CHAPTER 25

One hour later...

Lois watches Clark as he finishes getting dressed. "Do you really have to go?" giving him her best sad puppy dog look.

He smiles at her; sitting down on the edge of the bed. "You know I would rather be with you but I do have that article to finish," his finger lightly stroking her cheek. He leans forward; whispering in her ear, "You could always IM me?" softly kissing her behind her ear.

"I think we've done enough IM'ing for one day," she whispers back.

He pulls back and looks into her eyes, then gives her the smile that makes her toes tingle. "How do you do that?" staring right back at him.

He looks curiously at her. "How do I do what?"

"Make my toes tingle just by smiling at me?"

He smiles again. "It's a secret," winking at her. Then he leans forward and lightly kisses her on the lips. "I'll see you later," getting up from the bed and walking over to the bedroom door. He stops in the doorway and winks at her one more time, then super speeds away; leaving a breeze that tickles her bare skin.

"I love it when he does that," laying her head back on the pillow. She closes her eyes and begins to drift off to sleep when she suddenly feels hot breath on her neck. "Changed your mind Smallville?" opening her eyes only to find Shelby curled up next to her.

"Shelby!" she exclaims; jumping out of bed. Then she promptly starts sneezing again. That's just great. She grabs a tissue and blows her nose. "You weren't the Kent boy I had in mind," she says out loud; glaring at Shelby.

Watchtower – End of day

Chloe was in the middle of inputting some information when there's a sudden breeze that blows her hair in her eyes; scattering papers all over the room. "For Pete's sake Clark!" glaring at him as he pulls up a chair next to her.

"Sorry about that," shrugging his shoulders and giving her his puppy dog look.

"And I would wipe that sad puppy-dog expression off your face if I were you," still glaring at him.

"Told you I was sorry?" he replies. "What can I do to make it up to you?"

"Well for starters you can clean up the mess you just made," pointing towards the floor.

"No problem," super speeding around the room. He hands her the papers and sits back down.

She sorts through them; looking up at him in surprise. "You actually put these in alphabetical order?"

"I couldn't help myself," a big grin on his face.

She shakes her head at him; an amused expression on her face. "I guess being around Lois has brought out your playful side," she remarks. "Either that, or you just had yourself some 'afternoon delight,'" winking at him.

His jaw drops; a shocked expression on his face. "WHAT did you just say?"

"You heard me," winking at him again.

He frowns for a moment, then his eyes widen as something occurs to him. "Did Lois tell you about…."

She interrupts him. "Yep," laughing out loud. "She told me all about the instant messaging you two did this morning. She also told me about your little strip tease. I would have paid good money to see that," she quips; leaning back in her chair.

"She shouldn't have told any of that," frowning again while folding his arms across his chest. "Did she tell you about some of the things she said?"

"Not really," she replies. "It was mainly what you said." She's quiet for a moment, then suddenly says, "So you want her above you – do you?" raising her eyebrows.

His eyes narrow at her for a moment, then a mischievous grin begins to form on his face. "Okay," he says. "Since she filled you in on what I said, I think it's only fair to tell you about some of the things SHE said." Then he adds, "If I were you, I would have some water handy."

She looks puzzled. "And why do I need water?"

He looks curiously at her. "It's been a while for you hasn't it Chloe?"

She has a stunned expression on her face. "Now that's NONE of your business Clark."

"Oh really now?" raising his voice a little bit. "I bet that it wasn't Lois' intention to spill the beans about our sex life. I guess you still have some of that investigative reporter still in you."

She frowns at him; raising her hand to slap him. But he catches her wrist before she could do it. "You forget that I'm pretty fast," a smirk on his face.

She scowls at him; getting up from her chair. "Maybe you should leave now before I say something I regret," walking over to the front door and holding it open.

He walks over to her; taking her hands in his. "I'm sorry Chloe. You're right. It's none of my business. I guess it just rubbed me the wrong way when you mentioned the 'afternoon delight.' I just didn't expect Lois to tell you about that."

She looks up at him. "You know, you make it impossible for me to stay mad at you for long," pulling one of her hands away and slapping him on the arm. "While we're on the subject of apologies, I have to apologize too."

"What do you have to apologize for?" he asks her.

"You were right. I did manage to pull it out of Lois. But in her defense, it took me over 20 minutes before she told me anything," shrugging her shoulders. "So don't be mad at her – okay?"

"Okay," giving her a hug.

"Okay," she repeats; returning the hug. Then she lets go. "So why did you want to see me anyway?" she asks as they return to the chairs they were occupying.

"I thought that maybe you could help me out with something."

"Sure," leaning back in her chair. "What is it?"

"Well, I was thinking that Lois and I never had what you would call an 'official first date.' So what I would like to do is give her one. What do you think?"

She smiles at him. "I think that's a great idea. Do you have something in mind?"

"That's where you come in." He proceeds to tell her what his idea is. When he's finished, he asks her, "So can you help me with it?"

"Absolutely," she replies. "I would love to," smiling again at him. "So when is this date supposed to take place?"

"I was thinking this Saturday," he replies. "I'm going to officially ask her tonight."

"Well that gives us a few days of preparation," she says; a thoughtful look on her face.

He glances down at his watch. "I better head on home," getting up from his chair. "I appreciate your help with all this."

"She's not going to know what hit her," she says as they walk back to the front door.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow," giving her a quick peck on the cheek. He starts to walk away, then turn around and says, "One more thing."

"Yes Clark?"

"Thanks. You're the best friend I could have ever hoped for," winking at her as he super speeds away.

"You better believe it buddy," she remarks in a low voice. Then her cell phone rings suddenly. "Hello?" she answers.

"I heard that," Clark's voice coming in loud and clear.

"Very funny Smallville," she retorts.

"Only Lois gets to call me that," he tells her. "Bye."

She hangs up her phone; shaking her head as she puts it away…

TO BE CONTINUED...