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"Sorry, Jeff, I have to—"
Jeff winced as Annie turned and abruptly scurried away. She only got carsick occasionally, usually when there were lots of stop-starts or potholes – the latter of which this journey had had in plenty, thanks to the 'much prettier, Jeff, you'll see!' route she'd found. She'd made it as far as the hotel, but apparently she could make it no further.
"I'll check us in!" he called after her. She waved one distracted hand in acknowledgement as she disappeared through the door to the restrooms just off the hotel lobby.
They'd been planning this trip for a while now, to make up for the previous ski trip that never happened – well, the trip part had happened, but not the skiing. Since they were the only two members of the study group that were not-so-secretly crazy about throwing themselves down steep mountain slopes, they'd taken advantage of the two days Greendale was being shut down (and he'd asked Abed to text once he found out why that was happening). It was gonna be great – two days of cold snow and hot toddies. If Annie weren't with him, Jeff might have found himself a ski bunny to help him stay warm at night, but really, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't actually muster any regret that she was along for the trip.
"Hi," he said, smiling perfunctorily at the desk clerk. "Jeff Winger, checking in."
His phone chimed, and he glanced down at it as the clerk – Chris – found his name. It was a text from Abed:
Greendale closed due to gas leak. Dean says not to worry.
Gas leak? And if the dean was saying not to worry, either they'd all been poisoned, or the place was about to explode. He could only hope it was the latter. He sent a quick text back to ask for more info, nodding absently and not really listening as the clerk confirmed the details of the reservation and printed off a receipt for him to sign. "Your keycard, sir," concluded Chris, sliding it across the desk.
"Thanks." Jeff turned away, and then turned back, remembering. "Oh, the other member of my party..."
Chris smiled politely. "I have a keycard for her here, sir," he confirmed, tapping a card he'd set beside his monitor. "She can pick it up it any time."
"Great."
"Welcome back to the Beaumont, Mr. Winger."
"Uh, yeah, thanks."
With still no further response from Abed, Jeff headed back to the car to grab his bags - but paused when he stepped outside, and squinted across the road. The ski place was open, and he might as well go check the condition of the slopes before they went back out.
Changing direction, he strode off across the road of the small ski town.
---
Annie emerged from the restrooms feeling a bit washed-out but much better for having thrown up. Travel sickness didn't always hit her, but when it did, she'd found it was better just to go with it than to try to fight it. Maybe it was because she hadn’t slept so well last night? It was silly to be nervous, it was just a little trip with Jeff, they were good friends and that was all, but still... Anyway, she'd be better once she got out into the fresh air. She was really looking forward to trying out the slopes here at last.
She looked around, but Jeff had obviously gone up to his room, so she stopped at the desk.
"Um, hi, I believe I'm checked in under the name Winger...?"
"Mrs. Winger, hi! It's lovely to see you again."
She gaped at the man behind the desk for a moment – and then the face clicked. It was the bellman from last time – the one she'd accidentally led into her little fantasy about being married to Jeff, and who had consequently thought Jeff was cheating on her. Well, that was just wonderful. "Oh! Hi, um..."
"Chris," he supplied. "Welcome back to the Beaumont." He leaned forward confidentially. "I'm glad to see you and your husband have patched up your differences."
"Oh, um, we – I... yes," she said weakly. Jeff is going to kill me. No, no he wasn't, she told herself. All they had to do was pass through the lobby and say hi occasionally, and they were only here for a couple of days. It was going to be fine. "Yes, we, um. All patched up," she said, brightly.
"That's great! You make such a cute couple, I could see how much in love you were."
Annie forced herself to smile. "Yes. Totally in love, that's us," she said. "Uh, anyway, I'm here to get my key...?"
"Of course, I have it right here." Chris slid the card across the desk.
"Thanks. Oh, are there any, like, plain crackers in the room?" She waved back at the restrooms, and grimaced. "I'm kind of in a throwing up phase right now, and I find they help."
Oddly, Chris's eyes lit up at that. "Oh, Mrs. Winger, that's – I mean, no, we don't have snacks in the room, but I'll have something sent up, compliments of the hotel."
"Aw, thank you, that's really sweet." She smiled at him. He was strangely over-invested in her love life, but he was very kind.
"Not a problem. And I hope it's not presumptuous of me to say congratulations to you both."
