Smiling to herself, Rebecca leaned back in her chair as everyone filed out of the room, then finally let herself grin back at Paula when she gave her 'excited mom face' and two thumbs up when she walked past her. Yes, she should be proud, and she should enjoy this.

She's managed to get through one whole meeting without being interrupted or disagreed with or contradicted by... well, you know.

It's not that she wanted his approval - she had more self worth in her work than that - but it was just tiring having him push against her all the time. Not just because it was annoying, but because every time she got annoyed at him she got hot and frustrated, and that reminded her of when they'd gotten hot and frustrated together, and she really needed to stop thinking about that while she was at work.

Clearing her throat, she collected her notes from the meeting and returned to her office, dropping the paperwork on her desk. Nathaniel glanced up at her and smiled at her thinly. She smiled back at him. "So did you save all of your remarks for when we're alone?" she asked sarcastically.

He shrugged noncommittally. "No remarks," he said simply.

Rebecca frowned. That was... boring. Then she gave herself a shake, mentally slapping herself on the head. No, you idiot. Her instinct to fight him would only get them both into hot water. "Well, good," she said cheerfully, grabbing her bag. "I'm rewarding myself with an early lunch."

Now he finally reacted normally, looking at her straight on and sighing. "It's eleven o'clock, Rebecca."

"Yes it is," she said, pausing at the door. Majority ownership was great. "Want anything? Burger? Pizza? Fries?" She smirked at the face that he pulled, waving over her shoulder as she left.

Lunch came and went, and by three o'clock her high from the meeting had well and truly faded. Sighing, she propped her elbow on the desk and her chin in her palm, scrolling through the details of the case she was working on but not really seeing it. Nathaniel had gone to meet a client so at least she had the office to herself, but she just couldn't make her mind take in the words. Letting her head slip off of her hand and onto the desk, she banged her forehead against it a few times, trying to wake herself up.

Theoretically, she could just go home if she wanted to. She was the boss, after all.

But the case had to be filed, and she had to set an example, blah blah blah.

Well, not entirely blah blah blah. She did really love this firm and her job and her co-workers. She was good at it, and liked that she was good at it. Right now, though, the only thing she wanted to be good at was taking a nap.

A nap wasn't going to happen, but she could take a break. Rubbing at her eyes, and then under them in case she'd just smudged her mascara everywhere, she made her way to the break room to make a coffee. Darryl was sitting at one of the tables, staring intently at his phone, and he didn't even look up at her as she fussed around the kitchen, let alone start a conversation. She'd just finished stirring in the creamer when she gave up, walking over and waving her hand in front of his face. "Hello? Earth to Darryl?"

He didn't even jump, just slumped further into his seat. "She hasn't called me yet," he said, tossing his phone onto the table. It sat there for about three seconds before he picked it up again and continued to stare at it.

Pressing her lips together, Rebecca took the seat closest to Darryl, reaching out to take the phone from him, putting it on the table and then covering his hand with hers. "Remember what Heather said, okay? When was she going for the blood test?"

Darryl looked skyward. "On her lunch break."

"And when did they say she'd get the results?"

He sighed with his whole body the way that only he knew how to. "By the end of the day," he said heavily. "I know, I know," he whined, "but I just want to know now. This is my baby we're talking about," he added, as if she didn't know that.

"Darryl, do you remember the home pregnancy test that she took yesterday?"

He finally relaxed, grinning suddenly. "I know, it's so great isn't it? But still, I just want the confirmation because, you know, this is my baby."

Having successfully turned him from distressed to excited, Rebecca took a long drink from her mug to hide her smile. Damn, she was a good friend/boss. Was she still Darryl's boss if she was representing his stake in the firm? Who cares, she was going with it anyway.

"Any news on the baby yet?"

Lowering her coffee, Rebecca screwed up her face when Nathaniel walked into the break room. "What do you care?" she asked.

