Set Post-Borderline. A little angsty, a little naughty. Because it's a crying shame they dress that man up in so many layers when he was clearly meant to live in a hot tub. And I want Kate to make the bold choice, not the easy one.

Ben sighed and shut his laptop with a snap. He glanced at the clock and mentally subtracted the last half-hour from his client's bill. It had produced nothing that benefitted the client...or Ben, for that matter. His mind wasn't on work.

Kate burst into his office at that moment. Ben sat up straighter in his chair and swept a hand down his chest, smoothing his tie. "To what do I owe this...uh, let's call it...pleasure?" He ended the sentence in a question when he saw the stormy expression on her face.

"Unscrupulous bastard." She spit without preamble.

Ben's eyebrows rose. "Okay." He said.

"What did you say to Justin?" she demanded.

Ben was well and truly confused, but did his best to hide it with his usual cheerful sarcasm. "Problems with your...well, what do I call him? Because 'ex' just doesn't seem accurate, does it?"

"He's not my anything." Kate said, sticking her chin out.

"Lover." Ben said softly, sticking his own chin out back at her.

Kate's skin flushed guiltily, but she doubled-down. She was a fighter. "Two days ago before we left, he was fine with that but the minute we get back, your new email buddy suddenly said he wanted a future with me. What? You accuse me of having a fear of commitment and now Justin wants to commit? Coincidental? Well, I said yes." She said, watching the barb hit home in the flexing of Ben's jaw.

"Mazel tov." Ben said finally. His mouth curved into a smile but his dark eyes were bleak and hard. "Don't be surprised if I can't make it to the re-wedding."

"There isn't going to be a...re-wedding." Kate admitted bitterly. "I made it as far as the door with him and I realized I can't trust him...and you must have said something, so I can't trust you."

"Wow." Ben said, his lips twisting sardonically. "Well, as much as I love being the subject of a good character assassination, I think I'm going to skip it this time. It's getting a little old. But for the record, I didn't say anything to Justin. He must really be in love with you. Poor bastard."

He stood and walked around the desk, crowding her personal space purposefully as he did so. "Have a nice night." He muttered at her. He walked out of his office, leaving her standing stiffly in front of his desk.

She caught him at the elevator bank. "Ben." she said. Contrition was written across her face. Kate was as quick to forgive as she was to attack, but Ben wasn't. And he didn't want to forgive her for the hurt he felt.

"I have scruples." He bit off. He was not sure why it was the first thing that came into his head.

"Somewhere." She tried to tease, smiling hesitantly.

He grunted and punched the call button for the elevator again, shoving both hands into his pockets and keeping his eyes trained on the lights above the elevator doors rather than the petite, colorful figure of Kate Reed. A small, warm hand seized his elbow in a firm grip. Ben blew out a hard sigh and directed his gaze downward.

Beautiful, insane woman. He felt his gut clench and his chest tighten. He couldn't keep his eyes from devouring every nuance of her expression.

It occurred to Ben that Kate might be his very own yellow brick road to perdition.

"What?" Kate's expression blanked and then her expressive eyebrows drew together.

Ben realized he'd said the words aloud.

"Nothing." he muttered. The elevator doors slid open with a soft 'ping'. He stepped in and pressed the button for the parking garage.

Kate scooted into the cubicle with him as the doors closed.

"I broke it off." she repeated.

"What's that supposed to mean to me?" Ben said angrily, his temper suddenly flaring. "A second ago you were accusing me of sabotage. I'm supposed to jump for joy now? I'm not your beck-and-call guy, Kate." The way he said her name, 'Kate', the way she preferred, was sharp and bitter.

Kate looked as if he'd struck her. He clamped down the guilt, the love, every human emotion, and looked at her with empty eyes. Ben was so dreadfully good at it, he made himself sick.

"Well I'm not your beck-and-call girl either." Kate said, her jaw set but her eyes glittering with moisture. "You only want me on your terms. I can't do that. We need to meet halfway."

