Thanks for the reviews. As I have said before - the faster you reply - the faster I'll post again. At least as long as the site lets me. It does seem to die occassionally and for that I'm sorry. I do try. But there is plenty coming up for our favourite couple. So enjoy !

Ryan and Seth face new challenges

Tuesday morning, Ryan stood in the lift at work waiting to get to his floor wondering all the time just what the day would bring. Besides the mountain of work he had to get through and somehow convincing Seth that he needed to propose to Summer in Miami, he was also concerned about what Annabel would be like today.

The lift doors opened and he emerged wondering just what he would find. But he was pleasantly surprised. Annabel was sitting behind her desk and certainly the top she was wearing was skin tight and left nothing to the imagination but at least it covered up a lot more than what she had worn yesterday. Her erect nipples may have been obvious pushing through the fabric but at least that was a lot better than yesterday when they'd been in danger of falling out and being clearly visible. Ryan started to relax and thought to himself that he was glad that he hadn't made too much out of it.

Annabel greeted him warmly. "Good morning Ryan."

"Good morning Annabel." He replied as he made his way passed her desk.

"I've left the morning post on your desk and I'll bring in a fresh mug of coffee as soon as it's ready." She informed him.

"Thank you." He nodded and walked into his office. Maybe things were going back to normal … finally.

He sat at his desk and started to go through the mail and then looked up when Annabel walked in with his coffee. He felt his eyes literally bulge as he realised that her skirt, if you could call it that, was the shortest he'd ever seen. Hell he was sure he'd seen her wear belts that were wider.

Annabel smiled as she noticed the look on Ryan's face. She'd figured after yesterday that maybe Ryan was more of a 'legs man' and so this morning, she had dressed accordingly. It certainly seemed as if she was getting a good reaction. "Here's your coffee." She placed it on the desk.

"Um. Thanks." Ryan picked up the coffee wanting to do something…anything that would distract him from what was in front of him. He took a large gulp needing to steady himself and then spat it out immediately as the burning liquid scalded his mouth.

Annabel smiled and made her way over to a cupboard at the far side of his office and took out some paper towel and moved back to try to clean up Ryan's desk. He was still coughing trying to recover from his blistered mouth.

She moved around beside him and patted at the documents on the desk in front of him and then reached over to get some of the spilt coffee that had travelled a little further.

Ryan gulped again as he realised that he could actually see that she was wearing a red thong as she bent forward. He didn't know what to do or where to look. His eyes kept being drawn back to the expanse of naked flesh on view.

"I can do it. Thanks." He managed to get out, grabbing the paper towel from her hand.

"No problem" she smiled and turned to leave the room thinking to herself he was definitely a 'legs man'.

Ryan shook his head. So much for the notion that things were back to normal. Where was he supposed to go from here? He had no idea where to start. What to say? After contemplating it for a short time he decided to postpone it and talk to Seth first. At least he had a clear idea of what he was trying to do there. He dialled the number and waited for Seth to answer.

"Yo bro? Wassup?" Seth answered.

Ryan shook his head. It was obviously going to be one of 'those days'. "Good morning Seth. And how are you?" Ryan responded hoping that if he answered like a mature adult that Seth would answer in kind.

"Man. When are you going to get in the groove? It's like you're old before your time."

"Seth. Just because I don't act like I'm still 14, and I've stopped reading comics doesn't mean I'm old." Ryan wondered why he was even trying. How could he have ever imagined that Seth was ready for marriage?

"Yeah whatever." Seth smiled to himself. He loved to play these little games with Ryan.

"Whoa…Good come back."

"Okay then. Ryan my favourite brother. How are you on this fine morning?" Seth changed his tune completely.

"One extreme to the other hey. I sure there's a medical name for people like you." Ryan suggested.

"Would that be genius?" Seth asked brightly.

"Not likely. Remember we're not blood brothers, so I can't have handed that down to you." Ryan couldn't help himself. Much as he didn't want to join in with Seth's silly games, he knew he couldn't resist.

"Oh. Touché. Ryan. All this sharpening of your rod has obviously sharpened you wit as well. I'll have to compliment Marissa." Seth teased Ryan waiting for the reaction.

"You just leave Marissa alone. You've got your own woman to worry about." Ryan replied knowing that any mention of Summer would make Seth change tack.

"Summer? Why should I be worried about Summer? She's putty in my hands. Speaking of which I gather you must be pretty good with your hands …..and other parts of your anatomy as well from what I hear." Seth didn't want to give up too easily when he had obviously touched on something that Ryan was sensitive about. I mean what were brothers for?

"Seth. A brother should know where to stop." Ryan suggested.

