She should've been writing up her report while Mulder was out, but she had purchased a book yesterday and wasn't able to put it down. Having read half of it the night before, she had tucked it in her purse at the last minute on her way out the door this morning, hoping maybe to steal away some reading time on her lunch. Mulder had told her when she got in that he was meeting with Chuck Burks and would be gone most of the morning, so she was going to take advantage of her alone time.

Scully waited until she heard the elevator ding and then poked her head out of the office door to make sure he had gone. She did not want him to catch her reading this book; he would mercilessly tease her and the rate of sexual innuendos would skyrocket. It's not like it was porn or some cheesy romance novel, it was a feminist work that focused on the power of a woman's sexuality, State of Vulva. The cover had an illustration of a woman's body, legs spread, with a flower positioned over her sex.

It was funny, full of information with science backing up many of the theories, and fiercely feminist. Reading it gave her a freeing feeling, and she felt very connected to the author, Dr. Jean Milburn. The way she wrote was not too technical but added that aspect in the necessary ways. Scully felt she got a sense of her personality as she injected unabashed humor into the subject matter.

She was so deep into Chapter 12: My Yoni, Myself, that she didn't hear Mulder return early. Scully nearly jumped three feet off the chair when he cheekily said from the doorway, "And what is the state of your vulva, Scully?"

"Jesus Christ! Mulder! Goddamn it!" she exclaimed, her heart racing from being startled and also totally mortified.

He stepped toward her, peering closely at the cover of the book that she was now trying to nonchalantly conceal with her hands. "If you want, you can hide your "anatomy" book in the drawer with all those videos that aren't mine."

She was still breathing fast from the scare but knew she had to shut this down as quickly as possible. "It's not porn, Mulder, it's informative. All women should have knowledge of their bodies," she said as calmly as she could, realizing that she was just digging herself deeper into this humiliating hole. As a little jab back at him, she added under her breath, "Men should, too."

Mulder grabbed the book from her. "Really? Can I read it after you?"

If he didn't say it with such a taunting tone she might've agreed to lend it to him, but he was only saying it to goad her. "No," she said sternly, grabbing it back.

"You're right," he said, affecting a lofty voice, "I probably don't need to read it."

Scully trained her eyes on him. "And why is that, Mulder?"

He shrugged. "I've never had any complaints."

"That you know of." She wasn't sure why she was playing along now.

"Oh Scully, you wound me," Mulder mock wailed, clutching his chest. "I have no doubt that the feedback I've gotten in that department has been nothing less than truthful."

"Forgive me for being skeptical, but the truth is definitely in here," Scully said, pointing to the book, "not in some woman who has mastered the art of faking it."

"Nice try, I've seen that episode of Seinfeld."

Scully chuckled. "Good, then you know it's highly plausible that the women you've been with have faked orgasm."

This threw him off his game completely. Dana Scully just said "orgasm." He was going to end up the butt of this line of joking if he didn't quit while he was ahead. Mulder shifted his feet, hoping that the tightening of his pants was not evident.

She noticed his hesitation. Did she take it too far? She didn't mean to actually offend him. "I'm sure not all, though, Mulder." Having imagined his sexual prowess in her fantasies more times than she could count, she presumed that he did excel in this area. Great, she thought, my brain just had to go there, didn't it? You want to know the state of my vulva, Mulder? Well, it's wet.

Before he could think of a witty comeback, the words flew out of his mouth, "Have you had to fake it a lot?" Her face turned pink. He made her blush! She probably matched him because his cheeks were burning.

"I, uh, I have on occasion…" She wasn't about to go into detail about it, so she turned the focus back on the book. "There's actually a chapter on that, on how women should stop faking and vocalize their needs and what isn't working for them."

Mulder cleared his throat. "That ...that sounds like good advice."

Scully looked at him, somewhat dazed. He seemed to be as well. The air in the room was heavy now; the conversation had taken a turn from harmless ribbing to something else entirely. She licked her lips. "Yeah, I'll have to try it...the next time I, uh…" Do not finish that sentence, Dana! she warned herself. Oh god, but it would be worse if he did, huh? Scully silently pleaded with him not to.

Neither of them had the chance to find out if he would because the phone rang and put a halt to this risky exchange. Mulder answered it and Scully stood up to put her book back into her purse. Skinner was calling to move their meeting up; they would both have to hurry and write those reports. Thankful for the distraction, they got to work, hoping that things said in that loaded discourse would be forgotten by the other, hoping to forget it themselves so they could continue denying their feelings for each other.