Chapter 6

After a weekend spent thinking about the handsome Salvatore brothers, Elena was in desperate need of distraction by the time she arrived at work on Monday morning.

"Elijah has called a ten o'clock meeting," Caroline told her, when Elena came back from buying coffee.

Elena stopped to give her a quizzical look, but Caroline just shrugged.

Thinking nothing more of it, Elena walked back to her office, hung her jacket over her chair and checked her watch. She had thirty minutes before she needed to head up to the boardroom. Wanting to get down to business, Elena sat down, pulled out her calendar and tried to concentrate on work, but all too soon her thoughts were pulled back to the Salvatore brothers. Should she date Stefan or not, that was the question she kept coming back to. He had almost all of the qualities on her checklist for the perfect mate, but the idea of dating him when she was experiencing such an intense attraction to his brother felt wrong. At the same time, if she didn't date him, she was back at square one, trying to find a man before her time ran out and she succumbed to the attraction she had to Damon.

She was so busy pondering her dilemma that Caroline had to call her and remind her it was almost ten o'clock. Elena made the meeting by the skin of her teeth, and as she slipped into the overcrowded room she observed that more than half the office had turned up. Silence descended completely as soon as Elijah cleared his throat.

"Rose Cunningham has been let go."

A collective gasp was heard around the room at the news. Silence followed seconds later.

"The Mystic Falls PR handbook is available to each of you online, and I expect every one of you to be well versed on all company policies. Failure to comply with any of the policies outlined in it will result in your immediate dismissal."

Predictably, people started whispering before silence again ensued and Elijah continued.

"Each of you signed an agreement when you began working here. If you need to, please familiarize yourself with the conditions set out for you in the agreement and remember we have zero-tolerance for non-adherence to the rules."

As Elijah dismissed them all from the boardroom, Elena was left wondering just what the veteran publicist had done to be sacked. Fortunately, she didn't have to wonder for long. Five minutes after Elena had returned from the meeting, Caroline stepped into her office and shut the door behind her. Caroline only did that when she had gossip to share with her.

"I was on the third floor, talking to Marci P, when she told me about Rose. Guess why she was fired?" Caroline was whispering, despite the fact that nobody could hear them. Elena thought that Caroline's penchant for water-cooler gossip had certainly paid off considering how excited her assistant seemed.

"Why was she fired?" Elena asked, trying not to smile at her assistant's enthusiasm for sharing the news.

"She was sleeping with Trevor Bingham," Caroline said, her eyes wide.

Elena sat back in her chair. Trevor Bingham had been Rose's client. He'd only been her client for a few months, and Elena was more than a little surprised to hear that Rose had slept with him. From what she knew of the older woman, she was a stickler for the rules.

"Marci said that Rose has been contacting all the local PR companies trying to get another job, but none of them will take her now because they all know she slept with Trevor. Can you imagine that, Elena? She's already got a reputation for sleeping with her client, just hours after she was sacked. How can that happen?"

An awful suspicion arose in Elena's mind. Surely not, was all she could think, but it seemed more than possible. Katherine. Elena shuddered at the thought.

"She's Katherine. She loves playing games."

Had Katherine orchestrated Rose's demise? Had she somehow charmed Trevor into sleeping with Rose so that Rose would lose her job? Surely, no-one could be that cold and calculating; or insecure for that matter. Katherine didn't need to take out the competition; she was exceptional at her job.

Elena couldn't pretend to understand what was going through Katherine's mind, but it didn't really matter. What did matter was that what this morning's meeting had been a wake-up call. It was a first hand look at what would happen to her if she didn't take Damon's warning seriously. He'd told her that Katherine was after her, and he'd warned her that she wasn't safe around him. At this point Elena thought she would be incredibly foolish not to take whatever action she could to ensure that what happened to Rose did not happen to her.

With that in mind, she accepted Stefan's invitation to drinks on Friday night when he called that afternoon. She still wasn't entirely comfortable with the idea of dating Damon's younger brother, but Damon had told her it was fine. Right now it was in her best interests to take him at his word, and that meant saying yes to Stefan and running like hell from this attraction she felt towards Damon.

