It was a Thursday night when Remy headed back to his favourite bar. He hadn't been drinking in few days, quite possibly a personal record for him. He hadn't been in the mood for company either, and those were the two things the bar supplied. Liquor and women.

He was once again motioned eagerly over to the bar when Louie saw him enter. Obviously, the bartender had some sort of information to give him. Remy casually sauntered over, not looking too interested. He had just finished a job and wasn't too thrilled about taking another one on so quickly.

"Louie," Remy greeted. "What's the word?"

"No word from him, but you've had a visitor all week."

Remy frowned. He hadn't been expecting anyone looking for him. He'd kept his tracks clean. Real clean on this last job. He didn't like it. His shoulders tensed up a bit.

"She's back," Louie answered.

Remy relaxed. He thought Louie was talking about Regan until his eyes followed in the direction of Louie's pointed finger.

There at his dark, corner table sat Rogue. She was sipping her drink quietly. She hadn't noticed him. Remy was good at showing up and not being seen unless he wanted to be. He made every effort to keep his jaw from dropping. She was the last person he had expected to see waiting for him.

She was dressed modestly; wearing a mauve, long sleeved T-shirt and jeans. She did not appear to be the giddy drunk she was the last time she'd been here. Remy flexed his fingers eagerly, trying to shake off the anticipation that had suddenly snuck up on him.

"She's been in everyday this week. Hasn't caused any trouble, just been sitting there," Louie stated. "We all figured she was waiting for you."

"Well then," Remy replied with a smirk. "I shouldn't keep her waiting any longer. Whatever she's drinking, keep 'em coming and put it on my tab."

"Sure thing, Remy," Louie answered as Remy strolled up to her table and sat down.

He was positive she wasn't here by coincidence this time. This time she was here specifically to see him, and that boded well.

She looked startled to see him. He'd practically just appeared out of nowhere.

He smiled, the effect worked wonders on her.

"Bonjour, ma cherie. I can't help but think that you are looking for me this time."

She gave him a nervous smile. "I was starting to think I'd have to show up at your apartment," she admitted.

It was a sentence that had Remy more than intrigued. She was looking for him and very determined to find him if need be.

"And why would a pretty, little thing, such as yourself, be looking for me?" he asked, putting on all his charm and leaning in closer to her.

"I'd like to hire you."

Remy burst out laughing. Here, he thought she was here to a see him, and she was actually here about a job. He straightened up immediately, putting on his business face. "I'm sorry, ma petite, but you can't afford me," he answered solemnly.

She looked dejected, but still determined. "Oh. Well, what's your fee?" she asked.

"Depends on the job."

The waitress brought him his drink and another one for the girl. She looked startled to receive a drink she hadn't ordered, but took it anyway. He took a deep drink from his glass, waiting for her to continue. There was no way he was working for a girl who he knew didn't have the money to pay him. It didn't matter how attractive he thought she was. It was a business principle he stood by. You also just didn't mix business with pleasure. She certainly wasn't going to get a discount for the sole fact that he'd thought about her naked either.

She was debating what she should say, which route she should try and take to convince him to take whatever job it was she was going to offer. He wanted to tell her not to bother, because either way the answer was still going to be 'no'. Perhaps he should recommend one of the other Marauders, a cheaper one. Sloppier work, but one that she could afford.

"Look," he started. "I'll tell you what, I can put you in contact with another, more affordable merc. One that's in your price range."

"No!" she cried, finally finding her voice. "It has to be you!"

"Chere," he chided softly. "Any one of my associates would be happy to—"

"You said the price depends on the job, yet, you haven't even asked me what the job is! And further more, how do you know I can't afford you?"

He didn't want to tell her that he wouldn't work for her even if she could afford him because of the simple reason that he was attracted to her, and it would compromise the job.

"Alright, ma petite. Tell me the job, and I'll tell you the price," he gave in. The answer would still be 'no'.

"I need to hire you as my new boyfriend," she answered seriously.

Remy almost spit his drink out. He must not have heard her correctly. See? That just proved that he was already compromising a job he hadn't even accepted, all because he wanted to see that lovely naked back again. She must have said bodyguard. Not boyfriend. Bodyguard.

