Peyton wasn't surprised on Sunday evening when Brooke showed up with a bag that held Chinese food, ice cream, and in true Brooke Davis style, a box of condoms. She explained that the food was for energy, the ice cream was for girl talk, and the condoms were because from what she'd heard, Peyton's stash probably needed to be replenished.
"Tell me everything," Brooke insisted as the two sat at Peyton's kitchen table with their plates of food in front of them and a couple glasses of wine.
So Peyton told Brooke everything. Well, not everything. She explained about Friday night - keeping a few of those details to herself. She said that Lucas just got a little jealous, and he said some sweet things. Brooke didn't need to know about Lucas' family situation, though Peyton wasn't sure Nathan hadn't told her, or wouldn't tell her. Peyton just knew it wasn't her secret to tell, and so she wouldn't say a word.
Brooke told Peyton about the baseball game, and how she and Nathan actually decided to be 'exclusive', hence the public outing. Peyton smiled at Brooke's blush, both girls knowing that the relationship was a big deal.
"So what are you two calling yourselves?" Brooke asked after Peyton explained that it wasn't just a one night - or one weekend - thing.
"I don't know," Peyton answered. "I guess we're...seeing each other? God. It's crazy, Brooke."
"Because he makes you feel like a teenager, and you can talk to him about anything, and you don't ever want him to not be in your bed?" Brooke asked. "I know the feeling."
"What the hell, right?" Peyton laughed. "We're almost 30! We shouldn't feel like this."
"The hell we shouldn't!" Brooke insisted. "Come on. This is fun."
"It is fun." Peyton smiled secretly over Lucas using the same word.
"So what happens at work?"
"Nothing."
"So, you've just spent two days naked in your apartment, and now you're going to spend five days fully clothed in your office?" Brooke asked incredulously.
"Thanks for the reminder."
"It's...it just won't be easy."
"Yeah, I know," Peyton admitted. "But we're professionals. We can control ourselves. We don't even need to see each other if we don't want to."
"Your offices are right next to one another."
"Right," Peyton said softly, and they both laughed. "This is going to suck."
"Yeah, it is," Brooke said sympathetically.
When Brooke left around 11:00, Peyton got ready for bed and attempted to lay in her cool sheets and get to sleep. But Lucas was everywhere in her bedroom. The scent of his cologne lingered on her sheets, and it was somehow impossible for her to sleep on her own. It was ridiculous. She'd only really slept with him for a few mere hours, and yet she tossed and turned until well after midnight, unable to get settled.
She finally got up, put her hands on her hips, and stared at her bed, as though just the cold glare would somehow make it cooperate with her need for sleep.
She knew what she had to do. She changed her bedding, balling up those rich red linens and tossing them into the bottom of her hamper, and when she lay down again, she sighed and got comfortable.
But she kind of missed his smell on her sheets.
----
Peyton walked into the building on Monday morning, breezing past the front desk and straight back to her office. The way she saw it, the less she saw Lucas, the better. She would scurry to her office, close the door, and work away all day hopefully without ever having to see him. It'd be easy.
Except he was walking out of his office at the exact moment she was walking past, and she noticed he was wearing that navy blue suit she loved that she'd made him promise not to wear.
But, she was wearing the tight black skirt he'd made her promise not to wear. He looked her up and down once, and she knew he understood what such a tight skirt meant.
"You promised," he said, his voice low and his eyes narrowed.
"So did you."
"I lied."
"So did I," she said with a shrug of her shoulder.
"But...But that's not fair," he tried as she started into her office. His tone was boyish, and he was pouting just a little. He followed her into her office and closed the door behind them.
"Isn't it?" she challenged as she set down her things and got herself settled.
"Mean." She laughed and he somehow managed to keep his distance. He'd seen her smile more in the last three days than in the entire time he'd known her. "I'm in meetings all day."
"Good."
"Good?"
"I don't need the distraction, thank you," she said seriously. "So go to your meetings and try not to walk past my office."
"You'll have your door closed, won't you?"
"I have to," she said softly. She stood again and walked around it to stand in front, crossing one leg over the other, and folding her arms over her chest. "This isn't easy."
"I know." He boldly walked towards her and kissed her quickly. She let out a noise in protest. "Sorry. I can't...I can't help it."
"Try."
"I am."
"Try harder."
He chuckled and winked at her, then made his way to the door again. "See you later, Miss Sawyer."
He vaguely heard her mumble 'Oh my God' before the door clicked closed behind him.
He couldn't say he wasn't thinking the same thing.
Monday was easy for them both. She locked herself in her office, leaving only for lunch, and only because Mia had done an amazing job with a particularly tedious task Peyton had assigned to her, and Peyton insisted she buy the girl lunch as a thank you. The two women walked past Lucas' office, and Peyton could actually hear the breath he took when he saw her glide by his open door.
