FanGirl70349: I'm not mad. But what made you think that in the first place anyway? ^^

Enjoy this one too:)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters and I write for my own pleasure and that of the readers.


It has been a little more than a week since their drunken evening and since then, El had remembered a lot of it. Now, whenever she saw Mike, she blushed when it brought up the memory of that day. While she had walked around in her underwear fully knowing that he got good looks at her curves, she still couldn't believe that she had put his hand on her vagina to show him how flat it was.

She had wanted to talk to him about it, maybe turning out her feelers about how he felt about her but Mike had exiled himself inside his room, typing furiously on his laptop for hours on end and since she knew that he was in the process of writing a sequel to her favorite book, she hadn't dared disturb him.

He even had forgotten to cook, something she had accepted and had supplied him with canned food or ordered in for herself and him, even walked Bella every day, just to let him write. Right now, she was standing in the doorway to his room, watching him in one of his trances and not even trying to read the words he was writing.

But as she watched his back, she realized something momentous. She was in love with him. Probably had been for a while. The girls had been right, she needed to figure it out for herself and now that she had accepted it, she felt lighter, less stressed. But she also worried about his reaction to it. Should she simply tell him? What if he rejected her or worse, told her that he only wanted to be friends. Suddenly, he stopped typing and raised both his arms like he just won a price before taking his cellphone into his hands. El quickly closed the door until it was open only a crack to listen to his call.

"Diane?" Mike spoke into speaker, El's stomach dropping at the thought that he had a woman in his life after all. "I'm finished... Yes, I'm sending you the manuscript now... Can you send me a notification when you get it... and how long for editing?... Okay... Bye."

El breathed a sigh of relief as she hurried back to the living room. This Diane was probably working at the publisher house for his book. She sat down on the couch and turned on the TV, pretending to be interested in what was on when Mike came out of his room, looking as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"You look happy." El remarked, smiling at him.

"Finished a project of mine." he nodded and went towards the kitchen. "You got any lunch wishes for later?"

"I have a hankering for fish." she shrugged and followed him.

"Huh, we have no fish." he hummed, looking into the fridge and freezer.

"Aw, too bad." she moped. "Why didn't we buy some?"

"It wasn't on the list." he shrugged. "Lets go."

"Go where?" she asked as she followed him out of the kitchen, watching him walk into his room where he simply took off his sweatpants, revealing his boxers to her before he put on some shorts for going outside.

"Isn't there a market a few blocks from here?" he asked her.

"Right." she remembered and hurried into her room, leaving the door open.

"We can take Bella with us and make it like a long walk with her." he suggested.

"Good idea." she agreed and took off her own sweatpants and, with her back to him, took off her shirt and bra, leaving herself in a similar slip she had been wearing during the heat wave in the house.

"Good god!" Mike whispered, biting his fist again to stop himself from groaning as El threw a light sundress over her body, smoothing it out before turning around.

"What's wrong?" she saw him flustered.

"Nothing." he shook his head and turned away to go to the living room.

El grinned broadly, knowing exactly what she had done and her stomach fluttering at seeing his reaction. She had at first intended to wear some jeans shorts and a tank top when she had realized that he was watching, her choice became the sundress that she had to get almost naked for. As she walked into the living room, she saw Mike putting the leash on Bella and then he opened the door, waiting for her to grab her purse and a sunhat.

They walked a small detour to their destination to allow Bella to remain close to green surfaces as much as possible. Their dog walked loyally beside them, never dragging, never even paying much attention to other dogs. El knew from before that this was because Mike, while holding the leash, didn't put any tension on it, showing the animal that he was completely calm and in no need of defense.

Having to stop once to allow Bella to take a crap, El handed Mike a doggy bag so he could clean it up and throw it into a public trash can, with great reluctance. She grinned while he did it, seeing one of the few disadvantages of having a large dog, other than its food requirements. While they continued on their way, El suddenly heard an unexpected voice.

"El?" the call of her name made her turn around.

"Dad?" El called back, seeing her father stand in a near distance with some other people.

"How are you?" Jim asked after coming over, hugging her.

"I'm good." El hugged him back and pointed to Mike. "By the way, this is Mike."

"Ah, so you're the man who has been cooking real food for my little girl." Jim smiled at the tall man, though he himself was still a bit taller.

"Nice to meet you, sir." Mike greeted him with a strong handshake.

