A/N: So, apparently having an angry cat staring at you causes inspiration. So I wrote a great deal of this while nannying. No, I'm not a bad nanny, they were otherwise engaged. Anyway…I hope you enjoy this!

Somehow they had moved from the living room couch to Addison's bedroom. She wasn't entirely sure how it had happened, and she wasn't entirely sure she minded.

"Your sheets are nicer than mine," Preston commented with a smile, reaching out to feel them. Addison made as if to jab him in the stomach with her elbow and he grabbed her arm, laughing.

Addison realized the gravity of the situation in that moment. There had been men in her house but this was the very first time a man had been in her room, on her bed. She knew where this was going; she had had enough experience to know that when a woman led a man up to her room after a good long make-out session, it wasn't going to end in a fully clothed hand-shake and a hug good night.

Normally she didn't move this fast in a relationship. She didn't like women that jumped into bed with a man as soon as the opportunity arose.

With Derek, she had made him wait a long time before she allowed him anywhere near her bed. He had been impatient, often dropping hints, but Addison had ignored all that. She wanted to wait for the perfect night and she had infinite patience in situations such as this.

The night had come after Derek had surprise her with a midnight picnic in Central Park, a novel thing for med students. They were both up, pulling an all-nighter as they studied for an exam the next day. Derek had gotten them out of her dorm with the excuse that they needed fresh air. When he led her to a large blanket with a picnic basket (full of food) next to it, she had been touched by the gesture (because Derek hated picnics, but knew she loved them). By the time they had finished the meal and packed up the blanket and dishes, thoughts of studying had left her mind. She wasn't sure if Derek had planned it this way, but that didn't stop her from pushing her notes and her textbooks off of her bed onto the floor. When they had woken up in the morning, she hadn't been especially happy about that particular decision because she had to sort through many sheets of looseleaf paper.

Addison had known Mark for twelve years before they had slept together. He knew her better than anyone and that was including Derek. Mark was the one who showed up when Derek canceled dinner plans or lunch dates. Mark would take her to the movies and buy her popcorn when Derek called to say that he had an important surgery that just couldn't wait. Addison wasn't sure if Derek knew that Mark was doing all of these things, but she also wasn't sure if she even wanted Derek to know. It almost felt like cheating, even if they were just friends. But, of course, when they were actually committing adultery, that was when Derek noticed. And it hadn't been a planned event. Mark had come over and found Addison eating a slightly cold, burned chicken breast at a table set for two. "He didn't even call this time," she had told him, hitting the chicken with her fork a few times, as though it were some sort of Derek voodoo doll.

She had looked at him with sad eyes and he had looked back with an expression full of sympathy. She wouldn't even try to blame Mark for the sex. He had pulled the chair that had been meant for Derek next to her and drew her into a warm, friendly hug. It had been so long since she had felt that kind of care that she had kissed him, almost experimentally. She had found that she enjoyed it. At that point, guilt might not have even registered. She couldn't honestly say that she regretted the sex. She regretted the fact that Derek found out about it.

Alex Karev was a horse of a different color. She knew almost nothing about him, only that he was an overly confident intern that she had enjoyed taking down a few pegs. But once it was clear that he actually liked obstetrics and was showing enthusiasm for the "vagina squad," it was hard for Addison to dislike hi as much. And when he had started talking about boxing to calm the restless unborn baby in surgery, Addison had felt a twinge of something more. Alex was the first man she had literally lusted after. He may have made it clear that he was not lusting after her, but that didn't mean she could just turn off her attraction to him. He was the first man she had slept with that didn't have some sort of history with her. She knew nothing of his personal history, but that had not stopped her from practically attacking him in the hallway (although once they were in the on-call room, he was more than wiling). She couldn't think of the incident without feeling a rush of intense embarrassment. That had not been her. She had been taken over by some lust-beast.

Sitting here with Preston, though, was different from any of the three previous men. She had known him for almost two years, she knew things about him, she had met his parents, she had performed surgery with him. These experiences all had a feeling of intimacy attached to them.

When she came to Seattle, she had, of course, heard of The Preston Burke and had been excited to work with him. Now, with him next to her on her bed, the childish and immature thought that kept coming to mind was, "Preston Burke is going to see me naked." Even though she knew him now, was friends – more than friends – with him, she had somehow reverted to thinking of him as The Preston Burke, renowned cardiothoracic surgeon, and not Preston, the man who drove eighteen hours just to see her.

Preston's last time had been with Cristina two weeks before their wedding-that-wasn't. He had suggested they hold off, to make the wedding night all the more special. Cristina had complied, the way she had with all of his wedding plans. He knew that his mother had labeled Cristina as selfish, but Preston wasn't sure that was entirely true. She had tried her best when they were together, occasionally making small gestures that showed she was doing what she could. And Preston had understood that. He appreciated it. But it just hadn't been enough, in the end. And he was sorry for it.

It had been almost two years since he had slept with a woman that wasn't Cristina. He was a commitment-minded man, but he wasn't one to withhold sex until he was sure that the relationship was serious. His relationship with Cristina had been primarily sex until he had taken the next step. Sex wasn't something that particularly concerned him.

With Addison, however, there was something of a foundation in place. They had become friends first. That did concern him. He didn't want to ruin a perfectly good friendship if this thing that they were doing didn't work out, but he didn't think Addison was the kind of woman to let that stop them from being close friends.

Addison didn't want her past encounters overshadowing this present one. She didn't mean to invite Alex, Derek, and Mark into her bedroom. Their presences were just as irritating in her mind as they were in person. She shook her head, as though she might shake them out, and took a deep breath. She could focus on her past and ruin this night. Or she could look towards a future. With Preston.

Preston was not one to dwell on the past. He always tried to move ahead, learning from his mistakes to achieve better results in the future. He quickly put Cristina out of his mind. She had nothing to do with this night with Addison. And what he hoped would be many more nights. So he put Cristina in the past and moved forwards. With Addison.

To be continued…

A/N Again: Thanks for reading…we've hit the over halfway point. Thanks for sticking with me.