Fender Benders And Consequences

Marie glanced at the clock on the nightstand, it was 1:30am, but she couldn't sleep. She was afraid to go to sleep, because then the dream would come again. The one about the man she shouldn't be dreaming about. Especially because of the erotic nature of the dream. Marie was experiencing so many new emotions and desires, the intensity of which both scared and aroused her. Like any normal teenage girl she'd had her share of crushes on movie stars, members of the latest boy band, even the biology teacher her senior year. This was different, though. She hadn't dreamed of ripping her clothes off and throwing herself at any of them. Logan's bad-boy reputation intrigued and repelled her all at the same time, with intrigue having the slight edge.

Many had tried to tame the Wolverine and none had succeeded, until Jean that is. Marie had only heard her brother's version of what had transpired. Jean had apparently thrown herself at Logan while Scott was delayed in Sydney on business. She had moved her things out of their apartment and into Logan's before Scott had even returned. From gossip gleaned from Scott, rumor had it that Logan was looking to cut Jean loose after discovering she was frigid. Scott had chuckled at that and remarked sarcastically that he could have warned Logan and saved him a lot of time and trouble, but figured it was about time someone brought him down a peg or two. The fact that Logan had endured it for nearly seven months was a miracle, not to mention a company joke. Logan being stuck with the Ice Queen was revenge enough for Scott.

After meeting Ororo, Scott was tempted to send Logan a 'thank you' card for doing him a favor, except he was still pissed about the way it had all gone down initially. The only reason Scott hadn't canned Logan's sorry ass was because, and he hated to admit this, Summers International needed him. Logan was the best in the business and losing him to the competition would be business suicide. The fact that Logan never took advantage of that knowledge amazed Scott.

Marie glanced at the clock again - 1:45am. When she was little and couldn't sleep, her mother used to lie in bed with her, gently rubbing her back until she drifted off. Now that she was older, Marie had a different method to help relax herself. Marie slipped her hand inside her silk bikini panties and started the slow rhythmic rubbing, imaging it was Logan's hand instead of her own. She slid her fingers over her clit and rubbed first gently and then harder as she neared her climax. Moments later she cried out his name as she slipped into the abyss of her orgasm. Finally, Marie fell asleep, at peace at last.

Friday morning dawned bright and clear. Marie woke up with a plan.

The 'Drive Logan Insane and Make Him Want Me' plan.

She would go into the city to meet Scott for lunch and 'accidentally' run into Logan. She would then conveniently have to talk to him about the arrangements for the car repairs. After all, she did promise she would cover all the costs if he didn't make her file an insurance claim. It was totally innocent. No suspicions would be raised. It could work. Except nobody better find out that she knew Scott wouldn't even be in the office today, having left first thing this morning to fly to Washington, DC on business, taking Ororo with him to make a weekend of it. Scott had told her about it and so had Ororo when she informed everyone the adoption center would be closed on Friday. If she got busted, feigning innocence would have to be an academy award winning performance. Marie decided it was worth the risk.

She dressed carefully in city-visiting clothes that still took into account it was damn hot outside and would also ensure that she'd look damn hot while inside. The mint green halter dress clung in all the right places and stopped just short of being indecent. Jubes had talked her into buying it on one of their many mall expeditions, but she'd been too afraid to wear it until today. Marie chuckled to herself as she remembered an expression she'd heard on 'Sex and The City' about dresses so short that showed your 'see you next Tuesday' or C. U. N. T. God, she loved that show, it was so damn educational. She pinned her thick hair loosely on top of her head, letting a few strands escape, creating a sexy, I-just-fell-out-of-bed look. Her normally pale ivory skin was now a pale golden brown making foundation unnecessary. A few strokes of the mascara wand and some pale mocha lipstick and she was good to go. Having dropped off the Mercedes at the auto body shop the day before, she climbed behind the wheel of her rental car and set off for the city.

Marie parked in the building's underground garage. Making her way toward the elevator she noticed Logan's dented SUV. Good, he was here. It wouldn't be much of a plan, if for some weird reason he weren't in the office either.

She rode up to the Executive Offices floor, trembling slightly. The air conditioning in the building must be set too cold because her braless nipples were poking through the thin material of her 'Getting Logan's Attention' dress. Yeah, that's what it was, the air conditioning.

Who was she kidding?

The doors opened with a swoosh and she stepped out into the marbled foyer of the Executive Offices. The last time she'd been here, she'd been, what, twelve maybe. Her father's business held no interest for her. She found her brother's office, the one that used to be daddy's. She stifled a chuckle to see her photo proudly displayed on her big brother's desk - a photo of her when she was all of five years-old. No wonder Logan couldn't have picked her out of a police line-up!

"Looking for someone?" She heard a familiar voice inquire.

She turned around to find Logan casually leaning his 6' 3" hard-muscled body against the doorframe. He had this sexy grin on his face that made Marie want to puddle on the floor right then and there. Mr. Too Damn Hot looked just as good in a suit as he did in a tight t-shirt and jeans.

If being so completely hot would be illegal, Logan would be on death row.

