“I think we should fuck.” 

Pam barely lifted an eye from the game of solitaire she was about to lose. They’d been doing this all day. She couldn’t even remember how the game had started but the goal was to make the other person visibly or audibly react to whatever was said. And given some of the things Jim had said earlier in the day, this was… not his best.

She moved a Queen onto a King. “I don’t know. Like, right now? Because I just had a pretty big lunch and I think I’m supposed to wait thirty minutes before fucking anybody. Maybe an hour.” 

“I’m pretty sure that’s swimming, not fucking.” His hushed tone matched hers almost perfectly. They’d gotten really good at making sure no one else around them heard what they had been saying.

“Is it?” He nodded. “Oh. Well still.” She made a face and shrugged, keeping most of her attention on the card game.

“What did you have for lunch?”

“Kelly and I went to Cugino’s.”

“Nice. I love Italian food.” 

“It’s pretty great.” She ran out of cards to play and shut the game down, finally turning fully to Jim. “Don’t you have any work to do?”

“Says the girl who’s been playing computer games for the last hour. Believe it or not, no, I don’t.” JIm leaned on both elbows against the counter and shrugged. He tilted his head toward her. “So?”

“So what?”

“Do you think we should--”

Her phone rang and she rolled her eyes in its general direction before answering it. “Dunder Mifflin, this is Pam. Oh, hi Jan.” She shooed Jim back to his desk with a flick of her wrist as she started jotting down notes on the tasks being rattled off to her at a weirdly clipped and brisk pace.

It was almost thirty minutes before the call ended. Then she had to go straight into a meeting with Michael, and then a vendor stopped by to discuss a new phone system they were never going to buy; and then it was the middle of the afternoon and she’d forgotten all about Jim.

Well, as much as she could forget about someone who was constantly in her line of vision and who kept looking up at her with a weird nervous energy she didn’t recognize but didn’t hate either.

An IM popped up on her screen, startling her.

JIM9334: So where did we land?

She frowned at the screen and looked over at his desk to see that for the first time that day he wasn’t looking back at her.

Receptionitis15: Land on what? Do you mean Kevin’s birthday gift? I’ve got some ideas.

JIM9334: About what I said earlier.

Receptionitis15: You’ve been exceptionally chatty today, Can you narrow that down?

JIM9334: Pam.

Receptionitis15: Jim

JIM9334: About us having sex, Need me to narrow it down more than that?

For some reason, seeing it written out like that was more of a shock to her than hearing him say it. She tried not to react, lifting her eyes cautiously over her desk only to see him very carefully not looking at her. She took a deep breath and stared back down at her hands hovering over the keyboard.

Receptionitis15: Oh. You’re still on that?

JIM9334: I… yeah. It’s not a question you just leave hanging, you know?

No. She didn’t know.

Receptionitis15: Wait. You were asking for real? You weren’t asking for real.

JIM9334: I was asking for real. Am. I’m asking for real.

“I…” She hadn’t realized she’d spoken out loud until more than a few heads turned to look at her. She felt herself blush as Jim smirked at her. She opened and closed her mouth a few times before shaking her head at him in exasperation but he just motioned for her to check her IMs again.

JIM9334: Smooth, Beesly.

Receptionitis15: Shut up. What if IT is spying on us right now?

Receptionitis15: Well???

JIM9334: Sorry. You told me to shut up.

Receptionitis15: I hate you.

She heard his snort and then the scrape of his chair wheels against the floor as he pushed back from his desk before he stood up and walked back over to her desk.

Pam watched warily as he casually inspected the jar of jellybeans before giving it a shake and then setting it back down. He leaned forward. “That’s not the way I’d have gone, but sure. A hate fuck could be fun too.”

“Oh my god!” She shook her head at him. She and Jim had hung out a few times since she’d called off her engagement that spring, and she’d seen the beginnings of this side of him a few times but usually after a few drinks and never at the office around their co-workers before. “You’re awful, you know that?”

He drummed his index fingers against the counter. “Your lack of an answer, specifically a yes, is starting to hurt my feelings.”

She tried and failed to glare at him. Words were still escaping her.

He raised an eyebrow. “Unless you are saying yes?”

“No.”

“So you’re saying no? Because I think that maybe you need to think--”

“No!”” He started to grin and she shook her head. “No! I’m not saying yes or no. Stop it.”

“A non-answer still isn’t a no,” he pointed out. “Interesting.” 

“I have work to do,” she said, for lack of anything better to say. It was a cop out and she hoped he’d be gracious enough to give her that for now. She didn’t have anything on her desk except the instruction manual for the new paper shredder, but she still held that up like it was the most important thing she had to do that afternoon.

He nodded, relenting. “Okay.” He smiled at her, stole another piece of candy from the dish, and then went back to his desk where he sat down and went back to working like he hadn’t just propositioned her for sex. 

Pam looked down at her computer again but not only did she not want to deal with any of the emails sitting in her inbox, she wasn’t even sure that she could. She looked up at Jim, who was suddenly the picture of a model employee. He must have eventually felt her eyes burning a hole into the top of his head because he lifted his eyes to her, winking at catching her staring at him.

She wasn’t sure what infuriated her more; that he was so casual in his suggesting that they have sex, that she wasn’t all that offended by it, or that she was just now realizing that she was considering it. She chewed on her lower lip as she pulled up their IM window again.

Receptionitis15: Have you really thought about -that- before?

Jim9334: Of course I’ve thought about it. Is it weird that I’m thinking about it right now? That is weird. Pretend I didn’t say that. Are you really telling me you haven’t thought about it?

Her eyes met his again, but this time there was an added layer of something to the look they exchanged that she couldn’t quite place. She looked down at her screen again, trying to form the words to somehow convey that yes, there had been the occasional handful of moments in the past three years where, usually after a few glasses of wine or a fight with Roy, she’d let herself entertain a particular set of thoughts about Jim.

Jim9334: Don’t answer that yet. Think about it for a bit,

She rolled her eyes at that. As if she’d be able to think about anything else. Jim was still typing so she waited patiently for his words to show up on her screen.

Jim9334: I actually have to leave in a few minutes. Last minute sales call. But tonight I will be at Poor Richards around 7:30. Meet me for a drink and we can really talk about this.

Receptionitis15: I’m just not sure there’s anything to really talk about. Wow, talk about chickening out immediately. She kind of wished she could unsend that message.

Jim9334: Just think about it. 7:30. Poor Richards.

Receptionitis15: We’ll see.

Jim stopped at her desk one last time on his way out the door. “Just so you know. I won’t be dressed as a sales guy tonight. If you maybe didn’t want to show up looking like a receptionist.”

She pressed a hand to her chest and gasped, feigning hurt. “Are you saying my cardigan isn’t sexy?”

He blinked hard and she felt a bit of satisfaction sweep through her as she realized she could still catch him off guard when he’d had her knocked off balance all day. “No. I emphatically did not say that.”

“Uh huh.” She looked at the clock. “You’re going to be late if you don’t get going.”

“I’m going. See you tonight.”

“Maybe,” she called after him, but the door had already closed between them. He waved and took off down the hallway, leaving her to stare after him.

Maybe. She didn’t know why she’d say that. It wasn’t like she was actually going to go. She had no reason to, she wasn’t actually thinking about taking him up on his suggestion.

She wasn’t, she told herself firmly. Her brain worked double-time to talk herself out of any insanity she maybe was considering. There was no way in hell he was actually, really, truly serious about any of it. He had been bored all day and this was just another prank he was pulling to get through the day. If she showed up at the bar later that night, all he was going to do was laugh at her and then make her buy him a drink for falling for his stupid joke all day long.

Because it was just a joke. And she definitely wasn’t going to meet him at the bar that night.

--

Okay, so she went to the bar. But only to call his bluff and only because after the day she’d had, she needed a drink. There wasn’t any other reason she was standing at the front of the bar, trying to pick Jim out of the crowd.

