Buffy carried a stack of paintings to the exhibition room and set them leaning against the wall. With sigh, she took a pair of small ladders and climbed them to hang a painting to the wall. She heard the door open and close but she didn't turn to look figuring it was Gloria returning from lunch.

“Should you be doing that?” she heard a male voice from behind her and it was enough of a startle to make her loose her balance. But a pair of strong arms circled her and she was gently placed on her feet. Trying to steady her breath, she turned in his arms and was face to face with a smirking Angelus.

“Angelus”, she said his name, her voice sounding breathless even to her own ears. For a while they just stood there, his arms still wrapped around her waist but she shook herself off the haze and took a step back to gather her thoughts. “Umm... What are you doing here?” she asked and tried to busy herself.

“I thought about what you said... I would like to speak with you about it, in private”, he answered, watching as she moved around the paintings trying hard to keep herself occupied. She stopped and finally turned to look at him.

“Sure, we could talk in my office”, she said but he shook his head.

“I'm thinking something else, or somewhere else. Let me take you to dinner tonight.”

She looked at him suspiciously, trying to decide how to answer to his offer. “Fine”, she finally sighed, knowing those beautiful brown eyes would be her ruin.

“Seven, this evening. Where can I pick you up?” Angelus asked with a charming crooked smile.

“I'll be here, I was going to work on the exhibition anyway”, she answered trying to sound casual and reminding herself he was only speaking to her because she was pregnant.

“Need any help with those ugly blotches of paint?” Angelus asked and looked at the pieces leaning against the wall.

“They're not ugly”, Buffy protested but after Angelus gave her a pointed look, she amended, “Okay, not that ugly. But when you're as big as this artist is, you can afford to make ugly paintings. Besides, I'm lucky to get a big name show his work here.”

“So business isn't so good? How do you manage to make a living?” Angelus asked and Buffy sent him a quick glare.

“I don't think I should tell you, you might be just after my money”, she stated but her crooked smile showed she was just kidding. “Business is good, I just don't get that many famous artists”, she explained and Angelus nodded in understanding.

“So, do you have anything worth looking at in here? Besides you”, Angelus asked looking her up and down. Buffy could feel his gaze traveling on her body and a pink blush rose to her cheeks, she wasn't used to such forward shows of attention.

“Well, there's still few of my friends paintings left till the buyer picks them up”, Buffy said somewhat awkwardly and led him to another room. Angelus looked around himself, the paintings were impressive, very lively and what they represented brought a crooked smirk to his face. He turned to Buffy with a raised eyebrow.

“This is a friend of yours? Are all her paintings like this?”

“Pretty much”, Buffy said with a smile.

“Is she a nymphomaniac by any chance?”

Buffy let out a amused chuckle and shook her head. She walked to the far corner and stopped in front of a painting that from the first look looked like abstract. “This one is my favorite. She doesn't let me sell it because of that”, she said as Angelus came to stand behind her. Angelus chuckled as he started to picture what the painting represented.

“Shouldn't that be restricted to adult viewings only?”

Buffy turned around to look at him with a amused smile. “Lot of her work should, but this is different. She hasn't told me what it really is but she said it's from a real life experience. And the beauty of it is that you see what you want to see. Which tells me you have a dirty mind”, she said and added the last part with a seductive smirk.

“I think you knew that about me already”, he whispered and leaned closer to her, giving her a perfect view of his dark eyes that promised her many things from his dirty mind. She could feel her heartbeat picking up but she couldn't tear her eyes off of his. He was about to lean in to kiss her but the clicking of high heels stopped him.

“Oh, I didn't know we had a customer”, Gloria said from the doorway startling Buffy out of her haze.

“Oh... Gloria... umm... Angelus isn't really a customer, he's a friend”, Buffy awkwardly explained and tried to keep the blush from rising to her cheeks.

“I better go. I'll pick you up at seven”, Angelus said and pressed a light kiss to her cheek before making his way out of the showing room. “Nice to meet you, Gloria”, he said as he passed the older woman.

Both Buffy and Gloria stared after him, somewhat stunned till it was Gloria who broke the silence. “You didn't tell me you were seeing someone. You have a date tonight”, she accused and turned to her employer.

“I'm not, we're just meeting to talk”, Buffy defended herself but Gloria wasn't about to believe her.

“Call it what ever you want, honey, but I want some details tomorrow”, she said and walked back to her desk.

Buffy sighed as she managed to put the last painting on the wall, it had been a long day and she still had that date with Angelus. Then she realized that she had completely lost the time and turned to look at the clock, it was nearly seven. “Oh no”, she groaned and looked down at her clothes, she was still wearing the same outfit as when Angelus visited the gallery, there was no way she could go out with him in it.

Quickly she made her way to her office and opened the bottom drawer of her desk. She pulled out a simple, yet beautiful black dress that she kept there for emergencies, and this qualified as one. Swiftly she changed her clothes and hid her former outfit into the drawer, she closed it and jumped in surprise as she saw Angelus leaning to the door frame.

“How long have you been standing there?” she asked suspiciously.

“Oh, not long”, he answered innocently but the smirk on his lips revealed he was anything but.

“Should we go? I've got reservations at seven for us”, he asked and pulled out of the doorway, quickly making his way to her offering his arm which she hesitantly took.

“I like your dress”, he stated as they walked to the door and looked at her appreciating the view.

“You look good too”, Buffy answered, to tell the truth, he looked sinfully good. Don't go there, she chastised herself and tried to busy her mind by locking the door and double checking it wouldn't open.

Angelus led her to his car, which now that she saw it sober, seemed like something a guy like Angelus wouldn't drive, she had imagined he was one of those guys who drove a new and fast sport car, not a classic from the 60's.

