A/N: Apologies for any confusion, but I have changed this name of this story. I struggled coming up with a name at the beginning and in hindsight I really can see that Dark and Dangerous Desires wasn't the right name. I wouldn't have changed it at all, but I was afraid that some people would expect something different than what was being offered. I really do hate to disappoint my readers. With that said and out of the way, I beg for your forgiveness and hope you like the story with the new title: Sweet and Sexy Mistakes.

Diving straight into a code red here.

Chapter 2

"Stall her, Caroline" Elena told her assistant desperately. She hung up the phone while fumbling under the desk for the heels that she'd kicked off somewhere under there. Finally, after patting the ground she put her hand on one of her red pumps.

When Katherine walked into her office one minute later, Elena had her shoes back on and was typing something at the computer. Elena steeled herself for a showdown. The woman had it in for her and the fact that she'd just landed Damon Salvatore as a client had put a great big target on her back and made her public enemy number one. As if Katherine needed any extra ammunition to go after her.

"Katherine, what a surprise." Not a pleasant one, she said silently. "What can I do for you?"

Katherine stalked across the office floor, put her hands on the desk and glared at her.

"Damon Salvatore was supposed to be my client. He changed PR companies because he wanted me to rep for him. You can imagine my surprise when Elijah told me today that you would be representing him instead."

"You were surprised? You and Damon have a history and you know what the company policy is on dating clients, Katherine."

While Elena had managed to speak calmly, inside her adrenaline was pumping and her heart was pounding hard. She hated going toe to toe with Katherine, it was always unpleasant. For a moment neither of them said anything, they simply glared at each other, then Katherine smiled. It was a nasty smile that made Elena feel afraid.

"You think you can rep for Damon, fine. Watch your back."

With that threat hanging in the air between them, Katherine inclined her head to the side and gave her an even nastier smile before she turned on her heel and left. Elena sat for a minute before she reached for her purse and pulled out her headache tablets. She always needed them after seeing Katherine.

It was only Monday, but already she felt like she needed a weekend. She had a new client; a very important client, who needed convincing she was good at her job. With only one month to impress him she was going to have to pull off something pretty spectacular. She could do it. Her headache started to ease after thirty minutes or so, and she got to work. Caroline interrupted her at five-thirty.

"Elena, Elijah sent these down for you."

Caroline put two books on her desk. Elena didn't have to look at them to know which books they would be.

"Thanks Caroline."

"You know, if you wanted to read these, you could have borrowed my copies," Caroline giggled.

Elena rolled her eyes at her. "I wouldn't normally read these, but my client wrote them and I need to know what's in them."

She wouldn't have read them if Damon wasn't her client. She may not have read them if he hadn't insisted she 'familiarize' herself with his work.

"Are you leaving now?" Elena asked her assistant.

"Yeah, I've got yoga tonight. You should join me. It's really relaxing, and Todd the yoga guy is so hot."

Elena wondered how deliberately twisting herself up in knots and strange positions could help her relax, but she chose not to say anything.

"Sorry, Caroline, I have some stuff to finish up. I'll probably be here for at least another couple of hours."

"Suit yourself," Caroline told her. "But you're missing out on some real eye candy. Don't forget to eat dinner, okay?"

Elena smiled at her. "Yes Mom."

With that Caroline left the office. Elena didn't leave until well after eight. It had been a long day but a productive one, she thought as she walked into her apartment. She put her purse down on the kitchen bench top and popped a frozen meal in the microwave. It wasn't exactly the most nutritious of food, but at least it wasn't junk food. By the end of the day she just didn't have the energy to cook, and she couldn't help thinking that cooking for one wasn't much fun either.

She was just about to start eating when the phone rang.

"Hi Bonnie," Elena said when she picked up the phone.

"How did you know it was me?"

"You call every Monday night."

"You know it's considered rude to answer the phone and say the person's name before they've told you who it is, right?"

Elena sighed, "It's been a long day so you'll have to get over it."

"I've been calling since seven. Do not tell me you've been working till now."

"I have a new client, so yes I've put in a few extra hours today."

Elena sat down with the cordless phone on her couch and started to pick at her meal.

"And do not tell me you're eating another one of those frozen meals when you could be over here eating homemade lasagna."

"You know you're really getting bossy in your old age, Bonnie. I don't know how Jeremy puts up with you."

"Sorry," Bonnie said, "I've been irritable and cranky the last few days and I had a lousy day at the office."

