Anna is back in The States, high from her team's victory in London. What will she do about her blossoming friendship with Chuck?

CHUCK VS. THE MONKEY PANTS

Chapter 5

We were surrounded by vibrators and dildos of every size and color and, of course, walls and walls of porn videos. It probably had been a bad idea to bring Chuck to a sex shop. But seeing him freak out made it worth it. I had been back home for about two weeks and my body clock had finally adjusted to LA time. It had been the worse day. There must have been a "Please Be Rude to Our Employees Day" sign posted outside the store. I had done Chuck a favor and stayed late to help with some last minute repairs. After I pouted about not wanting to go home, we decided to hang out.

I was in the sex shop on a legitimate mission, to buy some naughty gifts for my cousin Magda's bachelorette party. It was months away but it didn't hurt to get the gift early and maybe I'd see something interesting for myself. I wasn't a complete stranger to the shop but standing in a sea of sex toys with Chuck on my heels was a little surreal.

"Diva in Training is not a gift shop...good to know," Chuck whispered, looking afraid to touch or look at anything.

"I guess I should have mentioned that. But I would have been cheated out of seeing the look on your face," I said. "Why are we whispering?"

"I have no idea," he said, putting his hands up like blinders at the side of his head. "Could you have some mercy and make this quick?"

"Look Magda is a total bitch and she pretends to be a sweet, little good girl. So I need something that will bring just the right amount of embarrassment."

Luckily the shop was empty and Marie, the storeowner, offered to help. Marie calls herself a "Sexpert" and was eager to share her knowledge with us. Well, she was mostly eager to share it with Chuck. Marie is as friendly as they come with her whirl of big curly red hair, floaty skirts, and the ever-present pair of glasses on a chain around her neck. After Chuck was finally able to get away from her, he planted himself by the door and waited for me.

"I'm sure your cousin will be happy. But you two should get something for yourselves. Than you can make some recommendations yourself," she said, with a wink at Chuck.

I fought hard not to laugh at Chuck's horrified expression.

"I think we have everything we need. We do like our playtime," I managed to say with a straight face. "Don't we honey?" I turned to Chuck.

"Yes, indeed...Sweetie," he said in the most unconvincing way.

I saw the cutest hair clip on a shelf behind the register. It had a row of five amber beads on a silver clip, simple and pretty.

"I would love to buy that pin. It's beautiful," I told Marie.

"Thanks! I made that myself. I'm holding that one for a good friend. I'll have some more in about a week. Didn't expect to see something that tame in here, did ya? Here's some free samples." She handed us some colorful condom packages. "They have a cream inside that enhances the pleasure. They're radioactive according to my Steve. Highly recommended."

"There were lightsabers in there! I'm sure those are not George Lucas approved. There would be some serious licensing issues," Chuck said once we got out of the store. "Is this how you cheer up your friends?"

"No. I just wanted to shock you a bit." I was doubled over from laughing so hard. "Hey you forgot the bad day we had, right? And you got free "samples." Now you'll be prepared..."

He gave me a suspicious look. "You are full of surprises, aren't you?"

I shrugged my shoulders and smiled.

"Unless we are pulling an all-nighter, we have to make a final decision," Chuck said about the three movies on the coffee table. We had brought movie rentals and a ton of food back to Chuck's place. "What's your pick?"

"I don't know. What's yours?"

"I say 21 since we both haven't seen that one. And it's gender neutral."

"Don't worry about gender. I could watch them all. You bought that new edition of Psycho and I haven't seen that either," I said. He looked at me as if I had been talking about burning puppies or some other horrible crime.

"You have never seen Psycho? I thought you were a true fan of the cinema? No self-respecting movie lover can live with themselves until they have experienced Psycho."

"Okay. Okay. Psycho it is," I said and handed him two bags of Pirate's Booty, which is like a gourmet white cheddar version of Cheetos, but much, much better.

"I love these things!" Chuck said, perking up and opening one of the bags.

"Well, yeah I saw you eating them at work."

"Thanks. And what's not to love about them? They're called Pirate's Booty," he said, pointing at the bag label.