There definitely wasn’t anything to the fact that she’d spent roughly an hour straightening her hair and winging her eyeliner before ditching her work clothes in favor of a sundress and denim jacket either.

He was tall, so he was easy to spot, and his back was facing her so she was able to make it all the way to the booth without him noticing her. “Hey.”

He grinned as soon as he saw her. “Hey, there you are. I was starting to wonder if--” his voice trailed off as he unabashedly gave her an appraising onceover. “You’re here,” he said simply. “That must be good news for me.”

“I’m just here for a drink,” she said as she slid into the booth across from him.

“Then let’s get you one.” He flagged down the waitress. “So,” he started once the waitress had left them alone again.

She sighed. “So.” She threw up her hands in frustration. “You win, okay? I don’t know what the whole point of this was other than to fuck with me, but congratulations. You won. Whatever that means.” So much for playing it cool. 

Jim’s brow furrowed. “I don’t understand.”

“Neither do I!” she shot back. “What are you doing? What has this all been for?”

“I’m sorry.” He tilted his head to the side. “How much clearer can I be? Pam, I think we should have sex.”

She stared hard at him and wished she’d ordered a stronger drink as the realization that he was actually serious washed over her like cold water. Her eyes flicked to the drink in front of him and he chuckled, sliding it across the table to her. She took a sip gratefully, letting the whiskey sting her throat as she tried to gather her thoughts. 

“Thanks.” She pushed the glass back over to him. “Do I look surprised? I’m feeling a little surprised.”

“You definitely have that deer in headlights look going on,” he agreed. “I don’t know why, I’ve been trying to get an answer from you all day long.”

“Well. I thought you were joking.” Her own drink appeared in front of her and she bought herself some more time by taking a drink. “Why?” she asked finally, because that seemed like a good place to start.

“Why not?”

“Jim.” The look she gave him was enough for him to raise his hands in a silent apology. “Why me?” She held up a hand before he could speak. “And if you say why not me, I swear to god I’m going to walk out of here and I’ll never talk to you again.”

“It’s pretty simple.” She tried not to laugh at that. “Since you called off the wedding, you’ve said more than once that you’re not interested or ready to start dating again.” That was true, she had said that. “And maybe I wasn’t supposed to hear this next point but the other night when we were bowling with Mark and Tori, I heard you say you really missed having sex.” That was also true. A statement of fact tipsily uttered to Mark’s girlfriend in a moment of new friend bonding.

“So you decided to offer yourself up?”

He shrugged. “It’s not exactly a hardship. I don’t think it’s any secret that I definitely find you attractive. And maybe you haven’t noticed but I’ve been in a bit of a dating rut myself.” No, she’d definitely noticed. “And I know you’re going to say that I could just start dating any girl, but I’m only here for another two months and then I’m off to Stamford, remember?” 

Right. Stamford. Pam couldn’t help but wonder if they’d be having an entirely different conversation right now if a job promotion wasn’t about to move him three hours away.

She wondered if her answer would be any different then.

She’d never said it out loud, and she’d only recently admitted it to herself; but there had been a small part of her - a very tiny part - that had hoped that, after ending things with Roy, maybe something would have happened with Jim. His crush on her hadn’t exactly ever been a secret. But her broken engagement news had been met with his new job news and that had been that.

Until today.

Jim was still talking. She took a quick sip of her drink and tried to look like she’d been paying attention the whole time as he delivered his closing pitch.

“I just think we’d both be doing each other a favor.”

“Big favor,” she murmured. Half of her still wasn’t convinced this wasn’t a prank, but the other half was starting to seriously consider the possibility that it wasn’t.

Pam wasn’t sure how long she sat there, swirling the ice around in her glass as she turned the idea over in her mind but it must have been just a bit too long because when she looked up, Jim’s previously cocky demeanor had fallen into a worried grimace. 

“Maybe I got it wrong,” he said, rubbing his hand over his face. “Sorry, I just thought-- it doesn’t work if--” She almost felt bad for him and the way he was tripping over his words. “It’s only a good idea if we both have had…” God help her, she found his sudden shyness adorable. “Thoughts,” he said finally. “It’s okay if you haven’t,” he said quickly. 

“I have.” The words were out of her mouth before she even knew it. She rolled her eyes at his grin. “Don’t look so smug.”

“So you’re saying you have thought about sleeping with me?” She nodded, grudgingly. “Yeah, that calls for some smugness.” His foot nudged hers under the table. “Am I pushing my luck if I ask for details?” 

She just glowered at him.

It didn’t help things when, sensing that she clearly needed more time to process things, that he backed off from the conversation entirely and instead began telling her about how, at his earlier sales call, the manager he’d met with had a handlebar mustache and his office had been decorated in Golden Girls memorabilia. She didn’t even care if half of what he was telling her was true; what was giving her pause at that moment was his uncanny ability to know just how far he could push her in one go. She wasn’t stupid, that kind of attentiveness in bed could definitely work well in her favor.

“How does this work?” she asked quietly, not caring that she was interrupting his terrible imitation of Sophia Petrillo. “I mean, what if it doesn’t work?”

“I mean, it’s been awhile, but I think it still works the same.” He took a drink and smirked at her. “Tab D fits into Slot C.” 

She rolled her eyes. “No way, you don’t get to use my love of instruction manuals against me right now. It won’t work. Second of all.” She sighed. “No really, how does this work and not blow up in our faces? You’re…” she sighed again, not quite able to meet his eyes this time. “You’re my best friend, Jim. I would be very sad if all of a sudden you weren’t.”

“I think that’s why this does work. Because we are best friends.” He laughed at the skeptical look she gave him. “Everyone says that, don’t they?” They both nodded but he kept talking. “We’re different though. And fine, everyone says that too, but we really are. I think we can do this for each other. With each other. And I think we can still walk away with our friendship intact at the end of the summer.”

“What if it’s weird?”

“It’ll definitely be weird. At first.” He shrugged. “And if it’s too weird, then at least we know and it’s not like we’ll be locked into a schedule or anything. We can just not have sex again if it isn’t any good.”

She wanted to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness of it all, especially his matter-of-factness. “You’ve got it all figured out, don’t you?”

“I knew you’d be a hard sell. I wanted to be prepared.”

“Uh huh. And is this why you spent all morning saying terrible things to me?”

He grinned. “I wanted this to be the least shocking thing I said to you.”

“This is crazy.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “But maybe it’s the good kind of crazy.” His foot tapped against hers again. “Should we finish these drinks and head back to my place and see what happens?”

“Now?” Her voice was a little louder and shriller than she meant for it to be. “Oh, this is happening tonight? I haven’t technically said yes yet.” She laughed and her voice returned to normal with her next words. “Are you afraid I’m going to change my mind if you give me any more time to think about it?”

Jim at least had the presence of mind to look sheepish, confirming her suspicions. “It doesn’t have to be tonight,” he said finally. “I just thought that since we’re here and--” He paused as she stood up and walked to his side of the booth, settling in next to him. “What are you doing?”

“Trying something.” She shrugged at the confused look on his face. “What if we can’t even kiss?” Her hand dropped to his knee.

“You have kissed me before,” he reminded her. He shifted to face her, his own hand curving around her waist. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember that.”

“No, I do.” She could admit she remembered everything from that night at Chili’s now that she wasn’t engaged anymore. “But I think that was different. I think...” She leaned forward and kissed him.

If either of them had been expecting fireworks, there weren’t any. It was a perfectly polite kiss; their noses bumping against each other when neither of them knew which way to tilt their head first. She waited for him to deepen the kiss and too many seconds passed by before she realized he was waiting on her for the same thing; and then maybe they panicked a little, both of them grinning openly against each other as they tried to salvage the moment and turn it into something more before finally giving up.

It was exactly the kind of kiss she’d expect from her best guy friend.

She was laughing, not unkindly, as she broke away from him. “I’m sorry, I can’t. It’s too weird.” She bit her lip and looked up at him, relieved to see he didn’t seem to be upset with her. “It was weird, right?” she pressed. “No sparks?”