Bonnie worked as a lawyer at a firm in town.

"Well, I had a lousy day too," she told her sister-in-law.

"I'm sorry, Elena, it's just that Jeremy, and me too for that matter, we're both worried about you."

"Well don't be, and tell Jeremy not to worry either, I'm fine. Work is going really well. In fact this new client is going to win me a promotion."

"There's more to life than work, Elena. All you seem to do is spend everyday in that office."

"That's not true. I go with you and Caroline to Ric's on Fridays."

Ric's Bar and Grill was across the street from the office, and the three girls made it a Friday ritual to meet there at the end of the week to debrief.

"I know, but…aren't you lonely?"

Elena looked around her empty apartment. Well, not completely empty.

"I have Mr Blobby."

"An overweight cat is not what I'm talking about and you know it."

Of course it would be nice to have someone to spend time with. It would be nice to have someone to share her life with; her successes with. It would be nice to come home to someone who asked her about her day. When she spent time with Bonnie and Jeremy it was easy to see she was missing out on something. They had their shared jokes and their knowing looks. They had a whole other language that belonged to just them. She would be lying if she said that she wouldn't mind sharing that kind of intimacy with someone. She chose to work though, and with the time and commitment she was putting into her career right now, meeting someone was unlikely.

"I have Ian."

"Your vibrator doesn't count either. When was the last time you went on a date?"

"I don't know…whenever I went out with Toby."

"That was eight months ago, Elena."

Elena could hear the exasperation in her friend's voice.

"Look, Bonn, I know I'm not exactly putting myself out there now; but I am happy, okay? So please stop worrying about me."

"I know you keep saying that, but ever since Matt broke off the engagement, you just…I don't know, it's like you've just given up on ever having a relationship."

Elena sighed. She hated when Bonnie brought up Matt. She'd dated Matt at college for two years and he had proposed to her on their two year anniversary. One year later, he told her it just wasn't working. She'd read between the lines. Their sex life had been lousy. It had been boring. By the time things had ended between them, it had been weeks since they'd even had sex. That was no way to go into a marriage. What was worse is that Matt had implied she was boring in bed; he'd told her straight out that she lacked imagination.

"Are you there?" asked Bonnie.

"I'm here, but I think I'm going to have to go; I'm really tired."

It was Bonnie's turn to sigh. "Okay. I'll see you Friday, right?"

"Sure," Elena said.

She hung up the phone and threw her meal in the bin. She wasn't hungry anymore. Yes it would be nice to have someone, but she was fine just on her own; just her and Mr Blobby.

"You love me, don't you Mr Blobby?" she asked as stroked her cat's chin.

It was when she was clearing her purse off the kitchen bench that she remembered the books were in there. She pulled them out now and studied them. Looks like she'd found her reading material for the night. Once she was tucked up in bed, Mr Blobby jumped onto the bed and curled up next to her legs. She picked up Damon's latest book, Why Pleasing Your Man in Bed Should Be Your First Priority. She couldn't help but think that yes a good sex life was important, but just how much of that should be the woman's responsibility? Shouldn't the man want to please his woman in bed? Matt certainly hadn't cared very much about her satisfaction.

She turned the book over in her hands and looked at the picture on the back cover. With hair that was just a little bit too long and a light smattering of stubble on his jaw, he was about the sexiest thing she'd ever laid eyes on. That face, those eyes, those lips; she was warm enough now to throw the covers off her; and to think that in the flesh he was even more incredible. She put the book down, deciding she'd start it tomorrow. As she turned off the light and closed her eyes she tried not to think about the dark haired author with piercing blue eyes.

On Friday afternoon, Damon walked up the pathway to the red brick home and hoped that the flowers in his hand were enough to get him out of trouble. He rapped on the door lightly, before opening the door.

"Mom," he called.

"Damon?" His Mom came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron and embraced him in a warm hug. Then she pulled away and he handed her the flowers. She gave him a disapproving look. "Three weeks and you don't call, you don't visit. I see Stefan every other day. Where have you been?"

"How is Stefan?" he asked, avoiding the question.

"Come," she told him, "I have pie. It's your favorite. I must have known you were coming."

Damon smiled at her indulgently. "Of course you did."

"Don't you mock me, Damon Salvatore, we mothers know these things, especially when it comes to our sons. What I want to know is when you and Stefan are going to marry so I can have daughters too."