He was in meetings the rest of the day, and while his mind would wander to standing beside her bed, her naked on the sheets and giving him that come hither look that he was absolutely powerless to, and...Well, you get the idea. He'd simply clear his throat and smile at the people he was meeting with, and his natural charm would make up for those moments of complete distraction.
And yet, knowing that she was somewhere in the building, wearing that black skirt with nothing underneath...That was just torture. He was sure she'd know that, too. He'd worn that navy blue three piece suit with that light blue shirt underneath, solely because she'd told him it was her favourite. Two could play that teasing little game.
She was admittedly so much better at it.
He'd wanted to ask her to come over to his place, or if he could go to her place. He was craving her in the worse way (or the best way, depending on how he chose to look at it at any given moment). But when Nathan called Lucas before he'd left the office, he insisted that since the Twins were in town, Lucas wasn't 'bitching out and skipping the game'. Lucas sighed into the phone and rolled his eyes, but said he'd go. It was going to be a good game...
Peyton was, surprisingly, already gone when he went to say goodnight, and when he texted her to say he'd thought about her all day long, she replied with a single word. Good. He had to smile. He knew what that meant. He knew that meant she'd thought about him all day, too.
He went home and changed into his jeans and Yankees tee shirt, and he and Nathan met out front of Yankee Stadium since Nathan was coming from a meeting over some sort of investment opportunity. Nathan may not work, but he had a hell of an investment advisor that was actively ensuring that the youngest Scott wouldn't have to work.
"So," Nathan said as they sat in their seats, "you over her yet?"
"No way. I'm...no."
"So it really was different."
"You have no idea. She's...She's incredible," Lucas said, undisguised awe in his voice. "I can't get her out of my head. This weekend was...I've never had that much fun with a woman." Nathan raised his brow, and Lucas rolled his eyes. He wanted to say that he didn't mean the sex, but it wouldn't have been true. That part was more fun than ever, too. "She's this funny, smart, amazing woman."
"I get what you're saying," Nathan insisted. "Brooke and I...we're together."
"You've been together." Lucas raised an eyebrow and Nathan smirked proudly.
"No, I mean, we talked about it. We're exclusive. Her word, not mine."
"That's great," Lucas said seriously. "I've got to see Peyton every day and try to pretend that it doesn't bother me that I'm totally falling for her and I have no idea what she wants."
Nathan turned to his brother with a near blank expression on his face. He blinked a couple times, then shook his head.
"Did you just say you're falling for her?" he asked incredulously.
"Yeah."
"Fuck."
"Yeah."
The brothers exchanged a glance, then the PA announcer told them to stand for the anthem, and they placed their hands over their hearts.
----
Tuesday was torture.
They were both in meetings all day. With each other, and about five other senior executives. She was sitting across from him, a low cut tank top beneath her blazer - a blazer she took off midway through the morning. The end-of-summer heat wave had her sweeping her hair up off her neck, using a pen to somehow keep it in place.
He'd choked on his drink when he saw her wrap her hand around her glass of ice water, place her hand on the side of her neck in an attempt to cool herself down. She looked over at him like he was crazy when he started coughing, and the two of them shared a secret look. She leaned over the table to pour him a new glass of water, and he croaked out a thank you. He wondered if she knew he'd look down her top.
Well after 5:00, their meeting let out and their colleagues headed straight for the elevator, but Peyton went to her office with Lucas following behind. She wasn't sure if he was just following her because he had to, or because he had to. Did he need to gather his things from his own office, or did he just need her?
She hoped to God it was the latter.
She'd barely been able to function all day, sitting so close to him. She could smell that cologne, and the way his tie was just a little off center had her wanting to climb across the table and adjust it for him. Or take it off him. She'd catch him glancing at her cleavage, and she'd send him a warning glance, hopeful that no one else noticed him. Of course, it would just mean he was attracted to her, not that he was remembering how she looked sprawled on her bed. Either way, she was entirely certain it wasn't appropriate for him to look at her like that in the office.
And really, it wasn't all that hot in that meeting. The air conditioning was blowing, and she wasn't sitting in the sun. But her temperature was through the roof. He'd speak, and she'd feel her breathing speed up. He'd say her name, and her leg would tremble.
She was in so deep it was scary. It actually frightened her.
He tried to walk past her office to enter his own, but she grabbed his wrist, pulled him into her office and closed the door behind them.
"You're trying to kill me."
"Am not," he argued.
"Luke, this is...I can't even function around you. It's like you're..."
"Under your skin?" he asked, placing his hands on her hips. "In your head? All over you?"
"Yeah. That."
