Chapter 3

Seeing Damon and Katherine together gave Elena an uneasy feeling. She hadn't forgotten Katherine's threat at the start of the week. Being told to watch her back had been a violent message that Katherine would stop at nothing to cause trouble for her; and now seeing her making out with Elena's most important new and difficult client didn't make her feel overly confident. They looked lethal together. They looked like they belonged together. She acknowledged the paranoid thought that the two of them could choose to make her life a living hell if they desired and then pushed it from her mind. She simply couldn't afford to think like that. Then she assured herself that their potential to cause trouble was the only reason that she felt uneasy seeing the two of them together.

"Who is partaking in that disgusting display of affection with The Kat?" Bonnie asked her.

"That's Elena's new client," Caroline told her.

"Girl, are you in trouble," Bonnie said to Elena.

Elena didn't know if Bonnie thought she was in trouble because Damon was breathtakingly handsome, or because he was kissing Katherine, or both. Either way, Elena had to agree with her.

"It's a Friday," Caroline said to them both, "let's try to forget work."

"A bit hard when I can see it making out right in front of me," Elena replied.

"Well I think the bigger news is that you want to start dating again. Let's try and concentrate on that," Caroline told her.

Elena wrenched her gaze away from the two of them. The man could kiss so well that she was starting to imagine herself in Katherine's place right now. The image was exciting enough to take her breath away and make hot anticipation sweep through her. Yes, she needed to concentrate on finding a man.

"I'm starting tonight," Elena told them decisively.

Both Caroline and Bonnie's eyes lit up and Elena watched with some amusement as they surveyed the bar for her, running their eyes over the eligible men. The bar was a popular hang-out on a Friday night, and there were plenty of males to choose from. After a minute, Caroline stopped and pointed discreetly.

"Him," she said.

Elena studied the man Caroline had pointed to. Not bad, Elena thought. The man was turned side on at the bar looking around the room. He was wearing a dark grey suit with a light blue shirt, and he had light brown hair. He was attractive from what she could see of his profile, and reasonably well built. At that moment, he looked right at her. She gave him a small smile, before she looked away. Caroline and Bonnie looked way too excited. Elena felt the flutter of nerves. It had been so long since she'd done this, and well truthfully, the last time she'd been out on a date, Caroline had convinced her to go on a double date, she hadn't had to work for it.

"What are you waiting for?" Bonnie asked her.

"It's been so long, I'm afraid I might have forgotten what I'm meant to do," Elena told them quietly.

"It's like riding a bike, you can't forget," Caroline said.

"It'll come back to you," Bonnie told her. "You just have to get back on the bike. Just don't seem too eager."

"Don't seem too shy either," Caroline told her.

"Smile and play with your hair," Bonnie said.

"Make plenty of eye contact."

"Look at him seductively."

"But don't look desperate," Caroline told her quickly.

Their advice didn't calm her nerves. She just wanted to go up there and get it over with. Of course it would be easier if he approached her and asked for her number, but since that didn't look like it was going to happen she would have to go to him. She could do that, right? Women were all about taking control now. She was a confident, successful woman and she could do this. It was easy. She blew out the breath she'd been holding and walked straight up to the bar.

Damon watched Katherine walk out of the bar as she headed out to enjoy a cigarette in the last bit of remaining sunshine. He would have joined her if he hadn't given them up a long time ago. Katherine had just told him that she wanted to keep their relationship open and see other people. At first he'd been a little insulted, but now he thought it could work quite well in his favor. He preferred to keep his relationships open anyway. This way he could keep things casual on his side and enjoy the company of other women while still working on cracking Katherine. He needed to start writing again; he needed the next big pay check. Katherine was the key, he hoped. He needed his muse. While he and Stefan were sharing the load of taking care of their Mom, another couple of big advances would mean it would all be taken care of.

