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Part Eight....

Devlin placed the guitar back in it's case and propped
it up against the wall, then turned his penetrating blue
gaze on Buffy.

When their eyes met, he smiled and she blushed...which
only made his smile widen. He approached her with
slow, measured strides, resuming his seat on the edge
of her desk.

He said nothing, but took the extra pair of scissors out
of her pencil box, then picked up a sheet of red construction
paper and began cutting out the circles she had traced on
it earlier.

The room was quiet, and they worked in a surprisingly
comfortable silence with nothing but the soft sound of
the scissors to mar the peace.

When the chore was finished, Buffy stacked the different
shapes in neat little piles, and tossed the scraps into her
waste basket.

"Thank you," she murmured.

"My pleasure, Miss Buffy."

She could tell that he was waiting for her to make the
next move. "Listen," she began. "I was...I mean...I
know that I was a little...rude to you...before. But...it's
just that...that I'm not used to...."

"Not used to what?" he asked, softly. "Not used to a man
being interested in you? Being attracted to you?" His
voice dropped into a lower register. "Wanting you?"

These words sent a pleasant shiver up and down her spinal
column, but what he said next would have buckled her
knees had she been standing.

"You'll need to get used to it...Miss Buffy."

**Oh, help....**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She expected him to pack up and go, but he surprised her
yet again by showing no such inclination. Instead, he waited
until the children began to wake up, then sat at the back of
the room and watched as they did their "wake up stretches"
on the interlocking rubber mats in the middle of the floor.

Buffy was acutely aware of his eyes following her as she
moved around the room, and she couldn't forget the sound
of his voice telling her that she'd need to get used to being
wanted...by him. She wasn't quite sure this was something
she'd be able to do.

She'd had her share of male admirers throughout high school
and college, and had dated a few of the young men in Sunnydale
when she'd first arrived. Riley Finn had made no secret of the
fact that he most certainly was interested in more than casual
friendship.

But she had no experience with the sort of situation she was
in now. She'd never even met a man like Devlin before. He was
cocky and confident, completely sure of himself, and she had
the feeling that he usually got pretty much anything he wanted.

Spike Devlin lived in a totally different world, a world she had
no knowledge of, a world she could never belong in or fit into.

He had aspirations far beyond her scope, and probably wanted
much different things out of life. She was a small town girl, and
always would be. He was big city, born and bred, destined for
stardom, for fame and fortune.

These were things she had no interest in. Her goals in life
were much simpler. She loved her job, and couldn't imagine
doing anything else. Eventually, she wanted to be married and
have some children of her own. Being an only child, she'd grown
up lonely and so had planned to have at least three kids when she
found the right man to settle down with.

Spike Devlin wasn't the "settling down" type. How could he be? His
career was just getting up and running, and he would have to be
moving at a fast pace to keep it going in the right direction.

Buffy couldn't hope to keep up with someone like that.

And yet....

**He wants me...Spike Devlin, who could no doubt have any
girl he chose...wants me**

Yes, but for what? And for how long? Until the novelty wore
off?

He seemed interested now...but was it just the love of a
chase that was turning him on? If she stopped running...would
he still be there afterwards?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"All right, munchkins...this is called a command perfor-
mance." Spike sat on the bench beneath one of the
weeping willows and smiled at the children gathered
around him on the grass. "That means your wish is
my command. You tell me what you want to hear..and
if I can, I'll play it for you."

The entire faculty and miniature student body of
Willow Tree Preschool was present for this particular
performance. They all sat, grouped in their individual
classes, giggling and excited.

Buffy had to smile. Giggling and excited was a perfect
description....and the children were enjoying it as well.

The afternoon play period was almost over when
Miss Willow came outside to see what everyone was
watching. Within five minutes she decided that since
it was such a nice day, and they had such a special
guest, the period could be extended for a while.

The children's taste in music was fairly simple, and
well known. Standards like 'Old McDonald's Farm'
and 'Pop goes the Weasel' were requested and granted.

