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?