Again, he'd sat at his computer last night and tried to write something, anything, but nothing had come to him. He'd completely lost it. While he was still receiving royalties from his published works, he needed more than what was rolling in. There had been some interest in him doing a radio show, but that had died down. Maybe his new publicist could help drum up some more interest. She'd managed to get him on the Oscar Wentworth show and that was more than Wylder and Sons PR had done for him. She seemed very focused and determined, even if she didn't exactly agree with what he wrote.

He wasn't looking for Elena, he just happened to see her at the bar talking to some guy. It couldn't be someone she knew, because she looked too darn awkward. Damon was grateful he couldn't hear their conversation because he would probably be cringing right about now. Her eyes were darting about all over the room. She was clearly nervous. Now she was laughing, but it looked forced; she was too uncomfortable for it to be genuine, and she was playing with her hair too much. He wondered how long it had been since she'd done this. She was an incredibly beautiful woman; she should have the guy eating out of the palm of her hand, but somehow she'd managed to completely miss the mark, and the guy was starting to look uncomfortable.

Before Damon thought better of it, he'd walked right up to the bar and sat down on the empty seat beside her, just as the other guy was moving away. He didn't know what he was going to say to her, but the girl needed a bit of a guiding hand. Watching her strike out like that had actually been painful.

Elena breathed a sigh of relief as Tom walked away. She'd been nervous, okay she'd been really nervous, but she thought it had gone pretty well considering it was her first real go at picking up a man. She turned to wave to Bonnie and Caroline when she noticed that Damon was sitting right beside her. How had she not noticed him suddenly appearing next to her? More to the point, why was he there? She hoped he hadn't been listening to her conversation with Tom.

"That went well," Damon muttered under his breath before he took a swig of beer.

His sarcasm was blatantly obvious.

"It did go well. He asked for my number," she told him. Not that it was any of his business.

"Yeah, but he's not going to call you," he said with a slight shrug that she guessed was meant to be somewhat apologetic.

This man thought he knew everything. She'd never met anybody more egotistical than Damon Salvatore. She couldn't believe the nerve of this guy. She hadn't asked for his opinion but she was getting it anyway; his arrogance was maddening.

"How do you know that?"

"Because I'm a man and I wouldn't call you."

"Just because you wouldn't!" She told him fiercely. Then she realized exactly what he said. "Why wouldn't you call me?" She hated herself for asking but found she desperately wanted to know the answer.

"How long have you been out of the game?" he asked her

So, he could tell she was rusty.

"A little while." She didn't want to tell him just how long it had been, but the look on her his face told her he already knew it had been far too long. "You can tell?" she asked him.

"Oh, yeah."

"He might call," she told him, though she was certainly feeling less confident now.

"Look, he's already over there making chit-chat with the redhead."

It was true. Tom was now talking to an attractive woman with long red hair. He was smiling and laughing, while she leaned in and touched his arm. Elena's heart sunk. She'd obviously struck out. To make it worse, her already big-headed client had witnessed her epic failure at picking up a guy. Elena's cheeks burned with embarrassment. Still, there had to be a way to turn this into a positive. Damon Salvatore couldn't know everything, but maybe he did know where she'd gone wrong.

"Why?" she asked him.

"Hmm?" He'd already turned around and forgotten about her. It was obvious he really wasn't that interested in furthering either her self-esteem or her dating life. That was too bad. She wanted answers.

"Why won't he call me?"

"You were just a little bit stiff, that's all. Robotic, contrived, too formal."

"I smiled and I flipped my hair. I flirted."

"It looked rehearsed," he told her plainly.

"You were watching?"

He gave a shrug. "For lack of better entertainment."

She glared at him. "So I'm out of practice, so what?"

"So you just need to loosen up a little bit, relax, enjoy yourself. The raw materials are there…"

"Well, thank you so much…"

"You just need to remember how to use them."

"If, and I do say if all that men want is sex, and I'm willing to put out, then he's the one missing out, isn't he?"

