Josh kisses her in his hotel room one morning in the heat of the moment and she can't stop thinking about it.

It's one of those things that really, she's imagined so many times (yes, she can admit that, now) but when it finally happens it catches her completely off guard. How is it possible that this moment she'd fantasized about, imagined, anticipated for all these years just happened and passed her by in the blink of an eye? She hadn't been expecting it, no lead up, nothing. If she's being honest, she had imagined a heated conversation, maybe with some tears, and some yelling, before one of them blurted out how they felt, and then they kissed (much in the way that they did – the kiss was absolutely perfect and mind blowing). Just like that, as if it was any ordinary day, it came and went.

He'd kissed her so softly, so tenderly at first as if he was afraid she was going to push him away (she can't believe that he'd really ever think she didn't feel the same way he does, although after the past year she can sort of understand his pause).

Later, she tells him that it was bound to happen eventually. And really – wasn't it? All the years they've known each other, there's been a hint of something under the surface.

For years she was waiting for it to happen, but she eventually realized it wouldn't, because they worked together. The flirtation got stronger, the innuendo was sometimes borderline, the affection was constant. But neither of them were going to take the risk and cross the line because they couldn't.

When she decided to quit, she wondered if… maybe? After he came to Germany for her, after he sat by her bedside for days on end, when she decided to quit - maybe something would happen?

That idea was quickly struck from her head when it all went so very wrong and they barely spoke for almost a year.

Now here they are – together, again on a campaign. He's her boss, technically, but not in the way he had been before. They're just finally starting to repair their collegial relationship and their friendship is slowly (slowly) coming along with it.

Then he kissed her.

After he kisses her, it's like a dam has broken and she can't stop all the thoughts she kept at bay for all those years. She wants to kiss him again. She wants to kiss him more. She wants to kiss him in many different ways. She wishes they hadn't been interrupted, what would've happened if the entire Santos campaign staff hadn't come barreling down the hallway in jubilee? She wants to do more than kiss him.

It's kind of awkward at first, but soon she's teasing him again about meeting Bono and for the first time in a year, she sees that smile, that spark in his eyes when he tells her, "You'll meet him."

It's that same teasing, friendly, affectionate look she had come to know and sorely missed. It's the look that made her feel special, like he would do anything for her.

When that look returned to his face, their teasing banter back in full force as he teased her about feeling bad for the guys at the Bee and wandering and then she fires back at him, "Now who's wandering?" and he shoots back a quick, "Sorry."

It all feels right.

She thinks he feels it, too, because she catches him looking at her several times. She's sitting on a bench with Bram and he's watching her – though she pretends not to notice. In the Roosevelt Room at the White House he's watching her as they all laugh and joke together over the new Santos slogan.

She wants him.

She can't deny it anymore – the dam is broken, they kissed for crying out loud. And they had kissed. She had imagined it before, but never in that particular situation and she never imagined the first kiss to be so good, that they'd get it right on the first go, no awkwardness or bumping heads as they try and figure out what to do.

His lips had been so soft and gentle, his fingers feather light on her cheeks.

Her mind keeps wandering to what else his fingers could do, how it would feel if he touched her all over.

But still, he's her boss?

Isn't he?

After a discussion with CJ and Will, she decides that in this instance, now, it's not inappropriate. Maybe he's technically her boss, but it's not like before. It's not like before, when he was in a high-level position in the White House and she was several rungs below him and reported directly to him. She could see that story appearing in tabloids or even on CNN, God forbid. But almost sounds absurd for anyone to care about a story about a campaign manager sleeping with a staffer on the campaign trail, even if he is technically her boss.

Who knows where they go after this. What if – could they end up back in the White House? She might never have the chance again.

She goes back to her hotel room and feels her heart beating quickly in her chest as she devices her plan.

She takes her hair down, for the first time all day. She changes clothes and touches up her make-up. She does the things that women do when they're in a relationship, the things that they don't care about when they're single – she shaves her legs, she rifles through her suitcase for the nicest pair of underwear she has, she puts on some perfume, she tidies up her hotel room (just in case), she keeps her lip gloss in her pocket so that she can reapply when necessary, so that his eyes will be drawn to her lips constantly.

It's one of the bravest things Donna Moss thinks she has ever done, taking the key from her bag and hiding it in her hand, knowing what she's going to do before he even arrives, just waiting for the right moment to slip it to Josh.

She'd say it's right there behind leaving Wisconsin to drive to New Hampshire and hire herself for a job and working up the courage to leave her job as Josh's assistant because she wanted something more.

She's never been the one to make the first move like this, especially not like this, in a relationship with this much built-up momentum, a relationship that they've been dancing on the precipice of for years.

He gets it. She knows he understands by the look on his face when she slides him the key. He looks at her in shock and wonder… desire, maybe. He can't believe she's doing this, either. She's nervous and insecure but she hides it well when she downs the last of her wine and walks away confidently, heart beating in her chest.