"Oh shush, Rebecca," Darryl said, squeezing her arm as Nathaniel threw a smug grin at her over his shoulder. "Nathaniel's actually been really sweet about -"

"Who the hell drank the last of the coffee and didn't refill the pot?"

Widening her eyes, Rebecca hid her smirk behind her mug as she took another sip. Rolling his eyes, Nathaniel turned away, grabbing the pot and turning to the sink, holding it under the tap and turning it on.

Rebecca gasped in surprise as water burst from the tap, spraying Nathaniel, who let out a high-pitched yelp and dropped the coffee pot, holding out both hands to block the water but it just kept coming at him. Leaning away from the spray, he tried to turn off the tap but it didn't stop. Rebecca sat frozen in shock, her mouth falling open as Nathaniel struggled, but at least she wasn't worse than Darryl, who jumped up and backed up against the wall as though a stray splash of water might ruin his week.

Nathaniel gave up trying to block the water and disappeared below the sink, and a moment later the flood of water stopped. Rebecca covered her mouth with her hands, staring wide eyed at the broken faucet, the water all over the kitchen, and Nathaniel...

Nathaniel knelt in front of the sink, his head bowed, breathing heavily. He was completely drenched, water dripping from his hair, his clothes soaked. Slowly, he pulled himself to his feet, his hands gripping white-knuckled on the bench, then he lifted his head. "George!"

"Yes, sir." George darted into the break room so quickly it was as though he'd been waiting in the wings.

"Call someone to fix this," Nathaniel said, taking a clean tea towel from the cupboard and wiping his face. Rebecca bit down hard on her lip, trying not to look at him, trying to look at anything else, but that felt physically impossible when he stood just... just right there, with his white shirt plastered to his body and showing her every detail of his chest, arms, stomach, absolutely everything that she wanted to put her hands on. Suddenly she was burning up, heat filling every inch of her and building right in her gut and between her legs.

"And you guys were so much help," he added sarcastically, turning towards them, but his words faltered when her eyes unwillingly rose to meet his. His hair was a mess, still dripping down his face, and she stared wide-eyed at a trickle that made its slow way down his neck.

When did the air in here get so thick?

Nathaniel took a deep, shuddering breath, blinking quickly, and Rebecca tried to use the moment to shake herself out of it but she couldn't shake the tension that had settled firmly inside her. She looked away, tried to compose herself, but she only lasted for a moment before she was peeking back at him, drinking in the sight of his muscled shoulders underneath the wet shirt, the fabric sticking tightly to his firm stomach.

Noooooo.

She couldn't look at him anymore, not if she wanted to avoid jumping him right there in front of everyone. Suddenly the ground was super interesting. After a moment Nathaniel cleared his throat loudly. "I'm just going to - I have a change of clothes in my office, so -" Without bothering to finish his sentence, he stalked from the break room, his shoes squelching slightly with every step.

Silence filled the room behind him, then Darryl leaned over her shoulder. "I guess he learned his lesson after his last 'incident' at work," he said knowingly.

"Yeah," she said distractedly, then gave herself a shake. She had to get away from other people, or she was going to make a fool of herself. "Show's over, let's all get back to work. George, clean this up," she said, waving her hand in the general direction of the mess as she got to her feet and went to hide in her office.

Which was a terrible idea. A terrible, stupid, dumb idea, because of course where else would Nathaniel be?

He looked up at her when she walked into the office, the two of them freezing when they saw each other. He was standing at the back of the room, a fresh shirt hanging from the back of his chair, his hand paused in pulling his tie from around his neck. He wasn't dripping anymore, but his hair was still plastered to his head, his shirt clinging to his body. Slowly, her eyes ran up his body until she reached his eyes, and she looked away immediately when she saw the fire burning in them as he stared back at her. Every inch of her skin felt like it was on fire. "I'll go," she said, taking a step back and almost tripping over the couch.