Damon choked on his beer. She was out of her mind, and she was about to put herself in danger if she said that to another man. He couldn't believe she'd said that to him. Did she have any idea what those words would do to man? He had to force his mind to a grinding halt on the fantasies of throwing her over his shoulder, carrying her to the bathroom and showing her exactly how those words had affected him. He tried to get himself under control as quickly as possible, but it wasn't easy when she was sitting there glowering at him and looking tasty enough to eat.

It was obvious, however, that she was completely lacking in experience and it would be all too easy to take advantage of her. Easy for him and just as easy for any other man that was here. He didn't know why he cared, but he didn't believe for a moment she would be that casual about sex. She was the type of woman that you took home to meet your mom, not the type of woman you took home for a one night stand. He quickly bypassed the thought that his mother would like her.

"If you'll excuse me," she told him. "My friends are waiting for me."

She hopped off her bar stool, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her so that she was standing in front of him.

"You shouldn't go around saying things like that."

"Why?"

Was she really that naïve?

"Because a guy could get the wrong idea."

"So, it's okay for men to go out looking for sex, but women can't do the same? Not really one for promoting equality are you, Salvatore?"

"Is that all you're looking for," he asked her, "just sex?"

Elena was tempted to ask if he was he offering when she reminded herself this was her client; he was her work, and sleeping with him would get her fired. Looking at his face right now, she didn't think he was interested anyway. He was wearing more of a concerned big brother expression. She didn't know what that said about her. Here was a man who gave the impression he'd sleep with almost anything in a skirt, but with her he was acting like a big brother. He was still waiting for an answer. Elena tried to remember what the question was.

"Sex; is that all you want, Elena?" he asked her again, his hand still around her upper arm, holding her in place.

"I…No, it's not all I'm looking for," she admitted, trying to shrug his hand off.

There was no point in lying about it. She wanted happily ever after. She wanted to go home with someone night after night, not just for one night. He let her arm go.

"Well then, be careful," he warned her. "Finding sex isn't difficult; but if you want more than sex, you need to ease back into the game. As I said, relax, play it cool, and enjoy it," he told her with a seductive smile.

Great, now she was thinking about enjoying sex with him, and now he wasn't looking at her so brotherly either. No, now his gaze was roving over her so slowly, and with so much heat that she felt an answering heat settle between her thighs. She was aware of her flushed face and shallow breathing. How could he do that with just one look? It was like he was making love to her with his eyes. She ran her tongue over her too dry lips and she watched his eyes track the movement. She was standing right in front of him and it would be only too easy to just move forward a fraction and brush her lips against his.

"Damon, Elena," a cold voice snapped.

Katherine. Her voice was as effective as a bucket of ice being thrown at her. How had Elena possibly forgotten about her? She hadn't even given Damon's other half a second thought as she thought about leaning forward and planting one on him. Where was her head? And he was her client! She could not afford to let this attraction get the better of her. He was going to either get her promoted, or he was going to get her fired. This was just too important to mess up, and she almost had. She had to keep her eye on the ball; and if this little interaction had taught her anything, it was that she would have to be on her toes with him at all times. Her attraction to him was so strong that it would take little encouragement on his part to tempt her into making a terrible mistake. She'd never experienced an attraction like that before and it was not a comfortable feeling. It was like she didn't have control over her own body when he was around her.

Katherine threw an arm around Damon territorially.

"Lover," Katherine said to Damon, before she nibbled on his ear, her cold eyes never leaving Elena's.

Well, that was definitely Elena's cue to leave.

"Thanks for the lesson," Elena said to Damon quickly, before turning around and walking back to her friends who looked as if they were about to die of curiosity.

As Elena sat down, she thought that she would definitely be reading Damon's books when she got home. The man may be far too good looking, and he may have an ego that was far too large, but he knew something. Damon Salvatore was going to be her new resource on what men wanted. She just wasn't going to tell him that.

Damon watched Elena walk away from him. Katherine's hands and mouth were on him, but his body wasn't registering anything but desire for Elena.

"You want her," Katherine told him, her arms still wrapped around him.

