"What took you so long?" Larry asked as they appeared with more coffee. Ainsley decided a prudent silence was in order. And there was no way in hell she was looking at Sam.

"I spilled the coffee, twice." Sam tried to cover. He had a reputation as a clutz so people should buy it. But he struggled not to blush and decided under no circumstances to look at Ainsley. They'd agreed to continue with their usual verbal lunge and parry until they could figure out what really was going on between them. He managed to deflect the conversation but all he could think of was the events of the last half hour. "Oh god, I can't wait for another thirty minutes, no thirty hours like that!!!" He thought to himself. His mind flew back in time 35 minutes . . .

It had started out simply enough. The whole team was bombing - badly. 'The funny' must be stuck in traffic because they were going nowhere fast . He needed coffee. Well no, he needed to stop looking at Ainsley and wondering if she bothered to wear a bra under her sweat shirt. That's what he really needed to do! But coffee would have to suffice for now. He noticed she jiggled slightly as she walked to the other side of the table. His mind pictured her bare breasts and he tried to stop himself. "She'll hit you with a sexual harassment suit if you're not careful." he said to himself. "Good God Man, first you nearly swat her beautiful little ass as she walks by you earlier and now you're staring at her boobs. This has to stop. Or START. One or the other! But this holding pattern you're stuck in will be the death of you."

For her part Ainsley was not doing any better. "If I hang around Sam any longer I'm going to gain a hundred pounds." She thought to herself. "Sugar is a poor substitute for Sex." Whenever she was around Sam she craved sugar. Well, no she craved Sam. He would satisfy this craving of hers . . . Damn. Stop thinking about Sam! Concentrate on . . .the funny ... that's what he wants from you right now. Or is it? She told herself. That's when she caught him staring at her breast and she had to stop imagining what his hands could feel like there instead of just his eyes. UGH! She said aloud, "do you think they have any cheesecake down there?"

They'd engaged in their usual banter on the way to the mess. Sam couldn't help wanting to jump her as she bent over to reach for the coffee cream. "Cream!" he thought to himself imagining the taste of her personal cream. Her passionate nature intrigued him. It didn't matter that he disagreed with almost every word that came out of her mouth. How would that beautiful mouth feel circling his ...? Sam was so frustrated he couldn't think anymore let alone find the funny!

"If I don't do something to satisfy my ... craving ... soon, I'll go insane." She thought thrusting the stupid tray into his hands in frustration. She turned and began scanning the refrigerators for anything sweet. ANYTHING. That's when she found the lone can of whipping cream. It would have to do. She grabbed the can, turned it upside down and shot a little out onto her finger.

Sam could tell she was put out to discover the cheesecake thing was a joke. What would it be like if she put out. Sammy, stop it! You're really getting in over your head here. And stop thinking with the wrong head, you're not helping yourself any. Guiltily he followed her into the dining area to apologize.

Her back was to him. Ainsley didn't hear his footsteps - she was trying to stop wondering how the whipping cream would taste on Sam's skin instead of her own. UGH! She had to stop obsessing about that man. He walked up behind her and whispered, "I'm sorry about the cheesecake thing," he started to apologize and then saw the can of whipping cream. He burst out laughing. "I swear you are the only person I know who eats that stuff straight from the can. Except of course during. . ." Sam stopped himself before he got into deep trouble.

"During what Sam," she asked all wide eyed an innocent. He was in trouble all right. Ainsley was no idiot - she knew it was a sexual innuendo. She was politically conservative not socially. She squirted some on to the tip of her finger and licked it off provocatively. That was all it took for Sam. He was perpetually semi hard whenever she was in the room, but now, he was a rock. Granite.

Sam grabbed the whipping cream can and set it on the closest table. He placed two hands on the side of her face and then pulled her into his arms for a questioning yet passion filled kissed. His mind registered her shock but then her eager response to him. They came up for air but she stood took a step back and gazed at him absolutely speechless.

Forever.

He was getting worried. "Ainsley, I. . "

"Give me a second here Sam. Sometimes I process information out loud. What just happened was totally unexpected right now so I need a second to figure out how I'm going to respond. I mean on the surface you and I would appear to be the most ridiculous match imaginable. I realize that politics makes strange bedfellows, but us?" she went on without a breath turning her back to him. "Neither one of us are the type for a casual lustful affair with a co worker, even if the thought might be kind of fun. So that's not what's going on here. Then again, a kiss is just a kiss. No need to make a federal case out of it. Oh God, there really is only one response to that isn't there?"

She turned back around and launched herself against him. She grabbed his head and pulled his lips back against hers like a starving woman attacking a buffet table. They stood there lips locked hands exploring one another until it was almost too late.

"As much as I really want to finish this conversation, we do have to go upstairs." He whispered, grinning from ear to ear. "When you get back from Smith, meet me for dinner?"

"Okay, but you're buying me cheesecake for dessert."

"Deal." A measure of sanity had returned to both of them. "That coffee will be cold by now. Why don't you catch your breath while I pour some more and we'll go find the funny."

"Sometimes you really are a peach, you know that Sam?"

They walked upstairs again in a conspirator's silence.

Sam's thoughts returned to the present and he caught Ainsley shaking her head slightly warning him she knew what he was really thinking about. He could tell she was worried his choir boy expression would give away the truth about what they had just experienced together. He rejoined the conversation around the table and picked up their ERA debate

Ainsley struggled to keep a straight face. She needed to get out of the room for a minute or she'd give it away herself. Teasing him was just so much fun. She couldn't resist it, "And with that, I think I'm going back down to the mess, because, I think I may have seen there, a PEACH." She sashayed from the room knowing that he'd want revenge for that crack. How would he get even? She couldn't wait to find out.

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