"No, I'll just – bathroom," he muttered, grabbing his shirt and a towel from one of the cupboards behind his desk. She kept her eyes on the floor as he walked past her, and then sank down onto the couch as soon as he'd left. She was screwed, she was so screwed. It wasn't just the sight of him all drenched and hot and wet, but by the way he'd looked at her, he knew how turned on she was by him and that turned him on too. And that certainly affected her.

Dropping her head into her hands, she twisted her fingers into her hair and pulled. Stop, stop, stop, stop, stop. Taking a deep breath in, she held it for as long as she could, and then got up and left her office.

And walked straight to the men's room.

No one was in sight of the door when she approached it so she slipped quickly inside, and was relieved to see that Nathaniel was the only one in there. His back was to her, but she could see from his reflection that he'd towel-dried his hair and was in the process of buttoning up his fresh shirt. After a moment he glanced up at the mirror, and she caught his eyes in the reflection.

Slowly, deliberately, she reached behind her and turned the lock.

Nathaniel spun around just as she closed the distance between them, so she felt not an inkling of doubt as she took his head between her hands and pulled him down to her, kissing him hotly and pressing her body flush against his. His arms came around her, his hands sliding down her body and settling on her ass, pulling her more firmly against him. He was – fuck, he was already hard for her, and she kissed him harder, needing to make the absolute most of every moment.

Not physically capable of waiting any longer even if she wanted to – she'd been ready for this for the last ten minutes – she pushed him backwards into the stall, breaking their kiss as she fumbled with his belt buckle. One of his hands slipped under her dress to tug down her underwear while the other reached behind him to lower the lid on the seat, and then she was climbing onto his lap, straddling his thighs and pressing herself right up against him. His pants were pushed down enough that his underwear was the only thing separating them, and she grinded herself against him, gasping from the sensation of his hardness right against her most sensitive spot. Nathaniel jerked his hips up towards her, apparently feeling it just as intently as she did.

Somehow, she still had the presence of mind to dig his wallet out of his pocket and find a condom, dropping the wallet and then the wrapper on the floor, sliding the condom down over his cock. As soon as it was on he grabbed her by her hips, pulling her close as she lined him up and sank down onto him.

She gave herself a moment, rocking her hips gently against his as she adjusted to his fit, but she was so turned on already and the little "oh" sound he made as she moved against him had her going straight for it. Taking a firm hold of his hard, broad shoulders, she used them as leverage as she started to ride him, moaning lowly at the drag of him inside her. His grip shifted from her hips to her ass, helping her move against him and oh, god, this was everything she'd craved when she'd first seen him wet and dripping in the kitchen.

Well, almost everything. In lieu of drenching him in water again, she tugged the buttons of his shirt undone and smoothed her hands over his stomach and up his chest, enjoying every swell of his muscles, his soft skin and toned body incredible under her fingers. As if reading her mind, Nathaniel reached up with one hand and tugged down the zipper at the back of her dress and pulled it from her shoulders, unclipping her bra. She let it fall and herself firmly against him, pressing her cheek against his, thrilling in the feeling of his hot bare skin sliding against her bare skin.

It was too good. Pushing his shirt further off of his shoulders, Rebecca bent her head and pressed her open mouth against his shoulder, struggling to hold back her moans. When she kissed her way up to his neck and found that sensitive spot just below his ear, he groaned loudly, and she reached up blindly to cover his mouth with her hand. There was only a wall or two between them and every single person who they had to work with every day. "You have to be – ohh, you have to be quiet," she said, starting out in a whisper and then ruining it when she moaned the last word loudly into his neck.

Nudging away her hand, he turned his head and buried his face against her neck, pressing hot, wet kisses against her skin and doing absolutely nothing to help with the fact that she wanted to scream. And then he made it worse, slipping a hand in between them and rubbing furiously at her clit, making her hips jerk forward against his at the new sensation. He groaned again at her reaction, the hand on her ass pulling her more forcefully against him, starting to thrust up further to meet her, and then he was moaning under his breath, louder and louder every moment.