To Jim’s credit, he nodded along with her. “No sparks,” he echoed.

“And this doesn’t change us, right?” She worried her lower lip between her teeth. “We’re still friends?”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily, Beesly.”

“Good.” With nothing much left to say, they finished their drinks quickly and then made excuses to call it a night, with Jim offering to walk her to her car.

“Ugh, I already know I so don’t want to go to work tomo--” One second she was complaining about work the next day while digging through her purse for her keys and the next Jim’s hands were on her waist, backing her against the side of her car as he bent and kissed her.

He’d been holding out on her. She felt none of the caution in this press of his lips against hers that she’d felt fifteen minutes ago. His grip on her felt solid and firm as he held her around the waist with one hand, the other sliding up her arm to wrap around the back of her neck; anchoring her to him as the tip of his tongue swept gently but purposefully across her mouth.

Her hands collapsed between them, palms flat against his chest until they ventured north, hands running through the hair curling at the base of his neck, roaming across his back, and finally settling in a tight grip of his arms; delighting at the way his entire body covered hers, her back arching slightly against the car door under the weight of him.

He tasted like whiskey, and his mouth was cold from the ice in his drink; directly contradicting the heat she felt sweeping through her, settling low in her belly and igniting the very sparks she’d insisted she hadn’t felt before. 

Jim kissed her thoroughly, completely; and she was more than content to let him, until the need for air became greater than her need for him to consume her. She swayed a little in his embrace, and she felt his reluctance as he eased his grip on her, catching her lower lip with his teeth before he pulled away.

“Right,” she exhaled, touching her fingers to her lips as she looked dazedly up at him. He looked exactly how she felt and it was in that moment that she realized that no matter how hard she’d been fighting it, their entire day’s worth of banter had been nothing more than an extremely drawn out and effective form of foreplay. She saw in his eyes that he was just as turned on and ready as she was and she wondered how she could have been so stupidly in denial all day.

She slipped her keys back into her purse and nodded toward his car.

“Let’s go.”

Even though she was thirteen minutes late to work the next morning, Pam was surprised that she still managed to beat Jim in. Any other morning it wouldn’t have concerned her, but considering he was usually annoyingly punctual for everything she couldn’t help but wonder if his tardiness today had anything to do with last night. She quickly replayed their goodbye in her mind and as far as she could remember, he hadn’t said anything about not coming in. In fact, the last thing he’d said to her had been “see you tomorrow.” 

She frowned as she began prepping for her day. Okay. Maybe last night’s goodbye had been a little weird, but they had talked about it and there shouldn’t have been anything that prevented Jim from coming into work today. If she could show her face, so could he. 

She checked the phone messages, listening half-heartedly until the end but he hadn’t called in either. She doubted anything had happened to him after he dropped her back off at her car, but what if something had?

Pam pushed those thoughts out of her head. Most likely, he had overslept. It was as simple as that. For as little sleep as she’d gotten, she doubted he’d done much better. Leaning back in her chair, she swiveled back and forth and ran all of last night’s events through her head again.

Jim had kissed her in the parking lot. Really kissed her. She felt herself blush as she remembered how quickly that kiss had turned her on. And by the time they’d gotten back to his house…

She remembered the two of them practically falling through his front door. How she giggled at him to be quiet as they tripped up the staircase before he assured her Mark wasn’t home. The way he pushed her up against the bedroom door because he was too lazy to actually open it.

It was still a little overwhelming. Pam spun her chair again, turning her back to her coworkers so the expression on her face would give nothing away as she remembered the part when they were finally inside of his room and how their clothes had started coming off and then they were on his bed.

The front door opened and her head snapped up at the rude intrusion. 

It was Jim. A quick glance at the clock told her he was twenty-four minutes late. He first looked to see if Dwight was waiting to call him out on his tardiness, but after finding Dwight’s desk empty, turned back to Pam and gave her a small grin. “Morning.” 

“Morning.” She wondered if she was smiling too hard or not hard enough but before she could overthink it, Jim set one of the two coffee cups he held in his hands on her desk.

“I was grabbing one for myself; thought you could use one too,” was all he said.

“Thanks.” She took the coffee from him and then she didn’t know what else to say. What would she have said yesterday morning? 

“No problem.” Jim took three steps toward his desk and then quickly was back at hers. “Hey, we’re okay, right?”

She played dumb, taking a sip of her coffee and tilting her head at him. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“So we’re good?”

“We’re good,” she confirmed with a smile. “And this coffee is great.” She nodded her head to where Dwight was coming out of the breakroom. “You better go before Dwight really gets on your case for being late.”

“Yeah, I--” He was about to say more but they both saw the look on Dwight’s face and he grimaced at the lecture he knew he was about to get. “Can we talk later?”

So much for things not being weird. “Sure.” She watched him get settled in at his desk and as Dwight went in on him regarding the rules of punctuality in the workplace, she opened her inbox and began working on her task list for the day.

She only made it through three emails before the first instant message came through.

Jim9334: I feel like an idiot. 

Receptionitis15: Stop. I told you it was okay.

Jim9334: That doesn’t make me feel better.

Receptionitis15: If anything, it’s like a big compliment to me, right?

Jim9334: That actually makes me feel worse, thanks.

Pam tried not to laugh at him, but she really couldn’t help it. The way Jim’s head hit his desk dramatically reminded her too much of his actions the night before.

Jim rolled off of her unceremoniously and groaned, burying his face into his pillow.

“That’s… not how I thought this would go.”

She giggled a little, because it was just as funny as it was frustrating, but as she turned onto her side and propped her head on her hand, she realized she had no idea what to say to him. Instead, she just took the time to enjoy the unobstructed view of Jim’s bare ass as he pouted into his pillow.

“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.”

Pam ran the tip of her index finger down his spine. “Was it something I did?” she asked innocently, unable to completely hide the amusement in her voice.

“Fuck.” He drew the word out over several long syllables before turning his face to hers. “I need you to believe me when I say this has never happened to me before.”

She bit the inside of her cheek. “Thank you?”

He shook his head. “Nope. Don’t like that.”

“Do you want me to tell you it happens to every guy?”

“Absolutely not.

She tried again. “I’m flattered?” He buried his face deeper into his pillow, groaning pitifully. “We can try again,” she offered.

“I don’t want your pity sex, Pam.”

She couldn’t help it; she laughed - not so much at him, but at their overall situation. “Yeah, when you put it that way.” She sat up, slapping his ass as she slipped out of the bed and began searching for her clothes.

He looked up. “Wait. What are you doing?”

“Getting dressed.” She laughed again, this time at the look on his face. “You just called any attempt at doing this again pity sex, Jim. It’s not going to happen.”

He dropped his head again. “I’m such a fucking idiot.”

“You’re not,” she promised, even though he kind of was. She finished zipping herself into her dress and leaned over him, running a hand through his hair. “Come on, Speed Racer. You’ve gotta drive me back to my car.”

“Okay but can we not make that nickname a thing?” He sat up when she threw a t-shirt at him.

“I’m not making any promises.” 

Pam realized she’d gotten lost in her thoughts and hadn’t responded for a few minutes so she began typing quickly.

Receptionitis15: It’s really okay. I promise. What can I do to make you believe that?

It was like he’d been waiting for her to say those magic words because his response was almost instant.

Jim9334: I want a do-over.

Receptionitis15: Hmm. For what? Be explicit.

Jim9334: Okay now this feels like sexual harassment.

Receptionitis15: You’re right. Better call the whole thing off before we have to get Toby involved.

She looked up from his computer to smirk at his profile and then resumed typing.

Receptionitis15: … unless involving Toby will help?

Jim9334: I forget why I wanted to sleep with you in the first place.

She sent him the winking kissy emoji, effectively ending the conversation for the rest of the morning. 