"Uh... thank you?" she said, puzzled.
"Room 215." He rang the bell, and a teenaged boy in uniform rushed over. "Take these bags for Mrs. Winger, room 215," he instructed.
"Oh, it's okay, I can—"
"It's not a problem, Mrs. Winger," smiled Chris. "Save your energy for more important things."
"Please follow me, ma'am," said the boy – so Annie shrugged, and gave in.
Halfway across the room, it occurred to her why Chris had been congratulating her, and the mistaken assumption he'd made. "Oh, crap!" she said, stopping short. The boy stopped and looked back at her. "No, no – it's fine – I just thought of something," she said, flustered, shooing him forward again. She followed him towards the bank of elevators. "Jeff is going to kill me," she sighed under her breath.
Resigned to her fate – which was probably to be pushed into the nearest ravine – she followed the boy up to the room, her mood brightening at the sight of it. It was really plush, and the bed was absolutely enormous, with a long-stemmed red rose on the comforter. After she'd tipped the bellhop and he'd set her bag down, she picked up the rose and smiled. Someday, she promised herself, she'd have someone to share these romantic little gestures with – but for now, she merely put the rose into the small glass vase left on the desk for that purpose.
She unpacked quickly, putting her clothes in the drawers on the window side of the bed, and her toiletries bag in the bathroom, and tucking the suitcase neatly under the bed. A knock on the door hailed saltines and soda water, and after a few sips she felt a lot better. Grabbing her jacket and her phone, she headed back down to the lobby to wait for Jeff.
---
Having checked the slopes and collected his bags, Jeff headed up to his room. He glanced around in satisfaction: it was a comfortable room, and the bed was suitably huge. He quickly unpacked everything into the drawers nearest the door, and hung his blazer in the closet, and then headed back down to the lobby, where Annie had texted him that she'd meet him.
"Feeling better?" he greeted her, leaning over her where she waited on one of the lobby couches, absorbed in reading messages on her phone.
She jumped – guiltily? – and looked up at him. "Oh! You startled me. Yes, much better, thank you." She glanced nervously at the desk clerk. "Let's get going, shall we?"
"Sure." Jeff glanced curiously at the desk clerk, who was grinning and nodding in their direction. That was weird... "Oh, I went over to the ski place, and they say we're good to go. No disasters."
"Great!" Annie smiled up at him, all trace of nerves gone, and Jeff found himself smiling back. "I've been looking forward to this all month!"
"Yeah, me too," he admitted.
---
They spent the day hurtling down snowy slopes, and by the time the sun was dipping towards the horizon they were satisfyingly exhausted and starving. They agreed to go back to the hotel, wash up, and then head out for dinner.
"Um, and I wanted to talk to you," said Annie, tentatively. At Jeff's inquiring look, she shook her head. "But it can wait until dinner," she said, thinking of how much funnier the whole thing would seem once he had a glass or two of scotch inside him.
"Okay, woman of mystery," said Jeff, equably. They rode up in the elevators together, and Jeff followed her down the hall. Annie paused outside her door.
"Meet you downstairs in fifteen minutes?" she asked.
"Make it thirty," said Jeff, gesturing to himself. "This takes time, you know."
She rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Well, I wouldn't want to rush an artist such as yourself," she said, and reached for her keycard.
"Okay, genius, that's not gonna work," said Jeff, a laugh in his voice.
She glanced back as the lock clicked, and saw his smile morph into a frown. "What won't work?"
"Hey, how come your key opens this door?"
"Uh, because this is my room?" she said. "You have been out on the slopes too long, Jeff."
"No, it's my room," argued Jeff. "Room 215."
"Well, if it's your room, how come my key opens it?" retorted Annie, opening the door. Annoyingly, Jeff followed her into the room, automatically closing it behind him.
"Yeah well, if it's your room, how come all my stuff is in here?" he replied, opening the closet. Sure enough, his suit was hanging up in its special cover.
Annie frowned at him. "Wait, but why would they give you a key to my – oh!"
Realization dawned at the same time for both of them. "Son of a—" Jeff strode across the room to the phone. Annie intercepted him before she knew what she was doing, grabbing hold of his arm before he could pick up the receiver.
"Wait! We can't tell them we're not married – not now!"