"I highly doubt that with your mutation you need a bodyguard—"

"I said boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend."

He was about to tell her he'd do it for free. That she wouldn't have pay to him at all ever to be her boyfriend. As long as he got to do all the things a boyfriend did, the arrangement would be fine. Lovely. Perfect.

But then Regan had warned him to stay away from the girl. Not to get involved with the X-men. Not to seek her out. But, if he'd been specifically hired out by Rogue… well, that changed the playing field. It bent the rules, didn't it?

"How much have you got?" He heard himself asking.

"I can pay you five hundred bi-weekly."

It was a severe pay cut, but the job offered plenty of perks. The sane part of Remy's mind watched in horror as he began negotiating the deal.

"What all does the job entail?"

"I don't know. Boyfriend stuff, I guess," she answered. "Going out places, being seen with me."

Vague 'boyfriend stuff' covered a lot of ground. He could work with that. Plenty of loop holes in this deal. He'd let himself feel guilty later for taking advantage of her. It was her own fault, really, for not having a better business plan and set definitions of the job.

"For how long?"

"Um… I don't know. A month or so I guess."

One month or more of having this girl hang on his arm. He was already getting excited. That would be plenty of time to get her out of his system.

"When would you need me to start?"

"As soon as possible."

Even better.

"Sure. I'll take the job," he answered in a tone that implied it was no big deal.

"Really?" she asked, failing to hide her excitement.

"Really." He held out his hand to her. "Remy LeBeau. Your new boyfriend, at your service." He pulled a small blue business card from his pocket. It contained his contact information. "Call me when you need me," he said, getting up from his chair.

"I need you now," she answered.

Delicious shivers of pleasure coursed down his spine. He loved it when women said that. It was positively orgasmic hearing it from her lips, even though he knew she wasn't intending it to sound how he was taking it.

"My place or yours?" he asked smoothly, playing on innuendos.

"Probably your place is best," she answered after much thought.

Remy's eyes lit up. She did mean what he was thinking she did. Wonderful. He'd never pegged her as a fast girl, but hell, he wasn't going to complain. She did just hire him as her boyfriend. Maybe that helped speed up the process.

"I don't want anyone to overhear us," she was saying.

Remy was in his glory.

He loved screamers.

"I mean, if anyone found out I'd hired you, it'd be mortifying. So we'll need to create a solid back story. Get our story straight. Do you have a note pad at your place?" she asked in a business-like tone.

Crash and burn.

"Ouais," he answered feeling a little foolish assuming she had meant they'd be getting physical.

He had forgotten that he had never mentioned all the ideas he had about dodging her mutation. As far as she knew, there would be no fun touching. Still, she was going with him to his place, and he'd need to practice getting used to having his hands on her, right? In fact, it'd be easy to convince her he needed to practice physical contact because of her mutation. It was too clever, even for him.

"Great." She smiled. "Shall we go?"

"Absolument," he answered, casually snaking his arm around her waist when she got up.

She looked a little uneasy with his arm around her.

"Best t' start getting used to it now, Chere," he answered innocently. "Not very convincing if you look at me all the time with that face."

"Right. Sorry," she answered anxiously.

Marie sat on his couch with him sitting way too close to her. At least he was serious about playing boyfriend for her, although he didn't really need to do it while they were alone at his place. If she didn't know any better, she was positive he was attempting to seduce her. He'd gone so far as to dim the lights and mix her a drink. He kept looking at her like he was a hungry wolf and she was little red riding hood.

She tapped the ballpoint pen he'd given her back and forth on the pad of paper, thinking of what they should cover. It couldn't be too outlandish or nobody would believe it.

"Okay, so how did we meet up?" she asked.

"At a bar."

"That's not very creative." She was hoping for something a little more romantic.

"It's the truth. It's easier to stick to the truth where we can. That way the lies are more convincing," he answered. He was sure that was common knowledge to everyone. By look on her face, he quickly learned it wasn't.

"Oh. I guess that makes sense." She tapped the pad again. "What do we like to do together?"

"Standards, Dinner and movies. Occasionally we get cultured and go to the symphony or a play."

Marie quickly scribbled it down. He was good at this.

"You really don't need to write that down, do you?" he asked, leaning in closer to her and peering at the notepad.

