms, his forehead nestled between her breasts.

#

Kate held Ben, unable to sleep despite her exhaustion. She was more confused than ever, never having been in love with two people at once before.

She had kinda cheated on Justin, the one thing she thought she could never do. She hadn't succumbed to Ben's charms, she'd more or less seduced him. Twice. The first time, she and Justin hadn't had an arrangement, which Kate had actually confirmed right before her trip with Ben. So that wasn't cheating in her book.

None of the explicit agreements had changed, but she and Justin were really more on than off now and she knew he expected exclusivity from her even though he'd suggested she date other people months ago. But that was when he was seeing Susan, back when Kate and Ben had seen them together in the bar.

After Tahoe, though, Justin had wanted to make promises. He wanted to move back in together, had almost convinced her that was a good idea, especially for his campaign. Yet, here she was in bed with Ben again.

Pretending to be married, no less.

The interaction with Dr. Moorthi was so strange earlier. He'd obviously been such a fan of Ben, it was kind of endearing. Neither the doctor nor Ben had said what kind of malpractice case Ben had represented him for, but it was clear that Ben felt comfortable putting her in his hands.

While they were there, Dr. Moorthi took her aside to point out that some women fainted during pregnancy, and he recommended a pregnancy test, but wanted to offer that to her privately. She accepted, partly because not accepting would have been strange in context, and tests verified that she wasn't pregnant. Kate was then somewhat disappointed, just like the last time, when Justin told her she was all Christmas and bombs. Not that she wanted to be pregnant while sleeping with two men - definitely not, but it reminded her that she did want kids at some point, something that had become so distant since Justin's rejection.

Dr. Moorthi had recommended she get on that fairly soon if that's what she did want, that it'd be harder to have a viable pregnancy every year from here on out. So not helping her current state of mind.

She wasn't surprised she wasn't pregnant - she'd been on the pill for years, and she and Justin hadn't had sex that many times recently. She and Ben had only spent one night together before the hospital visit and they'd used condoms. Ben had never asked if she was on the pill, he'd just taken responsibility for safe sex.

Kate definitely didn't want to have kids with Justin. That wound wasn't gone, not at all, not how he was willing to stay together for a baby, but have nothing to do with her when she turned out not to be pregnant. No, they'd have split up and he'd have taken her baby, too. Then she'd have no father, no mother, no husband, and little to do with her own child for eighteen years.

Now, with Ben, she had someone who clearly wanted to marry her, though they hadn't discussed kids. He was another partner in the firm, and her share had increased from a quarter to a third when Ben bought into the company and Ben had bought Spencer out. In many ways, going back to Justin felt like contracting her horizons, and being with Ben felt like expanding them. Neither was easy or comfortable.

Worse, she felt she should feel guilty about the current situation and her cheating - but she didn't.

She stroked Ben's back, which is when she felt something wet and looked at her hand. Something dark. Blood?

"Ben?"

"Mmm?" He woke up.

"Are you bleeding?"

He rolled over and she saw three long scratch marks she'd made on his back. "Oh my God, Ben, I'm so sorry." She ran into the bathroom and got some cotton balls out of the cup, wiping his gash. "I think you need something more than this," she said.

"Let me see," he said, walking over to the bathroom. Kate was still freaking out, but Ben chuckled as he looked in the mirror. "Oh, nicely done, tiger. I think you've earned that nickname now. Also, Catwoman."

She stood in front of him, furious. "This is serious. You're bleeding."

"Katie, it's not going to kill me. I'll just call down to the front desk."

"Really?"

He offered her the hotel bathrobe, then donned his paisley silk boxers and called down to the front desk. A few minutes later, gauze, medical tape, and a small packet of antibiotic were delivered.

"Darling, would you help put this on?" he asked, and Katie ministered to him. After the bandage was finished, she kissed his back and slipped out of her robe. He pulled off his boxers and got back into bed facing her.

"Why aren't you freaked out about this?" Kate asked. "I would be."