Ben scoffed. "Always the mediator." he said. The elevator stopped and the doors slid open again with the same soft chime. "I'm going home, I'm having a drink, and I'm forgetting about you." He said flatly.

"It's that easy?" Kate asked, the tears welling up in spite of her brave face.

"Yes." he lied.

"Then I'm coming with you." she said, following him through the garage to his car and wrenching open the passenger door for herself. She plopped into the buttery leather seat and glared at him challengingly through tearful eyes.

"Why?" he asked, standing over her with his hand on the car door.

"Because if you're so good at forgetting about love, I want to know how you do it." Kate said simply.

"Lo..love." Ben faltered out the word, his heart thudding in his ears, before he could prevent it but he gave away nothing in his expression. He just checked to make sure she was safely in the car and slammed the door shut before circling to the driver's side and sliding into the seat. He twisted the key in the ignition, the engine roared to life. It was normally a satisfying sound for him. Now it just sounded like noise. He turned the key back and the engine died. "This is a bad idea." he said so quietly it might have been a whisper. "You should get out."

"No." Kate said, her face stubborn.

"Get out." Ben ordered.

Kate was intimidated, hurt, and angry. She didn't budge. "No." she repeated.

"Do you think this is going to end well for us?" Ben suddenly demanded, his voice now loud. Kate jumped when he nearly shouted. "What? Are we going to fall in love? Get married? Have kids?" he said incredulously. "You can't even admit you like me. I put myself out there. You made the decision to be a coward every time."

Kate flinched but she met his eye levelly. "And now, so are you." she whispered sadly.

A muscle jumped in Ben's jaw. He faced forward and started the car again, tearing out of the parking space more quickly than was safe. Kate gripped the door handle but was absolutely silent the entire way to his house.

Ben nearly dragged her out of the car and into the house. He slammed the front door behind them and, without turning on the light, spun and pinned her back against it. His mouth sought hers desperately. She met his lips with her own, igniting like a flame in his too-tight embrace. Her tongue slid past his lips and she melted against his body, pressing and rubbing every soft curve against him in a frenzy to get closer.

Ben's hands burned over her body, filling his palms with her face, her hair, her ripe breasts. He cupped her buttocks and lifted her easily. She wrapped her legs around his waist, opening for him through several frustrating layers of clothing.

Kate's dress was already peeled down to her waist and her skirt rucked up over her hips by the time Ben carried her to the nearest soft surface, a sofa, and tumbled them both onto it. He made short work of her bra and panties. Kate was dizzy, naked but for her dress that was crumpled at her waist, and embarrassingly wet with arousal when she caught a look at Ben's face in a watery beam of light from a window. His expression was cold and angry.

Kate pushed at his chest. "Stop." she whispered.

"What? Now you don't want this?" Ben said, his tone somewhere between anger and a plea.

"I want you." Kate said, holding the front of his jacket when he would've left her. "But you don't want it like this."

Ben's face blanked in the milky darkness. He stared at her with unreadable dark eyes.

"Ben." Kate said softly. It was a gentle prompting.

He turned his face until it was hidden in shadow. His voice was rough with emotion when he replied. "I don't want to be your rebound guy after Justin." he said finally. "I want you to be with me because..." he struggled to explain.

"Because I want to be with you?" Kate guessed, her voice still hushed and serious.

"Yes." Ben confirmed with a jerk of his head. "Sex isn't going to make this work, Katie." he said.

"Then we shouldn't have sex." Kate said.

Ben took a deep breath and nodded. He drew back from her and cleared his throat.

"We should make love." Kate finished quietly.

Ben froze above her. Stillness filled the room and Kate was aware of a clock ticking whisper-soft somewhere in the house. She lifted herself up and tugged Ben's silk necktie, drawing him down and over her. She pressed a soft kiss to his immobile mouth and began gently pulling the knot of his tie free.