"What? Why not? This is the second time they've made this stupid mistake, and I'm not about to—"
"Because they think I'm pregnant!"
The words hung loudly in the still air of the room.
"I'm sorry," said Jeff. "I thought you said, 'they think I'm pregnant'."
"It was the same desk clerk!" Annie rushed to explain, in the hopes that speed would be an adequate substitute for rationality. "And he still thought we were married from last time, and I didn't see the point of correcting him, but then I mentioned I'd thrown up, and he thought – well, how was I to know he'd leap to that conclusion? And then he congratulated me, but I didn't realize why until I was far enough away that it would have looked ridiculous to go back and correct him, and now they're going to think I'm insane and please, Jeff, it's only for one night!"
Jeff stared at her. "You're not serious, are you?" She stared back at him, her eyes impossibly huge and pleading, and dammit, he was not going to fall for that routine again. "Annie, I'm not going to share a room with you just to salvage your dignity!"
"Oh, come on, Jeff – the bed is the size of the entire apartment I had over Dildopolis! What could it possibly matter? And it'll save money! Really, it makes perfect sense just to leave it how it is."
Jeff was still staring at her. "You are serious."
"Of course! Look, we won't tell the study group, so it couldn't possibly hurt anyone. We're both adults, we can handle one night together in the same room. What exactly do you think is going to happen, that I'm going to suddenly lose all control and throw myself at you in the middle of the night?"
From Jeff's wince, she guessed that was exactly what he feared. Annie huffed in exasperation.
"Well, you don't need to worry, Jeff. I do have some self-control, you know, and you're not completely irresistible."
Jeff closed his eyes. "Fine," he gritted out. "If only because explaining it is going to make us both sound like lunatics. But we are not telling anyone about this. Anyone."
"I know! Of course I'm not going to tell anyone, do you really think I'm that stupid?"
He sighed, and his shoulders slumped. "No. That honest, maybe, but not that stupid. Okay, well... we'll just have to deal with it. It's only one night, after all."
"Only one night," agreed Annie, relieved that he was being rational again.
"I'm going to change. In the bathroom. Then let's get out of here, before they land us with twins or something. I need a drink."
---
When the waiter left, Jeff stared at Annie until she finally, reluctantly, allowed her eyes to meet his. "What?"
"Annie. Why did you order a virgin cocktail?" he asked, getting straight to the point.
She dropped her voice and leaned forward. "Jeff! What if the desk clerk comes in here? There aren't many places to eat in this town – what if this is his favorite hole-in-the-wall restaurant, what if he comes over to say hello, and sees me with – with an appletini or something? What will he think? He'll think I'm a terrible mother!"
Jeff could feel a headache coming on. He pressed two fingers to the bridge of his nose. "Okay, I can't believe I have to ask this, but... you do know you're not really pregnant, right?"
"Of course I know that! But if we're going to maintain the fiction, we have to do it right – we have to be thorough."
"Jesus Christ," he muttered. At least her 'pregnancy' didn't preclude him having a drink or two – or several. He had a feeling he was going to need them. "Are you going to check all the items on the menu for raw egg, too?"
"Is that a thing?" Annie stared at him, and he wished he could take back the words. "Should I be worried?"
"Oh for... No, Annie, you should not be worried, because you. Are not. Pregnant."
Annie rolled her eyes. "Grow up, Jeff," she said, completely unfairly. "I'm only trying to do this properly. What's your big problem?"
Jeff opened his mouth, thought for a moment about all the possible responses he might make, and then closed it again. "Never mind. Just don't have the ice cream. And please forget I knew that."
She smiled prettily at him. "Okay. Thanks, Jeff."
Jeff sighed.
Once their food – and, more importantly, his drink – had arrived, it was easy enough to ignore their ridiculous situation, and just relax and enjoy the evening. She was always good company – when she wasn't on some kind of insane crusade, anyhow – and they'd had a great day together, up until the whole room thing. Somehow, it was easier to relax and just be himself with her than with anyone else he knew. Tomorrow, they'd get in some more skiing, before heading off back on the three-hour drive to Greendale, where hopefully their school would be open and gas-free again the following day. And this would all be nothing but a crazy story... that they would never, ever tell anyone, ever.
