Buyouts, Hostile Takeovers & Matchmaking (PG-13/R)

[campbti]

Why is it so hard for us to communicate...Very funny. Love Lionel, and now Chloe can bother Gabe about Celeste.

[angelines]

love it more soon

[Kit Merlot]

This was an excellent update!

I love that now that Lex has realized that he's attracted to Chloe, he can't even look at her. What, is he afraid he'll rip her clothes off?!

[star del mar]

Gah! What a freaking mess. Obviously there was going to be some awkwardness but Lex and Chloe are just taking it to a whole new level, the other person isn't supposed to know that you feel all weird! I just hope that in the long run it doesn't ruin their chances of getting even closer...if you know what I mean And I liked Chloe's turn at playing matchmaker for her Dad, I think he deserves to have a good time. I'm excited, I can't wait to see where this goes. Great update!

Steph*

[Clannadlvr]

Bwhahah! I LOVE how uncomfortable they are around each other now because you just know that something is going to have to "give" in this situation.

Also?

"This girl was perfect for his son and he'd give away his entire stock in soy to random people on the street if she didn't have feelings for Lex."

Lionel certainly means business!

[gecko]

loved it, loved the interaction between lionel and chloe in the elevator and how he was confused when chloe and lex saw each other, loved how chloe was talking to her dad bout his love life, and the uneasiness between lex and chloe in the break room. cant wait for the next chapter. great work!

[meg20]

Lovely chapter!!!
Poor Lex couldn't get his act tohether, I hope he won't try to ignore Chloe too much or she'll get worried!!!
Loved the Lionel and Chloe meeting in the elevator!!
And Chloe trying to hook her father up with Celest should be fun!!!

[smugirl]

This is such a great story; I can't wait for the next update. I'm torn between wanting to beg you to get Chloe and Lex together and just hanging on for the ride which I know will be great. Keep up the great work.

[BlueSabby]

A/N:Sabby: Hello, lovely fiends, here is the next part and more conversation. We're back to the not so X-rated parts of the story. You know what they say about rivers in Egypt. Anyway, enjoy!

A/N: Blue: Here's where they bang out what happened between them....but not in the way that you'd all like. Enjoy!



Dinner with her father had gone relatively well. He had asked her once if she was ok but she had just explained that the stress of the last few days had caught up with her. He seemed to buy it and the night had proceeded as planned. They had annoyed one another, made fun of other people sitting at the tables around them and eaten way too much.

She had a meeting with an architect in the morning to discuss why DeHaven’s work was so lauded in the field but it wasn’t until ten so she could actually get some sleep tonight.

After putting her doggie bag in the fridge, Chloe made her way to the bedroom. She took off her shirt and spotted the white box on the huge chair in the corner. She’d taken it off of her bed last night and hadn’t thought much about it.

Even though she had made up with Lex, she hadn’t been ready to open the gift that he had obviously left her. Or the one that she had found in the bathroom either. But maybe that was why he was cross with her? That he had given her something and she hadn’t said anything about it?

She rolled her eyes. Women did that, not men.

The box that was originally in the bathroom was the first in the pile. She set it on the bed and pulled on the red ribbon. That Chloe found was actually silk. She attempted to fold the red scrap of material and then pulled the top of the box off. After fighting with the tissue paper, she saw a deep blue robe nestled in the box.

The material was exquisite and Chloe couldn’t wait to put it on. She knew that it would feel amazing on her skin.

She eagerly picked up the second box and gave it the same treatment. When she saw what was waiting for her in it, she stopped moving.

The other item of clothing was made of the same material but it would cover much less of her body. It was a demure negligee but it was still a negligee. Chloe literally had no idea what she was supposed to think about this gift.

It could be that Lex had thought nothing of giving her something like that. That they were a set and he’d bought both of them together. Yes, that had to be it.

Before she could change her mind, Chloe got up and started to disrobe. She just wanted to make sure that it fit. And, boy, did it….

The color set off her skin well, the cut made her legs look longer and her breasts were practically put on display by the nightie.

She ran her hands over the material and couldn’t imagine how much this and the robe had put Lex back.

It would be only proper to thank him for the gifts. But she knew that it would be a strange conversation to have with Lex. And there was already something wrong between them.

It was a little past 11 and Chloe didn’t want to wake Lex at home. She decided that leaving a message on his work phone would suffice. It had nothing to do with the fact that she wouldn’t actually have to talk to him. She wasn’t avoiding the conversation.