Devlin had a way with children that was very appealing. Not
a lot of men had such a natural rapport, or could be
so completely relaxed and at home in such a setting.

He not only played and sang the children's song re-
quests, he led them along with him, encouraging them
to sing at the top of their lungs, to make sure "the people
way in the back of the concert hall" would be able to hear
them.

"He's really something," Willow said quietly.

Buffy nodded. "He's definitely a surprise," she agreed.

There was a pause. "I get the feeling that you're a little
better acquainted with him than you let on," Willow said,
giving Buffy a speculative look. "You don't act as though
this is the first time you've met him...and I don't mean just
sitting and listening to him at Union Jack's either."

Buffy stared at her shoes for a moment. "He was here the
other day," she finally admitted. "We....talked."

"But how did he..." Willow gasped. "Something happened
the other night, didn't it? That's why you were so strange
when I asked you about the concert!"

"Willow..."

"You'd better tell me," her friend warned, a wide smile
on her face. "This is NOT something you can keep to
yourself."

Buffy's cheeks were bright red, she could literally feel them
heating up. She didn't have the faintest idea in the world
how she could explain to Willow about what had been going
on between her and Spike Devlin.

She avoided the situation by glancing at her watch. "It's
getting late," she said quickly. "I have to go get the snack
together."

"Buffy..."

"Later, Wils." Buffy said, making a promise of full
confession with her eyes.

Willow Tree provided a daily afternoon snack to all it's
students, and each day it was a different teacher's turn to
prepare it.

Today was Buffy's responsibility. She was turning to
go to the kitchenette in the main building when the kids
all began to applaud the end of Devlin's performance. Some
of them scrambled to their feet, jumping up and down in
excitement.

When they all scattered for a few minutes in the play yard,
Spike put his guitar back in it's case and walked over to
where Buffy and Willow were standing.

The owner and operator of Willow Tree was effusive in
her gratitude. "This has been such a treat for all of us,"
she said, smiling up into Devlin's eyes. "Thank you so
much."

"Don't mention it, pet," he said, returning her smile. "I
enjoyed it, too. They're a great group of kids." He looked
at Buffy. "Which isn't surprising, since they seem to have
great teachers."

Buffy was momentarily caught in his intense blue gaze,
but said nothing.

"Well," Willow said, sensing the the spark of electricity
that seemed to be zinging back and forth between Buffy
and Spike, "you have a whole new fan club now. The
kids, I mean. It's nice to have you around."

Buffy finally broke eye contact with Devlin. "Excuse me,"
she said softly. "I need to go inside and get their snacks
ready."

"Go ahead," Willow nodded. "I'll bring your class over
to the benches for you."

As Buffy turned and walked away, she heard Willow
asking Devlin whether Blue Eyed Devil would be playing
anywhere in the area before they left on their tour.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Buffy stood in the darkened kitchenette, breaking
graham crackers along their dividing lines and
placing them in small baskets. There was one
basket for each table, and she made sure that there
was enough for each child to have two full crackers.

She was slicing apples onto paper plates when
the bat wing door creaked open behind her. Her
heart began beating at twice it's normal pace, and
she knew who was standing there.

Devlin crossed the small room and stood directly
behind her, so close that she could feel the heat of
his body.

"What about you, Buffy?" he asked quietly, dropping the
appellation 'Miss'.

She swallowed nervously. "What about me?" she
echoed, reaching for another apple.

He placed his hands over hers, making her stop
cutting up fruit. "Do YOU think it's nice to have me
around?"

Buffy closed her eyes for just a moment as he turned
her around to face him. "Wh...what?" she stammered,
looking up at him.

"Do YOU think it's nice to have me around?" he asked
again.

Giving her no opportunity to reply, he put his hands on
her waist, then slowly...so slowly...he lowered his head
and captured her mouth in a kiss that was both tenderly
sweet and madly passionate at the same time.

**Oh, God...help...**



TBC.....
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