Yeah, he wanted her. After their first meeting, he knew that the attraction he felt to her might be something of an inconvenience, but after a second meeting he decided the attraction far surpassed anything he'd experienced before. It was the way she responded to him that got to him. From just a look that passed between them, he'd watched her become aroused, and that had been the biggest turn on of his life. If she was that responsive to a look, how would she respond to his touch, to his kisses? Just thinking about finding out had him painfully hard for her. She was a sexually dormant volcano waiting to explode, and she had no idea of her own sexually passionate nature, he was guessing. She was just waiting for a man to show her what lay underneath the surface. He wanted to be that man. Not that he would tell Katherine that.

"She's not my type," he told her.

"We both know that's a lie."

The tone of her voice meant trouble. He'd heard it enough to know what was coming. He looked at her now to find her looking far too pleased with herself. Knowing Katherine she was scheming up something sure to end in disaster.

"What are you thinking?" he asked her.

"Seduce her."

He'd been afraid that was what she was going to say.

"Why?"

"Because you want her, and I want her gone."

"She'll lose her job if she sleeps with me?" Damon asked, unsure if they could even enforce such a thing.

"She certainly won't get her promotion."

"Why do you want her gone? What has she done, Katherine?"

Katherine pouted at him. "She's the competition. I want her taken out. Is there going to be a problem?"

He wanted to sleep with Elena. He wanted to seduce her. He wouldn't even have to try very hard. He could show her things in bed that she'd never dreamed of, he could already imagine how compatible in bed they would be together; but to do it for the express purpose of getting her fired – well that was wrong. He and Katherine had played games like this before, and he'd never really stopped to think about how screwed up they were until he'd been the one to get hurt. Now it disturbed him that she thought nothing about asking him to sleep with Elena so that there would be less competition for clients. He knew he was using Katherine to write again, but this was different. Elena was a good publicist. She deserved to have her job. Once Katherine decided on something, however, her mind was made up. If she was set on getting rid of Elena, then she would unlikely stop until she was gone.

"And if I won't do it?" he asked her.

"Then I'll ask someone else to do it. I can be very…persuasive."

At that moment, Elena looked up from where she was sitting and looked straight at him. He knew in that moment, that he just couldn't do it. She was such a mix of qualities that he found both intriguing and admirable; she was tough, but vulnerable. She was controlled, but passionate. She was confident, yet inexperienced. She was desirous and still innocent, and he'd never wanted someone more. He was a man who was used to going after and getting what he wanted; especially when it came to women. To hold back on his attraction to Elena would take every ounce of willpower he had. She wasn't a game though, and Damon wasn't about to let her become one of Katherine's games either.

The woman needed protection and lucky for Elena, Damon had just appointed himself her new guardian. He wouldn't tell her that though, she didn't need to know about it. She was just an innocent who he was going to keep out of one dangerous game. Unfortunately, that meant partaking in a game with Katherine himself.

"I'll do it," he told Katherine.

"I thought you might say that," Katherine said to him, her face alight with a sick kind of pleasure that she'd managed to get him to bend to her will.

He had a plan, and that involved letting Katherine believe he was trying to seduce Elena. While Katherine thought he was taking care of her problem, he would be helping Elena find a man. She was obviously looking for one, all he had to do was give her a few hints, provide her with a few opportunities and no doubt she'd be fine. She could certainly use his help in that department anyway. Once Elena was in a relationship, she wasn't going to be tempted by anything that Katherine threw her way. Hopefully by the time Katherine realized he wasn't going to sleep with her, Elena would have her promotion, Damon would have his muse back and he could tell Katherine to go jump, while still keeping his eye on the situation. All he had to do was keep his hands off his publicist and try not to think about going to bed with her; shouldn't be too hard at all.

A/N: Thanks everyone for your support, reviews, alerts etc. I love hearing your thoughts! Yes, I know Kat is totally hateful in this. In terms of her spontaneously combusting, I suppose if it can happen to the drummer in Spinal tap, it can happen here. We'll see.

I've been moving at a slower pace than what is usual for me, but that will soon change. Thanks for reading and please review.