Jim left her alone until the middle of the afternoon, when Michael called an all-hands staff meeting and he was quick to slide into the seat next to her against the wall at the back of the conference room.

“We need to talk.”

She didn’t dare look over at him. “Haven’t we talked enough?”

“I think that’s the problem. I psyched myself out with all of the talking.”

“Jim it’s okay.” How many more times was she going to have to say that? She looked down at the notepad she was doodling on instead of taking notes, hoping he would get the hint that the conference room wasn’t the location to have this particular talk. 

No such luck. “It’s not okay.” He was adamant in stressing how not fine it was. “No. It’s absolutely not okay. I can’t have you—anyone really—but especially you thinking that’s the best I can do.”

“So I should take down my Three Minutes in Heaven with Jim Halpert blog post, is that what you’re saying?”

“I’m pretty sure you’re joking but just in case you aren’t; yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

She couldn’t resist. “Are you sure? I was very complimentary.” She flipped to an older page of her notepad and pretended to recite from it. “4 out of 5 stars. What Jim Halpert lacks in endurance he more than makes up for in enthusiasm and efficiency. 1 star deduction to keep his ego in check. Still, not a bad Tuesday night. Would recommend to a friend. Well, not a best friend but like, a casual friend. An acquaintance for sure. ” She flipped back to the page she was drawing on as he groaned and sank lower in his chair.

“Words hurt, Pam. Especially the sarcastic ones.”

“I’m sorry.” She patted his shoulder and couldn’t help the chuckle that slipped out at the look he gave her and threw his words from last night back at him. “Aren’t you worried that it would be pity sex?”

“You know what? I’ll take it. I’ve given it some thought and I can work with pity sex.”

“Wow, just what every girl wants to hear.” The meeting wrapped up without her ever knowing what it was about.

Jim caught her by the elbow as she started to leave. “Where are you going?”

“Back to my desk,” she said slowly, as though it was obvious. “You should too. Get some work done. Put last night out of your mind once and for all.”

“Ugh fine.” Jim sighed dramatically and followed her back to the bullpen. “I’m not done talking about this though.” 

“Whatever you say.”

The rest of the afternoon was surprisingly busy and to Pam’s surprise, Jim didn’t talk to her about anything that wasn’t work related for the rest of the day.

Still, she couldn’t keep herself from sneaking glances at him when he wasn’t paying attention. And no matter how hard she tried to distract herself with expense reports and office supply orders and color-coding her Outlook calendar, she couldn’t stop her thoughts from continuously drifting back to the night before and the possibility of what could happen again if she let it.

At quarter to five, Pam took one final lap around the office, delivering the last of the mail and messages for the day. She paused at Jim’s desk, slapped a single purple post-it onto his monitor, and walked back to her desk to shut things down for the day. She watched his face as he read the words she’d written and realized why he’d enjoyed teasing her so much yesterday. 

531 Lexington Ave. Apt. 9. Come over any time after 8. We can discuss that do-over.

--

Even though she’d been the one to invite him over, Pam’s breath still caught in her throat at the sight of him in her apartment. The more she saw him outside of work, the more she worried she’d never get used to Casual Summer Jim.

Not that it at all mattered what he looked like. It didn’t change anything and he was still leaving in a few months, she reminded herself as she pushed the door wider to let him come inside. “Hey.”

“Hey.” She didn’t miss the way his eyes lingered on her bare legs before he caught himself and quickly diverted his eyes to hers.

She couldn’t resist teasing him. “Wasn’t sure you were going to show up.”

He snorted. “You’re lucky I didn’t beat you here after work.”

She shut the door, locking them in before turning back to him. “I thought the goal was to be less eager.”

Jim hung his head. “I know I deserve some shit for what happened last night but how much more do you plan to torture me?”

She shrugged. “Honestly? At least another week.”

“That’s fair, I guess.” He stepped closer to her. “So this is weird,” he admitted after a beat. “Do we just… start?”

She laughed, pushing his hands away but let the tips of her fingers drag against the palms of his hands. “Jim, look.” She tried to pull her hands away but he held onto them before she could. She watched him link their fingers together before he took a step into her personal space. She didn’t move away. “We don’t actually have to do anything,” she reminded him; giving them both a way out if it was needed.

He frowned. “Do you not want—”

“It’s not that,” she promised. “I’m just saying that maybe last night was a sign that we’re not meant to do this.”

“Pam, our problem wasn’t that we shouldn’t do this at all, it’s that I was too goddamn excited that we actually were.” He ducked his head in embarrassment and any joke she was about to make died on her lips when he tugged her even closer and let his thumbs stroke the skin just under the hem of her t-shirt.

She thought she might melt into a puddle right there in the weird open space between her living room and kitchen and while she tried to tell herself it had everything to do with the unusually hot evening and nothing at all to do with the way Jim leaned into her as his fingers inched higher up her ribcage.

“Come on,” she said finally. “We can watch a movie and see what happens.” She was pretty sure she knew what was going to happen. “Deal?” He agreed and she nodded in return. “I’ll grab some drinks.” She turned toward the kitchen as he headed toward her couch. “Where are you going?”

Jim looked confused as he pointed to her living room. “You said watch a movie, so—”

She nodded thoughtfully. “Okay or,” she paused and crooked her head toward the short hallway that led to her bedroom. The good tv is in there.”

He raised an eyebrow as he followed close behind her. “I think you’re more trouble than you let on.” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she murmured innocently. Still, any bravado she’d discovered in the last 24 hours slipped a little when they were both in her bedroom.

They settled in and Pam told herself it was the dip of her mattress that had pressed against Jim, shoulder to thigh, and nothing else. He smelled differently from both work today and the bar last night. Right now he smelled clean and citrusy and she briefly wondered how many different colognes he might have and what his thought process for deciding which one to wear was.

“Have you done anything like this before?”

They were still in the first half of the movie and she didn’t realize she’d spoken her thoughts out loud until he shifted against her. Thankfully he seemed to know what “this” implied so instead of giving her a hard time, he just considered the question.

“Not recently but yeah, I guess. In college.” He shrugged. “Do you want details or--”

“No,” she said quickly. “No, it’s just.” She sighed. “I haven’t.” She studied her hands in her lap carefully. “It’s only been Roy, you know?” She blinked when one of his hands covered hers.

“Hey. You know for all the teasing and the talk and well, now the begging on my part, that I’d never want you to do anything you didn’t want to, right? I’m not that guy.”

“I know.” She smiled faintly, watching his fingers tap along her knee. “I’m not worried about that. It’s just--” She hated how insecure she sounded; hated how much harder this was with daylight still streaming through the curtains and not as much alcohol coursing through her bloodstream. “What if I don’t know what I’m doing? With you?” she added hastily. 

Jim’s grip on her leg tightened and he shook his head so hard that she jostled against him. “Um, do you remember last night? I promise you that’s not even a little bit of an issue.” She rolled her eyes at him but wasn’t having it. “Seriously, if you could maybe be a little less good at this with me that might even be okay.”

“You’re ridiculous.” They were both laughing as she tucked her legs beneath her, awkwardly bracing herself on his shoulder as she slid onto her knees and leaned into him. When she went to kiss him, he was already there; his hand cupping the side of her face and drawing her even closer. He grabbed her ass and pulled her into his lap and the feel of him half hard beneath her already as she balanced her knees on either side of his thigh was enough to push away all remaining doubt that she didn’t want this as much as he did.

When Jim’s hands slid under her t-shirt she wrapped her fingers around his, pushing them higher until they were both tugging the faded blue cotton over her head.  Emboldened by the murmurs of appreciation against her ear, she pulled his hands around to the clasp of her bra at the center of her back.

For the first time, Jim hesitated. His finger slid back and forth under the band without undoing it and then he traced his hands over the thin straps to her shoulders and then back down until both hands palmed her breasts. His fingertips curled around the lacy edge of the cups and when he spoke, his voice was regretful but resolute. “I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think this needs to stay on. For now,” he added quickly. He bent forward, his mouth sliding down the length of her throat and his breath sending goosebumps across her bare skin before his tongue flicked at one satin covered nipple.

