Eric POV

The doorbell rings. Eric has never ever been anxious about having a woman over at his house before, but at the moment, his palms are sweating and his pulse is racing. He has no idea what to expect from Sookie. Is she coming over to yell at him? To quit? To make love to him? There are too many possibilities, and the loss of control makes Eric feel unusually vulnerable.

Sookie Stackhouse has really gotten under his skin.

When he opens the door, she's standing there, looking up at him with her big, round eyes. Her soft blonde hair is loose from its usual ponytail, and it's hanging gently over her shoulders. Eric can't help but slowly drag his eyes over her body. She's wearing a white sleeveless top and simple jean shorts, but her tan looks gorgeous, and he doesn't have to use much imagination to remember the curves beneath the clothing. Even though they didn't actually have sex, just the memory of her naked body crawling over him makes Eric hard, and he surreptitiously adjusts his pants.

"May I come in?" Sookie asks. She's clutching her purse, her fingers fiddling with the straps. At least I'm not the only nervous one, Eric thinks.

"Yes. Of course." Eric opens the door wider so that Sookie can step into his house. He watches her as she moves down the hallway, appreciating the backside view.

"You have a nice place."

"Thanks."

Eric has been living in the same house for years, but it's still mostly plain and undecorated. Pam picked it out for him, and she tried to convince him to hire a decorator, but he refused. He had told her, Why would I want to put thousands of dollars into my house when I spend most of my time at the office? Pam had shrugged her shoulders and huffed loudly, but she dropped the subject.

"So where should we go?" Sookie asks, and Eric immediately thinks of his bedroom. It'd be a lie to say he hadn't thought of her sprawled out naked on his white sheets on more than on occasion.

"How about the kitchen?"

"Okay."

As Eric passes Sookie, he gently presses a hand to her shoulder. He does it under the guise of guiding her to the kitchen, but in reality, he couldn't resist touching her skin, if only for a second. She's warm and soft, and it takes all of Eric's willpower to move his hand away. "Would you like something to drink? I've got coffee, milk...I think some juice."

"Do you have any wine?"

Eric is surprised by the suggestion. The last time they drank wine together, she winded up naked in his hotel room. "Um, yes. Of course."

Sookie starts laughing softly. "I was kidding, Eric. Water's fine."

Heat creeps up Eric's neck. Of course she doesn't want wine. Was he really so eager to get her tipsy again? Did she think- "Water it is."

Eric grabs two glasses from his rather sparse cabinets and fills them with filtered tap water. Sookie is already sitting at the table, so he places the glasses down and sits across from her. She reaches for a glass and takes a small sip. Eric is drawn to her pink lips as they press against the glass. How is it that every movement this woman makes turns me on, he thinks.

Sookie's eyes flick to Eric's and she flushes slightly under his direct gaze. She clears her throat, "So."

"So." Eric pauses. "What would you like to talk about?"

"Us."

"Right. Where do we start?"

"I like my job," Sookie blurts out quickly. Her face flushes further. "I like my job, and I don't want to lose it."

The words hit Eric hard. If she wants the job- that must mean she doesn't want him. The thought hurts more than he thought it would. Sookie. Beautiful Sookie doesn't want him. He takes a short breath before responding, "I won't fire you. After all, this is all my fault. I'm not going to punish you because I was-"

"An asshole?"

Eric smiles ruefully. "I was going to say immature, but sure, let's go with that."

"Well you are an asshole."

"I know. It wasn't on purpose though. I didn't want to hurt you."

"Well you did!"

When Eric looks up, he's surprised to find that Sookie's eyes are starting to tear. She breaks his gaze and starts rifling through her purse, eventually pulling out a crumpled up tissue. "I said I wasn't going to cry," she mutters. "I don't cry. I've just been really stressed out the past couple of days."

Without thinking, Eric reaches across the table and grabs one of Sookie's hands. Surprisingly, she doesn't pull away, and he rubs his thumb across the warm skin. "And that's my fault. I know it." Everything is falling to pieces. All he wanted to do was help Sookie, make her happy, and hopefully build a relationship with her. But now he's hurt her, betrayed her trust.