He was definitely getting way too close. She backed up a bit. He moved in a bit more. She meant to object when he reached out, taking her note pad from her hands and tossing it onto the coffee table. She feebly clutched the pen in her hand. Maybe hiring a guy to be her boyfriend wasn't the most brilliant idea she had thought it was.

For the first time this evening, she realized she knew very little about this guy. The memories of his she'd absorbed had not been very good memories… but, he had looked after her when she'd gotten drunk, and he had returned her earrings, he even gave her a ride home when her car got towed. He couldn't be all bad.

"I think we should focus on how we appear to people," he began. "For instance, you shirking away from me like that. It makes me look a predator. Now, I can play your boyfriend, ma cherie, but you'll have to play my girlfriend as well to make this work. Otherwise you're wasting your money, and your clawed friend is gonna get the wrong idea and tear me to shreds."

She was about to tell him that she was pretty sure Logan would tear him to shreds anyway, boyfriend or not. Logan's facial expression had told Marie all she needed to on what Logan thought of her new 'friend'. However, Remy did make a convincing point. He could act like her boyfriend all he wanted, but if she kept shying away from him, people would either catch on or think he was a stalker. Neither were acceptable options for Marie.

He'd somehow managed to get his arm around her. She was nervous. Really nervous. She hadn't thought her plan through at all. It never occurred to her that they would have to touch to be convincing. She'd sort of thought he'd just show up at opportune times as the token boyfriend, like on sitcoms.

He was snuggling up close to her, worming his way into a lounging position, where he'd somehow managed to get half his body underneath hers. The crook of her neck rested comfortably along his arm. Thankfully, he was the only other person she knew who wore long sleeves in the summer.

He was surprisingly comfortable to lean up against. Different, but nice. He didn't strike her as someone who was comfy and cuddly. Honestly, she thought he was built for much naughtier things. Intimate things in dark corners. He kind of had a constant 'do me' air about him. It was probably why Kitty and Jubilee salivated over him days ago. It was part of the reason she'd hired him. She knew it drove both Jubilee and Kitty nuts that someone who emanated that much sex was with her. Marie, who couldn't touch. It drove Bobby nuts for a different reason.

Since Remy had shown up at the mansion with her earrings, suddenly people treated her differently. Suddenly Marie was the envy of every girl in the mansion, single or not. Remy was the perfect mix of sex, mystery and danger. Not to mention, he'd only had eyes for her. Not once had he even glanced at Kitty or Jubilee. It made Bobby furious and Marie loved it.

She supposed part of the reason she'd hired Remy was because she was angry. In some deep, dark corner of her mind she wanted to hurt Bobby, wanted to make him suffer. Wanted him to feel like she did. She'd never been cool with the idea of dating other people and she wasn't cool with Bobby lusting after other girls. Still, out of blind love for the man, she'd agreed. The devious part of her mind was screaming, Let's see how he likes me lusting after other men.

And Remy was meant to be lusted after. Even fully clothed, he was the type of guy you had to wonder what he was like undressed. She was also willing to bet he was the type of guy willing to show you if you asked. In all fairness, she had thought about asking, just to see if her assumptions were correct.

She became aware of his hand trailing lightly up and along her side. She'd been lost in thought, losing track of exactly what he was doing. It was odd. She should have been very aware of his hands on her. Either he was that smooth, or she was that comfortable.

Either way, it was time for her to go.

It was getting late. She didn't know what time it was, but she was sure it was well after one o'clock. His hand still lazily trailed up and down the side of her body. It was starting to feel good.

Definitely time to go.

She struggled to sit up, regretting that she had to put her hand on his thigh to do it. It was firm and very solid under her hand. All muscle. She briefly wondered what else on him was all muscle. His hand moved absently to her back, his fingers flickering down her spine. She glanced at the coffee table. She hadn't finished her drink. She really should finish her drink first. It was kind of poor manners just to leave it barely touched.

Instead of getting up from the couch to leave, she reached over for her drink and took few sips.

He gave her a charming, innocent smile when she settled back down into her spot, nestling back into his body. His hand moved seamlessly back to her side. There was no reason why she couldn't indulge in his company for a little while longer. Besides, it really wasn't that late yet.