"Do you two want to be alone?" I said.

"You mind if I change clothes? I like to get the Buy More off of me as soon as I get home."

I had on my usual work uniform—Buy More issued white dress shirt, with my short black skirt and knee-highs and flats. "Sure. I wish I had brought a change of clothes," I said.

While I waited, there was a knock at the door. Chuck didn't hear me call him, so I opened the door to find that our surprise guest was none other than Casey.

"Anna?"

"Casey."

"Didn't expect you here," he said. His tone was friendly, which kind of threw me since he's usually all business. He was casual in jeans and a black t-shirt.

Casey was not my usual type. He was too straight-laced and little older than I usually dated, but he was obviously a good-looking man. If life was a cheap romance novel he would be described as a handsome, strapping hunk of man. I suspected that underneath all that professionalism was something wild that he would unleash only when he determined was the right time, like when he gloriously put Morgan in a headlock in my honor.

"Well, I didn't expect you not expecting me. Chuck's in his room," I said as I walked back into the room.

"Excuse me. I need to talk to him," he said and hurried off. I took that time to go to the bathroom.

"La Ciudad! I thought that was over and done?" I heard Chuck's voice nearly shouting as I passed his room. My Spanish skills told me that La Ciudad meant "The City." I hadn't planned on eavesdropping but the sudden alarm in Chuck's voice wasn't easy to shrug off.

Just then, Casey answered his ringing cellphone. He spoke too low for me to make out the conversation. Soon he hung up the phone and told Chuck something that made him sound very relieved. What I could make out was: "...She's being apprehended...You can relax. For now."

I was sitting on the couch when they returned. Chuck was now wearing jeans and an Iron Man shirt.

"So what are you two watching?" Casey asked, looking like he wanted to stay.

"Psycho. Apparently, I'm a horrible student of the cinema and this is my homework. You want to join?" I asked him.

"Sure."

I offered him the other bag of Pirate's Booty.

"You don't have stuff to wrap up? Loose ends to tie into a nice, neat bow?" Chuck asked Casey warily.

"Nope. Everything's all taken care of. I got a little time to kill."

And so, I became the filling in a Casey/Chuck sandwich as he sat on the couch to my left and Chuck settled in on my right. Casey takes up a good amount of space so it was cozy. Something was definitely going one between those two. I had no idea what exactly, but my curiosity was definitely tickled.

….

"You wanna make an easy 50 bucks?" I asked Casey. It was after the movie and we were sitting at the dining room table.

"Depends," he said cautiously.

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes."

"Okay, we have a little bet about you going on at work."

"What kind of bet?" Casey said, frowning.

"I leaned in closer. "You're like Buy More's man of mystery. No one can figure you out," I told Casey. "So the first person to get the scoop on you wins the office pool. It's up to $100 as of today. You give me the scoop. I win. I get bragging rights. I give you half of the money. We're both happy."

"A Casey pool." Chuck said. "Why don't I know about this?"

"Because you're The Man. The Establishment. Face it Chuck. You're management," I said. "So Casey, what do you say?"

"Okay. But I'm not giving it away. You ask, if I want to answer, I will."

"Witness Protection?" I asked.

"No."

"You're on the run from the mob?"

"No."

"You are not going to make this easy, are you?"

"Nope. But I can tell you..." Casey said before pausing. "...That you smell lovely."

"Oh! Thanks, it's Ralph Lauren Romance," I responded. I gave Chuck a look and he shrugs his shoulders as if to say, "I don't know what that's about either."

….

While I tried to get some useful information out of Casey, Chuck wandered off. I found him in his room after Casey had left. He was sitting on the bed rubbing his temples.

"Casey's gone. Got headache?" I said.

"Yes, and the pain killer hasn't kicked in," he said.

"Are you stressing about something?"

He smiled. "Oh, just a tiny bit."

"You want to talk about it?"

"I want to, but I really can't."

"Well, I can still help," I said, positioning myself behind him. "I can give you one of my famous back rubs. It'll help you relax." I slowly began rubbing his temples.

"You don't have to do this," Chuck said.

"Sshhhhhh...Shut up and relax," I told him.