"Call me Jim." Jim told him and looked at the dog, petting her as Bella wagged her tail excitedly. "Hey there, girl."

"Oh, you have met her already?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, when I visited my daughter when all of you were gone." Jim nodded.

"Dad, what are you doing here, aren't you at work?" El asked.

"I am at work." Jim chuckled. "The mayor and some of the aldermen are doing an inspection tour of some construction work they ordered."

"Then don't let us disturb you." El smiled.

"Can I talk to him for a second?" Jim asked, pointing to Mike.

"Sure." El nodded and took Bella, moving a small distance away.

"Listen, if you hurt her, I will make you disappear." Jim looked threateningly at Mike.

"But, we're not even..." Mike began.

"Save it." Jim interrupted him. "I see the way you look at her and the way she looks at you. You might not be together yet but it's only a matter of time."

"Uh..." Mike didn't know what to say, turning his head to look at El who looked up and smiled at him.

"You see that?" Jim said quietly. "I've never seen my little girl smile so much at someone whenever she looked at that person."

"Oh." was the only thing Mike could say, his stomach starting to flutter. "Thank you, Jim."

"You're welcome." Jim smiled and returned to the other men.

"What did he want?" El asked after Mike's return, handing him the leash again.

"The usual." Mike chuckled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" El wondered as they began walking again.

"What do you think?" Mike winked at her. "What does a father say to a guy who lives in the same house as his daughter?"

"Got it." El laughed. "He's a teddy bear though, don't let him scare you."

"Hard to do when he can make my body disappear without a trace." Mike laughed as well.

As they continued on their way, Mike hesitated to do what the thought of doing. Jim's words echoed in his mind and he replayed the scenes from the past few days. He had been right though, whenever El had looked up at him, her face had lit up in a smile but usually, he had put it on her general friendliness and not something just for him.

While they walked, Mike let his free hand swing, slowly first and then adjusting it to El's swing so that their arms were moving at the same pace into the same direction. Slowly, he extended his pinkie finger until it brushed against the back of her hand, quickly pulling it back to make it look like an accident.

After a few more seconds, he felt El's index finger brush against his, hers also moving away again. Mike took this as a good sign and extended his index finger as well, letting it touch her hand but not moving completely away. His patience was returned when he felt her finger lace through his and, emboldened by her acceptance, he opened his hand and moved it closer to hers until El interlaced her other fingers with his, both ending up holding hands.

El, on her part, felt her heart hammer in her chest, the simple act of holding hands something that felt like a momentous step for them. She didn't dare look at him while they walked as if afraid that it would break the spell, so she kept her gaze forward while their hands were linked, Bella obediently walking on his other side, not caring for the world if her owners were starting to be more than just be roommates and friends.

"There it is." he said when they reaching the market area, lots of people bustling between the stands.

"Can we take Bella into that crowd with us?" she wondered.

"I don't see why not, I see other dogs there." he shrugged and let go of her hand to take a bag out of his pants pocket for their purchases.

"So, what do we need?" she asked, already feeling as if something was missing without her hand in his.

"I thought about making fish stew." he suggested.

"Sounds delicious." she smiled.

"So, as fish we need either cod or salmon." Mike said.

"Cod." she giggled.

"Okay, so we need fresh cod, not salted one, otherwise we'd have to soak the fish for a day to desalt it." Mike nodded. "Then we need onions, garlic, diced tomatoes, the one from the can are fine for this, then coconut milk, sour cream and tomato paste as well as a few peppers."

"Do we need all of it?"

"No, we still have some garlic at home, tomato paste as well." Mike told her. "So, besides fish, we need to buy onions, coconut milk, sour cream and a few peppers."

"There's a small grocery store over there, we can get the stuff we can't get here, like the sour cream and coconut milk." El pointed out.

"Wanna split up?" Mike asked. "You get the can of tomatoes, the milk and the cream and I peruse the offers on the market."

"Should I get fish as well?" she wanted to know.

"Um..." he hesitated and looked around, trying to find a stand that sold fish and seeing one in the distance. "If you can find unsalted cod, buy it, otherwise, we'll get it over there. I take my time around the market and buy everything else first."

"Alright, see you in a few minutes." El smiled at him and took off, walking across the street to the store.

Unbeknownst to her, when she had left the market area, a pair of eyes was watching her, the man it belonged to licking his lips. When he got partnered with her for the new semester project, he had already tried to figure out how to get that one into bed but now that he had heard from some of his buddies that this one was still a virgin, he was more than determined to get that one. Making a plan for the next day, he turned around and headed to the bar he would be meeting his friends in.