When Edie's the one to follow her and call her name, she's momentarily caught off guard because her thoughts are so trained on Josh. She breaks from her trance, lets her heartrate slow down a bit so she can focus on what Edie's telling her. Her mind is still hazy, she knows Josh is still watching her, so it takes her a moment to comprehend the words. You forgot your key! and realize that Edie is putting the key she'd intended for Josh into her hands.

Donna shakes off her disappointment and thanks Edie, giving one last look over at Josh who is staring at her in remorse.

She goes to her room and hopes that he'll show up, anyway – he can easily find her, he's a damn Fulbright Scholar – he should've gotten the hint.

When he doesn't show up, she's disappointed, but she's not mad.

She's tired of being mad at him and she wishes he would've knocked on her door. But he didn't. So she'll just have to try again.

The election is only a few weeks away and as much as she hates to admit it, her lust takes second place to all they have on their plates right now.

"Good morning." It's Josh's voice behind her, soft and hesitant. She turns to face him, giving her hair a little flip as she does so. Yes, she woke up early this morning to do her hair. No, that's not insane when she's barely getting four hours of sleep a night.

"Hi. Good morning," she says carefully, giving him a smile to show that she's not upset with him, which she can tell that he thinks she is. She's a little embarrassed, if she's honest with herself, but she's going to play confident.

"Look, I…" he shuffles his feet and she's impressed that she is definitely coming off as the confident one here. "Last night, Edie grabbed the key."

"I know," she tells him easily as she looks behind him to see Ronna approaching and she knows they don't have a lot of time. She wants to tell him he could've followed her, but she assumes he probably knew that. She's not sure why he didn't, but really… does anything they're doing now make sense? "But it's bound to happen sometime," she teases, turning on her heels to make her strategic getaway.

She hears Ronna approach Josh and she can hear him sputtering a nonsensical response to her and Ronna asking, "Are you okay?" as she disappears.

They will debate for years to come who was the one who made the move.

He says it was her, who got up and walked away purposefully, encouraging him to follow.

She insists it was Josh. When everyone's left and it's just the two of them, she can already feel the electricity in the air between them. She's smiling at him, knowing this moment when it's just the two of them – the first time in weeks, since the kiss, with nothing to distract them, could be her chance.

After all, tomorrow's Election Day and who knows what happens after that.

"Did you ever… come on board?" he asks. She and Josh have had a lot of borderline flirtatious and inappropriate conversations.

Something is different about this one.

"No," she says carefully, steady, as she smooths out her skirt. She has to figure out how to play this so it ends the way she wants.

"Never had a campaign fling?" he asks, and the smug smile on his face is something she feels is different. It feels like something is about to happen.

She waits a beat. "No," she says simply. Her mind is moving at a hundred miles per hour. Are they really going to do this? Is this really the time? Is she really going to lure him upstairs by simply saying no repeatedly?

The look in his eyes, the small smile on his face, the way he's leaning on his hand, make her want him more than ever before.

This is happening tonight.

She gets up and walks over to him purposely, sits down carefully, and crosses her legs intentionally. He looks like he's afraid to move, like he might ruin this whole thing, keeps a look at her from the corner of his eye. But the smile is more provocative than she's ever seen before. "You want another drink?" he asks her in a suggestive tone and she feels her heart start to beat heavily, her palms are sweaty and she has to have him.

She reminds herself to stay confident. "No," she says simply, a contrast to the night a few weeks ago when she downed the rest of her drink before walking away from him.

She decides to leave him with that. She knows he's gotten the memo. She gets up and walks away purposefully and though she wants to look back to see if he's going to follow her, she resists the temptation.

She pushes the button for the elevator, counting to ten in her head to ground herself – something she learned in therapy, but grounding seems imperative right now. She's only at seven when she hears the footsteps behind her, feels him slide up next to her and his featherlike touch skimming her lower back.

This is happening now.

When the elevator arrives, he ushers her in, and she doesn't know if she's thankful or not that it's empty. They stand side-by-side in silence.

"Donna," he starts and she turns to look at him. "I have never, in my life, wanted someone more than I want you right now."

That's it. She's not fighting this one second longer. He's on her – or she's on him, she's really not sure – instantly. She makes an oomph sound as her back hits the wall of the elevator and Josh takes a moment to pull back, make sure she's okay, because that's Josh. This is Josh. She simply grins at him and wraps her arms around his neck, fusing their lips together.

He jumps off her when the elevator dings and the doors open, as if he might be caught red-handed by someone, anyone, when the doors open.

They make their way to his room and it's all a blur to her, but when the door softly clicks shut she realizes that this is it. Josh is looking at her like he might pounce any second and also like she's the most amazing thing he's ever seen.

She drops the sweater she's been dragging around on the floor and says, "You have no idea how long I've wanted this." She's got that semi-false confidence again, looking him dead in the eyes while he stammers and fumbles a little bit.

"Donna, God. You have no idea."

She grins and steps forward. "So, show me," she whispers before he pulls her to him, lips on hers, and they don't say much else for the rest of the night.