*****

Shuffling a sleeping Ellie in his arms, Jim tried desperately to locate the key to the front door. Why the hell are there so many damn keys on the key chain anyway? It's not like I even know what most of them unlock.

Pam shook her head, laughing quietly. She removed the keys from his hands and selected the correct one, holding it up proudly. "Ta-da!" she grinned.

Rolling his eyes, he moved to the side, allowing Pam to walk in first. "I'm just going to put her down. I'll be right back," he explained, nodding his head towards the stairs. "Help yourself to a beer or something…oh! I have Hot Pockets in the freezer if you're hungry."

"Thanks," she said, rubbing her hand eagerly over her stomach. "Heat and eat… now that sounds like my kind of snack."

"What can I say, Pam? I like to get things done quickly."

The comment hung in the air for a moment, causing some awkwardness from the unintentional innuendo.

"Uh..." he stuttered, his cheeks reddening. "I'll uh, I'll be back downstairs in a minute." With that, he was off; taking the stairs two at a time in an obvious bid to get away from the embarrassing situation he now found himself in.

"Okay," Pam chuckled lightly, an identical blush forming on her own face.

Spinning around, she kicked off her shoes and wandered into the kitchen, her bare feet sticking to the cool tiled floor as she made her way to the freezer in search of food.

She meandered over to the refrigerator, pausing suddenly at the sight of a smiling Jim and Ellie at Hershey's Chocolate Factory. The photo, only a couple of months old, showed a chocolate-covered Ellie sitting happily in Jim's arms. A paper hat (clearly meant for the children on the tour) with the words "Hershey's Factory Worker" written across the top was perched on Jim's head, and a tiny chocolate handprint covered his cheek. She grinned, opening the refrigerator to retrieve two beers. She eyed the picture again as the door closed, a smile still on her face as she turned to set the beers on the counter. Jim walked in just as the timer went off, indicating that their food was ready.

"Mmm, microwavable goodness," he smiled, inhaling deeply.

"I know, right?" Pam grinned, handing him his Hot Pocket, which she'd wrapped carefully in a paper towel. "God, this is so good. I didn't realise how hungry I was," she sighed, sneaking her tongue out to wipe away at a stray piece of cheese that had escaped and was now dangling from her chin. "What?" she asked, noticing his eyes on her. "Do I still have cheese on my face or something?"

"You've still got a bit of uh… just come here," he chuckled, beckoning her over with his hand. He bit his lip as he lightly ran his thumb along the bottom of her chin, gently removing the piece of cheese. "Here," he muttered, exhaling deeply through his nose to avoid audibly sighing from the shaky breath he was holding

"Thanks," she replied sheepishly.

Clearing his throat awkwardly, he hooked his thumb over his shoulder. "I, um.... I think I just heard…I'm just going to go check on Ellie real quick." He rushed through the sentence, his words clustering together as he rambled, his face red. "There's uh...there's other drinks in the refrigerator...help yourself, make yourself comfortable. I'll, um, I'll be back...in a…minute..." he stuttered, exiting the room as quickly as he could.

"Oh, uh, okay..." she stammered nervously, aware that he'd only just put Ellie down a few moments ago and there was really no reason for him to go and check on her so soon.

When Jim came back downstairs, he noticed that Pam had turned on the T.V in the living room and had exchanged their beers for a bottle of wine, pouring each of them a glass. She was sitting idly, tapping her foot to the theme song of a show he knew was popular, but never really had the time to watch.

"Hey," he murmured as he sat himself down beside her. "She's sound asleep. I think we tired her out today...Oh, and thanks for the wine."

He watched her mouth curve into that beautiful half smile, half nervous twitch that he was becoming so fond of. "I thought, urm… since Ellie's asleep, the wine seemed a little more… grown up? Not that I don't love spending time with Ellie, or think that we should have…or need…"

Jim interrupted her rambling, as cute as it was, with a laugh. "You don't need to explain," he sighed. "Sometimes 'grown up' time is the only thing that keeps me sane." He paused. "And believe me, I love my daughter, but there is only so much baby talk you can take before your brain turns to Jello."

She licked her lips, unable to stop the mischievous smile that was slowly appearing across her face. "Well, I hate to break it to you Jim…"

"Thanks, Beesly, you really know how to make a guy feel good about himself!" he laughed, reaching his finger across and prodding her side.

"Eh, I try."

"Well, since my ego has been thoroughly checked, how about you make up for that and tell me what your favourite part of the day has been?"

Jim watched as her brow furrowed in thought, and he found himself wanting nothing more than to kiss away the little crease that appeared between her eyebrows and then make his way down to where she was lightly biting on her lower lip.

"I think, the best part of today, was… maybe… all of it," she decided, nodding her head enthusiastically.