Since El hadn't seen him, her mind was still on the man she had been holding hands with. She had no idea if her father had said something to him but she wasn't complaining, feeling their relationship becoming something more, even if it was just incremental steps. She desired him, she knew that much, but she also didn't want to jump into something and give him the impression that it's all about the sex for her.

Sighing at her own overthinking, she grabbed the can of tomatoes, cream and the coconut milk and after finding no fresh cod, paid for those three items and headed back out, returning to the market stalls and trying to find Mike. Since he walked with a large dog, he was pretty easy to spot and she quickly returned to his side, keeping the bag with the groceries in her hand while he held the second one containing everything else but the fish.

They continued to stroll through the market, taking their time but neither noticed the dark clouds moving in from the west, since the sun was still partially in the east, shining down on them. Mike stood before the fish stand and looked at the offers, pointing at a particular cod and nodding when the woman behind the sales counter asked if she should gut it.

Thankfully, she disappeared behind a curtain to do that, El not knowing if she could have watched it. The process seemed to go faster than she had expected because only a minute later, the woman came back with a wrapped package, handing it to Mike and receiving the payment from him. When they began making their way back, El noticed a large part of the people beginning to move out of the market area as if fleeing from something.

"What's going on?" El asked, asking a man behind another stall.

"I guess, that." he man pointed behind them.

"Oh, shit." Mike commented the dark, menacing rain cloud.

"Oh, shit." El repeated, very aware of herself wearing nothing but a sundress and a slip.

They started a fast-paced walk back to the house, only just short of running but her short legs wouldn't get her enough speed to make it in time. They were about half-way back when the rainstorm hit, large drops hitting the concrete and asphalt below their feet. El began shivering, the sudden cold water on her skin washing away the heat of the morning and when they had finally reached their house, her teeth were chattering.

"Get into the bathroom and out of your dress, I'll get you some dry clothes." Mike said as they entered the house, Bella walking into the master bathroom herself where she shook herself.

El hurried into the bathroom herself, getting out of her wet clothes and into the shower, turning the knob and letting warm water hit her. She heard Mike open the door and put the dry clothes down before he left for another bathroom to copy what she was doing. He emerged back, cleaned and wearing dry clothing and when El came out of the master bathroom, he went in there and hanged his wet clothes and her wet sundress above the bathtub to let them dry out a bit.

"Seriously, as soon as we're home, the rain stops again." she moped. "Mike, I'm hungry."

"Got it." he laughed and went into the kitchen, El right behind him.

"Can I help?" she asked.

"You can slice the peppers." he told her. "Make sure to get the seeds out completely."

"Got it." she nodded and did as he told while he diced half an onion and minced the two garlic gloves before cutting the cod into smaller pieces.

After banning her from the cooking area, with El sitting down on the kitchen island to watch him, with her legs dangling from the sides, Mike got to work, laying out all the ingredients. He poured two spoonfuls of oil into the skillet, waiting until it was heated before adding the onion and the garlic and cooking it until it became fragrant, El's nose lifting up like Bella's when she smelled food.

Next he poured the can of diced tomatoes into the skillet and stirred it quickly. After a minute, he added the coconut milk, sour cream and tomato paste, stirring it further and cooking it for another three minutes while he collected the cod and the peppers. When the countdown was over, he added the fish and peppers, stirring it before grabbing the pepper- and salt mills, giving both two turns to add some seasoning.

El saw him taste it a taste and after flicking his head left and right as if evaluating it, he added a few red pepper flakes to add a bit of spiciness to it. He put the lid onto the skillet and turned down the heat, then washed the plates where the ingredients had been on before turning to El, smiling at her.

"Now it has to stir for about ten to twelve minutes." he explained. "You want to add some rice to it?"

"Sounds nice." she agreed.

"We could also add quinoa, but I don't think we have any and I forgot to mention it before." he mused, looking into the cupboards.

"Rice is fine." she giggled and hopped off the island, taking out the bag of rice. "But won't it take too long to cook?"

"No, it's five minute rice." he winked at her.

"Cool."

"How much do you want?" he asked, pouring his amount into a bowl with a large measuring spoon.

"One spoon will be fine." she smiled broadly, watching him wash the rice before adding enough water to cook it.