The material wisped against her legs as she walked over and grabbed the phone. She quickly dialed Lex’s office number and waited for the voice mail to pick up. She took the boxes off of the bed and put them back in the chair so she could lie down. She stretched out in the bed and froze when she heard Lex’s voice, his actual living voice, pick up.

~~~

Lex had actually been jerked from a light snooze when the phone rang. He'd spent the better part of the day trying to avoid thinking about anything other than business. Being the second in command of an international business corporation was unsurprisingly very useful in that regard.

Casting a glance at the clock on the wall, his brows furrowed in confusion. He picked up the call anyway.

“Luthor.” His voice sounded a little scratchy, so he decided to get some water from the fridge.

Chloe tried to remember if the phones in LuthorCorp had caller ID. Her father’s did so she assumed that Lex’s would as well. Which meant that she just couldn’t hang up now. “Oh, hi, Lex,” she said.

“Um, it’s Chloe.” God, why was she turning into an idiot now of all times?

“I didn’t think that you’d be there.” She had to rally in this conversation. Things were going very badly. “I just wanted to thank you for the gifts but didn’t want to wake you at home so I thought I’d leave a message.”

Lex stopped dead halfway across the room. He'd not known what to expect from a phone call past 11 pm, but this had definitely not even made his list. Sure, Chloe hadn't really right out said thank you before, but he'd not expected one, either. After all, she'd made it pretty clear that she wasn't pleased about his changes to the apartment.

Lex chuckled a little uncomfortably and continued his short track to the fridge. “You're welcome, though, I thought you wanted to change things again,” he half stated, half asked as he pulled out a bottle of water.

Chloe was a little confused by Lex’s words. When she stopped to think about them, she clarified what she meant. “I wasn’t talking about the apartment itself. I was talking about the two other things.” She paused and then added, “In the boxes?”

Lex took a swig from his water, still trying to puzzle out what the hell Chloe was talking about. Two other things. In boxes. There were no presents for her that he'd left that would fit into...

He almost choked on his drink, coughed then wheezed 'I'm gonna kill him' but what came out sounded more like 'mgunklim'.

JP had put the fucking negligee into a box. He'd put the fucking negligee and the fucking silk robe into a box and given it to Chloe against his expressed orders. The French would die a gruesome, horrible and most of all painful death as soon as Lex could arrange it.

“Chloe those,” it was on the tip of his tongue to apologize for her finding those 'presents' when the tone of her voice and the fact that she'd thanked him actually penetrated his cranium. “You like them?”

Not for the first time that night Lex sounded odd. She really wanted to ask him what in the hell was going on with him but knew that it wouldn’t get her anywhere. He’d just stonewall her if he didn’t want to talk about it. And it was very clear that he was keeping whatever was wrong to himself.

She rolled over and propped herself up on the plush pillows and said, “They’re very beautiful, Lex, of course I like them.” Had he really been worried about that? Sure, they were an odd choice for one friend to give to another but Lex wasn’t thinking along those lines.

Chloe ran her fingers over the strap of the negligee and said, “The material doesn’t feel like anything else I’ve ever worn. Do you know if it’s imported?” Now that she had some money she might be forced to splurge on items such as the one that she was wearing.

Lex didn't really know, but he knew Jean Pierre and could make an educated guess. “From Europe,” he answered the question.

It still baffled him that Chloe claimed to have feelings for him, yet she didn't see anything wrong with him giving her goddamn sexy nightwear for a present. And those garments had been sexy. Just lying on the bed they had been and he did not want to even want to think how they must look on Chloe. Of course his mind translated that message into sending him images he did not need to be having.

Lex groaned and retreated to his chair, sinking into the leather in an undignified slump. “I'm glad you don't think they're too inappropriate. I didn't want to,” he trailed off, looking for the right words. “Make you feel uncomfortable.”

Finally Lex was actually talking to her. She felt something loosen inside of her. She didn’t like feeling on edge around Lex. She smiled and said, “I know that you don’t think of me that way, Lex.”

Chloe ignored the sharp pain that accompanied the statement. “And, it’s impossible to feel uncomfortable in this thing, I’ll have you know.” She maneuvered her body so she was now under the blankets. Last night she hadn’t fully enjoyed her bed. She’d been otherwise occupied.

Lex closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Unfortunately, parts of him did think of her just like that, which was not good. Especially now that he knew she was actually wearing that negligee.

“That's,” he cleared his throat, “Good to know.”

If he could have blushed, he would have. He had to adjust himself merely because of the mental image of Chloe in a fucking nightgown. This was beyond mortifying.

Lex’s voice was a little strained and Chloe had to check a sigh. She had thought that they were getting back to the comfortable way that they were with one another. Apparently, she had been wrong.

She didn’t want her actions to sabotage what they had. They had already established that Lex wasn’t mad at her for what she had done. But that didn’t mean that he was ok with it, either.