“Nice car. Not something I picture you with”, she commented as he opened the passenger door for her.

“What did you picture me with?” he asked with a smirk and swiftly went around the car and sat to the drivers seat.

“Something sleek, sporty and fast”, she answered.

Angelus laughed and turned to look at her, his eyes were gleaming with amusement. “I like my car to be a car, not a plaything made of plastic. And I like the power running under me”, he said and pulled the car off the driveway.

Angelus escorted Buffy into the restaurant and they were showed to their table, his regular that he used on all of his dates. Buffy looked around herself at the expensive restaurant, she had been there before but she was always uneasy at a place like it.

“We didn't have to come to a place like this just to talk”, she protested with a low enough voice so no one else could hear.

“Why not? It's my treat.”

Buffy rolled her eyes at him. “Is money all you think about? It's not that I can't afford this, it's just that isn't it a little over doing it, we're just going to talk, not on a date.”

Angelus reached over the table and took a hold of her hand. “Buffy, I want to talk to you and I happen to like this place. You promised to have dinner with me, so here we are. But if you don't want to be here, we can go someplace else”, he said tentatively and looking into his eyes, she felt more at ease. She shook her head with a small reassuring smile.

“No, this is fine. Since we're already here, we might as well enjoy it, I know how hard these tables are to get”, she conceded. Angelus was about to say that for him it wasn't but decided to stay quiet so he wouldn't sound too conceited.

After a small silence, she turned to look at him, letting out a soft sigh. “So, what do you wanna talk about?” she asked in a business like manner.

“How'bout we talk about you? We're going to have a baby together and besides your name and address I don't know much about you.”

Buffy blushed and let out a embarrassed laugh. “Yeah, we got it in the wrong order, huh?”

“Some might say”, he smirked but soon it faded from his lips and he turned serious. “I thought about what you said, and I want to be part of the child's life. But you do understand that I'm going to need a paternity test as soon as the baby is born.”

Buffy nodded her head in understanding. “I sort of figured that”, she stated, Angelus looked away, that was the wrong approach to win her over.

“Look, I want to apologize the way I behaved earlier”, he said surprising himself also, he wasn't one to say sorry for anything he did. “I was out of line. You just took me by surprise and I took it badly. You're the first woman I've forgotten to use protection with since I was seventeen.”

“Oh?” she breathed out not sure what to say to that confession. He chuckled at her confusion, she really was cute when she didn't know what to say. And where did that thought come from?

“Are you ready to order?” he changed the subject saving her from further blushing. She was grateful for the distraction and nodded in confirmation. Angelus signaled to the waiter and ordered their dinner.

“So, do you have brothers or sisters?” Buffy started a polite conversation.

“Thank God, no”, Angelus sighed and Buffy gave him a questioning look. Noticing it, he explained. “My home life wasn't all that easy, I wouldn't want that to another child.”

“I'm sorry”, she said sympathy written all over her face.

“It's okay. It's not your fault and I'm over it”, he stated and took a sip from his wine.

“Do you... do you still meet your parents?” she asked uncertainly, not sure if she should ask.

“My father is dead and last I heard my mother was in France”, he answered bluntly.

“I'm sorry to hear”, she offered but he just shrugged it off.

“So, what about your family?” he asked casually like the former topic hadn't opened old wounds, he always did his best to forget his family.

“Oh, just me and my mom, dad bailed on us when I was fifteen. He's a lawyer too, so he knew how to squirm his way out of alimony. But mom's wonderful, she still lives in Sunnydale and owns a gallery there”, she told him and he could see the sorrow in her as she talked about her father.

“I'm guessing you're from Sunnydale”, he stated and at her nod, continued. “So how did you end up in here?”

“I'm originally from here actually, after the divorce mom and I moved to Sunnydale. But I came here to study art and since I had been planning on my own gallery, Sunnydale wasn't all that great place to start one.”

“I guess it's my luck then that Sunnydale is a small place”, he said with a flirtatious smile. She could feel the blush rising to her cheeks and her heartbeat quickening, a man shouldn't look so good.

Angelus drove Buffy back to her house and parked the car on the drive way. He circled around the car and opened the door for her. She gave him a polite smile and let him to the front porch, turning to look at him at the door.

“I had a good time”, she said with a small smile, unsure should she say anything or not.

“Me too. I'd like to see you”, he answered and leaned closer to her, instinctively she leaned against the door ending up trapped between his large form and the front door.

“You can see me right now”, she answered with a slight smirk playing on her lips, she could feel her whole body heating at the closeness of him.

“You know what I mean, like tomorrow.”

“I'd like that”, she answered, surprised how breathless her voice came out. A smirk rose to his lips and slowly he leaned closer to her, keeping his eyes fixed on hers till claiming her lips with his. He deepened the kiss, pulling her flush against his body and he was thrilled as she returned the kiss with just as much passion.

After a while, she pulled away, breathing hard and flushed. “I better get inside now. I'll see you later”, she said and quickly fled inside before she could change her mind. She knew that few more seconds with him and she would have invited him in, and she really shouldn't.

Angelus was stunned as he stared at the closed door, had he just been shot down, it was a completely new experience for him. Slowly he turned around and went back to his car, pulling away from the driveway and speeding away. The farther he got from the house, the more he wanted to go back, the kiss had got him all worked up and he wanted nothing more than to repeat the night they had shared two months ago.

He sighed deeply and turned the car around. After a while of driving, he pulled the car to a familiar driveway and after locking the car, jogged to the front door of the house. He rang the doorbell and waited patiently looking casual as he leaned against the railing. The door opened and he offered the blond one of his sexy grins.

“Hello, Darla”, he greeted and walked past her into the house.

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