“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.”