Pacey watched her sleep, as sunlight spilled into Joey’s hotel room that morning. He was late for training; he glanced at the clock over on her nightstand, three hours late to be exact. He’d even been able to hear the phone in his room next door ringing a few times as his coaches tried to figure out where he was. Pacey didn’t care.

He ran his fingers through her soft hair, letting the strands fall through his fingers as she slept against his chest. Sometime in the night, she’d moved from laying across his chest, to her being snug against his side, her arm over the expanse of his chest and her cheek nestled into the hollow of his shoulder.

Joey shifted, yawning quietly before lazily opening her eyes in no rush to wake. She smiled sleepily, brought her hands through her hair as she arched her back in stretch. She settled back down and shut her eyes for a few moments, sighing happily before her eyes flew open. She’d completely forgotten about Pacey. She slowly raised her eyes, almost afraid to look.

His lips curved into a barely there smile. “Hey.” His voice was low and husky with sleep.

She bit her lip, smiling shyly. “Hey.”

“Sorry I fell asleep,” he apologized, letting her hair fall from his fingers.

She shrugged. “It’s okay.”

Now that she was awake, he really didn’t know what to say. She was absolutely gorgeous in the morning, he thought. Her were eyes bright and her skin pale. He reached out to run his fingertip along the soft skin of her cheek.

She smiled unsurely, gazing at him curiously. She wondered what was going on behind those clear blue eyes of his. Amazing, didn’t even begin to cover the kiss from last night and she wondered if it changed anything.

His index finger moved over her lower lip, his eyes following the path intently. Oh, this was bad, he thought, he shouldn’t want to spend the rest of the day right where he was. “I-I should go,” he mumbled, not moving a muscle to get away from her.

She nodded slowly almost disappointed but then she remembered herself. “Um, yeah, probably. You have practice?”

He smiled self-deprecatingly, “Started at six,” he admitted.

Her eyes widened. “Oh, yeah, so you really should be going.”

He nodded. “Are you going to come down later?” He wondered.

“Probably...”

He smiled faintly, “Okay.” He reluctantly loosened his hold on her and sat up. Baseball, he should be thinking about baseball. “Krudski’s going to kill me.”

She grimaced slightly. “What are you going to tell him?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “I fell asleep with a beautiful woman at my side?”

She didn’t know whether to smile or scoff, so she sat up and gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek. “Well, it was nice knowing you.”

“I’m going off to face possible doom, and that’s the only goodbye you can give me?” He wondered, his arms curved loosely around her waist.

She smirked. “I don’t see what was wrong with it.”

He leaned forward, bending his head so he could whisper in her ear, “Wasn’t nearly long enough,” he murmured, “It’s got to last me the rest of the day.”

She bit her lip, her breath catching in her throat. The man had an impossible way of making her want to forget all her inhibitions, just push him onto a bed and do things that would normally make her blush. She got up quickly she needed to be rational. “Oh well, that’s too bad because I still haven’t had the chance to brush my teeth, so I guess you’re just going to have to wait.”

“I can wait.” He urged her to the bathroom.

She nodded her head seriously, “It’ll probably be a while.”

“It’s worth it.” He patted her ass lightly, “Get a move on.”

Her cheeks colored faintly in embarrassment and she headed into the bathroom. She slowly and deliberately, applied toothpaste to her brush and began the task of brushing her teeth, making sure to take longer than usual.

Pacey leaned back against the door with his arms crossed over his chest to wait for her. She was purposely pushing his buttons, he knew. Not that he minded. He’d probably be willing to wait forever just to kiss her, he thought ruefully. He cupped his hand over his mouth and blew out, testing his breath. Not exactly, minty fresh...but it could be worse.

She leaned over and rinsed her mouth out one last time, when she figured she’d taken long enough. She shut the water off and reached over for the mouthwash, slowly uncapping it and pouring a precisely measured amount into the cup. Then she brought it to her mouth and began to rinse, making sure to do so for a full minute.

Pacey knocked on the door, feeling slightly annoyed, “Potter, what point are you trying to prove?”

She spit out the mouthwash and rinsed her mouth with water. “I’m just brushing my teeth.” She glanced at her reflection with a mischievous smile, “Maybe I should floss.”

“Potter, get out here!” He playfully demanded.

“I’ve been eating a lot of junk food lately. I need to take care of my teeth.”

“Okay, fine,” he said. “I’ve gotta get to training. I’ll catch ya later, Jo.”

She smiled. “Okay. Bye.”

“Jo-ey,” he pouted.

She opened the door to the bathroom and peeked her head out. “I thought you were leaving.”

“Are you gonna come out here and kiss me or what?”

She bit the inside of her cheek. “I don’t know...Have you brushed your teeth yet?

“No,” he shook his head, “I haven’t. It just so happens I didn’t sleep in my hotel room last night.”

“And yet, you expect me to kiss you?”

He threw his hands up in the air in exasperation and stormed out the door.

The corner of her mouth turned down slightly and she shrugged. “Oh well, guess I’ll see you later.”

Less than two minutes later he was pushing her door open again, just as she was stripping out of her pajamas to get in the shower. He didn’t even pause as he crossed the distance between them, cupped her face and delivered a scorching kiss.

Joey’s eyes widened in surprise, all protests dying on her lips and she absolutely melted into the kiss. Her hands moved to clutch his shoulders because she wasn’t sure if she’d be able to stand otherwise.

He’d intended to keep control of the kiss, be in and out quickly. Unfortunately, he’d misjudged how much she affected him. The hazy heat they generated prickled his skin and seemed to seep deep inside him. Unconsciously, he pulled her tighter against him, his body craving contact with hers

She moaned softly, her arms moving to slide behind his neck. Pacey Witter definitely knew how to kiss, she decided. Hot and heated, careful with deliberation he knew just what to do and how to do it. Joey was no match for that mouth of his and all she could do was surrender to him with delicious pleasure.

He broke the long kiss up with shorter ones, insisting to himself each time that it would be the last one. She was addictive though and it was minutes before he was able to stop himself from kissing her long enough to say anything, “Fresh enough for you?” he breathed with considerable difficulty.

She nodded slowly, her eyes still closed as she remembered how to breathe again. “Oh yes.” She couldn’t bring herself to say much else.

He brushed his lips over hers gently, “This time I really do I have to go.” He reached up and pulled her arms from where they were wound around his neck. “Martin is going to rip me a new one.”

She dropped her hands back to her side with a small nod. “Right.”

“I’ll see you soon?”

She smiled. “Hopefully. If they don’t kill you first.”

“I’ll have died a happy man.” He placed another kiss on her lips, before pulling away and walking to the door.

She smiled weakly and brought a hand to her lips as she watched the door close. Oh dear, she was in trouble. She headed for the bathroom and her bath, and instead of the hot bath, she’d decided on, she opted for a cold shower instead.