She was so close, but he was closer, and when he started to shudder underneath her she didn't stop. She wanted to watch him fall apart so badly, but their intermingling moans were getting increasingly desperate and loud so she wrapped her arm around his neck and kissed him firmly, holding onto his shoulders tightly, her hips moving over his unceasingly as his stuttered forward and she felt his cock pulsate as he came inside her. His touch on her faltered for a moment, but then he tugged her closer, his hand holding her hip with bruising force, his finger rubbing at her clit furiously until she came as well, muffling her moans and cursing against his neck. She continued to roll her hips against him, each slow movement one more shiver through her body.

Rebecca eventually let herself relax against him, dropping her forehead onto his shoulder and sucking in deep breaths. He held her closely, and even if it weren't for the orgasm induced looseness that flooded her, it still felt good to be in his arms. And – back to that orgasm – she felt herself melt just a little bit more as she revelled in the tingles still surging through her. "Oh my god," she muttered. How was it possible that he could get her so damned aroused so easily, and get her off just as quickly?

"Mhmm," he agreed wordlessly, burying his face into her neck, squeezing her tighter and nuzzling into her. His softening cock twitched inside her as he moved, and her legs tightened around him in reflex, her hips rocking forward into him slightly, and it was just so nice to come down with him.

Except there wasn't really much nice about the fact that they'd just fucked in the bathroom at work.

Which they were hiding from everyone because she wasn't ready for what a relationship did to her.

And he had a girlfriend.

"Wait, oh my god." She pushed back on his shoulders as she leaned away from him. His hair mussed, his eyes hooded, he looked just as utterly satisfied as she felt, along with a growing hint of confusion as she stared at him, but none of the guilt or panic that was quickly building inside of her. Climbing off of him, she pulled her dress up to cover her chest as she picked up her bra and underwear from the floor – she was saving that to be disgusted about later – and backed out of the cubicle. "This was… this is so bad," she said, stepping into her underwear. "What were we –"

"Well, I don't think bad is the right word," Nathaniel interrupted from the cubicle, and damn it why did his voice have to go so low and gravelly after –

No. She just – she just couldn't even think about that. She scrubbed at her face, pulled at her hair. What the hell are you doing, Rebecca?

He stepped out of the cubicle, slipping his belt through the loop, his shirt still unbuttoned and half hanging from his shoulders. Swallowing hard, Rebecca turned away, pulling her bra straps over her shoulders and fumbling hurriedly with the clasp. Yeah, because now it's time to start being modest. Adjusting her dress over her chest, she turned to face him as she pulled up the zipper. "No," she said firmly, opening her eyes wide to stare at him imploringly. "We are not going to brag about how good the sex might have been," she said, and shot him a venomous look when he looked to protest at her use of the word 'might'. "And we are not going to do this again."

Nathaniel scoffed, looking away from her as he started to button up his shirt. "Of course we're not going to do this again… again." He paused, glanced up at her and then quickly back down at his shirt. "Again."

"Well… exactly. Good." Rebecca backed up towards the door. "And we're not going to stay in the bathroom alone together."

"Yeah, well, good," he said, bending down to pick his tie up from where he'd dropped it on the floor. She used the moment to flick the lock on the door and, peeking out to make sure no one was waiting or looking, slipped out of the men's room and fled back to her office. Closing the door behind her, she fell into her chair.

How did that even happen? They'd managed to work through two whole days of semi-kinda-only-barely-awkward normalcy, and then all it took was a bit of water splashing on him to just throw all of her resolve out of the window. This was… this is not okay, Rebecca.

The door to the office opened noisily, and although she kept her eyes on the wall, she saw Nathaniel enter the room and close the door behind from the corner of her eye. "Okay, we need to talk to about this," he said, quickly walking around the office until their desks were between them. Just to be safe, she pushed her chair back a little way back from her desk, giving them an extra foot. "This cannot happen again."

