“Where did you learn how to do that?” he asked when he could finally pick himself up. As he sat up she removed her hand from his pants and merely smiled at him.

“Never done that before.” She replied.

“You’re fucking kidding me,” he replied, totally shocked.

“Nope, believe it or not, I’ve only had sex with three guys,” Regina replied.

“Don’t lie to me,” he replied, still not believing her, though the joking tone of his voice remained.

“Nope, Mario, Benny, and you.” She replied with an innocent smile.

“I can’t believe that, you like sex, way too much,” he replied with a laugh.

“Yeah, I do, but I don’t believe in just jumping into bed with anyone,” Regina said seriously, as she stood up.

“Then how come you went to bed with me?” he asked, interested as he followed her to the bathroom. She turned on the faucet and began washing her hands as she said,

“Well, you weren’t supposed to happen.”

“Why not?” he asked as he leaned in the door.

“Because you weren’t supposed to follow me home, and you weren’t supposed to be such a good kisser,” she added as she looked up at him. She turned off the faucet and wiped her hands dry on a towel. She walked towards him and when he didn’t move out of the doorway, she said,

“Are you gonna move?”

“I wasn’t supposed to be such a good kisser?” he asked, with a grin of his own.

“No, you weren’t,” she replied as she stood, waiting for him to move.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t had offers,” he asked.

“Of course I have.” She snorted.

“Then why did you sleep with me?” he asked, his grin growing wider.

“As you recall there wasn’t much sleep involved that night,” she replied with a laugh.

“Yeah, but why me, you obviously wanted a good fuck, so why didn’t you just go with somebody else?” he asked again. She looked at him, watching his blue eyes for a moment, sensing that he was asking something entirely different.

“If you’re waiting for me to say that I slept with you because you were Eminem, I’m not going to say it,” she replied as she squeezed between him and the doorframe.

“Why?” he asked as he turned around, his arms crossed as he smiled at her again.

“Because it’s not the truth. I wouldn’t sleep with anyone, just because they were a celebrity, and you’ll do well to remember that.” She said as she pointed at him, her eyes wide.

“Then why me?” he asked as he followed her to the bedroom. She sat down on the bed and pulled a knee up to start undoing the clips on her boots.

“Because you were a great kisser, and you had nice hands, and you were, just you, I can’t explain it. But I’ve had plenty of offers, and many a guy in my apartment, wanting to do just what we did. But you were the first one I ever took up. Besides, it wasn’t like you were trying to ‘lure’ me to bed like they were. Plain and simple you knew that I wanted to have sex, so you said it. I hate when guys just play around and think they all hot shit or something cause they conned some chick into bed. You didn’t dance around the issue.” She replied as she pulled the boot off and set it on the floor. She pulled up the next leg and began to undo the clips on that one.

“You liked it cause I was forward?” he asked, completely confused.

“Yeah, what’s wrong with that?” she asked as she pulled the other boot off.

“God, as soon as I think got chicks figured out,” he said shaking his head. He headed over to the dresser and pulled out a clean pair of boxers.

“Why?” Regina asked puzzled.

“Cause the chicks I was with always wanted to be friends first, and all that bull shit,” he replied. She snorted at this and threw in a laugh.

“Please, if the sex ain’t good, why should I waste my time?” Regina asked.

“You sure you’ve only been with three guys?” he asked as he changed his clothes.

“Yes, I’m sure. Just because I’ve only been with three guys doesn’t mean I’ve never thought about sex. There are still plenty of things I want to try on you,” she replied as she got up off the bed and walked back over to him.

“And what exactly would that be?” he asked as he pulled his t-shirt over his head.

“Oh, wouldn’t you just like to know, here, unzip me will ya?” she asked as she turned her back to him.

“Exactly what I was thinking,” he replied as he pushed her hair out of the way to get to the zipper on the shirt. He pulled the zipper down slowly, touching her back with his fingers as the zipper revealed more of her skin. When he got to the bottom of the shirt, he slid his hands along her bare waist, the shirt fell down and off her arms as he pulled her closer to his own body.

“Marshall, not right now, I’m tired, I just want to go to bed,” she said, taking him by surprise.

“But you didn’t,” he started but she shook her head.

“I’m fine, really, I just want to lay down and sleep,” she replied squeezing his hands.

“Are you okay?” he asked, sensing something had changed between the couch and the bedroom.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just tired is all,” she replied again. He knew there was something bothering her.

“Okay,” he said as he gave her a final squeeze. She turned and smiled at him before grabbing a T-shirt and pajama pants from her bag. They’d long since abandoned the pretense and both kept things at each other’s places. Marshall went to the bed and sat up against the headboard, listening to her nightly routine. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, then changed her clothes, and brushed her hair. When he heard the click of the brush on the counter he anticipated her entrance. When she finally crawled into bed beside him and snuggled into his chest he asked the question that had been burning in his brain since the party.

“What did he say to you?” She took a breath and then answered, not in any particular tone,

“He said I would have been a bad mother to Maria.”

“I would have hit him too,” Marshall replied before switching off the light and pulling Regina closer to him.