"Katie, it's a common male fantasy for a man to be good enough in bed that something like this happens. I'm amused more than anything else. Here we are, living your one-night fantasy that I'm your husband, and you've possibly marked me for life." He curled up the way he had been, forehead between her breasts. "G'night, Mrs. Reed-Grogan."

"G'night Mr. Grogan."

"Reed-Grogan," he said.

"G'night Mr. Reed-Grogan."

Within a handful of minutes, Ben was asleep.

She stroked Ben's hair as he slept. She knew he was the bright shiny boy in her life, but would that feeling last? It had been so long ago when Justin was a new love that she really couldn't remember details of how she felt day-to-day, only remembering that love had definitely faded not only for Justin, but for her.

Faded too much? She wasn't sure yet, nor was she sure that her feelings for Ben wouldn't fade, either. Relationships changed, though, that she was certain of.

She kissed Ben gently, then settled down and fell asleep with her arms around him.

#

Ben woke to the sun shining in his face like he was in an interrogation chamber, momentarily disoriented. The sun didn't come into his room that way, the sheets underneath him were cotton instead of silk, and. . . .

He turned, only to see Katie lying there next to him. Last night was coming back to him: the concert, Kate coming to the office, their tango, Kate fainting, him taking her to the hospital and her insisting on acting as his wife, and then, the hotel. Here.

Followed by mad, passionate twenty questions sex and the coaxed admission that she loved him.

For the first moment after he'd woken, he thought it was only a dream, but here she was. He'd just made things a thousand times worse, he suspected, but if he was going to live in hell until she decided, he might as well enjoy the trip.

Lips pressing against hers, stroking her back, he woke Kate up. She stretched, cat-like, without opening her eyes. "Mmmm."

"Good morning, sunshine," he said. "What would you like for breakfast?"

She smiled dreamily. "The usual."

"You want to tell the person who hasn't been married to you yet? Eggs, fried over easy, and coffee, I expect, but what else?"

Her eyes opened, startled. "Sausage, orange juice. You." She turned toward hin and caressed his leg with her own.

"I'll order all but the last from room service, and personally deliver that last item to you. You might want to think about how you want the delivery packaged while I'm on the phone."

He called room service and began placing the order when Kate gestured him to move to the middle of the bed. Ben moved while placing the order. She sat on his thighs and reached over for a condom, rubbing his chest and stomach while he was trying to talk. Ben completed the call, but his words got more awkwardly spaced as the call progressed.

"You know what I want most from my husband this morning?"

He smiled. "Maybe you'd better tell me. I might be mistaken, love."

She slid her hips up almost to his waist, then slid down so she could position his cock for entry, then slowly took him all in. "I want to fuck you senseless," she said. "Wanted to ever since that first night." Just be who you are and take me. Except she was doing the taking this time.

"You have special spousal privilege," he said. "Go for it," he said, cupping her breasts in his hands as she moved around him.

They peaked mere moments before room service arrived. Ben hurriedly donned the hotel's provided robe and helped Katie into hers. After room service set up breakfast on the terrace, Ben signed for a huge tip for the waiter, then hung the do not disturb sign.

He picked up the phone and confirmed the latest they could check out, surreptitiously took some photos of the room and one of Kate out on the terrace, then walked out to join her for breakfast. In addition to everything Kate had asked for, he'd ordered a bottle of champagne for them.

"Wow, this is really luxurious, Ben."

"Not bad for an impromptu honeymoon on extremely short notice if I do say so myself." They toasted each other and sipped champagne as they held each other's hand.

"Not bad at all," she acknowledged, holding up a piece of sausage for him to eat.

"Sausage, huh?" he teased, eating the piece off her fork.

She rolled her eyes.

They finished their breakfast at leisure, talking about world travel, law school, their families, and their favorite cases.

After, she led him into the shower, where they lathered and washed each other, Kate taking special care not to get the bandages wet.

"How much time do we have left?" Kate asked.

"About half an hour," he said sadly.

"Just hold me, then."

They curled up on the couch, just holding each other, Kate on the inside, Ben on the outside.

