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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you to everyone who reviewed my first chapter. It's so lovely to get such a warm welcome back to my Spuffy home. It's good to be back.
Chapter Two

“I didn’t mean to imply that I don’t want to work with you, William–”

“It’s okay.” He held up a hand to halt her apology speech. “I understand, really. This was kind of last minute and I know that you’re already swamped. And please, call me Spike. Only my father calls me William.”

“Okay, Spike.” She forced a smile, hoping he couldn’t see how freaked out she was. Her pulse was racing and she was sure her heart was about to leap out of her chest. “How about you tell me how you came to be here.”

He nodded eagerly. “Well, I’m 28 years old. I did my undergrad degree in Psychology a few years ago, then I worked in relationship counselling for a few years before deciding I wanted to get my Masters.”

“Did you enjoy relationship counselling?” she asked, curiosity overtaking her hormones for a moment.

“Yeah, it was fantastic,” he replied. “Actually, I'm still working part-time, to pay the bills.”

She nodded. “There aren’t a lot of men working in that area.”

“Exactly,” Spike responded enthusiastically. “That’s what was so great about it. Guys hate having to talk about their intimate relationships, especially with some chick they don’t even know.”

As he spoke, Buffy could see his passion for his work showing through loud and clear. It was the sexiest thing she’d seen in years. Crappity crap crap crap!

“So, when they come in and realise they’ll be talking to a bloke, I find it helps them relax a bit. I have the training to connect with the women, and the balls to relate to the men.”

Buffy couldn’t help but laugh at his choice of words. “That’s one way to put it.”

Spike’s gaze dropped immediately to her smiling lips, and lingered there. Buffy found her breath hitching again. What would it be like to kiss him. Just once.

He ran one hand through his hair, causing little curls to form at the ends. “I’m sorry. I should be watching my language.”

“It’s fine,” she assured him. “I like a man that can be blunt.” The words were out before she realised what she was saying and, eyes widening, she quickly tried to back track. “I didn’t mean…I just…”

“Yeah, of course,” he rushed to say, seeming just as uncomfortable as she was. “So anyway, I had arranged a supervisor, but she was offered a job in Japan and took off with very little notice. She won’t have time to supervise me long distance so I needed a new supervisor right quick.”

“And since you’re study is in my area, Professor Brooks assigned you to me,” she finished for him.

“Actually, I kind of asked for you.” Spike looked chagrined, before shrugging self-consciously. “You are the best.”

“Well, that’s certainly true,” she agreed with an exaggerated flick of her hair.

He laughed in amusement before turning serious once more. “It is actually true. You’re getting to be well-known in relationship psychology, pet. And highly thought of.”

Pet. That was the only word that stuck in her head. She gave herself a mental slap. Come on, you can’t go weak-kneed every time you he uses a term of endearment on you. He probably calls everyone pet. “Thank you, Spike. That’s very kind of you to say.”

Their gazes locked for a moment and Buffy felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room. “You're welcome, love.”

Love. Damn it, there he goes again. “So, Spike, why don’t you tell me about your thesis.”

“I have the proposal here.” He rifled through some folders in his bag for a moment before handing her a small stack of pages. “I’m basically looking at how big a role sexual satisfaction takes in the continuance of a dating relationship. In other words, if the sexual relationship isn’t satisfactory to both people within a certain amount of time, is the relationship as a whole pretty much doomed, or do other factors such as ‘things in common’ and ‘fun experienced within the relationship' enough to hold two people together long enough for them to work out the sex stuff.”

Buffy almost choked on her tongue. Sex. She was going to spend the next year talking to Spike about sex on a weekly basis. This is just getting worse by the sex- I mean second.

“Okay, then.” She paused to clear her throat when she heard the husky quality of her own voice. “Before we start. Can I ask what got you interested in this topic?”

“Well, sex is an important part of any intimate relationship. I often find with my clients that sexual intimacy is one of the first things to go when there are problems. I guess I wanted to see if the importance of a satisfactory sexual relationship starts right from the beginning of the relationship. Is bad sex enough to end a relationship in and of itself?“

Buffy smirked. “That sounds like a very well-rehearsed answer.”

Spike cringed. “Well it did take me a whole morning to prepare it.” He shrugged then, gesturing in the air with his hands. “The truth is, I had to study something. This was the most interesting idea that occurred to me.”

“So, basically you took a stab in the dark and ended up with sex?”

A grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. “In a roundabout way, yeah.”

“Don't worry,” she assured him. “I've done studies that included questions on sex and sexuality a few times now. I understand the fear that people will think you're a pervert or something.”

He laughed, but she could see the subtle signs of relief in his posture. “It does tend to stop all conversation in its tracks when people ask what I'm studying,” he said. “Thank you, for not judging me.”

Buffy couldn't help but smile as his sincerity. “Hey, it's all in the name of research. Right?” When she got the urge to flutter her eyelashes at him, she covered by looking down at his proposal. “Let's make a start then, shall we? A few things come to mind right off…”

An hour later they’d discussed a large number of issues that would effect the study Spike would conduct as the basis for his Masters thesis. They’d talked about whether or not to include homosexual relationships as well as heterosexual; what the cut off would be for the length of relationship he would include; what questionnaires he could look at using; where he would find participants for his study; what definitions he would use for ‘relationship’ and ‘sex’, and the list went on.

By the time they were done Buffy was exhausted…and horny as hell. Sometime during their discussion, Spike had taken off his jacket and she couldn't help but wonder if perhaps he was as affected by the topic of conversation as much as she was. It didn’t help that his t-shirt was just tight enough to better reveal his muscled arms and firm masculine chest. She resisted taking off her own jacket, and her shirt, and her bra. Damn wayward thoughts.

“Okay then, Spike. That should do for today.” Gathering up a few papers that they had scattered around the desk, Buffy handed them back to him. “You get started on your literature searches this week and work on developing some solid hypotheses. Then, I'll see you back here next week.” She grabbed her diary and flipped it open. “What days are you available?”

Instead of answering her, Spike leaned forward to scan the pages of her diary. Normally such a move would have annoyed her – after all her schedule was nobody's business but her own – but then she caught a whiff of his cologne and her eyes slid closed in appreciation. When she opened them again she found herself staring at his profile. His left cheek was just inches away from her lips and she could just see the shadow of stubble sweeping over his jaw. She knew it would abrade her lips just slightly if they were to brush against him.

“How about I buy you lunch next Wednesday?”

Buffy jerked away, shocked at how close she'd been to making a complete fool of herself. She looked down to see him pointing at a small, blank section of the diary.

“To say thank you for taking me on,” he added.

She shook her head. “There's no need for you to buy me lunch. I don't have any problem with ... err ... taking you on.” She saw his amusement at her stumbled words and quickly went about pencilling him into her diary. “However, I don't see any reason not to eat while we work, so lunch is fine.” At least in a public place there won't be any chance of me jumping you. “How about the café under the library at midday?”

“Great. I'll see you then.” He grabbed his bag and stood up. “Professor Summers, thanks for everything.”

As the door clicked closed behind him, Buffy slumped back into her chair. This is going to be the year from hell.





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