My fingers moved from his temples to the top of his head. His thick hair felt like feathers curled around my fingers.

"That's different...and...nice..." He said. He was starting to calm down, slowly but surely.

"Sshhhhhh..." I whispered again, into his ear. My hands moved down his neck, over the mole on the right side, and onto his shoulders. "I need you to take off your shirt."

He looked at me over his shoulder. I expected him to protest again, but he uncharacteristically said nothing.

"Trust me." I was adamant. His face soon went from questioning to resolved. Facing forward again, he became topless, slowly lifting his shirt over his head and throwing it on the bed.

Watching the rise and fall of his back from his breathing, I knew I was in trouble. Every girl has her favorite male body part. I have a weakness for a man's back. A good toned, muscled back does all the right things to me. While Chuck's wasn't muscle-bound, it was long, toned, and had perfect, un-blemished skin. It was impressive for a guy that spends most of his time hunched over computers.

I felt like the room went up 20 degrees, sitting there with my legs straddling him, my skirt pulled up past my knees, and his hot skin burning the inside of my thighs.

My fingertips glided over him, barely touching as I introduced my fingers to his skin. A strong shiver went through him. My now tingling fingers continued, working down, pressing harder and harder.

"Wow." I heard him whisper under his breath. Before reason could catch up with me, I leaned in and kissed his neck, right on that mole.

After a long pause, Chuck slowly turned and looked at me. "You're very thorough—"

"What's going on here?"

We both turned to see Morgan coming through Chuck's window.

"Nothing...we...I..." Chuck babbled on.

"I was rubbing him down. I mean giving him a rub down. I was giving him a back rub." I stammered.

"Oh My God," Morgan exclaimed.

"It was nothing—" Chuck said.

"Nothing? How could you say that?" Morgan said, coming over and grabbing my hands. "This woman has the hands of a magician. These are magic hands. I still miss them actually—"

"You forfeited the use of these," I said, grabbing my "magic" hands away from him. "Chuck, I have to bid you good night."

"You know, I've never been bidded good night. Hold on. I'll walk you out," Chuck said, putting his shirt back on.

A soft rain was just starting. The sound of our footsteps echoed around the courtyard as he walked me to my car. We talked about anything but what just happened.

"So what story did Casey give you?"

"I couldn't get anything out of him. So we made up some crap about him being a retired movie stuntman."

"You know, I could see that."

"Yeah," I laughed. "So tomorrow I have a date with Vince. You remember from karaoke?"

"Really?" He said.

"Yep."

"So what do you know about him? What's his full name?"

"Why? Are you going to run a background check on him?" I said and we both laughed.

We said a quick goodbye when the drizzle turned into a downpour. Chuck waited until I got in the car before turning to go inside.

….

I envy people that can fall asleep as soon as their heads hit the pillow. As I laid in my bed, my mind replayed my evening with Chuck over and over.

What was that La Ciudad stuff about? Who was the "she" that Casey talked about? And why did all of that get Chuck so excited?

Excited. I remembered how it felt to touch him and run my fingers through his hair. I kept seeing his face looking at me after I kissed him. It didn't register at the time, but I realized that he didn't look bothered or upset. In fact, his eyes were heavy with pure lust. He was turned on. What was he going to say, or do, before we were interrupted?

Aside from the stimulating image of Chuck with a hard-on thanks to myself, I knew the truth – he wouldn't have attempted anything because of The Asshole, his best friend, my ex. I felt like I had been cheated again.

There was something about Chuck.

Most guys responded to my toughness in an unwelcomed way, thinking it gives them license to leave their manners at home. Chuck was never like that. He was always, as corny as it sounds, a gentleman. And in this case corny was working for me. Yes, he's a sometimes socially awkward, certified, card-carrying member of the "Nerds R Us" club (a club I know well myself). But add that to his sweet personality, along with the fact that he has no idea how good looking he really is, and I found him intriguing. Actually, I thought he was downright sexy.

And, there it was. I could finally admit it. My old crush had never died. Now, after getting to know Chuck better, as hard as I tried to deny it, my feelings were stronger than ever.

….