He turned on the stove to full and placed the pot on it, then opened the stew skillet and turned the cod pieces around before closing it again. He then left the kitchen to use the bathroom and El took the opportunity to take the lid of the skillet again to taste the sauce that the cod and vegetables were cooking. She moaned at the amazing taste and put the lid back on and when the cooking time for the rice and stew were done, she turned off the stove and took the rice pot from the stove to let it sit for a while. Last, she opened the cupboard and took two dinner plates out of it.

"We may wanna use bowls." Mike told her as he returned into the kitchen.

"Aren't dinner plates better to eat it?" she wondered.

"True, but I usually put the rice into the stew instead of the other way around." he said.

"Why?" she wanted to know. "You put the rice on the plate and then pour the stew over it, right?"

"Normally, yes." he nodded. "But that often leads to most of the stew staying above the rice and you have to mix it but more often than not, you end up with a spoonful or two of almost dry rice after eating all the stew."

"That's true." she remembered from the times she had eaten stews with rice with her mom.

"Food is done, let me show you." she said and grabbed the pot with the rice and the stew, pouring the latter in equal measure into the bowls. "Once the stew is in the bowl, you add the rice and stir it."

"Cool." she smiled. "Now all the rice can soak up the sauce."

"Exactly." he winked and took her bowl to bring them to the dinner table, El following with two spoons. "Bon appetit."

"Seriously, you should have moved in here years ago." she hummed as she ate, the stew tasting even better than when she had sampled it.

"Yeah, I should." he chuckled. "I like living here. And the people I live with."

"I say it again, if one of the others give you any trouble, they're out of here." she laughed and slurped more of the sauce before making a face and sneezing hard three times.

"Bless you." he looked surprised. "Are you allergic to one of the ingredients?"

"Not that I know of." she shook her head. "I hope that rainstorm didn't make me sick."

"If it did, I'll care for you." he smiled and gave her hand a squeeze.

"Thanks." El smiled right back and dug into her food again.

They spent the rest of the day watching TV together, El beginning to feel progressively worse. Her throat became scratchy and her voice hoarse and it felt as if there was pressure building up her nose. The last thing she wanted right now was a cold so she wrapped herself into a blanket while Mike took her into his arms, warming her further with his body. El melted into his embrace, wondering if they would be kissing madly right now if she weren't feeling unwell but she accepted his arms around her nonetheless.

When she used the bathroom at one point, she came back out to an empty living room, Mike in the kitchen. He came back with a large pot in his hand and an empty cup, putting both on coasters and placing them in front of her on the coffee table.

"What's that?" she asked.

"It's peppermint tea with a spoonful of honey in it." he told her and poured her a cup.

"Thanks." she smiled warmly at him and drank the hot liquid, the honey giving it a natural sweetening that also soothed her throat.

El was about to snuggle into his side again when he surprised her, lifting her by the waist and setting her down directly in his lap before he threw the blanket over both of them. El again melted into the embrace, never wanting to leave but her bladder made her do it anyway after two hours.

"You should take a hot bath." Mike suggested. "I saw some medicinal herbs in the bathroom you can put into the bathwater."

"That's a great idea." she nodded and headed into the bathroom, opening the faucet and letting the tub fill up while using the toilet.

She added some soap into the water so it was filled with bubbles before adding the herbal mixture, that gave out a sharp scent. She stepped into the tub and laid down, deeply inhaling the scent and closing her eyes, simply letting herself get soaked in the liquid. After about half an hour, she realized something she had forgotten and thought of another way to show Mike what he would get with her if they became an item.

"Mike, can you come in here please?" she shouted from the tub.

"What is it?" he called through the door after opening it just a bit.

"I forgot my pajamas, can you get them for me please?" she asked.

"Sure." he agreed and went into her bedroom, lifting the duvet from her bed and finding them, grinning at what he saw before bringing them to the bathroom, stopping outside. "Are you decent?"

"Yes, come on in." she confirmed and he opened the door, seeing her in the bathtub with bubbles covering up her intimate parts.

"There you go." he said as he put them down, smiling broadly.

"What's funny?" she wondered.

"Your pajamas." he winked.

"Hey, I like Snoopy." she pouted, referring to the motif on the bottoms.

"I think they're cute." he grinned. "And look very nice on you."

"Can you do me one more favor?" she asked and held up her loofah. "Wash my back?"

"Sure." he nodded after a brief hesitation and took the loofah.