"Oh really? There wasn't one particular moment that stood out?" he teased as the blush crept into her cheeks.

"Well, I guess there was one moment that I wouldn't mind repeating again. Just to be sure."

Jim couldn't look away from her eyes. The honesty shining through blew him away. He didn't think he'd ever find this, this genuine enjoyment of both him and his daughter, and a total acceptance of them both. At that moment, he knew he only had one course of action.

Gently, he took her glass from her hand and placed it on the coffee table before inching himself closer to her and taking her face in his hands. Her eyes smiled at him as she subconsciously licked her lips. Slowly, he lowered his mouth to hers, feeling their breaths mingle and dance together, savoring the moment until he couldn't wait another second, and he lowered his head completely to hers.

For a first real kiss, he had to say, it was pretty damn mind-blowing. Not that it was demanding or hard, no; its sheer ease and softness drove him wild. Her taste, her touch as she threaded her hands around his neck pulling gently at the soft tuft of hair at the nape, her giving back everything in equal measure.

He knew he was totally lost in the kiss when his hands began wandering totally on their own. Her sigh of enjoyment clued him into the fact that she was more than happy as his hands shaped her breasts and his thumbs played over the hardness of her nipples, begging not to be ignored.

She seemed to be lost in the moment as well, driving him blissfully insane as her hands pulled up his shirt and slid underneath, on a mission to discover every single inch of his skin. After several moments of pulling and tugging, which he was fairly sure was all Pam - although he couldn't be certain that he hadn't helped, they were more or less horizontal on the couch, which he discovered was much better, because so much more of her touched so much more of him.

His shirt became a casualty of her impatience as he heard a seam tear when she dragged it up and over his head… not that he cared. By that time he'd worked enough buttons to get his first clear look at her breasts… to say he was uncaring of anything else at that moment wouldn't be too far from the truth.

There was a moment then, when all movement stopped and the only sound was their labored breathing as they caught each others gaze while his thumb gently traced back and forth across her kiss-swollen lips and he knew, deep in every part of his being, that she was the one. This was it for him. He also knew that she could read him in that moment better than anyone before and one glimpse at her easy expression and gentle nod of her head told him she was right there with him as he dropped his head and tasted those rose pink nipples he'd been aching for. The arch of her back and quickening of her breath nearly short-circuited his brain as her fingers latched onto his hair and held him tight.

He could've, and would've, stayed in that spot forever, especially when they both started to move against each other in a natural longing of what they needed next. But it was that very movement, tormenting, yet wonderful, that woke him up from his Pam-induced stupor. This was everything, he realised, and everything had to be done right, not on a couch with his daughter sleeping upstairs.

He allowed himself one more caress and one more kiss before forcing his sluggish body to move back from her, just enough to let some oxygen flow back to his brain, but not enough to lose contact with her body completely because that would be just too impossible to accomplish right now.

"What?" she asked breathlessly.

Her confusion, and a flicker of hurt, was evident, and he gently kissed her as a reassurance. "God, Pam, you're amazing. Really amazing," he told her honestly.

"Then… urm… why stop now?" she asked him through her swollen lips.

"Nothing's the matter…" he tried assuring her, "but I want to do this right...you deserve that."

"Seems to me you were doing everything correctly, so I suggest you come back here and keep going!" she smiled shyly, but with a hint of naughtiness in her eyes.

He couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling up. Her face was a picture of teasing petulance and so of course, he kissed her again.

When he came up for air, he smiled into her eyes.

"It's just," he paused briefly. "Ellie's asleep upstairs and she could interrupt us at any minute, this isn't... this isn't how I wanted it...I want it to be special, you deserve for this to be special."

Jim took a breath and realised that Pam's eyes had started to shine with a wetness that wasn't there moments ago.

"Pam?" he asked, worried he'd upset her and that she thought he was turning her down. "Hey, come on, I want you, you know that, you can feel that…" he smiled, grinding softly against her. "It's just… I want this to perfect."

She kissed him before he could finish, obviously employing the same tactics as he had before. When she pulled away, she lazily traced his lips, his mouth gently kissing each and every finger. "I think I'm falling in love with you…" he whispered, moving his face slightly so that her hand caressed his cheek, placing a warm kiss onto her palm.

"Me too," she replied softly, so softly he almost didn't hear her. He closed his eyes for a moment, bringing his forehead down to rest against hers. "With you!" she exclaimed suddenly. "I meant with you...not with me..." she cringed, the words pouring out of her mouth faster than she could stop them. He smirked, and Pam erupted into a fit of giggles. "I'm not falling in love with myself!"

Chuckling quietly he placed a tender kiss on the tip of her nose, "Yeah, I kinda got that."