His lips found the side of her neck, and she was pulling him closer to her by his tie. She breathed out his name, but it wasn't a protest. She wasn't telling him to stop, but he had to. Just one more kiss to her skin would have him pushing her back onto her desk and pulling down her pants. They couldn't do that.
"Come over," she commanded. "Later. Whenever. Just...I need you."
"I have a dinner."
"After, then."
"You really need me, huh?" he said, smirking proudly at her as his fingertips grazed her bare hip where he'd pushed up her shirt.
"Are you saying you don't need me?" She brushed her hand against the front of his pants.
Point proven.
"It might be late," he told her.
"I don't care. Just let yourself in."
"Don't you dare leave your door unlocked." Him worrying about her was so sweet that she smiled and pecked his lips.
"I'll leave a key under the mat. I'll be in the bedroom."
He groaned. That was some kind of promise.
"You don't know what time I'll be there."
"Doesn't matter. I'll wait," she said. She moved away from him out of sheer necessity, and began gathering her things and dropping them into her bag.
"You'll wait?"
"Naked. On my bed. Coltrane in the background," she said seductively. She stood in front of him again and reached for the front of his belt, bringing his hips flush to hers. "I'll wait."
"I'm skipping dessert," he croaked out, his voice seemingly paralyzed by her proximity.
"Good call."
She walked away then, leaving him shell shocked in her office, wanting more of her. That was nothing new. He went to his own office and made a call, wondering if he could get out of that dinner. He couldn't. He'd just have to get through dinner at a five star restaurant with Nathan, his father and his grandfather. Such a dinner was always insufferable. Tonight it was going to be a fucking nightmare.
Peyton stopped for a bottle of wine on her way home, and bought some flowers at the little market near her building. She bumped into someone who lived on the same floor as her, an older woman, struggling to carry all her things the two blocks back to their building, and Peyton offered to give her a hand. Mrs. Keyes asked if there were any new men in Peyton's life - a question she asked every time they bumped into one another. Peyton blushed, and the woman smiled knowingly.
Once in her own apartment, Peyton made herself dinner and talked to Brooke for a bit, then settled herself in front of the television with a glass of wine and a few repeats of some mindless comedies. She barely caught any of the jokes. She was constantly checking the clock, and every noise from the hall was Lucas, coming to give her what she wanted; what she needed.
By 9:30, she was driving herself crazy. She'd had two glasses of wine, and that was enough. She didn't know what he considered 'late'. When she nearly jumped out of her skin, hearing someone stomping down the hall, only to walk past her door, she decided she needed a tried and true distraction.
She put on that Coltrane vinyl, just as she said she would, stripped out of her clothes, and reached for her old copy of Catcher in the Rye - Lucas had told her it was one of his top ten all time favourite books. She hadn't read it in years, and she figured now was as good a time as any.
She was so lost in Holden's journey that she didn't hear the door open.
It was nearing 11:00 when Lucas finally got to her building, stepping out of the cab and tossing a $100 bill to the cabbie, not caring what the actual fare was. He strode past the doorman, saying his name as he did so, and pressed the button for the elevator. After 30 seconds of waiting, he was ready to take the stairs. What was the damn holdup? An older couple stepped off the elevator before he could get on, and he smiled politely, but rolled his eyes when their backs were turned.
When he got to her door, he pulled that key out from beneath the mat and unlocked the door, and seriously considered pocketing that key for future use. He decided that perhaps he shouldn't, and dropped it onto the counter as he took off his jacket and tie, discarding them on the floor on the way to Peyton's bedroom.
He was unbuttoning his shirt when he stepped through her door, and she startled slightly when she caught sight of the figure out of the corner of her eye.
There she was, naked on plum coloured sheets, his favourite album playing, a favourite book of his in her hands. She was his dream girl.
He dropped his shirt to the floor and set his jaw to try to gain some control over his willpower.
"You're reading Catcher."
"Yeah." Her breathing was already laboured, and when he pulled his white tee shirt over his head, it only sped more. "How was dinner?"
"Who fucking cares?" he asked, climbing up the bed.
He pushed her legs apart, hooked his arms beneath her thighs, and he heard her book tumble to the floor as he began working her with his tongue.
That was one hell of a greeting.
----
"Stay over," she pleaded.
Somewhere between his arrival, her second orgasm, and his haste to be inside her, they'd ended up on her bedroom floor. That was where they stayed for the rest of the evening. Well, it was already past 1:00, and he was making no moves to leave. He didn't want to, and she didn't want him to.
"Hmm."
"What is that? Are you mulling it over?"
"No. Exhausted," he managed.
He was laying on his stomach, and she was half on top of him, his arm draped over her midsection and her chest pressed against his side. Their faces were mere inches apart, and her leg was laying atop his. It was the most oddly comfortable position she'd ever lazed in. He made a good pillow.