As they strolled back to the hotel later, Annie hooked her arm around his, and Jeff's world did an abrupt one-eighty. Suddenly he wasn't ignoring their ridiculous situation: he was ignoring reality. For a long moment, he allowed himself to indulge, to pretend that this was his reality, that they were together and that he was taking her back to their hotel room, where he'd slowly undress her and lay her back on the bed...
He drew in a deep breath, trying to shove the images back down. Now is not the time, he told himself firmly. Not when he was about to actually get into bed with this woman, in the real world, where they were nothing but friends.
"Jeff? Are you okay?"
He glanced down at Annie. "Yeah. Just tired," he said. "It's been a long day."
She smiled, and hugged his arm. "Yeah, me too. I'm really looking forward to that bed." She glanced at him, and if he wasn't mistaken, blushed slightly. "I'll probably fall straight to sleep," she said, a little too quickly, and Jeff sighed internally.
Why the hell was he letting this happen? It was clearly dangerous, on both their parts. Why the hell hadn't he insisted that they straighten things out with the hotel, and get separate rooms?
Because she asked, said an incontrovertible little inner voice, and you never could say no to her.
---
As she brushed her teeth and washed her face, Annie found herself staring at Jeff's toiletries and mentally cataloguing them, noting the brands that he liked, the style, the color… She shook herself, and gave herself a stern look in the mirror.
This is just for a night. He doesn't even want this. He's only doing it because you insisted, because you didn't want to look like an idiot in front of the hotel staff. Again.
Which was very kind of him. In return, she'd kindly not pointed out that he'd clearly messed up the reservation somehow, and hadn't corrected it or even noticed it when he checked them in. So really, they were both at fault, and she had no cause to feel obliged or concerned or… or anything at all. It would be no different than all the times she'd shared a room with Britta or Shirley.
Resolved, she rinsed and spat, and headed back into the main room.
"Okay, I'm all – oh!"
Jeff quickly pulled up his pajama pants, tying the cord at his abdomen. Thankfully he'd had his back to her – but still...!
He turned around, looking a little flustered. "I was just getting changed! I thought you'd be in there longer!"
Trying – unsuccessfully – to banish the image of his perfectly sculpted and tanned ass (burned. on. her. retinas.), Annie tried to answer. "I was teeth. I was. I'm. The bathroom's all yours!"
"Thanks."
He hurried past her, and once the door to the bathroom snapped shut behind him, Annie unfroze, and groaned quietly. "'I was teeth'? Oh my god." She staggered forward a few steps, and fell onto her face on the bed.
It wasn't like it was the first time she'd seen his naked ass, she told herself. His first-year pool competition had become legendary, and she'd been there, and she'd seen everything – the whole school had. But a) that was over three years ago, and b) this was the first time she'd seen it just before they got into bed together.
"Sleep," she told herself, and pushed herself upright again so she could move around to her side of the bed. "Must go to sleep as soon as possible." That way, morning would come soon, and the danger that she actually was going to throw herself at him in the middle of the night would have passed.
This was really nothing like sharing a room with Britta or Shirley.
When Jeff stepped back out of the bathroom, he had his hands over his eyes. "Is it safe?"
"It's safe," she confirmed. "I'm not the one getting unexpectedly naked in here."
He cleared his throat, dropping his hand. "Yes, well... sorry 'bout that. I realize it makes me all the more difficult to resist."
Annie rolled her eyes, relieved that he was joking about it. She'd been worried he was going to freak out or something, and she just didn't have the energy to deal with a crazed Jeff Winger. "Yeah, right. Now I'm definitely going to ravish you in the middle of the night."
He eyed her sideways, and grabbed a T-shirt. She had the distinct feeling that he wouldn't normally cover himself up this much to go to bed, and was a little disappointed. And then he clicked off the main light, and disappointment changed to relief, because it felt dangerously intimate. Jeff slid under the covers, keeping a very respectable distance between them, and Annie threaded her fingers together, gripping tightly, half afraid that she was going to reach for him without even thinking about it. It felt strangely unnatural to be lying beside him and not to be curled against him, even though it was something they'd never done. She'd pictured it too often, she told herself. It was all in her head, and she needed to stop thinking of him that way when she was in bed with him.
The sound of his voice made her jump. "Do you mind if I...?" He waved the TV remote, and she nodded.
"Great idea!" Oh, tone it down, Edison. "That's the fun thing about being in a hotel – watching TV in bed."