“Lex, can you please tell me what’s wrong?” She didn’t hear anything from the other end of the line so she just pressed on, “Ever since last night you’ve been acting strangely. Is it just in my head or is there something that we need to discuss?”

Her heart rate had picked up slightly. This was not a conversation that she wanted to be having but if they couldn’t get past whatever was going on now….well, their friendship would take a hit from it.

'Fuck!' He'd hoped that Chloe would let it slide at the 'bad day' explanation, but obviously that hadn't fooled her, even though it was part of the truth.

Lex didn't know what to do now. If it had been anyone else, he would have lied through his teeth, played it cool and pretended like nothing was amiss. Unfortunately, Chloe wasn't anyone else. She was his friend. His only friend, which made matters worse.

Staring at the water bottle in front of him he was still trying to figure out what to say when he heard Chloe emit a defeated sigh, followed by his name. If he didn't say something soon, she would probably give up on him completely. Lex didn't want that.

“Yes,” he said, grabbing the bottle and taking a swig to get himself a few more seconds. “It's got nothing to do with you personally, Chloe. Really.”

She had to believe that. If she believed it, maybe he could convince his mind to let go of the silly notion as well. Which it was, just a silly idea that sprouted from the fact that he hadn't had sex in way too long.

“It's simply the fact that I'm a little on edge lately and,” he trailed off.

At least Lex had admitted that there was something that they needed to talk about. But him insisting that it didn’t have anything to do with her was a little confusing. Along with the admission that he was on edge. How were the two related?

“So there is something that we need to discuss but it hasn’t anything to do with me?” Chloe tried to sit up a little straighter in the bed and give Lex all of her attention. Lex grunted what she thought was a yes but said no more.

She would obviously have to pull it out of him. “You weren’t mad at what I did. But, it affected you in some other way?”

Chloe hoped that they wouldn’t have to play 20 questions but if that was what it took……

She put the information that she had in some type of order. Lex wasn’t mad. But her kissing him had done something. But it didn’t have anything to do with her. And he was on edge. There was a headache just waiting to happen in this conversation, she could feel it.

Lex groaned, hating the fact that he'd obviously have to explain himself better if he wanted Chloe to understand what he was referring to, yet couldn't just flat out say it because it might get the wrong idea in her head.

“Chloe, when I say 'on edge' I'm not talking about a psychological problem,” he tried to clarify.

Well actually, it could be considered a psychological problem to jerk off to images of your supposed friend American Beauty style. Seriously all that had been missing were the rose petals. Though, he couldn't really see Chloe being as gaudy as that.

“You just happened to be the trigger that brought that particular problem to the forefront again.”

Of course that put him firmly in the corner of royal goober. But it was the truth, well part of it. And he told himself that he'd been stuck in that corner before the particular incident, anyway. He collected comics and had his own basement lab. He could admit it to himself, if not to anyone else.

Again with the piecemeal explanation. Chloe wanted to tell Lex to just clearly explain what was going on but she knew that it must be difficult for Lex to even talk about what was going on so she didn’t want to push him.

It wasn’t a psychological thing. Which only left a physical problem. But she had seen Lex today and he didn’t have any marks on him and hadn’t been limping or complaining about anything.

So what type of physical problem could be triggered by her…..

Rage was something that she often brought up in him but that wasn’t physical. The kickboxing had been physical but if he had gone out and gotten himself hurt that way, she would have been able to see it on him today.

She was about to ask Lex another question when she caught sight of herself in the mirror. The blankets were around her waist but she could still see how what she was wearing made her look sexy. Physical problem….she was the trigger for….on edge….

Jesus, it couldn’t be that. And if she tried to ask if it was that and she was wrong she’d be mortified.

“Lex,” she said, “does your problem have anything to do with, um, well, not having a girlfriend for a while now?” It was the best way she had to ask the question.

Finally, the fucking coin had dropped. Jesus, wasn't she supposed to be smarter than that? She usually was. He'd been half a second away from just spitting out 'You gave me a fucking boner simply by kissing me'. Thankfully, it hadn't gotten that far.

“Yeah,” he gritted through his teeth. “So like I said, it's nothing about you personally and I'm sorry if I gave you the feeling it was.” And I really would appreciate it if Hades opened his gates and let me through, right about now.

Chloe really had no idea how to handle this. For a moment. Then she remembered that she was an adult and Lex was her friend and that it wasn’t a big deal. “Lex, it’s not…” Saying it wasn’t a big deal wasn’t a double entendre that she wanted to make right now.

“It’s a perfect natural reaction to certain stimuli,” she reasoned out. “Like you said, you’ve been on edge lately and haven’t, well….” ‘Gotten any in awhile,’ her brain supplied.

She ignored the strange way that knowing that she had turned Lex on was making her feeling. He had made it pretty clear that it didn’t have to do with her, it had to do with the fact that she had all of the right woman parts. Then she was busy ignoring the way that that piece of information was making her feel.