"Do you know where Scott is by any chance?" she inquired. Hoping it came out innocently enough.

"Washington, DC - all day long," Logan replied while scanning his eyes up and down her, not making any attempt to hide what he was doing.

{Good, the dress is working.}

{Damn, that dress is working for me. It would look even better in a heap on the floor next to my bed.}

Marie interrupted his train of thought

"Gee, that's too bad. I was hoping he could take me to lunch. I can't believe I came all the way into the city and he's not even here," she pouted, sticking out her lower lip saucily.

"Guess, it's going to be a table for one," she added wistfully.

{God, like that didn't come out totally pathetic -ugh!} She scolded herself.

Logan smiled to himself and took the hint, "I could be your lunch date, if you don't mind settling for me?"

"I think I can manage that," Marie said in a husky voice.

Logan stepped into the office and offered his arm to Marie. "Ok, let's get out of here then, shall we?"

Marie looped her arm in his and looked up into that incredible face with those amazing hazel eyes. The smile he gave her made her go weak at the knees, but she managed to let him lead her out of the office and onto one of the elevators. She was going to lunch with Logan!

What she didn't know, was that Logan knew she was there under false pretenses. Yesterday afternoon he'd walked into Scott's office for a meeting and Scott was on the phone giving the person on the other end the name and phone number of the hotel in Washington. Scott hung up and casually said, "Just letting my sister, Marie know I'm going to be gone from tomorrow morning until Sunday afternoon and where she can reach me in case of an emergency."

~*~*~*

Logan would have loved to have gone to lunch someplace that served a decent steak, but realized Marie's preferences probably ran more along the same line as Jean's. Yeah, she was probably your typical salad-eating kind of girl. So he suggested a deli across from the office. Marie ordered a chicken salad sandwich and Logan ordered a roast beef sub; which may not have exactly been the steak he craved, but at least it had once 'moo'ed. Adding a Coke for Logan, an apple juice for Marie, some pasta salad and a couple of decadent looking brownies they took their impromptu picnic over to the park.

They exchanged biographical histories, finding a camaraderie that they were both orphans. Logan told her at least she was lucky she had Scott, he had no one who cared about him. He said it with such genuine sadness in his voice that Marie felt her heart break.

{He's not the cold bastard people think he is.}

Logan, aware of his reputation, told her that's why sometimes he went looking for 'love in all the wrong places'. He also casually inserted into the conversation that he and Jean were history and that his current residence was the Plaza Hotel.

"I know I can't find anything even close to what I had, for the rent I was paying," Logan told her.

"Jean should be the one to move, it was your place to begin with."

"Just trying to be decent, since I'm the one that ended it. Guess I'm feeling a little guilty, that's all."

{He's not the asshole everyone claims he is. He's not just saying that to impress me, I think he means it.}

Logan hoped that didn't sound like he was feeding her a line of bullshit. He really felt bad about the whole Jean situation, even if she had been a total bitch last night in the apartment. He was actually compensating for Jean's shitty behavior, that was new.

"Have you ever been in love?" Marie asked, changing the subject.

"No. Never," Logan replied with just a tinge of regret in his voice.

"I think that's sad," Marie said sympathetically.

"What about you? Have you ever been in love?"

"Nah, too young." The second that was out of her mouth she regretted it

{That's right, dummy, remind him you're just a kid - stupid, stupid, stupid!}

"It'll happen. Don't worry," Logan stated.

"I'm not worried. I just hope it happens soon. I feel like some kind of 'Love Connection' reject compared to my friends."

{Great, now you sound totally desperate. Way to go, dum-dum.}

Logan casually glanced down at his watch "Damnit, I've got to get back to the office. I've got a conference call in thirty minutes. Sorry."

Marie looked dejected. An hour with Logan just wasn't long enough. Stupid job.

Logan walked Marie back to her rental car in the garage.

"I take it you already took the Benz in to get fixed?" he asked eyeing the Toyota Corolla.

They had both completely forgotten to discuss anything about the cars.

"Yeah, there's this auto body repair shop near Salem Center that can perform miracles," Marie informed him.

Digging in her purse, she found their business card and handed it to Logan.

"I realize it's a long way to take your car, but it would be worth it, they do excellent work," she added.

"I'll think about it. Thanks for the tip. And thanks for the company. I think that's the first time in a year I haven't eaten lunch at my desk," Logan told her.

"You should try it more often. Getting out of the office, I mean."

"You may have to come kidnap me," Logan joked.

"I could do that," she answered. {Wow, that must mean he wants to see me again.}

After an awkward moment of silence, neither one knowing just what to do, Marie simply climbed into the car and with a final "Thanks again for lunch" and a wave of her hand, pulled away. She watched Logan in the rear view mirror until he was no longer in sight.

Logan watched until the car was out of sight before turning to the bank of elevators. He really had enjoyed their innocent little lunch. This courting thing wasn't all that bad he thought with a smile spreading across his face, no sir, not bad at all.

Marie didn't remember the drive back to the suburbs; she was too euphoric to pay attention. Somehow she made it home without another risk to her insurance status.

Logan and Marie both had extremely pleasant dreams that night.