He put it on and dunked it into the water. El leaned forward and he was barely able to suppress his groan when he saw her. When she head moved her upper body, her arm had wiped away the bubbles from the side of her chest and her breast stood out in all its glory. It wasn't that big at all, but to him, it was simply perfection.

"Everything okay?" she asked when she didn't feel the loofah on her back, not turning around.

"Yeah, yeah." he breathed out and began cleaning her back, still unable to tear his eyes away from what he was seeing.

"That feels nice." she hummed and smiled to herself, knowing what he was looking at and glad that her plan had worked.

"All done." he proclaimed, standing up and quickly stepping away from her so she couldn't see his crotch.

"Thank you." she smiled and leaned back again.

"I'm going to make you some light dinner and then you'll go to bed early, okay?" he turned around, a gaze at his crotch telling her that he had calmed down again.

"Okay." she accepted and waited until he was out before stepping out of the tub, drying herself off and putting on her pajamas and the robe he had brought in as well, humming at its softness.

"Where did you get this?" she asked after entering the living room, pointing at the robe.

"That's mine." he chuckled. "Soft, isn't it?"

"Very much so." she hummed, almost trying to sink into the robe. "No wonder it's so big."

"Here, eat this." Mike handed her a bowl with chicken soup from a packet. "Tomorrow, I'll go to the store and buy some ingredients for a real chicken soup, not this packaged stuff. And you're going to sleep in."

"Those are words I always love to hear." she chuckled and drank the soup, not even bothering with a spoon until the end to scratch the remains out of the bowl.

She thanked him and went into her room, taking off the robe and closing the shades before wrapping herself into her duvet. Once she had closed her eyes, sleep wasn't long in coming and she fell into a dreamless slumber.


The next morning, Mike got up and checked on her, seeing her sleeping soundly. Her breathing seemed to be somewhat strained, her nose apparently still closed but it sounded better than it had the day before. He gave her a gentle kiss on the forehead and left the house, taking Bella with him and walking to the grocery store, where he bound her to a fence post before going in.

He grabbed shopping basket and put in a few carrots, a celery root, some leek and parsley, a bag of soup noodles and the most important ingredient, a small frozen soup chicken. While he was here, he also took a few boxes of hardtack to replace the one that El had eaten when she had her hangover and a few bag of various teas.

After paying, he went back out and took Bella's leash again, leading the dog back home. Once there, he took the pressure cooker and dropped the chicken into it, adding water and putting it on the stove, turning it on to heat the water in advance. While the water heated up, he cut the carrots, leek and celery root into small pieces and poured them into the pot as well before picking apart the piece of parsley by hand and adding that too, along with some salt and pepper, then he closed the lid and simply let it cook.

Since it took forty-five minutes to cook once the cooker was under pressure, he went into his room and sat down at his laptop, checking his emails and thinking about plot points for a possible third book, in case his current one sold well and he got the go-ahead for another one. As was the case every time he started working on a book, time flew by and soon enough, the oven timer dinged and he went back into the kitchen to turn the stove off.

He let the steam escape until he could open the lid. After grabbing some tongs, he pulled the chicken out of the pot and placed it on a flat bowl to catch the liquid dripping from it. Before he did anything else, he grabbed another pot and filled it with water and began heating it up. He took a knife and scraped the skin off of the chicken. then began pulling the chicken meat from the bones, throwing it back into the pot.

When the water began boiling, he poured the noodles in, stirring them a few times and lowering the heat of the stove before putting the lid back on, leaving a crack open. He continued with separating the meat from the bones and when was finally finished, the noodles were done cooking as well and he quickly poured them into a strainer before adding them too into the large pot, placing it back onto the stove and activating the plate on a low setting. He then walked into El's bedroom, looking down at this angel in human form and gently shook her awake.

"Hey." he smiled when her eyes opened. "I made some chicken soup. Feel any better?"

"Actually, yeah." she nodded. "Still a little clammy."

"Just a tad." he chuckled when he saw her white nightshirt cling tightly to her.

"Pig." she poked out her tongue at him when she noticed why he was looking at her like that.

She grabbed a set of clean clothes and walked into the bathroom, stepping into the shower to clean herself. Meanwhile, Mike pulled the sheets from her bed to put them into the hamper for later washing. When El emerged from the bathroom, she felt refreshed and mostly healthy again, Mike's care from last night having helped immensely.

"Take a seat." he said and walked into the kitchen, coming back out carrying two plates and the pressure cooker, putting all of it down.