Friday night Damon was at the bar when he felt, rather than saw, Elena walk into the room. He finished his drink without looking at her, and then asked for another drink. He knew she was here on a date with his brother. He hadn't seen Stefan yet, but he wouldn't be far away. His brother would never keep a date waiting.

His plans of getting out of there before he had to speak to either of them were shot to hell when he felt her hovering near his side.

"Hi," she said softly.

"Elena," he acknowledged, still not looking at her.

"I didn't get a chance to talk to you much last night, but I thought it went really well. I thought you were great, Damon."

Yeah, the Oscar Wentworth interview had been good. She'd done well to get him on the show, and he'd enjoyed himself.

"It was fun," he said to her.

"I…I'm assuming you know I'm here to meet Stefan?" she asked him tentatively.

"Yup," Damon said, still not looking at her.

"I know this might be awkward for you, for both of us, but you told me I should go for it and…"

She wanted him to be grateful she took his advice?

"Stefan's here," he told her, relieved that she would finally leave him alone. His brother was already on his way over, having spotted them at the bar. Great, now he had to make nice with both of them.

"You can't ignore me, Damon. I'm your publicist. We need to work together."

She thought he was ignoring her? If only he were able to. That was the whole damn problem. He couldn't stop thinking about her. He was saved from commenting further when Stefan greeted them.

"Brother," he acknowledged.

"I didn't realize you were going to be here tonight." Stefan said to him.

"Meeting Katherine," Damon told him.

Stefan nodded, while Elena muttered something under her breath that sounded suspiciously like, 'wicked spawn on Satan.'

"Well, you kids have fun," Damon said, wishing to God they'd leave him alone and let him get back to drinking.

"Stefan, will you give us a minute. Please," Elena asked his brother.

As soon as Stefan was out of ear shot, Damon looked at her, really looked at her now. She was wearing a grey striped skirt and a black top that was cut low and revealed enough to tantalize. Her lips were painted a dusky pink and her eyes were heavily made up, making them appear incredibly large. She'd taken the art of seduction to a new level, and he felt need course through his veins. Why was it that he couldn't have this woman? Oh, right, he was trying to be the good guy.

"What is it, Elena?" he asked sharply.

"I need to know that everything is okay between us. At least now I'm not a temptation…"

He laughed humorlessly. "Not a temptation?" He slid off the stool, so he was standing close to her; close enough to hear her quick intake of breath, close enough to see her eyes widen as they latched onto his. "You'll always be a temptation, Elena. Just because you've decided to have a drink with my brother doesn't mean I don't want you anymore."

"Oh," her face flushed prettily. "But I thought…now that I'm with Stefan."

"You thought wrong," he told her, "and it's not your only problem either."

"It's not?" she asked, confused.

"No, it's not. Katherine still expects me to seduce you. She expects to see me try."

"What are we going to do?" she asked him anxiously.

"We aren't going to do anything," he ground out. "You are going to stay clear of me while I try and work something out. Got it?"

Elena nodded, turned around and walked back to Stefan on legs that were shaking badly. She was relieved that Stefan had already bought drinks for them both. Without caring what he thought, she picked up the drink he'd bought for her and downed it in one go.

"Elena, are you okay?" Stefan asked her.

"I'm sorry. It's just work…it's been one hell of a week." She gave him a weak smile.

Stefan smiled kindly at her. "You wouldn't be the first person my brother has driven to the bottle," Stefan told her. "Shall I buy you another?"

"Please."

As soon as Stefan left her, her eyes automatically sought out Damon. Thankfully he was sitting down again, facing away from her. She had no idea what to do anymore. Damon wasn't happy with her; his frosty treatment towards her last night had made that all too clear. She couldn't blame him. He wanted her, and she'd gone ahead and started dating his brother to deliberately keep him at bay. Had she really been expecting him to be happy about it? Despite the fact that he'd said it was fine, she knew it wasn't.

Elena watched Katherine walk up and tap Damon on the shoulder. When he turned around he smiled, and Katherine kissed him before sitting down next to him. He handed her a drink, before both of them turned around and looked right at her. Feeling like a deer caught in the spotlight, Elena looked away quickly and saw Stefan coming back with her drink. In that moment she was very grateful to be there with Stefan.