"Uh, yeah." He clicked on the TV, muttering: "I can think of more fun things."
Annie ignored this, grabbing a pillow so she could get comfortable – but nothing seemed quite right. Eventually, she ended up wedging the pillow between them, against his shoulder. That was okay, right? It wasn't like they were snuggling or anything. Jeff, meanwhile, was flicking through the channels, seemingly oblivious to her internal debate.
"Oh!" she said, as he clicked past something she recognized. "Go back."
He obliged, and then groaned when he saw what it was. "Sleepy Hollow? Isn't this one of Abed's stupid sci-fi shows?"
"More horror than sci-fi, and the cast is really brilliant, and okay it got kind of bad in the second season, but it's good again now, and anyway, shut up, I know about your secret addiction to Real Housewives."
Jeff grumbled, but dropped the remote, and they settled in to watch the show together. As it turned out, the quality (or not) of the show didn't really matter, because they were both asleep within minutes.
---
Jeff couldn't have pinpointed exactly when he woke up again. Sometime in the night, the heating had clicked on, leaving him groggy and disoriented. He was definitely asleep while they slowly gravitated together across the bed. He was still asleep when he stroked a hand down her back and cupped her ass, and she purred and nuzzled his collarbone. He was mostly asleep when he slid a leg between hers, but roused a little when her hand slipped under his T-shirt to trace delicately over his stomach muscles – enough to realize that this was Annie in his arms, but not enough to remember why that was wrong. He was half awake when he cupped her breast over her T-shirt, thumb rubbing at her raised nipple, and he woke a little more when she moaned appreciatively – but he was finally, definitely, completely awake when her hand slid over his pajama pants to firmly grip his erection.
His eyes snapped open, and he blinked at the window across the room. It was early – his internal clock suggested 5am – and everything was still, including the woman breathing hard against his neck. Apparently Annie had woken up, too.
She snatched her hand away, and he had to suppress a whimper. "Oh god, oh god," she said. "Jeff, oh god, I'm so sorry—"
And that was it: he couldn't leave her upset, thinking that it was all one-sided, that she really had thrown herself at him in the middle of the night, as he'd teased. "Annie, no," he said, and wrapped both arms around her, hauling her on top of him until she was close enough to kiss.
Annie gave a surprised moan, but as his hands ran over her sides, she melted into him, kissing him back enthusiastically. Jeff forgot everything as they made out, happy to live in the moment when the moment contained such delights as Annie's hands and lips and her body pressed tightly to his. He let his hands roam over her, and she arched into his touch, until he placed a hand over her tailbone and pushed up urgently against her, unable to control his desire for this woman. She pulled away, panting, and stared down at him. "Jeff? Are you really awake this time?"
"What do you think?" he growled. He rolled so she was underneath him, and pressed her into the bed.
"Oh! That's – that's good enough for me," she gasped.
And then it was hands and heat and slickness, and bared skin, and a frantic scramble through his wallet for a condom so he could finally, finally slide home inside her.
---
"So what are you going to do? When you graduate?"
Jeff – in a post-coital, semi-delirious haze where he couldn't seem to stop kissing her jaw and neck – hummed inquiringly. Apparently Annie was talking, for some goddamn reason.
"I mean, I have... oh... a couple of possible jobs I'm applying for. Are you going to go back to your... oh..."
Eventually, Jeff left off kissing her, and raised himself on one elbow, smoothing back her hair. "My what?"
Annie blinked up at him, looking dazed. "Hmm?"
Oh well. Jeff really wasn't that interested in the conversation anyway.
"Your old firm!" she gasped, a few minutes later.
"Firm, definitely, but old?" objected Jeff, kissing the tip of her nose. "That's a bit unfair, don't you think?"
"No, I mean – oh, you know what I mean. Are you going back to work there?"
"Mmf." Jeff scraped his teeth over the point of her jaw. Post-coital was rapidly becoming pre- again. "Actually, I was thinking about setting up for myself," he admitted. "You know, working with small businesses, worthy causes, that sort of thing. Abed said he had an idea for how to run the advertising."
"Jeff!" For a moment, he thought she was excited about, well, his penis, but apparently it was career-related excitement instead. She shifted underneath him so she could see him better. "That's wonderful! Oh, I can just see it – in a few years, you'll have a firm to rival the old, evil one you worked at, only you'll be doing good this time."