He didn't disappoint her by telling her that in his case it would be a big fat never. He wasn't the marrying kind; he wasn't marriage material. Stefan on the other hand was just begging to be roped into matrimonial disharmony. He followed her into the kitchen and took a seat at the kitchen table.

"There should be little Salvatores running around under my feet. I should have grandchildren by now, and don't tell me again that you're too young. You're thirty."

He hoped she would drop the subject. He hated going through this with her every time. Children and marriage just weren't for him. His father was proof that some people should just never marry.

"Haven't you heard that thirty is the new twenty?" he asked her with a smile.

He watched her put the flowers in a vase and fill it with water before she cut him a piece of pie and placed it in front of him.

"How is the new book coming along?" she asked him.

"Fine," he lied.

His mother just raised one eyebrow at him.

His muse had gone, deserted him; and he knew exactly how he was going to fix it. Since Katherine had broken his heart he hadn't been able to write anything. Well, he hadn't been able to write anything that was any good. She'd broken his creative streak. He hoped that going after her and returning the favor would bring his muse back. Sometimes he thought his idea was pure genius and other times he thought it was foolish and stupid. It was worth a shot. His books were about men and women. He'd been confident he knew everything on the subject, but Katherine had shown him otherwise. It had messed with his head, with his confidence, and with his writing. He hoped that retracing their relationship steps would provide him with some serious answers.

"What's Stefan up to these days?" Damon asked trying to change the subject.

"Why don't you give him a call and find out yourself? He'd love to hear from you."

"Yeah, I will. I'm having a function at the house next week; I'll invite Stefan."

"This 'function' won't end up in the papers will it? I hate having to hear about those from Lucille."

"Mrs Morris is an old gossip," he told her. "I'll behave," he told her with a smile. She didn't look convinced.

He finished his pie before looking at his watch. He had an interview at a radio station downtown. Elena had called him yesterday and told him to be there thirty minutes early, but that was never going to happen. If he left now though he'd be able to make it with five minutes to spare.

"Leaving already?" his mom asked when he put his dish in the sink.

"I have an interview," he told her, "wish me luck."

"You don't need it. You were born with too much charm; just like your father."

She patted his face with her hand and Damon tried to hide his disgust at being compared to his father.

He gave her a hug. "I love you, Mom," he called as he walked towards the door.

"Then visit more often," she grumbled as he walked out the door.

Elena tapped her foot impatiently on the sidewalk outside the studio. He was twenty minutes late and there was still no sign of him. How hard was it to be on time? It was Friday afternoon and she was exhausted after an extremely long week; a week spent calling in favors from everyone she knew to get her newest client on the Oscar Wentworth show. If he was late to that she would kill him. Damon was never going to make it easy on her; she knew that, but she had to make sure she got him to his interviews. Her track record for reliable and punctual clients was what had got her this far in the first place. She did not need that to go down the drain simply because the man couldn't manage his time properly.

Another five minutes passed before he sped up the street on his motorbike and parked right in front of her.

"You are twenty-five minutes late," she told him through gritted teeth.

He took his helmet off and gave her a smile that told her he really didn't give a shit. She took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly, counting backwards from ten to one, and told herself that her heart was beating faster because of how mad she was and not because of how good he looked on a motorbike.

"It's five to four, so technically I'm early," he told her as he climbed off the bike.

She decided not to argue. She needed to get him inside and let him focus on his interview. He followed her into the studio.

"Here he is," she told Marla anxiously once they were inside.

Elena watched Marla's face go from grumpy to welcoming the moment the older lady saw Damon. Thank goodness her new client was both handsome and charming. All credit to him, he had the whole studio eating out of his hand before he even went on the air. It was ridiculous.

She listened quietly to the interview through the headphones that had been handed to her. Dave and Donna were the DJs conducting the interview. Their radio show catered to both men and women in their twenties and thirties. Dave started the interview off by introducing Damon and his books, and then Donna asked the first question.

"So why should pleasing a man in bed be a woman's first priority?"

"To find out why, Donna, you need to buy the book," Damon said. There was some light laughter. "Look it's really quite simple. What women want are relationships, what men want is sex. If you want that all important great relationship you have to put out."

Elena had been sipping on water and just about spat it out.

"There are other things that are important besides sex though, right?" Donna asked.

"Sure there are," Damon replied without missing a beat, "but at the end of the day, sex is really what men want. Women want intimacy and men want to blow their load."