He risked a quick glance up at her. “Taking this off is what got me in trouble last night,” he teased just before closing his mouth around her left breast.

The way he was using his hands and mouth on her made it extremely difficult to protest so she just worked his own t-shirt off of him; her own hands eager to explore everything she’d discovered about him the night before.

Like how his skin pulled taut over his shoulders, which were broader than his button-downs led her to believe. Or the way his biceps flexed when she ran her nails down his arms. She was especially fascinated by the tiny jumps of muscle when she found a ticklish spot just beneath his ribcage and she ran her fingers purposefully over that same spot now just to see. 

He jumped, his teeth scraping against her collarbone. Unable to stop herself, she did it again; her body shaking with silent laughter as she tried to act like it was an innocent mistake.

Jim wasn’t fooled at all, she could tell, but he let her tickle him twice more before he grabbed her by the waist and had her moved from his lap to lying flat on her back before she could blink. He settled over her, stroking his hands down her sides, over the backs of her knees, down her legs to her ankles and back up to her waist; lessening the pressure with each pass they made. He dipped to kiss her, first on the mouth before his lips trailed over her jawline to her ear. She dragged her fingers over that particular spot once more and this time his teeth caught the skin behind her ear. 

“Keep it up.” His touch was feather-light now, fingers trailing up the inside of her thigh. “Is this a game you really think you can win?” His thumb stroked against her hip bone and how he knew her most ticklish spot she didn’t know, but she wasn’t about to see if he knew any of the other ones either. 

“Sorry.” She tried really hard to sound like she meant it but he tickled her again. This time her knee jerked wildly and they both laughed as he caught her leg and hooked it around his waist before she accidentally ruined the night for the both of them. “That could have been a disaster,” she whispered.

“You’re telling me.” He shifted, pressing her deeper into the mattress. The way he kissed her this time made her wonder what else his mouth could do and had her pushing down against his shoulders before she even realized it.

It would have been embarrassing except for Jim simply saying “Okay” before kissing her on the mouth once more, and then the underside of her jaw, her neck, and down the length of her body, removing the rest of her clothing as he went. 

And yes, much to her delight he was every bit as talented with his tongue as she’d hoped he’d be. He knew it too, but she had to admit that his confidence in what he was doing was really fucking hot. And as soon as he knew how into it she was, it was as though he settled in with no intention of stopping before she begged him to.

Not only did she start to feel guilty over all of the attention he was giving her, she was growing restless as he carefully brought her closer and closer to the edge before backing off and starting over. “Jim,” She whined as she pulled on his arms until he slid back up her body so that she could kiss him. Her taste in his mouth was almost more than she could take and she impatiently and ungracefully worked her hand between them, past the waist of his shorts, and finally into his boxer briefs. The sound he made when she wrapped her hand around him and running the pad of her thumb over his tip almost turned her on more than anything his delightfully capable hands and mouth had done to her. And as much as she liked the sounds he made, it was the way her touch caused him to lose his composure just long enough to briefly lose his balance so that he fell solidly against her that had her stroking him slightly faster than before.

“Pam.” His voice was ragged and reluctant as he carefully peeled her fingers away from him and moved just out of her reach. She pouted and he chuckled, dropping a chaste kiss onto her lips before not so chastely taking a nipple into his mouth as he finally unclasped her bra and tossed it away. She started to protest but he made it extremely difficult as he settled himself between her legs again. She managed to voice her displeasure at not being able to touch him using monosyllabic words and stilted phrases as he alternated between long, slow licks and quick flicks at such a dizzying pace that she forgot what she was even complaining about mid-sentence. 

Jim raised his head, resting his cheek lightly against her thigh. “Yeah, your life’s real tough right now,” he mocked her, circling his thumb against her clit. “It must be so hard to just lay there while I see how many times I can make you come.” He eased one finger into her.

She wanted to protest that he hadn’t made her come yet but then he had two fingers teasing her and she fell back against the pillow with an unladylike gasp. “It’s great.” She took a deep shuddering breath and clenched around his hand, satisfied and spurred on by the way he swore under his breath. “But I’m just telling you I’m going to get bored somewhere around the third or fourth if you don’t give me something to do with my hands.” 

“So I’ll stop at two.” He untangled one of her hands from the bedspread and guided it to her breast, smirking when she made the tiniest of confused noises. “But if I don’t.” He used her hand to squeeze gently. “Here’s something for your hands to do.”

Whatever smart remark she had on the tip of her tongue disappeared when the tip of his slid over her with even more purpose than before. He effortlessly worked her towards her first orgasm and started on the second before she’d had any chance at all to recover. She was sure there was a joke to be made somewhere about his being speedy still but it was lost between her simultaneous pleas for him to both stop and to fuck her.

Finally, he was naked and kneeling above her and finally, she had her hand wrapped around him, watching a dozen expressions cross over his face as she worked him base to tip, unconsciously vocalizing her appreciation as his dick hardened even more beneath her strokes. 

“Stop,” he grunted finally, stilling her hand as he kneed her legs a little wider than they already were. “I want--” He hesitated, barely; his body seemed to be half a step quicker than his brain as he was already pressed against her entrance as he asked “Can I?”

She nodded, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling his head down to hers; sighing into his open mouth when he finally slid into her. Shared whispers of “God, you feel so good” passed between them as he inched his way fully into her.

After everything, Pam had been expecting him to… well, to fuck her, if she was being honest with herself. For as much as he’d teased her just now, and because he’d hardly let her touch him, she assumed he’d be right at the edge with her and desperate to come. 

That wasn’t what he was doing. Not really. He was maddening in his technique, annoying in his discipline as he thrust into her evenly and methodically; still hard and deep enough for her to arch into him every time he hit that spot she’d only managed to find on her own last month, but with enough restraint and self-perseverance that his arms shook where they were braced on either side of her.

She knew what he was doing.

He was proving his point that last night was an anomaly. And he was fucking driving her crazy while he did it.

She couldn’t recall Roy ever making her come like this; had up until this very second believed that it even happening was a myth; but the slow, steady pace Jim had set was making her head spin and just as sure as she was that she was about to come again, she also knew that he was never going to let her hear the end of it.

She also didn’t care. Digging her nails into his shoulders, Pam pleaded silently with both her eyes and her hips for him to help her get there.

“Faster?” His voice was rough against her ear. “Is that what you need Pam?” Somehow, he slowed himself until he was barely thrusting into her at all but still managed to keep the steady pressure; filling her so completely that the way she was stretching around him nearly took her breath away. She nodded frantically; closing her eyes as she steepled her right leg next to him, hoping he’d take the hint and--

“Fuck. Like that, yes.” He had her leg draped over his shoulder almost immediately and the change in position had them both gasping when he slid even deeper. “God yes,” she breathed and that was all it took for him to redouble his efforts so that the speed and depth of his fucking left her breathless as she tried to match this new pace.

“Jim.” She couldn’t say anything else. He was literally fucking away her ability to banter.

He didn’t seem to be doing any better than she was so she stopped worrying about it, didn’t really care if she never joked with him again, so long as he kept doing what he was doing until she came.

The way he shuddered, swore, and hiked her hips higher off of the bed to fuck into her even harder and quicker than before made her think she’d begged him out loud for those things but again, she found it really hard to care when he brought his thumb back to her clit and sent her spiraling into a release that hit her so hard she’ll swear later that she actually blacked out.