"Hmm. Are there going to be goatees involved? Because this is beginning to sound like an Inspector Spacetime plot."
"No, Jeff. Duh. I'm just happy that you've found your niche. Something you're good at, and that will do good in the world."
Jeff smirked down at her. She was just such an adorable little Pollyanna sometimes that it made his teeth hurt.
"Oh, shut up," she said, apparently reading his mind.
"No, no, go on," he assured her. "Keep telling me how great I am."
"You're an egotistical jerk," she told him instead, pouting.
"You're doing it all wrong," he sighed, shaking his head. "What you should say is, 'Jeff, you're a paragon, you combine all of the virtues and the wisdom of the ages, and you're a handsome sex god, I've never come so hard, yes, yes, take me again'," he explained helpfully.
"Jeff, you're an ass, you combine most of the vices offset by a couple of virtues, and you're more cynical than wise." She grinned flirtily at him when he pouted. "But you are a handsome sex god," she conceded, "and I have never come so hard, so yes, will you please take me aga—mmf!"
---
Annie didn't know where this was going, and she knew they needed to talk – maybe on the long drive home (via the less pretty but much smoother freeway route this time), but for the time being she wasn't stressing about it. Perhaps it was a sign that she was mellowing as she got older, or perhaps it had something to do with all the sex (twice last night, and once in the shower that morning), but either way, she was feeling really quite bright and optimistic about the world today.
She wasn't quite sure what to make of Jeff. She had speculated over the years what he might be like as a lover – romantic? Physical? A huge disappointment? – but somehow she hadn't expected him to just be normal. He was just as teasing, as cynical, as inappropriate, as neurotic and overprotective as he'd always been. The only difference was his focus. She wasn't used to having his attention quite so completely, and it was a little overwhelming. But then again, this entire vacation had been just the two of them, and he hadn’t precisely been inattentive before last night, so maybe the difference was all in her head.
And then he looked up at her over coffee and eggs in the hotel restaurant, his eyes all dark and glinty and knowing, and she wasn't imagining this.
"What?" she asked, smiling involuntarily.
"Hmm?"
"You. You're looking at me like..." Like you want to eat me alive.
"Like?" he asked politely, but the glintiness became more pronounced.
"Never mind," she said hastily. Despite everything they'd done, she could feel a blush burning her cheeks.
Jeff took a slow sip of coffee. "You don't ask, you don't get," he informed her.
She glanced around. "Jeff! Just because you're all – all oversexed or whatever, doesn't mean I'm thinking about it all the time, too. Anyway," she added, trying to think practically, "there's no time – checkout is in an hour."
Jeff's eyebrows raised, as if she'd just issued a challenge. "If you don't think I can get it done in that time, you obviously have not been paying attention."
Annie stared down at her plate. How much did she really want breakfast, anyway? She looked up at him, and his smug little grin, and found her resolve. Standing, she grabbed his hand. "Come on."
He followed her with alacrity, abandoning their half-eaten breakfast. "Annie, I'm shocked! I never knew you were so insatiable."
"Just you wait until I get you back to the room."
He gave a low chuckle. "You realize that having sex in our hotel bedroom isn't exactly scandalous, right?"
"Oh, is that so?" She hit the call button for the elevator several times, and when the car arrived, she shoved him inside. "What about this, then?" she asked, pushing up to kiss him.
"Okay, I'm suitably impressed," he said, but he was still laughing. Well, she'd show him.
She attacked his lips with the intention of making him forget their location, his amusement, and – ideally – his name, but although he was kissing her back enthusiastically, she could still feel his grin. So she slipped her hands under his shirt, which he'd worn conveniently untucked today, and ran her fingertips over the warm skin of his back.
His smile disappeared.
Spurred on, she walked him backwards until he stopped, then raised herself higher on her toes. Now was not the time for subtlety, and she gripped his hip and ground hard against him, making her need clear.
Jeff growled, spinning her around so he could take control and crowd her against the wall. "Annie," he murmured, her name a supplication. His hands spanned her back, cinching tighter – one ran down over the curve of her ass, lingering, and then down the back of her thigh, making her shudder. She moved the leg up against him, and he used the movement to curl his hand around and stray tantalizingly inwards, his fingers catching on the smooth velvet of her tights as he stroked up under her skirt...
