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Author's Chapter Notes:
Hello everyone. I finally have another chapter to share with you. I hope you enjoy.

A big thank you to everyone who has reviewed. It's lovely to know you're still along for the ride. *hugs*
Chapter Six

Buffy found him ensconced in a corner of the library, his attention focused on the article he was reading. When he finally noticed her, she smiled wickedly. “Hello, Spike.” She reached up to take the clip out of her hair and her tight bun unravelled into a cascade of golden hair. Then she turned to ease herself onto his lap, her bottom lip protruding in a delectable pout. “I just can't lie to you any more, Spike. I want you. I've wanted you since the day we met.” Leaning forward, she slid her arms around his neck and brushed her lips against his as she whispered, “Please, Spike, make me yours.”

“I'm tellin' ya man, this place is starting to piss me off. With the price they're charging for beer, the least they could do is put some peanuts on the table. You know what I mean?”

Spike looked up at Xander, cursing his untimely interruption. Just when he was getting to the good part of what was quickly becoming his favourite fantasy. He sighed. “I guess we could always find somewhere else to drink.”

“What's up with you tonight?”

“Nothing.”

Xander rolled his eyes. “That's why your bottom lip is about to pick up a splinter from the table.”

Spike sighed. “I had lunch with Buffy today. A working lunch,” he clarified when he saw the look on Xander's face.

“And?”

“And apparently she doesn't associate with students on a social basis.”

“Oh, harsh.” Shaking his head, Xander frowned. “She actually said that?”

Spike took a sip of his beer before starting to peel off the label. “Not in so many words. She wrapped it up in a nice little for-the sake-of-your-education package.”

Xander was quiet for a long moment before he said, “Well, you did say you didn't want anything to interfere with your thesis. I guess you got your wish.”

“Yeah, I guess so.” Spike sighed again. “I thought this year would be easy, you know? Just get stuck into the work and get it over with. Hell, I picked Buffy myself, after my last supervisor bailed, because I knew she was the best. Then she turned out to be funny and generous and–”

“Hot,” Xander added helpfully.

Spike groaned in dismay. “So fucking unbelievably hot.” He dropped his head into his hands. “Now I’m not even supposed to be friendly to her. This is what hell feels like.”

“What are you gonna do?”

Spike thought about that for a moment before a grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. “The only thing I can do. I'm going to give the lady exactly what she asked for. She wants to keep things professional? I can be as strictly professional as the next guy.”

**********

Buffy looked up with a frown when she heard a knock on the door. She glanced at her watch as she stood, wondering who on earth would be dropping by unannounced.

Willow's smiling face greeted her when she opened the door. “I know you're grading papers tonight,” her friend began as she pushed her way inside and dropped several large plastic bags on the dining table. “But I also know that you need to eat. So here I am.”

Buffy smiled as she watched Willow unload an assortment of Chinese food. “What would I do without you?”

“Starve probably,” Willow replied with a chuckle. Then she held up a bottle of wine and waggled her eyebrows. “Or possibly die of thirst?”

Buffy laughed. “Well, I don't like to drink when I'm grading but, I suppose one won't hurt.”

“That's the spirit.”

A few minutes later, Buffy was groaning in appreciation. “This is fantastic. Thank you so much, it's exactly what I needed.”

Willow nodded. “We've been friends plenty long enough for me to know how caught up you get in your work.” She shrugged. “Besides, this beats sitting at home eating by myself.”

Buffy frowned, not liking the pangs of loneliness she heard in her friend's voice. She was all too familiar with that feeling lately and knew how hard it could be. “What ever happened to that Xander guy? Did you two ever go out?”

“You mean Spike's friend?”

Buffy kept her eyes on her food, hoping to cover any signs of a reaction to Spike's name. Now if only she could get her inner kitty to stop purring, she'd be fine. “Yeah, him.”

“Xander's a great guy. It turns out he's working on a construction site down the road from my office, so we've met up for lunch a couple of times. But there's no sparkage or anything. Not for either of us I don’t think.” She sighed regretfully. “It's a shame really. He's exactly the type of guy I should be dating but, if it's not there...” She trailed off as Buffy nodded her understanding.

“Speaking of,” Willow asked a few moments later, “how are things going with Spike?”

Buffy yanked a smile onto her face. “Fine. Perfect. He's a model student.”

“Uh-huh.” Willow was obviously unconvinced. “What happened to you two being one lingering look away from throwing yourselves at each other.”

“I explained to Spike, err-William that is, that we need to keep things professional for the sake of his education. And that was the end of that.”

“It was? You're kidding.”

“Nope,” Buffy replied, hoping her disappointment wasn't too obvious. “Since then he's been the consummate professional in every way. He's even gone back to calling me Professor Summers.” Buffy poked a steamed dim sim with her fork as she recalled the meetings they'd had in the month since their lunch together. Spike was always completely respectful toward her. He hadn't said a single word that didn't pertain to the work at hand. He hadn't called her 'pet' or 'love'. Not once. He was doing exactly what she told him too. And it was pissing her off to no end.

She'd thought he liked her. He could at least show a little regret, maybe a smidgen of longing. Oh come on, Buffy, you want him pining after you. Thinking up excuses to be close to you. Admit it.

The sound of laughter brought her out of her thoughts. “What?” she asked irritably.

“Look at you,” Willow said between giggles. “You tell Spike to back off, and then when he does you pout about it.”

Buffy frowned. “I'm not pouting. I just thought...I don't know what I thought.”

“You thought he'd put up more of a fight,” Willow said, pointing a finger at her. “That he'd corner you in your office and kiss the hell out of you, and then you could blame it on him because, after all, you did tell him to back off. Thereby avoiding all responsibility for the fact that you would have kissed him back – and then some.”

Buffy's eyes narrowed. “I thought I told you not to use your shrink powers on me.”

“Hey, I can't help it. It’s not something I can just turn off when I clock out for the day.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Perhaps having a clinical psychologist for a best friend wasn't such a good idea after all.

“You know what I think?”

Buffy snorted. “Does it matter? You'll tell me anyway.”

“I think he's doing it on purpose,” Willow continued, as if she hadn't even spoken.

That got her attention. “Huh?”

An excited grin crept onto Willow's face. “I saw him that night at the pub. He was practically salivating just looking at you. There's no way in hell he turned that off so easily. You can't just flick a switch and make lust go away.”

“Don't I know it,” Buffy grumbled around a mouthful a food.

“Which means he's putting in some serious effort to hide all evidence of his attraction to you.”

“Well I did kind of insist.”

Willow shook her head. “I'm not so sure. You told him that the two of you can't have a relationship–”

“Actually I even ruled out friendship.” Buffy cringed. “I was kind of a cow.”

“Whatever,” Willow said, shaking her head. “The point is you never told him to become a robot. You just said things couldn’t progress any further. I think he's doing this to provoke you. To make you want him more.”

Buffy's mouth fell open. “Oh my God. T-that devious little rat.” She flung her hands in the air. “And here I am the s-supposed expert in relationship theory. I can't believe I never realised it.”

Willow shook her head, as if dismissing that suggestion. “You're too close, you never would have seen it. That's why it's always good to have an impartial third party.” She smiled in satisfaction. “That's me.”

“I can't believe this,” Buffy continued to rant, pacing the room now. “And to think I've spent the past month doubting my own sanity. Thinking that I was wrong about him being attracted to me. When really he was just playing with me. And it was working,” she cried.

She stopped in her tracks suddenly and turned to Willow with a devilish gleam in her eye. “Well, we'll soon see about that. I'm the teacher here. He is not going to outsmart me.”





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