Ben remained passive as Kate slid the strip of patterned silk free from his collar and dropped it onto the floor. Her fingers plucked the buttons of his shirt open, starting at his collar and ending at his belt. She pulled the tails of shirt free of his waistband and he finally began to slowly come back to life. Silently they stared solemnly into one another's eyes as his jacket, shirt, undershirt and belt joined his tie on the expensive pale carpet.

Kate reached for the buttons of his trousers and he stopped her with her name. "Katie." he whispered. She stilled, but he could feel her fingers tremble against his belly.

"Katie." he repeated until she met his eyes again. "Katie, I'm in love with you."

He could feel her body tense and felt a rush of failure through his chest.

"I -" Kate said. Stopped.

Ben began to sit up. "Nevermind." he muttered.

"I love you, too." Kate said. She shut her eyes hard, as if waiting for something terrible to happen. But firm lips touched her forehead instead. Warm, dry hands cupped her cheeks and tilted her face until she finally opened her eyes and saw the dark, still tenderness in Ben's face.

"Yeah?" he said.

"Yeah." she replied, feeling an absurd blush rise in her face.

"Say it again." he said.

"I love you." she said, her eyelids dropping.

"Open your eyes. Look at me and say it." Ben demanded gently.

Kate's eyes blinked open and she swallowed, staring into his challenging gaze. "I love you." she said. "I love you, Ben."

"I like that." he said, a soft boyish smile curving his mouth. "That sounds nice."

Kate giggled breathlessly, her nerves showing in her every motion and expression.

"I love you, Katie." Ben said, and Kate could see it was the truth.

Ben drew back from her.

"Wait." Kate protested.

"Shh." Ben admonished, pulling her with him to stand. He pushed her dress off over her hips and it dropped to the floor with a soft swish of sound in the darkness. He scooped her up, fully naked, as effortlessly as if she were made of feathers. "We can do a little better than an angry fumble on the sofa, can't we?" There was a tiny note of humor in his voice.

Kate chuckled, relaxing with his gentle teasing. "Well, I know I can." she said with a sly smile. She wound her arms around his neck as he carried her down a hallway into a huge bedroom occupied by a huge bed. Ben set her on her feet beside it and flipped back the dark bedspread. He kissed her with a new, tender urgency, crowded her onto the bed, and followed her down, coming over her still wearing his dark suit trousers.

"Hang on." he muttered against her lips. He kicked off his shoes and managed to divest himself of his remaining clothes so quickly Kate didn't even have a chance to look at him before he was so close she could only feel him.

"Baby." Ben breathed softly. He pressed a soft, lingering kiss to her lips and curled around her body, covering her and filling her. He sighed, a sound of relief. "Ah, baby." he repeated.

Kate felt whole. Even as Ben found a slow, heavy rhythm and one of his hands slid between her thighs to stroke the center of her pleasure, Kate drew her first uninhibited breath in years and keened out a wail as her climax burst through her body. The grip of her orgasm around him brought Ben to his peak and he muttered her name like a mantra through his teeth until he collapsed above her.

The room was silent but for their ragged breathing. They recovered their breath and stirred, Ben rolling to relieve Kate of his weight and tugging her in to cuddle her tightly against his chest. In the hush of the dark room, the soft whoosh of cool air from a vent switching on sounded deafening. As if in deference to the stillness, Kate whispered her question. "Can I stay tonight?"

"Yes." Ben said, his mouth forming the word against her forehead with a puff of warm breath.

He felt her worry in the stillness of her body. "What?" he said softly, brushing his lips against her hair.

"But what about...?" Kate began in an anxious tone. Ben silenced her with a firm kiss.

"Stay." he said. "Just stay."

"Okay." Kate said. She shifted slightly and relaxed against him, soft and warm. Ben felt the moment when she fell asleep, her small body going limp and her breathing becoming slow and measured.

Ben lay silent and still, holding her silky-skinned little form against his. He closed his eyes and inhaled her scent; complex and female and wholly unique.

And when he woke in the morning, she was still there.