"I think a brother should share the knowledge. Not that I don't know what I'm doing. But unlike some, I'm willing to admit that I don't know everything. You know, maybe I could learn a few new tricks and I'm always prepared to listen to new ideas."

"Good. Because I've got one for you." This was the perfect opportunity for Ryan.

"You have? I didn't think you'd ever give your secrets away?" Seth was surprised. He knew Summer would be more than willing to try out one of Ryan's 'ideas'. He wondered would it be a new technique …a new position….he didn't really mind. If all the stories about Ryan were true, then it was sure to be good anyway.

"Who said anything about secrets? I said I had an idea for you." Ryan shook his head. He really wasn't following Seth this morning.

"Which is?" Seth said while glancing at the clock on the wall. "Aw shoot. I'm late for meeting downtown. Can I call you back and continue this discussion?"

"Sure. Or better yet, if you're coming downtown….why don't you drop by when you've finished with your meeting?" Ryan suggested.

"Okay. I probably be a couple of hours. Save me a muffin. Gotta go…. Bro." Seth laughed at his little rhyme as he hung up.

"Bye" Ryan shook his head and hung up. How was he ever going to manage to pull this off?

---

Ryan managed to get a couple of hours of work done before Seth walked in with a grin from ear to ear.

"What's with Annabel? She's in a good mood today." Seth asked.

Ryan sighed. "I have no idea. Why? What did she say to you?" Ryan assumed she hadn't actually revealed herself to Seth or he was sure Seth would have had more to say.

"Not much I guess. But she had a grin from ear to ear. You would have thought that she'd won the lottery."

Ryan shook his head. "Did you ask her to bring in coffee?"

"Yeah. And muffins of course. You don't think I came here just to see you?" he said as he seated himself in the chair in front of Ryan's desk.

Ryan smiled. He couldn't wait to see Seth's reaction to what Annabel was wearing.

He didn't have to wait long as Annabel walked through the door carrying a tray with 2 mugs of coffee and a plate with some muffins on. As she lent over slightly, to place the tray on the edge of Ryan's desk, Ryan looked across at Seth who was sitting slightly behind her. Ryan knew that Seth would have gotten a real eyeful and he watched as Seth's jaw dropped and his eyes bugged out. He was obviously in shock.

Looking at Seth, Ryan desperately wanted to burst out laughing but he knew he had to hold it together until Annabel had left the room. He looked at her and said "Thanks. We'll take it from here."

Annabel gave him one of her biggest smiles. "Are you sure there's nothing else I can do for you?" she replied huskily.

Ryan shook his head. Was he just imaging it or had her voice actually changed? That simple question had sounded sexy and suggestive. He really needed to get this sorted out. "No. We're fine. Just close the door on your way out if you could."

"Sure. But I'll be just outside if you need ….. anything." Annabel replied.

"Uh huh." Ryan replied looking back at Seth whose jaw looked like it had dislocated it had dropped so far down.

Ryan watched the door close behind her and then turned to Seth who was still sitting there stunned. He had been expecting Seth to explode with laughter or something but certainly not silence. Seth was never lost for words. "Well?" Ryan prompted him. For some reason a silent Seth was even harder to cope with than the normal one.

Seth started to shake his head, still unable to find words.

"Seth! Snap out of it. I need some help here…... Can't you see that?" Ryan asked.

"I…..I….." Seth stammered. "I….I….."

"SETH!" Ryan said again trying to shock him out of his trance like state.

"I … saw everything. And I mean everything." Seth finally managed to get out. "And, tell me if I'm wrong here … but when she asked was there anything else she could do for you?"

"Yeah?" Ryan knew he wasn't going to like the rest of this.

"It actually sounded like she was offering to do….you." Seth stated.

"I know. I picked up on that too." Ryan answered, totally uncomfortable about what was going on.

Now that Seth had started to get over the initial shock he was starting to see the funny side of it all. Especially the fact that Ryan was so obviously uncomfortable with it all. "I even think if you asked nicely then she might actually do me as well."

"Seth, no one will be 'doing' anyone."

"But...I mean…Did you see that……. I was going to say skirt but I actually don't think it was big enough to be called a skirt? But it was nice of her to wear a matching thong. I mean if it had clashed then….. Maybe the thong was what she was actually wearing and the other thing was just a sash…you know like an accessory." Seth suggested.

Ryan glared at him. This was more the reaction he had expected.

"So what has brought all this on?" Seth asked. "Is it just a 1 day wonder or have skirts become optional at Atwood industries. I know I've never seen you in one." He teased Ryan.

"You know I can still give you a dead arm."

"You wouldn't?" Seth said not really sure.