"Why didn't you just ask me out?"

"Excuse me?" The question comes from nowhere, and Eric is left confused.

"If you liked me, why didn't you just ask me out instead of offering me a job I obviously wasn't qualified for?"

Eric is stunned. He never expected her to ask that. "I don't know. I thought-"

He pauses. "I thought that after Bill you'd need some time away from men."

"So you decided to trick me just like Bill Compton did?"

"I am not the same as Bill Compton."

"Are you sure? You both lied to me. You both built relationships off of false pretences. You both-"

Eric stands up suddenly, shoving his chair to the side. Sookie looks up at him with shocked eyes as he strides around the table towards her. He leans down and gently grabs her by the chin so that she has to lock eyes with him. "Don't you dare compare me to Bill Compton. He's scum. He's a liar. He's worthless. What I did was wrong, but I only did it because I cared about you. I was only trying to make your life better. I only-"

And then Sookie is grabbing Eric by the back of the neck and pressing her lips to his own. Her kisses are fast and feverish. Eric's mind can't keep up, but his body responds instantly. With strong arms, he lifts Sookie from her chair so that she's standing up, pressing her hot, tight body against his own. Her lips part, and Eric greedily kisses her, moaning as she slips a warm tongue into his mouth. Her hands are everywhere at once, running down his shoulders, tracing the waistband of his pants. Eric tugs her closer so that she's pressed against his erection, and Sookie grinds against him, emitting soft noises that harden Eric further.

Everything is happening so quickly. One minute she's yelling at him, and the next second, she's trying to claw his clothes off. Eric's first thought is to drag her to the bedroom and finish what they started the other night. But his second thought has him pulling his mouth away from Sookie's reddened lips.

This can't happen. Not again. Not before they finish talking.

Eric grabs Sookie's hands and gently presses her back into her seat, creating some distance between the two of them. It's like there's electric fire crackling in the air, and if he stays too close to her, he won't be able to resist the temptation. "What?" She asks, breathless. "I'm not drunk this time. Not unless you spiked the water."

Eric tries to smile, but he can't. "We were supposed to be talking."

Sookie looks down at Eric's raised pants, and she smirks. "You seemed to be enjoying yourself."

"Oh, I most definitely was."

"So what's the problem?"

"Everything." Eric sighs and runs a hand through his hair. "We can't just have sex and expect our problems to go away."

"We can't?" Sookie licks her lips and smiles coyly, and for a second, Eric forgets what he was saying.

"No. We can't. If anything- sex just makes this more complicated. You said you wanted to keep your job. You can't keep your job while we're having sex."

"Why not?"

"We both know that won't end well. Besides- it's against company policy." Eric walks towards Sookie but is careful to still keep some distance between them. "I told you this already, Sookie. I want whatever you want, but you have to make a decision."

"You or the job?"

"Exactly."

Sookie huffs and crosses her arm. She sticks out her lip, almost like a petulant child. "Well that's a load of shit, isn't it? What should I do?"

Eric looks down at his pants. He's still very hard. "I don't think I'm the right person to ask."

"No. I guess you aren't." Sookie sighs. "I like you, Eric. I want you." The direct words fill Eric with lust. "But I also want this job. And if I've learned anything so far in life- a job is a lot more dependable than a man."

"You could depend on me."

"You say that now, and I believe that you have good intentions. But there's no way to promise you won't break my heart."

"So that's your decision then? You're going to keep the job?"

Sookie bites her lip. "Yes," she says softly.

"Okay." Eric thought he would feel some kind of relief when Sookie reached a decision, but all he feels is let down, empty.

Sookie stands up and gathers her purse. As she heads towards the door, she passes Eric. She stands on her tiptoes and presses a chaste, warm kiss to his cheek. Her lips linger for a few moments before she says, "I'll see you at work, Eric," and walks away.

A/N – Sorry it's been so long since the last update, but it's summer now, so hopefully I'll be getting chapters out more quickly.

I hope you guys aren't too let down by this chapter- it's just some set up for a brighter future : )

Thanks for reading and reviewing!