"I told you," Katherine said to Damon. "She hasn't taken her eyes off you since I walked in here. Whatever you're doing is working."

Damon wanted to deny it; wanted to tell Katherine that Elena wasn't the least bit interested in him, but that would be a lie that Katherine would see through. It was unfortunate that Katherine had caught Elena staring at him; the woman could sniff out the truth in any situation. Now he would need to be extra careful, or he'd give the game away, and the moment Katherine suspected Damon wouldn't follow through, she would be looking for another way to get rid of the Elena.

"Just like you said, Kat, she was an easy mark," he told her.

"When do you plan on sealing the deal?"

"I haven't decided," he said casually.

He saw the quick flash of temper in her eyes before she masked it with a flirtatious smile. She used to be able to get anything out of him when she smiled like that. Now, though, he was a wiser man now.

"You're having too much fun," Katherine accused playfully, though Damon realized she wasn't really amused.

"You know I like to play a little, before I go in for the kill," he told her, with a smile that equaled hers.

"I remember. Just don't keep me waiting too long."

Elena was able to keep her eyes off Damon for the rest of the night, but her mind still wandered. Stefan was trying to tell her about his accounting job, but it didn't really hold her interest. Of course the moment Damon came up in the conversation, Elena found herself listening intently.

"Did the two of you get along when you were younger?" Elena asked, thinking there was nothing wrong with finding out a little more about her client, especially since Stefan had brought the subject up.

"When our father walked out, Damon took on the whole Dad bit. He took care of me when Mom was working. At first she was working two jobs to make ends meet, and then it was night school and her day job. Damon looked out for me. He cooked, he cleaned; he stood over me while I did my homework and yelled at me if I failed a test." Stefan smiled, clearly engrossed in his own memories.

"Sounds like you two were close."

"We were."

"What happened?"

"Dad came back. Damon didn't think we should let him back into our lives. There were a lot of arguments; a lot of fighting. Damon thought I should feel the same way he did, but I didn't. I thought Dad had changed and I wanted to get to know him. Damon was right in the end, but by the time Mom and I realized it was too late. Anyway, I don't think Damon ever really forgave either of us for giving Dad another chance."

Her curiosity had been piqued and when there was a slight pause in the conversation, Elena waited a moment, hoping he would continue. Disappointingly, he changed the subject instead.

"So how many clients do you have, Elena. Surely Damon doesn't take up all your time."

Elena told him a little bit about her job, but not too much. After all, Damon had told her men weren't interested in too much information.

The conversation flowed without too many awkward silences, and overall, Elena thought the night went well. Their evening ended with a small kiss upon the lips. Elena noted there were no fireworks, but it was a nice kiss; and if it somehow paled to the attraction she experienced to Damon, she chose not to think about it.

Sunday morning Elena was called into the office early, after hearing about her newest client's Saturday night activities. It seemed that Damon had been involved in a bar brawl with Mason Lockwood two towns over. The fact that Mason Lockwood was an actor on the teen drama, The Werewolf Diaries, meant the media were very interested in the whys and hows of the altercation. Fortunately no arrests were made, but the situation was still in need of damage control.

She tried desperately to contact Damon during the morning, needing to clarify information and talk to him about a statement, but he wouldn't answer his phone. By the time midday rolled around, she was feeling more than a little frustrated. After the tenth unanswered call to her client, she was officially in a bad mood. She knew he didn't want to hear from her, but this was important. Deciding the only way she was going to get answers was by seeing him in person, she got in her car and drove out to the mansion. She always wanted the best for her clients, and just because things were a little tense between them; okay, a lot tense between them, didn't mean she was going to let him mess up his career. It was a common misconception that all publicity was good publicity, and if he wanted his own radio show, he would need to be more careful than this. His reputation for womanizing and drinking helped the sale of his books somewhat, but public fighting would hinder, not help his cause.

After several minutes of knocking and waiting at his front door, Elena was becoming impatient. She could hear music coming from inside the house, so she knew he was home. She went around the back and knocked loudly on the glass.