Ryan gave him the look that said 'try me'. "I'm glad you think this is funny. But I assure you it isn't. Yesterday she basically left her top at home. Ask your dad about it?"

"What my dad was here?" Seth responded surprised.

"Yep" Ryan nodded.

"And what exactly did he see?" Seth wished he had been around. He'd have to have a talk to his father about it later.

"Pretty much everything. She didn't leave much to the imagination." Ryan added.

'Yeah…Well I can see you have a real problem…..I feel really bad for you….." Seth said smiling at his obviously un-genuine remarks.

"Well what am I to do?" Ryan asked.

"What besides run for your life?" Seth asked.

"Yeah." Ryan looked over at Seth hoping that for once he would take this seriously and come up with something constructive.

Seth shrugged his shoulders and suggested. "Get Marissa to scratch her eyes out. I'm gathering that that is what this is all about. Marking out territory and all that?"

"I don't know…..Maybe…." Ryan shrugged. "I can't think of anything else."

"Yeah. Well, what does Marissa think?" Seth asked.

"She doesn't really know." Ryan admitted. "I mean she suspects that Annabel may ….." he shrugged not wanting to finish the sentence but knowing he had to "…be ...interested…in me. That's why Marissa's trying to set her up with Skip tomorrow night."

"Oh boy. This just gets better and better. I assure you…. from the looks of things, she's way past interested. I can't wait to see what happens tomorrow night with Skip. But really I think you need to tell Marissa about what's going on here. I mean, why haven't you?"

"I don't know. I guess I was hoping that yesterday was just some sort of weird 'full-moon' type occurrence and that everything would be back to normal today…But ..."

"Yeah…definitely not normal." Seth added.

"Well what do you suggest? I can't let her walk around like this all day but how can I raise the problem with her?" Ryan asked.

"It won't be just problems she'll be raising if she walks around dressed like that. If you know what I mean?" Seth suggested rubbing his own crotch as he spoke ... feeling the stiffening apparent there. "Let's face it, she is a very attractive young lady."

"Yeah…thanks for that." Ryan replied.

"Well what are you going to do?" Seth asked.

"I don't know. I thought you might have some ideas." Ryan suggested.

"Yeah. I have." Seth raised his eyebrows making sure Ryan knew exactly what he was talking about. "But Summer would kill me." Seth chuckled. He stood up and made his way across the room to look out the window. "No wonder you wanted me to drop by. I would never have forgiven you if you hadn't shared this with me." He laughed.

"Believe it or not, that actually wasn't why I wanted to talk to you?" Ryan began, trying to get the conversation back on track.

"What there's more? I can't wait." Seth turned to look back at Ryan waiting for what could possibly be next.

"This has nothing to do with Annabel." Ryan assured him.

"Pity. So what is it?" Seth asked.

"Well. Maybe you should sit back down. That way you can't fall down when I tell you."

---

After Seth had left, Ryan made sure that Annabel had no reason to leave the office for the rest of the day. He actually postponed giving her anything to do that would require her going to another part of the building. He even asked her to work through her lunch hour to make sure that she wasn't walking around for all to see. Little did he know that Annabel was very happy to do that? Not only did she get to spend more time with Ryan but he had told her that since he wouldn't be in the office on Wednesday, she could have the day off and she planned to use it to pamper herself and buy a new dress for the dinner.

Ryan debated trying to talk to her about what she was wearing but he really didn't know where to start. And the fact was …she was very good at her job. He didn't want to risk saying the wrong thing and causing problems between them. And he certainly didn't want her to take offence at something he said and resign. He'd had a few secretaries before her and none of them had been anywhere near as good. Maybe he would try talking to Marissa about it and see what she suggested. It wouldn't be a problem tomorrow because he was going to be on site all day so he wouldn't need to see her until tomorrow night. Surely she wouldn't wear something inappropriate to dinner?

At least Seth had seemed to like Ryan's suggestion about the proposal for the weekend. After his initial shock, he had come around. They had talked for a while and tossed around some ideas. Seth wanted it to be something special. Something unique, that no one else would think of and something that Summer would remember forever. Ryan assured him that everything that Seth did was unique; that no one was quite like Seth. But Seth figured that they had been together for so long now that everyone just expected them to get married. He wanted this proposal to be unexpected. No candles and rose petals. Too predictable and she'd see it coming if he tried anything like that. Ryan had been starting to think they would never come up with anything that would do and that the opportunity would pass them by when he'd had an idea that even Seth was happy with. Ryan had made a couple of calls to contacts that he had and hopefully everything would be in place for them by the time they arrived in Miami. Ryan smiled to himself. Little did Seth know that Ryan and Marissa wanted Summer to say yes just as much as Seth would.