So this is turning out to be the final chapter…for now. I may post another one as a follow up, in a few weeks, and several weeks in their future, but am thinking it may wind up as a separate post, as a story that can stand on it's own (and wind up with an M rating)….please enjoy this last chapter as we find Walter and Paige up on the roof.

Chapter 6:

Neither of them spoke for several long moments as Paige, now clad in Walter's warm brown slippers, balanced her weight on her right foot, and rested her elbows on the ledge of the roof and looked up at the night sky. Walter stood next to her, though several feet away, his gaze shifting between the stars and Paige. She finally looked peaceful. Tired, but content, and still so beautiful. He hesitated to cause her any more anxiety than she'd already experienced today, but felt the need to speak.

"Paige, I'm sorry for the things I said earlier," he said slowly, looking only up at the sky. "I swear I didn't mean them. I was not only unprofessional, but I think, no, I know I said the things I said to you out of anger. I th-think my anger was rooted in jealousy." He quickly continued, "I know that's not fair to you. I know that you said you don't have any intense feelings for me," now he paused, unsure about how to finish his statement, "but…I guess I didn't realize how still very real my intense feeling are for you until I found out about your date tonight." There, he'd admitted it. Now he just had to save face and salvage their collegial relationship. "This is new territory for me; I am not used to reacting to emotions. But now that I am aware that this is an issue for me, I can resolve to turn those feelings completely off," he said, choosing his words as carefully as he could. "I know it's none of my business, but I am worried about what happened to you tonight. You don't have to tell me, but if there's anything I can do to make the awful things I said to you earlier right, please tell me." He managed to keep his gaze away from her, but brought his hands to rest on the ledge as he finished.

She was quiet for another long moment before responding. "I won't be seeing Simon again. I haven't slept with him – I- I didn't sleep with him tonight," she whispered, looking down. "I couldn't. I thought I wanted to, but…my feelings were…misplaced." Walter couldn't believe the amount of relief that washed over him.

She went on, "I was so mad at you when I left the garage. I put on this silly dress," she gestured beneath the blanket, "and went over to his overpriced, over decorated condo tonight with every intention of taking things to the next level, but I just kept thinking, kept wishing…" She paused. "Walter, I think we have a problem."

"What?" he asked, looking at her intently. Wanting to step closer to her, but afraid of what might come next.

"I kept wishing he was you," she said simply.

Walter processed this for a moment. "You said you didn't have those feelings for me," he said.

"I lied," she replied. "You broke away from the kiss before it even really began, and it was just some silly failed experiment anyway, so I was trying to protect my pride…and my heart." She wrapped her arms around herself. "I know remaining 'just friends' is the sensible, logical way to proceed. I thought moving on would help to reinforce that for me, but it just made me unleash all of these romantic feelings that I've been repressing." She felt like she was going to cry again, but she was so tired of crying. "I'm sorry too Walter. I feel like I'm letting you down. I gave you mixed signals. I don't know what to do to make things ok. I worry about the team too. I always worry about Ralph. I don't know what the right answer is here."

Walter wished he knew as well, but feeling emboldened by her declaration of feeling for him, he decided to try a different tact. He took a few steps toward her and then positioned himself behind her, settling for placing his hands on the ledge on either side of her, rather than wrapping his arms around her, the very thing he'd wanted to do since the moment he found her on the floor of the garage tonight.

When he spoke, he whispered the words into her ear, inhaling her warmth, her scent before he did. "I know I'm usually the one with the answers, but I don't know either," he softly admitted.

Paige let herself lean against his chest and let her head fall to the side and blanket slide off her shoulders as she felt his warm breath tickling her neck. She tried to stay grounded. "Walter?"

"Hmm?" he nuzzled.

"Friends and colleagues don't stand this close to each other," she breathed.

"I know," said Walter. "If you want me to move-"

Paige responded by placing her hands on his and wrapping them around her waist. "Please don't go," she murmured. He began to slowly and gently place soft kisses on her cheek, his lips traveling to her jaw line and down her neck and Paige let herself revel in the moment. This was where she had longed to be – with Walter and his strong arms wrapped around her. She felt safe and warm and well, home. She slowly turned around to face him. They looked into each other's eyes only for a moment before bringing their lips closer to each other and enjoying a deep, satisfying, uninterrupted kiss.

Her hands reached into his curls that she had dreamed about caressing. His hands roamed freely from her hips to her back, making their way up to her soft exposed shoulder blades. When he broke the kiss to return his attention to her neck again, she didn't have to remind herself to lean her head back and breasts toward him. He daringly lowered one of her spaghetti straps to allow him more access to the top of her breasts. She ran her hands over his chest and clung to his shirt, breathing heavily. If his hands roamed to the zipper on the back of her dress, she swore she would allow him to strip her completely on the roof right now. She wanted him. She ran her hands down his waistline, smiling at the always absent spot where a belt should be, and let her hand graze the front of his pants, where his now obvious arousal protruded. Walter moaned and reached for her zipper. She started to unbutton his shirt, and allowed herself to fantasize about spending the night, naked with Walter under the stars on the roof, when reality set in.

"Umm….Walter?" she whispered breathlessly. No part of her wanted to stop what they had started. Walter froze in mid-zip and took a small step back from her. She moved her hands to his biceps, holding him in place. "I umm…I need to get back to Ralph soon." She was tempted to leave it at that, but felt the need to be completely honest with him. "And…as much as I want this, what we're doing to happen, I also don't want to rush into anything. I almost made a huge mistake tonight, and I don't want my poor choices to be the reason we wind up getting together." She peeked up at him. "Does that make sense?"

Walter nodded and kissed her forehead. "So you're asking me for some space?"

Paige smiled bashfully. "Actually I was thinking of asking you for a date," she said in a coy and quiet voice, "but space for tonight might be best."

A date with Paige. Walter let the words sink in and grinned broadly. "I would love to take you on a date." He thought he would be nervous. He thought his mind would leap into overdrive trying to research restaurants and plan an evening out, preparing a mental list of conversation points, and scheduling time to practice his smile in the mirror. Instead, he realized he just wanted to spend as much time with her as possible. It didn't matter if they went out for coffee or an elegant evening; he just wanted to be with her. Next to her, holding her hand, looking at her, inhaling her sweet scent, and feeling completely at ease. "When?" He couldn't stop smiling.

Paige's smile grew wider, "Umm…well, Ralph has a sleep over at Billy's on Friday. So I wouldn't have to worry about a sitter. How does Friday sound?"

"Perfect," said Walter and leaned in to kiss her on the cheek. "Now, let's get you home."

-oooo-

Later that night, Paige couldn't keep the smile off her face as she tried in vain to get some sleep. She replayed every moment on the roof with Walter and wondered where they would go on their date! She finally drifted off, idly pondering what dress she should wear, and trying to decide which of the lovely sets of unseen lingerie she would wear underneath.

Thoughts and reviews please? Thank you for reading my story! And as always, thank you for all of yours!

DFPF