"I know you're in there, Damon."

Elena waited, but she still heard nothing.

"I'm not going anywhere," she yelled, before banging on the glass with her fist.

She continued to knock, until she saw him through the glass. Some of her confidence faded as he opened the door; his hair was messy, as if he'd been lying down, and he was only wearing jeans.

"You don't take a hint do you?" he asked her.

"No," she said, walking past him, not looking at him.

She was absolutely the last person Damon wanted to see. She'd effectively turned his life into some kind of a balancing act as he tried to protect her, and today he was in no mood to have to watch himself around her.

"By all means, come right in."

"Do you know how I've spent my Sunday morning, Damon? I've been absolutely…You're hurt."

He didn't want her here, and he didn't want her concern. She was the reason he was tied up in knots. Seeing Stefan and Elena together at the house party had been one thing, but seeing them together on a date had been that much worse. Between the lust he was trying not to act on, the jealousy he was experiencing, and not having a clue what to do about Katherine, he was in a right state. When he'd run into Mason, hitting him had seemed like a good way to blow off some steam. The guy didn't like him, and since Damon had found out that Katherine had been screwing him and Mason at the same time, the feeling was mutual. It had taken less than five minutes for insults to be exchanged, and the first punch thrown.

"You should see the other guy," Damon said to her.

He stood still as she walked up to him to examine his injuries, and sucked in a breath as she softly ran her fingertips over the bruising on his ribs.

"Damon, these are really serious. Have you been to the hospital?"

She was standing close enough for him to smell her shampoo; it was something floral and fruity and highly appealing, and he wanted nothing more than to bury his nose in her hair and inhale more deeply.

"I'm fine. I have a perfectly good pain killer right here," he told her, picking up the bottle of bourbon he'd put down before he'd opened the door, and walking away from her.

Her gentle touch and proximity were playing havoc with his self control, and his irritation at having to try and restrain himself from taking what he wanted from her was growing with every second that passed.

She followed him into the parlor, and he watched as her eyes fell upon the empty bottles scattered around the room.

"Just how many pain killers have you gone through this morning?" she asked him.

"Not enough," he told her, trying not to wince as he lay back down on the couch.

When she disappeared, he hoped she'd finally taken the hint and left him alone, but instead she just returned with what looked like a packet from the freezer, and a towel.

"You don't have an icepack so this will have to do."

Great, now she wanted to play nurse. He watched her wrap up the frozen packet in the towel and then she hovered over him, pressing the ice against his ribs. He tried not to flinch as she positioned it where the most bruising was. He expected her to leave it there and walk away. She didn't. Instead she perched on the couch, looked at her watch, and kept her hand held firmly over the makeshift icepack.

Elena was aware of him watching her, and she tried not to let it make her feel uncomfortable. She hadn't had time to do more than shower, throw on some casual clothes, and apply a bit of mascara and eyeliner before she walked out the door this morning. Making house visits to her clients in her jeans and sweater was not something she would normally do, but it was important she get a handle on the situation immediately and that meant speaking to the man next to her. Now, she wanted nothing more than to talk to him quickly and leave, but he was obviously in pain, and she couldn't walk away when he was hurting; even if it was self-inflicted.

In an effort to avoid eye contact with him, she found her gaze wandering down to his chest. Even with the bruising, she could see it was a magnificent chest. It had been far too long since she'd seen a man without his shirt on, let alone touched one intimately, and it was only too tempting to reach out and run her hands over the smooth expanse of flesh above his waist. Realizing too late that she should never have sat this close to him, she went to stand up.

"You know, I think I'm going to leave this with you and…" she trailed off as his eyes met hers.

Damon knew in that moment exactly what needed to happen here; exactly what the answer was to all of their problems. He'd been trying to fight it, but fighting it was not the answer. They needed to give in; just once. Just once for both of them would knock this thing out of their systems and let them get on with their lives without this thing hanging over their heads. Would she go for it? If not he'd just have to convince her.

"We need to sleep together, Elena," he told her, "it's the only way to get past this."

A/N: Wishing you all a happy and safe weekend. Thanks for reading, and please review.