"What's this?" she asked, looking into the pot.

"Chicken soup." he replied, looking confused at her. "Didn't I tell you last night that I was going to make some?"

"Never saw chicken soup like this." she shrugged and took a taste. "Wow, that's good!"

"Told you." he winked at her and ate his share.

El helped herself to a second bowl and almost inhaled it, feeling better with every spoonful she ate. After lunch, Mike put a way the bowls and poured the remains of the pot, of which there was quite a lot, into a smaller pot before putting that into the fridge and cleaning the cooker. After a midday walk with Bella, Mike joined El on the couch and she laid her head down on his leg, a blanket over her.

Unconsciously, Mike began caressing her side and head. While her heart rate went up at first, El calmed down and her eyes became heavy again. She fell asleep roughly around one in the afternoon and Mike didn't dare move, not wanting to wake her, even as his body began reminding him that a human who ate a meal a few hours ago needed to use the bathroom once in a while. It wasn't until the early evening, when El stirred again.

"Real Housewives!" El gasped and her body went vertical.

"Unbelievable." Mike laughed.

"What?" El looked at him. "It's a great show."

"Objection." he kept laughing.

"Heathen." El pouted when Bella barked at them, demanding to be walked.

"Thank you, ma Belle. Perfect timing, just when Housewives starts." Mike chuckled and got up, putting the leash around the dog's neck. "See, even she thinks so."

"So I guess, she has to go to the pound after all." she huffed theatrically but then smiled at him before he left the house with their dog for her evening walk.

Almost an hour later, her show over, she got up and went into the kitchen, cutting apart some cucumbers as snacks for later. She heard a knock on her front door and wondered who it could be since neither she nor Mike had ordered food and apart from her dad and Mike, nobody should really be visiting her. But maybe he had just forgotten his key. She walked to the door and opened it, seeing someone she hadn't expected at all.

"Simon?" she looked at the guy who she got partnered with for a project to be handed in during the first month of the new semester. "What are you doing here?"

"I thought we could get a head start for our project, so we don't have to do it during the first week." he replied and she didn't like the way he looked at her.

"It's summer break, how did you even know I was home?" she asked.

"I took a chance." he shrugged and she couldn't help but think he was lying. "So, wanna start? We could hash out who does what."

"Very well, come on in." she sighed, hoping that Mike would return soon from his walk with Bella.


"So, I heard you're still a virgin, is that true?" Simon asked after about ten minutes of them trying to work out their jobs, making El sigh, although she should have expected it.

"And where did you hear that?" she retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Word gets around." Simon smiled, leaning sideways on the couch and she had an idea where this was going.

"Well, word is wrong." she stated and decided to lie, tired of all those jerks hitting on her because they thought she belonged to them. "I have a boyfriend."

"Strange that no one ever saw you with one on campus." Simon stated.

"Because he's not going to our college, he's going to Stanford." she shot back. "Lets get back to the project so we can be done with it for today."

"Not so fast." Simon wasn't letting up, since he wanted to score with this one. "Who's this boyfriend?"

"Why do you care?" she gave him an exasperated look and she breathed a sigh of relief when she heard a key in the front door.

"I'm home!" Mike shouted, entering the house with Bella and saw El sitting on the couch with a guy he's never seen before.

"Who's this?" the guy asked before Mike could, giving him what Mike thought was supposed to be some kind of death glare, though Mike found it more ridiculous than scary, especially when Bella barked at him and the guy's eyes went to the large dog that looked at him as if to size up a possible meal.

"That's Mike, my boyfriend." El stated and Mike looked a bit surprised at her and saw her mouth mouthing the word help, Mike nodding in understanding.

"That guy?" Simon asked stunned, looking at Mike again and forgetting the dog for the moment, Bella sitting down in front of El's legs, ready to defend her mistress if necessary.

"Hey honey." Mike smiled at El as he walked around to her and bent down, her head moving backwards and he dropped a kiss on her lips, glad that she had understood his intent. "I'll leave you alone to work."

"Thanks." El smiled relieved, feeling her lips tingle and thankful that he had understood and while Simon continued to stare daggers at Mike's back, El activated her phone screen and started a WhatsApp call with him so he could listen in.

"So, how long have you two been together?" Simon asked, not quite believing that the girl he wanted to fuck and heard was single had a boyfriend after all.

