Author's note: Don't own the characters. More reviews may lead to more chapters. Also, I am taking fic requests for scenes you'd like to see go another way or innuendos from the show you'd like to see... made good on. Anything to get these two into some spicy convos and situations. Simply PM me or drop suggestions in the review section.
First, he admitted he loved her and took it back. Then he started something on the porch that he couldn't finish. She would hate him if she didn't love him so much.
She took a shower to relax but she couldn't get that kiss they shared on the porch out of her mind. It was almost as passionate as the one on the plane.
She plopped down on the bed just thinking about when they both laid on the bed in Paris and almost rolled right into each other. How flustered he had been. Then how he almost stripped right in front of her as he undressed for a shower. Oh vey, had his brother not shown up when he did…
When Maxwell told her he loved her it was everything she's wanted to hear since she walked through his front door for the very first time. Everything she deserved. Now, she had been demoted to a friend once again.
She didn't know what else to do. She had tried all of her best outfits on him, made out with the man multiple times now and hell, she even alluded to sex more times than she could count. But he wouldn't take charge…
He wouldn't even have her just for an evening… too scared to destroy what they had built. But the more she thought about it the less she cared. She didn't care if things changed. She didn't care if he never admitted how he felt. She knew. She heard him clear as day.
And he was still a man after all… how much temptation could he possibly resist? She decided she was about to find out.
Fran decided it was time to take matters into her own hands as she got up and rifled through her dresser to pull out her sexiest negligee. Taking back "I love you?" Nope, not on her watch. She wasn't going to allow it. If he wasn't going to say The Thing then she would just have to get him to say a few other things. She slipped the dress on, fluffed her hair in the mirror, looked at the clock, and threw a slightly too fluffy robe on just in case the kids were sneaking a midnight snack and bumped into her but she silently prayed they were all fast asleep except Max who she knew could still be found in his office.
She contemplated just barging into his office but didn't want to startle him so she knocked without saying a word.
"Come on in…" Maxwell urged.
She opened the door slowly and he was utterly shocked to see it was her.
"Miss Fine, I thought you were Niles! Didn't you go to sleep hours ago?"
"Well, first of all… I think after everything that's happened recently you can at least call me Fran. And second of all, do I look asleep to you?" She scolded as she walked closer to his desk.
Maxwell raised an eyebrow at her sass. What's gotten into her? He wondered but then again she hadn't let him forget The Thing all day so he didn't have to contemplate it too hard. However, she had seemed fine earlier after their… heated encounter on the porch… they had agreed they were just friends.
"You know, you always think you can call the shots, Mr. Sheffield."
"Maxwell…"
"Yeah, I know your name."
"Well, you were the one coming in here demanding that we should be on a first-name basis."
"Oh, yeah." She paused for a minute because he had a point.
"As you were saying, Fran," he coaxed, now curious where this was going.
"As I was saying, Maxwell…" She emphasized his name. "You always want to call the shots."
He laughed, "Well I am the boss after all…"
"What are you going to do - fire me for this conversation?" She asked as she strutted behind his chair and he moved his head to watch her as she walked, intrigued by whatever it was she was doing walking around like that.
"No, go on..."
"I've made a decision. I'm simply not going to allow it."
"Allow what?"
"Allow you to take back The Thing." She said as she pulled the tie that secured her robe. "Allow you to deny what happened in Paris." She added as the robe seductively fell to the floor and she made her way over to him confidently as she watched his mouth almost drop to the floor and his eyes travel down her body.
"Allow you to pretend you don't feel it..." She said as she pushed his chest a bit, moving him and his desk chair away from the desk just enough for her to squeeze in and press her body to his. He looked a combination of nervous and intrigued. "When we kiss…" she whispered in his ear before grabbing his tie and kissing his lips. He grabbed her face and kissed her back fiercely. This was going better than she planned, she thought to herself.
But just when she thought she won and she could even feel him under her as she straddled him, he pushed her away and abruptly stood up, adjusting his pants as he did so. "We've been through this. Today. Just today. We decided to just be friends."
"That doesn't seem to be what you really want," she said as she sat on his desk in front of him and walked her fingers playfully up his chest as he stood in front of her.
He sighed. Here she was practically naked in his office trying to seduce him and he had to think about it. What the blood hell was wrong with him?
He ran his fingers through his hair frustratedly, pacing now around the room. "It's not what I want but rather what would be best."
She jumped up and walked over to him.
"Really because what I think would be best is…" She whispered a few naughty ideas hotly in his ear. Things he had only ever dreamed of doing to her.
"Miss Fine!" He scolded instinctively, pulling away.
Now she was frustrated, and not just sexually.
"Fran! It's Fran, Maxwell." Here she was basically throwing herself at him and he couldn't even say her name.
She grabbed his forearms, forcing him to look at her. "Look, I can't, Max. I can't let go of what's happened between us. You don't want things to change but they already have. Don't you see that? There's no going back. At least not for me."
"What the bloody hell does this mean?" He asked.
"It means that I love you. I've always loved you. And unlike you, I'm not afraid to admit that. I understand that you are. But I've decided I don't need you to say The Thing again. You already did and I know it. I've known it for a while now. I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of heated make-outs and innuendos that never go anywhere with you. Let's just have tonight." She said taking his hands and putting them on her waist and then wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling their bodies together.
It did seem enticing as he looked down into her eyes.
"You deserve more than a one-night stand, Fran."
She nodded. "I do. But if that's all you can give me, I'll take it."
He didn't know how to respond and then she started laughing, as she briefly looked away to collect herself although her hands still remained locked together behind his neck.
He looked confused by her sudden loss of composure. "What's so funny?"
"I think you're the only man in Manhattan who would make me beg while I wear this."
He smiled down at her. "I think you're probably right. It does look rather smashing on you."
I just have one final question, "Am I ever wearing something like this when I hear you calling out my name in your room?" His face ran flush. She heard that?
"I have no idea what on earth you're talking about…" He adamantly denied, slightly in disbelief that she would mention something so personal… and even more embarrassed she knew at all.
"I know you fantasize about it. I do too. I have for many years but since we were on the plane and then the porch earlier, I can't get it out of my mind, so why don't you finish what you started earlier?" She practically pleaded.
That was it. He lifted her up, nearly threw her onto his desk, and kissed her with the abandon of a madman as he climbed on top to join her.