Elena put her glass down and tried not to choke on the water in her mouth. Marla gave her a dirty look. Elena didn't know if the look was because she was making noise or because Marla was as disgusted by Damon's comments as she was.

"If you want intimacy with a man, sex has to be a big part of that, and really the better the sex the more you're going to get out of him."

Elena tuned out for the rest of the interview. She didn't want to hear anymore. She'd picked up his books every night that week, but fallen asleep before she'd read much of them. Now, after hearing his views on women pleasing men in the bedroom, her mind wandered to Matt and what he'd said when they'd broken up.

Finally the interview was over. She assumed it had gone well because she'd heard them laughing and joking throughout the interview.

Afterward she stood out on the curb with him.

"So," he said to her.

"You interview very well," she told him. If she wasn't his publicist she would have told him that he spoke the most offensive and sexist crap she'd ever heard, and then she would have chased him down the street with a tyre iron like the rest of the feminists wanted to. "Speaking of interviews, I have you booked in for a spot on the Oscar Wentworth show a week from Thursday."

Surprise flickered over his face. "I'm impressed," he told her finally.

She was relieved. The Oscar Wentworth show meant loads of publicity, and it had taken a lot of begging to get him the spot. Now she just had to make sure that he got there and on time. Standing up Oscar was not the wisest move.

"I told you that you would be happy with my services," she told him swiftly.

"Yes you did."

There was a pause in the conversation, and feeling uncomfortable with the silence she asked the first thing that popped into head. "Men don't really just want sex, do they?"

He raised both eyebrows. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

"No," she mumbled. "Please forget I asked."

He smirked as he got on his bike. He made no move to start it.

"Where are you parked?" he asked her.

"I walked here."

Damon thought she certainly wasn't dressed to be walking around town. She was wearing a black skirt that was short enough to give him an eyeful of her magnificent legs. Her breasts were quite pronounced in her tight fitting purple blouse and her hair was down today, framing her face. He felt heat stirring through him. It was a Friday night and he guessed she was heading out.

"You're going out tonight?" he asked, not sure why he was asking or that he really wanted to know.

"Just around the corner, to the local bar," she told him.

"Ric's Bar and Grill?"

She nodded.

"I'm headed there myself. Do you want a ride?" He didn't mean to ask. The last thing he needed was his sweet and innocent publicist wrapping her arms around him for even a couple of minutes. He hoped she'd say no.

"No," she said quickly. "I mean no thank you. I enjoy the walk. I like the fresh air."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself." He started the bike and reached for his helmet. "I guess I'll see you there then." Then he put his helmet on and left her there before he tried to change her mind.

Elena took her time walking to the bar. She was in no rush, especially now that she knew Damon was going to be there. It was terribly inconvenient having such an attractive client. She'd wanted to get on that bike with him. She wanted to go to bed with him. Even the fact that he was an arrogant and sexist pig really wasn't that much of a deterrent right now. It had been too long since she'd been intimate with a man and obviously that was to blame for the fact that she wanted to jump his bones. Well it certainly didn't help. Damon Salvatore had at least reminded her that she had needs; needs that she'd been denying herself for far too long. It was time to be proactive in getting those needs met. What Matt had said had affected her for long enough. Even if it had been true, and she did lack imagination, she could change. She could learn, she could research, and she could experiment. Maybe once she started dating again, she would have easier luck ignoring the attraction she felt to her client.

She walked inside the bar and saw Bonnie and Caroline already there waiting for her. She bought herself a drink and joined them.

"I'm ready," she told them, once she was seated.

"For what?" Bonnie and Caroline asked her together.

"It's time to start putting myself out there again."

Caroline squealed and clapped her hands. Bonnie just smiled and nodded with approval.

"Let the manhunt begin," Bonnie said, raising her glass. The three of them clinked glasses. It would have been a perfect moment had Elena not looked across the room in that second and seen Katherine there sticking her tongue down Damon's throat.

A/N: Someone mentioned in one of their reviews the movie, The Ugly Truth. You may see shades of that in here. You may see shades of many romantic comedies in here (I hope). Admittedly when I was thinking of this story I was thinking about what it would be like if one crossed certain personality traits of Mike Chadway (The Ugly Truth) with Hank Moody (Californication). I've got a pretty good idea (for once) about where I'm going from here, so I hope that you're enjoying. My internet being down over the past day or so gave me some time to write ahead (I've never done that before), so hopefully an update won't be too far away. Thanks for reading and please review.