He wasn’t far behind her. To his credit, he waited--impatiently-- but still he waited for her to regain some of her senses before he started moving inside of her again. She honestly had no idea how he hadn’t come already and the look on his face led her to believe that his wait was bordering on painful so she rallied; took a deep breath and focused all of her attention on him. She begged him to come for her almost as hard as she’d begged to come herself. She brought her lips close to his ear and in what felt to her like a dangerous tone, let him know how fucking good he felt, and how good he made her feel, and how much better it would be for both of them when he came. She tightened her walls against him until he couldn’t stand it, and when she thought he couldn’t go any harder or faster than he already was; he did, and she was again reduced to gasping one word curses until finally, with one final thrust and a groan sure to alert the neighbors to their bedroom activities, he spilled into her in what might have been the most gratifying release she had ever experienced. 

“Well.” 

Pam wasn’t sure if minutes or hours passed before Jim spoke. They were still side by side, the sound of the ceiling fan above them balancing out the sound of them catching their breath as the gravity of what they’d just done hit them both.

She rolled her head to the side, smiling when she saw he was already grinning at her. “Okay fine.” She made a big production of sighing as she rolled onto her side. “5 stars. I’d definitely recommend you to a close friend now.” Oh cool. She hadn’t lost her banter after all.

“Nah, I just want you.” His eyes flew open. “Shit. I meant this arrangement. That’s what I want. Like I said, just for the summer. You and me. I don’t want your friend.” He winced. “Shit.”

She ignored the sting of his words and graciously gave him the out he was desperately looking for. “Fine, I’ll take back that fifth star. You’re not even her type anyways.” She tried to laugh but it sounded forced and she rolled onto her back again, stretching. “It’s getting late,” she said finally. This was way more awkward than last night was. “You should probably get going.”

Jim studied her carefully for a moment before nodding slowly. “Yeah, I probably should.”  They lay there for a few seconds more before getting up and dressing silently. 

Pam followed him out of the bedroom and back into her kitchen. It was obnoxiously bright in there and she blinked under the harsh light, suddenly incredibly insecure and unsure about everything.

He pulled her into a hug, wrapping an arm solidly around her waist and holding her against him for longer than what could be considered a friendly hug. Of course, everything they’d just done had gone way past friendly so she didn’t know why she was surprised. “We still good?” he asked cautiously.

She nodded, pressing her lips to the side of his neck before she could stop herself. “We’re good,” she echoed.

“Okay.” Reluctantly, he let go of her and opened the front door. “Night Pam.”

“Night Jim.” She closed the door behind him, wondering how they’d managed to ruin the mood so damn fast.

Maybe she shouldn’t have asked him to leave. But what else was she supposed to do? They weren’t dating. They were friends who fucked.

And friends who fucked didn’t stick around for pillow talk.

Did they?

“Who is that?”

Pam didn’t have to look up to know who Kelly was asking her about. She’d been asked the same question by Oscar, by Toby, by Angela, and twice by Kevin. Dwight hadn’t asked because he’d demanded to see two forms of identification as soon as she’d walked through the door. “Her name is Katy and she sells purses, I guess.”

“To office buildings?” Pam nodded in agreement at Kelly’s skepticism. “She’s pretty, Pam. Almost as pretty as me.” Kelly frowned. “Has Ryan seen her yet?”

“Nope.” He had. Ryan had been standing at her desk when Katy had walked in and convinced Michael to let her set up shop in the conference room for the day.

So far, well; aside from Dwight, Jim was the only one who hadn’t asked her who Katy was. But that was probably because he’d walked right up to her and introduced himself. He’d even gone as far as to show her where the break room was and bring her coffee.

Not that it mattered or even that she cared. Because it really didn’t matter. And she definitely didn’t care.

It had been a little over a week since she and JIm had slept together. Twice. To their credit, they’d somehow managed to keep things from getting too weird between them. Work days were basically the same as they’d always been, except now there was always a ninety percent chance that Jim was going to ask her to come over that night.

And now he was in the conference room asking this other girl with really shiny and smooth hair about the stitching on an ugly green purse.

Okay so she cared a little.

But it was fine.

“Hello? Pam!”

Pam blinked and then remembered Kelly was still standing there. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I asked if you thought she was pretty.”

“Oh.” She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so.”

It wasn’t the answer Kelly was looking for and her expression immediately twisted into a scowl. “Ugh, why is she even here? I can’t go in there because then Ryan would see her and I’ve seen the purses you and Phyllis have.” Kelly took her eyes off of Katy long enough to shrug apologetically at Pam. “No offense.”

“Ryan’s not even here right now,” Pam offered. “You should go check her out. Some of the purses look really cute.”

“Maybe.” Kelly didn’t sound convinced. “How long has Jim been talking to her? Do you think he’s buying a purse? Who would he be buying one for?”

They were all valid questions and ones she’d been asking herself all morning but that didn’t mean she needed to have an actual conversation about it. She was about to tell Kelly to go ask him herself but they were both distracted by the sound of laughter coming from the conference room turned boutique.

“He’s probably just buying one to get on her good side,” Kelly mused unhelpfully.

“Maybe.” If Kelly noticed her complete lack of interest in the conversation she didn’t let on. There was another peal of laughter from the two new friends and Pam watched as Jim leaned against the conference room table, bracing himself on one hand as he leaned closer to Katy to emphasize whatever point he was making.

Pam stood abruptly, interrupting Kelly in the middle of whatever she was talking about, and disappeared into the break room without a word.

Once alone in the other room, she immediately began berating herself. She wasn’t dating Jim. Really, she barely was even sleeping with him. He didn’t owe her a damn thing. If he wanted to talk to another woman he certainly could. He could do whatever he wanted and it had absolutely nothing to do with her.

Refilling her tea mug, Pam took a deep breath and reluctantly returned to her desk. Jim was back at his and seemingly working as she slid back into her chair. When he looked up and grinned at her she gave him a tiny wave and pretended to get engrossed with her email inbox.

Not twenty seconds passed before he sent her an instant message.

JIM9334: You’re quiet today. Everything okay?

Receptionitis15: Fine. Just tired. Had a long night with Isabel. It was true. He knew she’d spent the past couple days getting her best friend through a break up.

JIM9334: I’m telling you. Let’s set her up with Dwight. She’ll never want to date again.

Receptionitis15: Yeah but say that backfires. Then I have to hear all the sex details. Sex with Dwight details. And if I have to hear them, I promise you that you will also have to hear them.

JIM9334: Shit. Yeah neither of us needs that in our lives. What are you doing tonight? Anything fun?

There it was. Did she have anything going on after work?

Receptionitis15: Laundry. Super fun.

JIM9334: You really know how to live it up on a Friday night.

And then the chat went silent. Pam frowned when she realized there weren’t any follow up questions coming her way. She snuck a peek over at his desk but he didn’t appear to be working or talking to Dwight or doing anything that was keeping him from talking to her.

She bit her lip, afraid to ask but still typing back to him. What about you? She watched his eyes scanning the screen.

JIM9334: Nothing nearly as exciting as laundry, I can tell you that.

She picked up her cell phone, turning it over and over in her hands before opening up her texts. Can I ask you a question?

He raised an eyebrow at the switch in communication but didn’t push it. You just did.

“Ugh.” She said it loud enough that he could hear it. Bye.

No come back. I love your questions. Ask me anything.

She shot an annoyed glare his way and only picked her phone up again when he mouthed the word sorry at her.

Her desk phone rang before she could text anything, giving her an extra minute to decide whether or not she even wanted to continue their conversation.

The call took longer than she expected as the salesman on the other end tried desperately to sell her a fancy new phone system. Out of the corner of her eye she watched as Katy pranced (yes, pranced; things didn’t bounce like that when someone is just plain old walking) out of the conference room and found her way to Jim’s desk. Pam absolutely wasn’t spying. She couldn’t help it if while she pretended to care about visual voicemail her gaze fell naturally to where Jim was spinning his chair in half circles and nodding animatedly at whatever Katy was saying to him. He smiled and they both laughed at some joke Pam couldn’t hear.

Because she couldn’t help where her eyes gravitated to, she also didn’t miss the way Jim didn’t recoil or even flinch when the other girl’s hand fell harmlessly to his bicep as she grinned widely at whatever he’d just said.