"Really?" she asked in surprise.
"Hmm."
"Oh."
"Oh?" he inquired.
"I thought maybe you had one more in you before you pass out," she said, shooting him an amused smile when he opened one eye.
"Challenge?"
"Considering you can't say more than one word at a time, I think I win," she said with a laugh.
He quickly moved his leg so his thigh was wedged between hers, and she let out a mewl, closing her eyes at his sudden movement.
"Not so fast, sweetheart," he said gruffly, pulling her closer.
He hooked his arms around her, lifting them onto the bed, resting his weight on top of her as he kissed her heatedly. She tried to say something - something he knew damn well would be a sarcastic comment - but his mouth covered hers, and he was sliding into her before she could say a word.
----
Peyton woke in the morning, well before her alarm went off, with Lucas' hand between her legs, his blue eyes shining next to her and his lips pressing kisses to whatever bare skin he could reach.
"Luke," she breathed out.
"We have time."
"Did you..." Her words died on her tongue when he slipped a finger inside her. "Oh, God."
"Hmm?"
"Turn off the alarm?"
"Uh huh," he mumbled, kissing her neck as she spread her legs a little more. He moved so he was on top of her and his length was pressing against her. "This is a better way to wake up."
She really couldn't argue.
After they showered, Lucas experimented - rather entertainingly - with Peyton's hair products, trying to replicate his style without his own special wax, which he told her about in detail. They shared the sink, her slipping in front of him to brush her teeth and apply her makeup. He pressed himself against her as she leaned forward to apply her mascara, and her free hand clutched the counter before she told him to behave. He just shot her an innocent look in the mirror, and she glared at him.
She stepped down the hall with him following her, buttoning his shirt in the process. She laughed and looked at him over her shoulder when she saw his tie and jacket laying on the floor in the hallway, and he just shrugged his shoulder as he picked up his clothes.
She made them coffee and bagels, and they sat with her crossed legs between his at her kitchen table.
"You're going to walk in wearing the same clothes as yesterday," she pointed out.
"I have a shirt in my office."
"Really?" she asked, eyes shining in that way that let him know she was about to make a joke. "You do this kind of thing often?"
"No," he laughed. "But I've spilled coffee on myself more times than I care to admit. Started keeping a spare."
"If that's your story."
"It is."
"What about a tie?" she asked.
"I'll go open collar," he said, shrugging one shoulder.
"Well, you just have it all worked out, don't you?"
"Honestly? I wouldn't have cared if I had to stop at Barney's before work for a new suit. I was lost to rational thought after you told me you'd wait for me naked in your bed," he admitted. "Dan looked at me like I was crazy last night when he asked if we should have a brandy, and I answered before he got the words out."
"You were at dinner with Dan?"
"Dan, Nathan and Royal."
"Who's Royal?"
"My grandfather," Lucas explained. "Old money. Staunch conservative."
"Right. So if he'd known you were leaving to have premarital sex with a woman you work with, who you aren't even in a relationship with, he'd probably be less than impressed."
He didn't know what to say. She was kind of right. She was kind of wrong, though, too. Were they not in a relationship? An undefined, complicated, seriously confusing relationship, but a relationship nonetheless.
"What?" she asked.
"Are we not...something?"
"What do you...?"
"Aren't we in...I mean, some sort of a relationship?" he asked quietly.
"I didn't mean to imply...Luke, this is..."
"Complicated," he finished. "I know." He smiled at her when he saw that she'd grown tense. "How much easier were things when you hated me?"
"I still hate you," she said, smiling at the lie they both knew that was. "Why did our companies have to merge?"
"If they hadn't merged, we wouldn't have met."
"I guess."
"Look, Peyton, I like you. I enjoy your company," he said, making her smile into her coffee cup. "I'm not...I'm not looking for anyone else."
"OK," she said after a moment.
"OK? You wouldn't like to respond in kind?"
"I don't want to make those claims until I've called the other guys I'm sleeping with." His face went blank and the colour drained from his cheeks. "I'm kidding!"
"Not funny."
"It was kind of funny," she said, resting her hand on his thigh as she leaned forward to kiss him. "I just want you, Lucas."
He pulled her chair closer and kissed her in a way that left them both breathless.
She stopped for another coffee between her place and the office, insisting they don't step into the office together. She enjoyed those few minutes to herself to think over what had happened between them that morning. So they were dating. They were a couple, of sorts. He'd admitted he wasn't going to sleep with someone else, and she felt the same way.
Peyton stepped into the office, and Lucas was speaking with his assistant when she walked past him towards her door.
"Good morning, Peyton," he said with a smirk.
"It has been."
He smiled at her as she walked into her office, and he had to bite back a laugh when she closed her door behind her.
He did the very same thing moments later.