"Well, obviously," Rebecca said, screwing up her face as though to say he was crazy for even suggesting an alternative. "That was the last time."

"The absolute last time," he agreed, leaning on the back of his chair. "Just one last time for old time's sake, right? Because I'm happy with Mona," he said pointedly.

"And I'm happy by myself," she added quickly, covering up the sting with as much confidence as she could muster. "So happy. No more distractions."

"Right," he agreed, nodding vigorously. And she meant it, she really did, except when they both fell silent she found herself looking at him much too intensely, drinking in every nuance to his expression, her eyes lingering on the collar of his shirt and remembering the taste and the feel and the warmth of the skin beneath. And then her eyes were trailing down his arms, picturing his strong arms underneath his shirt, imagining them around her –

"You know what we need?" she said, pushing herself another few inches away from the desk. "Rules. We need rules."

"Yes," he said immediately, pushing back from his chair and walking the length of the office and back again, pacing back and forth and always keeping the desk between them. "Rules. Okay. Well obviously, no sex."

"Obviously," she said, pulling a face at him because of course that was the line they had to stick behind. "Not again. Not at all. Especially not at work," she said, gesturing in the general direction of the men's room.

"Definitely no locking each other in the bathroom," he said, looking at her pointedly.

Yeah, because that was all on her, right. "Well, no sexy eyes at each other," she said, thinking back to the look he'd given her when he was standing in the kitchen, drenched to the skin and staring at her like he could read all of her dirty thoughts.

"No being alone together," he said, his voice going thick again, and she could just tell that his mind was in exactly the same gutter as hers was.

"No thinking dirty thoughts about each other," she said quickly, pushing her chair back and standing up to get on a slightly more even level as him.

He cleared his throat, then stopped behind his chair once again, lifting his chin confidently. "No accosting each other at the others' place."

Her mouth dropped open in shock. He'd done that to her! He didn't look in the least bit apologetic. "No fighting," she said determinedly. "No arguing."

"Oh yeah?" he said, stepping up to her, looking down at her with just a few inches separating his face from hers. She could feel his breath on her face. It would be so easy to just reach up on her tiptoes and press her mouth against his. His eye flittered all over her face, settling on her mouth. "Well no…" He blinked suddenly then stepped back from her quickly. "None of… none of this. Just none of this."

Blinking quickly, she leaned back as he stepped away. How, in amidst a discussion about how they needed to stay away from each other, had they managed to get so damned close to each other? A whirlwind of emotions swirled through her as he moved back to his side of the desk. Nathaniel sat down heavily into his chair and rubbed at his eyes before he looked across at her. "We can do this, right? We're both strong enough for this," he said, as though it was the easiest thing in the world.

Sinking back into her chair, Rebecca definitely realised the nervous feeling of dread in her gut before she pushed it down, down, down. Taking a deep breath, she steeled herself to reality, to the fact that this is what she'd asked for, that this is what she needed. "We can do this. We'll be fine." She stared at her desk for a moment, remembering all of the times over the last two weeks where she'd thought of nothing else but pushing him down over the desk and having her way with him, a fantasy that they'd just stupidly, stupidly re-enacted in the bathroom. "We can't keep doing this," she said quietly. "It's not just about not having sex every time we want to. You're not moving from that side of the desk, and I'm not moving from here. We have to figure out how to be normal together." They could do normal, right?

"We can do it. It'll It' be fine," he said cheerfully. "We're just not going to think about it. From now," he said, just as she noticed that his collar was folded unevenly.

Of course. "From… now," she said, forcing all thoughts about the reason for his state of undress from her mind.

She raised her eyes from his neck to his eyes, and felt her heart sink at the expression she saw there. "From now," Nathaniel said quietly, the tone of his voice sending a shiver through her.

Long breath in – long breath out. They could do this.

They could do this.