Her phone call ended and when she looked up again, Jim was alone at his desk. She worried her lower lip between her teeth and then decided to finish what she’d started.

I just… she paused. Stared at the words. Deleted them and started over. Ignored Jim’s gaze when she felt it land on her. Wrote some more and shut her eyes quickly.

Have you ever fucked around in the office?

She heard the squeak of the wheels on his desk chair as he sat back, reading her message. His responses came back rapid fire.

Absolutely not.

With who?

Phyllis?

Wait. Have you?

She rolled her eyes at the last one. Obviously. Me and Toby every Tuesday night for the last three years. Don’t tell anyone.

Gross Pam. I’m just saying you’re the one who was engaged to another person who worked here. So between the two of us, if one of us had any kind of opportunity to have sex in the office, it would have been you.

Oh right. She decided not to think about how easily she’d forgotten about Roy.

Okay. New question.

Shoot.

Do you want to?

She was already looking at him when his eyes snapped up to meet hers. She held his gaze for an impossibly long moment, wondering if the tension and heat and anticipation she saw in his eyes was also reflected in hers.

He pulled his eyes away long enough to text her again. When?

Soon.

Like now?

She glanced at the clock. Ten minutes?

You’re serious?

Their eyes met again before she let her gaze drift toward his chest and then back to his face. She took note of the way he looked at her over the top of his monitor, a wave of satisfied vindication swept over her when she realized there was no comparison between the way he looked at Katy and the way he looked at her. She nodded slowly.

Tell me where.

Holy shit. It was only in that moment that she realized she hadn’t been sure he’d say yes. They were actually doing this. East stairwell. Third floor.

Sounds like you have done this before.

Keep going and neither of us will be able to say we’ve ever done it here.

Sorry. Ten minutes?

Eight now. You go first and I’ll follow.

She couldn’t look at him. She nodded in his general direction and busied herself with switching the phones over to voicemail. After a few minutes he made some noise for Dwight’s benefit about how he was going down to the warehouse to check on an order and then made his escape from the office.

She counted to one hundred and then picked up a stack of envelopes from the end of her desk and again, to satisfy Dwight’s curiosity, called out that some of Vance Refrigeration’s mail had been delivered to them and some of it looked really important so she was going to run it across the hall while she had a moment.

Even though she’d told him where to meet her she was still a little surprised to find him waiting for her, leaning against the wall, checking his phone to give the appearance of just taking a break to anyone who might walk by. He hadn’t noticed her yet and she took a few seconds to enjoy the view. In doing so, she loosened her grip on the door she’d just slipped through and it slammed shut with a loud bang.

Jim glanced up, smirking as he slid his phone back into his pocket. “Careful, I don’t think they heard you on the fourth floor,” he joked.

“Guess we’d better hurry then,” she quipped back, taking the steps two at a time until she met him on the landing. “Good thing you’re good at that.” She already had him by the collar, her mouth reaching greedily for his when he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against him.

“I was about to give up on us doing this again,” he admitted. His hand was already, shamelessly, running up her inner thigh and under her skirt.

“I’m just full of surprises.” She gasped against him as his fingers dipped beneath the satin she’d put on that morning because it really was laundry day. They kissed while their hands frantically moved as much clothing out of the way that they could without actually undressing. She untucked his shirt, sliding her hands up over his chest before falling back to his belt buckle, and then the button, and finally the zipper of his dress pants. His boxer briefs were already stretched taut around him but she managed to work her hand inside to free him, murmuring her appreciation against his insistent mouth.

Still, jealousy rippled through her as she wondered if he was this hard because of his morning spent flirting with Katy. Her irritation again turned to satisfaction when he muttered something about how she couldn’t text him like that in the office and expect him to ever be able to get up from his desk again.

Muted but still indecent sounds filled the concrete stairwell as they leaned into each other, hands and mouths working furiously to tease, arouse, and rid each other of any frustration and jealousy that had built up over the last week.

Okay, maybe getting rid of the jealousy was just for her. And while it was working; his hands, as talented as they were, weren’t what she wanted.

Pam raised herself onto her tiptoes, trying to bring herself down around him with little success. Either he was too tall or she was too short, and she cursed herself for the flats she’d slipped her feet into that morning. Each roll of her hips was its own form of torture; the length of his cock dragging mercilessly against her clit, bringing her closer and closer to a release she didn’t want any part of until he was buried deep inside of her.

Standing, the angle was all wrong but she knew without a doubt that perching herself precariously on the thin metal railing behind them would result in death by falling and there was no way any part of her skin was touching the cement floor. She was embarrassed by the small frustrated whine that escaped her but Jim didn’t laugh, seemingly understanding their predicament perfectly. He took her hands in his and settled them on his shoulders before sliding his own down the backs of her thighs.

Pam’s eyes widened and she tightened her grip as he lifted her legs around his waist. “Better?” He asked, bucking his own hips to shift her against him until he was exactly where she wanted him to be. His cock slid easily into her and she sighed deeply; the quick release of her breath sounded a lot like finally.

Frustration quickly turned to lust as she processed what had just happened. “Wait, you can do that?” She asked before she could stop herself.

Jim laughed, squeezing her ass as he turned and pinned her back to the wall. “Mmhm. Want to see what else I can do?” His teeth grazed her jawline as he nudged himself the slightest bit deeper into her.

“God yes.”

He was much stronger than she would have guessed. She learned immediately that the way his muscles flexed and strained beneath her grip was more for her benefit than out of any type of discomfort. He held her in place easily, as though she were weightless. The narrow width of her skirt restricted a lot of her movement and she wasn’t able to do little other than hold on while Jim alternated between fucking into her with long, even thrusts and sliding her up and down his dick in short, shallow strokes until her head spun.

“Fuck,” she choked out, burying her face into his neck. She was close, brought even closer still when he moved her again. With one hand supporting her ass he braced the other against the wall level with her head and pressed her back, hitching her thighs higher on his hips. The small change in angle let him slide even deeper into her and she swore into his neck again.

“Come on, Pam,” he pleaded, his own lips pressed against her collarbone. She couldn’t even remember him undoing the top two buttons of her shirt. His entire body shuddered against hers and she heard him start to say her name again but she was already coming apart around him. The end of her name turned into a groan before their mouths found each other again, swallowing the ecstatic climax of their late-morning office tryst before anyone could hear them.

“Right. She exhaled against his chest. The gravity of what had just happened hit her the second her feet were back on the ground. She looked up at him and he was already staring back at her, looking thoroughly fucked. She could only imagine what she looked like. “We’re going to need some rules.”

-

“Rule number one,” Pam declared, rearranging the Mexican takeout containers on Jim’s coffee table. “We can’t do that at work again.”

“But we had so much fun.”

She didn’t disagree. “Not at work,” she repeated firmly.

“Fine but let the record show you were the one who instigated that today. Not me. I was leaving you alone.”

“There’s no record of—“

“Oh there’s a record. Even if it’s just me reminding you daily.”

“Stop.” She blushed at the look he was giving her. “You’re thinking about it right now, aren’t you?”

He nodded seriously. “Uh, yes. I’m going to be thinking about it until we do it again. Especially now that I know we’re going to do it again.”

“But not in the office.” She leaned over him to grab the salsa on the other end of the table, fully aware he could - and was - able to look down her shirt. Their eyes met briefly as she settled back into place and she had to admit that even she only half believed her declaration.

“Deal.” His look told her he believed her even less. “Should we have a schedule?”

Pam made a face and was about to argue how impersonal that felt but then remembered it was an impersonal arrangement. And the idea of color-coding sex dates with Jim into her weekly planner delighted her endlessly. “I’m free on Tuesdays.”

“Tuesdays work,” he agreed. “What about Thursdays?” He laughed at the look she gave him. “Pam, I’d be over every night if you let me.”

She focused on removing bits of cilantro from her burrito bowl instead of looking at him. “Tuesdays and Thursdays and an hour’s notice the rest of the week if we’re both free?”