"Shut up," she laughed, letting her hand wander purposefully over his leg and then upwards, just enough that he stopped talking - and smirking - and sucked in a breath, unsure of her destination. She clearly liked him like that, slightly disoriented and more than a little turned on. So with evilness he never really knew she had in her, he soon realised that she was going to leave him in that state. He wasn't surprised.

"So, Saturday."

"Huh?"

His brain had apparently short-circuited somewhere in the last few minutes, as he had no clue what she was talking about.

"Ellie's birthday party?" he asked dumbly.

He hoped that she would take pity on his oxygen-deprived brain. "I meant after Ellie's birthday party." Her eyes sparkled with excitement. "Saturday night…You. Me. My house," she paused, bringing her arms out in front of her. "Big bed."

Jim grinned.

"No interruptions. Saturday." Right then and there, he didn't know who was wearing the biggest smile or whose eyes were shining the brightest as she continued. "Just so you know…it'll be a sacrifice to put up with just you and you alone."

"Oh, really?" he chuckled… "I can bring Ellie with me if you want."

"No, no. I'm afraid we're going to be having ourselves a little adults-only party that evening."

He rolled his eyes. "Damnit…"

"I know, right? I can see the disappointment in your eyes," she teased.

"Somehow, I think I'll get over it," he grinned. "So, dinner on Saturday…want me to call ahead and see if Cugino's serves an Italian Hot Pocket?"

"Oh!" she exclaimed excitedly, raking her nails gently down the side of his body, which was still leaning heavily on top of her. "You know what's really good? Those meatball Hot Pockets."

"I'm sensing this isn't a Cugino's special," he teased.

"Nope, it's more of a Wegman's thing."

"Ah, I see. Well, I can always smuggle some into the restaurant with me. I know you, Beesly - you like to heat and eat. You're very impatient."

"Dork," she said, openly laughing at him now, the laughter carrying on as they put on and adjusted their previously discarded clothing, although in his case his undershirt had to do as he was now missing several buttons off his shirt – a point that made her blush adorably and gave him a chance to laugh at her.

"It's getting late…I should… I should probably go," she said, as her eyes involuntarily scanned him up and down.

"Okay, seriously," Jim chuckled, his face flushing slightly. "If you keep looking at me like that, I am not going to be able to let you leave."

Pam giggled as she eased herself up off the couch. "So, today has been fun," she pretended to casually joke.

"It has," he agreed quietly.

He couldn't remember the last time he'd had such a good time. If he was being honest with himself, he'd not had this much fun in years. Things hadn't been right between him and Chloe for so long, he'd more or less forgotten what it was like to enjoy himself, especially with a woman he was slowly but surely falling in love with. The more he thought about it, the more he didn't want this evening to end, but he knew it had to. It was important to take things slowly with Pam, he knew that – his heart knew it, his brain knew it; biologically… he wasn't there.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked as she brushed a curl behind her ear. It was a nervous habit that he'd become particularly familiar with lately, and something he'd desperately wanted to be able to do for her for so long.

"Yes, you'll see me tomorrow."

"At work?"

"Yes, you'll see me at work..." he stopped, noticing Pam biting on her lip.

"What?" she asked, looking up when he'd stopped talking.

"You're really cute when you're nervous."

She glanced down anxiously, forcing herself to mask the warm smile peeking out from behind her lips.

"I should really get going."

"Okay."

Walking out into the hall, she slipped on her shoes. "I really had a great time today," she smiled in a way he knew was sincere.

"Yeah?" He couldn't stop the grin from breaking over his lips.

"Yeah," nodding bashfully she gestured to the door behind her. "So, urm. I'm gonna go."

Jim gently pulled her towards him. "Okay… wait." Bringing his head down he kissed her lightly, or at least that was his intention until his lips actually made contact with hers. He just couldn't stop himself from nibbling just a little.

It was only the sensation of her hands on his chest and the gentle push from those hands that pulled him back from the nibbling. And the sucking.

Pulling back, Pam reached up onto her tiptoes, placing a tender kiss on his cheek. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," he replied. And with that, she turned around and made her way to her car.

Jim stood, leaning against the door frame and watched her car drive away. He couldn't help the slow grin that swept over his face, nor could he help the warm fuzzy feeling that settled in his chest. If anyone asked him, he'd deny the latter until his dying day. Unless it was Pam asking. He didn't mind admitting his warm fuzzies to her. He didn't mind at all.

To Be Continued

*****

AN: Sorry this has taken me so long to update. I would have had this up sooner, but I decided to completely re write what I had written… as well as start work on two standalones… I hope you're all still with me and still enjoying this. Please review and let me know what you think. I really means a lot to me. Apologies for the lack of Ellie in this chapter. Do not fear, she'll be in the next one!!