Ben said, "Do you know what I think of your reaction to my overtures that night we met?"

"Mmm? No."

"Justin's never been able to get under your skin enough to have great sex for you. You and I both have a skill, and that's getting under people's skin. You saw that potential in me, and it freed up your mind - and that scared you."

Kate lifted her leg and raised it over her head, resting it on Ben's shoulder. "Well, there's one question partly answered."

"Katherine Reed-Grogan, you are a cruel, cruel woman."

"Admit it, you love me."

"I do." He caressed her leg and kissed the back of her knee.

She looked at him for several minutes, then finally asked, "Would you really marry me?"

His stomach tied in knots from fear. "The thought terrifies me, given my history, but yes, yes I would. I definitely prefer a much shorter engagement, though. The long one I had - almost a year - was just nervewracking." He swallowed hard before he could voice the next question. "Would you really marry me?"

She lowered her leg. "You're serious?"

"Yes."

"I- I don't know." She clung to him. "Before Lake Tahoe, I'd have said no, or at least not on my horizon."

"And now?"

"We haven't been out on a date, really," she said, then covered her mouth with her hand. "I'm sorry, that's completely my fault, isn't it?"

Ben said, "Well, there was the dive bar, and I'd call this a date night insofar as you asked me to be here."

"Do you normally propose on the second date?" She teased.

"It's discussion, not a proposal. Do you normally take guys to hotels on your second dates?" He teased back.

She didn't answer, just stared off for a minute before changing the subject. "Marriage is so complicated for girls."

"Oh?"

"There's the whole dress ordeal, and the invitations, and the whole thing about the list of people one's supposed to invite, and then there's the shoes and the bridesmaid politics and who gets to sit where at the reception and it goes on and on and on."

"It's designed to create insanity, you know."

"So when you ask me: I don't want to go through all that again, even though I did enjoy parts of it."

"We can afford to hire a wedding planner, you know. I can unstuff all that cash from my heart and give it to the wedding planner so there will be more room for you, not to mention less stress."

"You're really serious."

"I have taken on some of the biggest companies anywhere and tucked millions of dollars into the bank, but I have never been more serious about anything. All I'm asking is that you really consider it."

"I will."

Ben's alarm went off, and Kate started to cry.

"Don't cry, lovely wife, just remember what good times we've had."

She clung to him.

"We need to go, tiger."

He brought over her leather-trimmed dress, and helped her put her clothes back on, then dressed himself. He grabbed a few tissues from the bathroon, and dried her eyes with one. He gave her a few; the rest he stuffed in his jacket pocket.

Ben spent several minutes caressing and kissing her at the hotel room door before they finally ventured forth.

They checked out, and with one long glance back by both of them, said goodbye to their temporary married life, walking hand in hand to his car.

"Names are complicated," she said before he started the car.

He tilted his head, started the car, and said, "Not if both parties change their names."

"Mmm?"

"Kate Reed-hyphen-Grogan. The hyphen is silent, of course. And Benedict Reed-hyphen-Grogan."

"Reed, Reed-Grogan, and Reed-Grogan? Katherine Moira Reed-Grogan? Too long. Now you know why I never use my middle name."

Ben smiled. "Not nearly as long as Benedict Yancy Reed-Grogan, though. Besides, the firm could suddenly become 'Reed-Archer, Reed-Grogan, and Reed-Grogan.' Or 'Archer, Reed-Grogan, and Reed-Grogan.' Either way, I tend to doubt Lauren will keep the Reed name alone when she remarries."

"I don't think she'll marry Archer. Justin pressured me to change my name more than once, but he didn't ever volunteer to take a blended name."

Ben shrugged. "That's Justin."

He pulled into Lauren's driveway, walked Kate to the door.

She turned to give him a hug, but didn't invite him in.

"I do love you," she said.

"I know," he replied with a smirk, raising his finger to her lips.

"So now you think you're Han Solo?"

He just smiled, tracing her lips with his finger. When she sighed softly, he broke contact and walked back to his car.

He made it two whole blocks before he pulled over so he could break down.