“Deal. What about dates?”

She shook her head. “We’re not dating,” she reminded him emphatically. “‘No dates.” Jim opened his mouth, no doubt to argue with her and she shook her head again, gesturing between the two of them. “You’re leaving.” Her voice was gentler than before. “This can’t be dating.”

He closed his mouth and nodded. They ate in a companionable, slightly heavier silence before he spoke again. “Takeout or movies,” he said triumphantly. “We’ve been doing this for years and it’s never been a date so there’s no reason why we can’t keep doing either.”

She detected a layer of something beneath his words but she wasn’t about to downward spiral over that tonight. “Yeah but all these years we haven’t been doing each other either,” she pointed out. She kept her voice neutral, knowing they were right on the edge of ruining a perfectly good night by edging into unspoken territory. She didn’t like the look on his face so she relented quickly. “Okay. Takeout and movies aren’t dates. But not every Tuesday and Thursday,” she added before he could get too excited. “And other nights too.” He grinned as she grew more flustered. “What I’m trying to say is that takeout and movies can’t carry the expectation of sex too.”

“Okay cool. That’s actually a good point. Let’s not have any sex expectations ever. Neither of us should ever feel obligated to do this, right?” She nodded in agreement. “If we’re not feeling it, we say so and that’s that. No hard feelings.”

“What kind of timeline are we looking at?” They’d finished dinner about an hour ago and their discussion over sex rules had stalled in favor of watching an episode of Iron Chef America. Now that Alex Guarnaschelli had beat Mario Batali, Pam turned her attention back to Jim.

“I’m here through the end of August, so I guess then? Or if either of us decides we’re done before that.” He hesitated. “Or if one of us meets someone, right?”

“Oh. Yeah. That makes sense.”

“Yeah.”

She didn’t let the silence linger. “I know I said this-” she gestured between them again, still not knowing what to call it really, “isn’t dating. But can I still ask that neither of us sleep with anyone else while we’re sleeping with each other?”

“No. One hundred percent agreed. No one else.”

“Okay.” She didn’t bother trying to hide her relief at that. “So…” She kept her eyes on the tv. “Do I need to go?”

“Go?”

She nodded. “Mmhm. I just mean - if you have any outstanding dates with, I don’t know, blonde purse girls… I’d be willing to grant you a grace period for tonight.”

Jim stared at her for what seemed like forever before he smirked, jabbing a finger in her direction. “It all makes sense now.”

She tried not to smile, failing miserably. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh yes you do. You’re jealous of Katy.”

She couldn’t deny it. “She’s really pretty,” she pointed out. “And she was clearly flirting with you all morning.” She stopped just short of adding and you flirted back but she still thought it.

“She definitely was,” Jim agreed. “It was a little desperate, wasn’t it?” He grinned at her again. “Then again, it got you to attack me in the stairwell, so…”

“I didn’t… Okay, yeah, I guess I did.” She didn’t even blush that time. “Don’t look so pleased. It’s not going to happen again.”

“We’ll see.” He stretched his arms over his head and her gaze boldly dipped to where his shirt rode up, showing tanned skin. “What else?” he asked, oblivious to her stare. “Any other rules you want to add?”

She pulled her eyes back to his. “We don’t ever stay all night.” Agreeing to the gray area of what was and wasn’t considered a date was already pushing her limits and she needed one strong boundary.

“I can go along with that.” She barely had time to breathe a sigh of relief before he kept going. “But I get to give you three non-sexual compliments a week.”

She didn’t know what one had to do with the other but she shook her head anyways. “No. I don’t think that–” 

He cut her off. “Non-negotiable. I need something that doesn’t make me feel like a total ass about this whole thing.”

“Fine.” She didn’t fight the grin that spread across her face. “How many sexual compliments though?”

Jim laughed and she was weirdly pleased at how normal and easy it all was while they were hammering out the details of their no-strings sex contract.

“Okay so we’re good?” he asked, skipping her question entirely. “We’ve got this all figured out?”

“I think so,” Pam nodded. “Yeah, I’m good if you are.”

“I’m good.” He raised an eyebrow at her. “So… should we shake on this or… something else?”

“It’s not Tuesday or Thursday,” she pointed out. She looked at her watch. “I guess you could set a timer for sixty minutes and we could–” she yelped as he strong-armed her until she was nearly in his lap. She rose to her knees, braced her hands on his biceps, and looked him in the eye as seriously as she could. “Don’t you think we’ve done enough for today?”

“Ten minutes in a stairwell and you think that’s all I’m good for?” He pretended to look hurt, then took one of her hands and placed it on his upper thigh. He paused, waiting to see if she was going to pull away and when she didn’t, he slid her hand higher until she was fully palming him.

Pam wrapped her fingers around him, marveling at how he somehow felt even harder than he’d been earlier that day. “When did this happen?”

His head tipped back against the couch when she tightened her grip the tiniest bit. “It’s been an all day thing, but mostly when I found out you were jealous of Katy.”

“I don’t think I ever said I was jealous.”

“I think it was implied.”

“Hmm.” She dragged her fingers against him once more and then pulled away, standing up from the couch. “It’s getting late,” she pointed out when he looked at her incredulously. “And like I said already, it’s not Tuesday or Thursday.”

He followed her to the door and the look on his face told her he didn’t believe she was actually leaving. Truthfully, she wasn’t sure she believed it either, even as she slid her shoes back on. “You’re just going to go?” he asked, finally. “Pam, we both know you’re not doing anything else tonight.”

“I know.” She shrugged, giving him her best wide-eyed ‘what can I do about it’ look. “We worked really hard on those rules tonight, Jim. You can’t expect us to just start breaking them immediately.”

“You’re the worst, you know that?” The grin on his face dispelled any hint of annoyance his words could have held.

“I am,” she agreed. “We should probably just call this whole thing off, huh?”

“Don’t even joke about that.” He sighed dramatically. “Okay fine. Go, if you must. Just know that we could have had a lot more fun tonight.”

“Yeah well.” She shrugged again. “Rules are rules, you know?” They grinned stupidly at each other before she nodded once more and left with a wave goodbye.

She wasn’t halfway to the car when her phone chirped with a text alert.

Hey. What are you doing tonight?

She looked back at the house but Jim was nowhere to be seen. Leaning against the hood of her car, she replied quickly. I told you, it’s laundry night.

Forget the laundry. I’ve got something else you can fluff and fold.

She laughed out loud. What does that even mean? It sounds painful.

Yeah, I don’t know what I was going for there. Listen, right now I think this a dumb rule but I’ll also keep texting you for the next hour if it means you’ll come back inside.

Well… I guess we already broke one rule today…

We did. And remember when you were going to let me break a different one with Katy? Doesn’t this one sound more fun?

I’ll come back inside if we make another rule about not talking about Katy again.

Oh my god, why aren’t you back in here yet?

She knocked just as his last text message came through. The door swung open immediately. “What’s up, rule-breaker?” he asked, as though he hadn’t just seen her five minutes before.

She rolled her eyes as he pulled her over the threshold and into a kiss. “You’re so impatient,” she teased, even as her hands worked with his to peel his t-shirt over his head, dropping it in the hallway as they stumbled toward the stairs. “You don’t always have to be Speedracer.”

“You’re so funny.” Once again, he surprised and delighted her with his strength; this time by grabbing her around the waist and throwing her over his shoulder. “Here’s another rule: you stop calling me Speedracer and I’ll give you as many sex-related compliments as you want every day.” His foot caught on one of the steps and he tripped before she could answer; sending them both tumbling to the landing in a most ungraceful tangle of limbs.

They quickly assessed that neither of them was hurt, and once they finally stopped laughing, Pam leaned in and kissed him again, slightly less frenzied than before but still just as possessively.

“Tell you what,” she bargained, still laughing, as he pulled her to her feet. “Get me to your bedroom in one piece and I’ll call you anything you want.”