"Ahem."
Annie blinked dazedly at the open elevator door. It took her a moment to understand that they were back in the lobby. Either they'd traveled up to their floor and back down, or they'd entirely forgotten to press the button for their floor. She had no idea which.
"Sorry," said Jeff, not sounding at all sorry. He dropped her leg and moved back, but kept one hand on her waist. (Had he noticed how wobbly her knees were? If so, he was going to be insufferable about it.)
"It's okay, I understand," said Chris, smiling fondly at them both. Of course it was Chris. The man seemed destined to get caught up in their whole affair.
"Yeah." Jeff grinned down at her, his eyes bright with mischief. "When the woman you love is having your babies, sometimes you get a little carried away."
"Babies? Oh! Twins?" asked Chris, eyes lighting up.
"Triplets, actually," Jeff lied breezily.
"Oh... my," said Chris, a little more dubiously.
"Yeah, it runs in the family," continued Jeff, apparently enjoying himself. "I myself am one of three, all boys, identical in almost every way. Even Annie here can't tell us apart – can you, kitten?"
Annie ignored the flutter she'd felt at the 'woman you love' line in order to deal with the more immediate issue of Jeff being an ass. "Sweetie, didn't we say we were going to keep it a secret for now?" she said, an edge of warning in her voice. But Jeff's smirk was irrepressible.
"Ah, Chris won't tell anyone, will you Chris?"
"No, no – I mean, I don't know any of your friends, so..."
"So, anyhow, we're going up to the room to, uh, pack," said Jeff, waggling his eyebrows. He hit the button for their floor. "Bye, Chris."
"Um, bye…"
The elevator door closed in front of his bemused face, and Annie smacked Jeff in the stomach.
"Oof. Hey, you started it! I was just giving the story some substance."
"I swear, if we ever come back here again, I'm going to tell Chris that I've left you for one of your identical brothers," she threatened. "See how you deal with that one!"
"Ooh, an illicit affair," said Jeff, smiling down at her like she couldn't possibly be any more adorable. "Annie, you heartbreaker. What about the babies?"
She tossed her hair back carelessly. "The fact that we have three is entirely thanks to you," she told him. "So you can keep them. I would think, with your job as a high-powered lawyer, you can afford a really good nanny."
"Oh, I'm a high-powered lawyer in this little fantasy of yours, am I?" he teased. "If that means you're a gold digger, I should warn you that we had an iron-clad pre-nup."
She shook her head. "Oh no, I'm no gold digger. I run an extremely expensive and prestigious private hospital, and I'm in the process of talking the Board into funnelling all their profits into opening free clinics. We met when I needed a lawyer to find a clause in the hospital's contract that would force them to do it," she said, extemporizing.
The door opened on their floor, and this time they got out. Jeff looked thoughtful as they walked down the hall. "Wow. This all sounds kind of perfect. And... scarily detailed."
"Well, you know... It's called visualization. If you can imagine it, you're far more likely to make it happen. The career part, I mean," she said quickly. "I don't think you can visualize triplets into being. Or – or relationships," she added shyly. "I'm not completely crazy."
He stopped at the door to their room, and turned to her, stroking a hand through her hair. When she met his eyes, the way he was smiling made her heart give a nervous, happy kind of jump. "I'm pretty sure you could accomplish anything you set your mind to, Annie Edison," he said softly. "If you ever want to take over the world, just warn me, please, so I can get out of your way."
She closed her eyes and leaned back against the door, tilting her head into his palm. "Don't be silly," she sighed. "If I was going to take over the world, I'd want your help."
"Of course. I should have known," he said. "You need your henchmen."
"Mm. To be rewarded appropriately, of course. How does Supreme Overlord Of Western Europe sound?"
"Sounds great. Party in France."
"Uh-huh."
His breath brushed her cheek when he murmured: "But let's start slow, okay? Give me time to adjust?"
She nodded, shivering deliciously when their lips touched briefly. "Greendale first, then the world?"
She felt his mouth quirk into a smile. "Well, I was thinking dating first, then triplets, pre-nups, all that stuff. But whatever you want – I'm game."
This time, when he kissed her, she could feel a thousand and one possibilities fizzing between them. It tasted like hope.