"About a month." El shrugged. "It's hard to pin down a date, since it happened kinda fluidly."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"One day we were watching TV together and I laid my head down on his legs, the next thing I know I fall asleep cuddling into his chest and suddenly, we were kissing each other goodnight." El shrugged, describing a thing what had happened only a few hours ago. "Now, we kiss all the time."

"And have sex?"

"Not that it's any of your business, but of course." she rolled her eyes again. "Now, back to the project, otherwise, you can leave right now. I'm not wasting my time explaining my love life to you."

"You guys want something to drink?" a reappearing Mike asked, about to go into the kitchen.

"No, thanks." Simon tried to get the guy out of the room.

"Can you bring me a juice?" El asked.

"Of course, my love." Mike smiled, playing the doting boyfriend and making her stomach flutter at his term of endearment as he disappeared into the kitchen to come back out ten seconds later, carrying a bottle of juice and a bottle of water for himself. "There you go."

"Thanks, sweetie." El smiled back at him and motioned him closer with her eyes, Mike understanding and dropping another kiss on her lips.

"So, Mike, how long have you two been together?" Simon asked him this time, still not giving up on his idea that they were just acting. "And how did it happen?"

"About a month." Mike shrugged. "It kinda just happened."

"Interesting." Simon grumbled, their stories unfortunately consistent. "Listen, I think I should head out. I'll write my part at home and send it to you, then you can incorporate it into our report."

"Sounds good." El stated without emotion and got up to let him out, sighing in relief when the guy was gone.

"So, care to tell me why I'm suddenly your boyfriend?" Mike grinned and she flopped down on the couch, leaning into his side, feeling his heart rate speed up quickly.

"God, I can't stand that guy." she huffed into his shirt. "He's always making snide comments about me, about how he wants to fuck me. He thinks I don't know that he does this and now we are partnered for a project."

"He's an asshole, don't let him get to you." he advised, rubbing her back and side.

"Easier said than done." she sighed. "Hopefully, he'll get the hint now that he's walking against a wall with me."

"Do you have a lot of guys like him in your classes?" Mike asked.

"A few." she mumbled, her face still buried against his chest. "There's him, then there's Andrew who asks me out constantly and even smacks my ass no matter how many of his fingers I break in retaliation."

"Don't you get in trouble for breaking his fingers?" Mike wondered.

"Who's he gonna complain to?" El grinned. "The Chief of Police?"

"Yeah, that would go over well." Mike chuckled. "Chief, I want to press charges against your daughter. I smacked her ass and she had the nerve to break my fingers."

"Dad would probably shoot him and make the body disappear." El laughed, lifting her head and seeing his smiling face. "I think you earned a reward for helping me like this."

"Really?" he looked expectantly. "What is it?"

"Wait here." she giggled and hurried into her room.

Taking a deep breath and wondering if she should go through with it, she decided to just do it, taking off her shorts and pulling the fabric of her underwear up a bit to make it look like it had been the other night. She even changed into another loose undershirt, knotting it up under her breasts to look like she did during their drunken night and when she looked at herself in the mirror, she nodded to herself and took another deep breath before taking the chance.

"Tadaa." she giggled as she walked into the living room.

"My god, you're so sexy." he groaned and slid down on the couch, his head ending up under the top of the backrest before barking out a short laugh.

"What's so funny?" she looked at him confused.

"Your underwear, it's pink." he grinned.

"Yes?" she still didn't understand.

"You got a pink slip." he winked at her.

"Ha ha." she gave him an eye-roll laugh, getting the joke. "If you think this is sexy, what about this?"

El turned her back to him and began dancing a bit, swaying her hips to a tune in her head. Mike couldn't believe what he was seeing, and he thought for a moment that she got drunk again, otherwise, he couldn't quite believe where this version of El had come from. She turned again and winked at him before twirling around again, taking three steps closer to him.

"You're killing me here." he whined.

"But I'm not doing anything." she giggled and squealed when he suddenly grabbed her around the waist and pulled her onto the couch with her partially ending up on his lap.

"You know full well what you're doing." he said.

"I'm completely innocent." she smiled and turned to look at him, his eyes boring holes into her soul, her smile disappearing when she realized the intensity of his look.

"I..." he stammered, his hand still around her waist and she felt a slight pressure from them, also seeing his eyes flicker to her lips.

"Mike." she breathed and moved forward, her arms snaking around his neck and her lips connecting with his.


So, she finally kissed him :D

Review please :)