Lex was still being quiet and Chloe could only imagine how embarrassed he was by having to admit that to her. There was only one way that she knew to make him feel better…she thought.

“And you know that you’re not the only one that’s been on edge lately, either,” she stated. Hell, the man had found her box full of toys, that had been pretty damn embarrassing. Of course, that hadn’t had anything to do with him generally or specifically so it wasn’t exactly the same.

Taking a deep breath, she added, “Or the only one who was on edge last night.”

Lex hissed in a breath as a new slew of mental images crashed through his mind. The ridiculous 'birds and bees' platitude she'd given him had given him somewhat of a respite, but of course she wouldn't stop there.

No, she would try to make it better and make it just that much worse, because knowing what he had done and knowing that she had went straight to bed before he'd even left her apartment, it really didn't take a genius to figure out what two and two added up to.

“Chloe, do me a favor,” he stated glibly. “Let's change the subject.”

Chloe realized what a bad mistake she had made and said, “Oh, I’m sorry. Um, oh, my father has found a way to get himself back into trouble.” Yes, talking about her father would sure put a stop to whatever thoughts they were both having. “I keep asking him if there are any women at work for him to date, and he keeps saying no. And then, I met this woman tonight who would be perfect for him. Can you believe his nerve?”

She knew that this would be a safe area. Lex would make fun of her for getting involved, she would defend herself and stuff could go back to normal.

“He says that she is not a possibility. Gave a list of reasons. Didn’t listen to any of them.” Chloe kicked off the covers and made her way to the bathroom, taking the robe with her. She hung it up on the back of the door before saying, “Do you think telling him that I want a Mommy is too over the line?”

Lex shook his head at himself and the empty office around him. Trust Chloe to be able to actually change the subject on demand. And this was as good a subject as it could get. Definitely no danger there.

“You're not child anymore, so I don't think he'd buy it,” he answered her deadpan.

Thinking about it, he hadn't actually seen Gabe with any woman that would be appropriate dating material. There was Janice from the archives, but as far as he knew, she was engaged.

“Do you remember her name? What did she look like? I can't think of anyone on the regular staff that'd fit the criteria.”

“Maybe she’s new,” Chloe asked, helpfully. “Her first name was Celeste but she didn’t tell me her last name. She’s a redhead, relatively tall and maybe upwards of 10 years younger than my dad. She’s a fox and he’s going to date her.”

God knew that Chloe needed a project so she didn’t have to go out and find herself a man. Her mind was made up and she would just harp on it until her father caved and agreed to it. And that was that.

Chloe had wandered out into the kitchen and turned out the lights before going into the living room. She flopped down on the couch but decided that it wasn’t the best idea in the outfit she was wearing. She realized it a little too late. As she got up, she hissed as her skin became unstuck from the leather.

She rubbed at the skin just below her ass as she said, “I think that once my father sees I’m not going to give in, things will go quite smoothly.”

Redhead, older than him and a fox? He sure would have noticed that. So he'd never met that woman in the office. That was a little unusual, but not exactly worrying. Sometimes his father set out to hire new people and the personnel department just went ahead, working like a well oiled machine. Still, usually he knew within a week at the latest about any new addition where it concerned the top floors. And Gabe definitely was dealing with top floor-business only. He'd look into that once business picked up again tomorrow. Well, today, he amended in his mind as he caught the time on the wall.

It still amused him, though, that Chloe was trying to hook up her father. Especially considering the way she'd complained about Gabe trying to do the same thing for her.

“Chloe, don't you think your father should make the decision of who he wants to date,” Lex cautioned.

“Of course not,” she answered. How could Lex be so silly? “I let him do that for years, Lex. And it didn’t get him anywhere. He would always say that there was no on that he was interested in.”

She flicked off the lights in the living room and made her way back to the bedroom. “I can buy that for a year, maybe two, but he hasn’t gone out socially in…” She tried to think of the last time and couldn’t. “Well, ever, it seems.”

“Besides,” she said, “I have to listen to him drone on and on about how the men I choose aren’t suitable so it’s only fair that I get to do this.”

Lex frowned at the phone. Why did he see trouble brewing ahead? More importantly, should he warn Gabe? The man worked for him after all and he had helped him with Chloe's apartment. Okay, he definitely wouldn't help Gabe out of this one.

“If you think that's a good idea,” he said vaguely.

However, the thought brought him back to the fact that he didn't know that Celeste. Which was just a little suspicious.

“But, you should try and find out a little bit more about this Celeste first,” he answered. “Her last name would be a good idea for starters.”

If Chloe could get that information, it would be much easier and take a lot less time to find out everything else concerning the woman. Lex realized he hadn't told Chloe yet that he didn't know anything about this mysterious Celeste.

“Because I’ve never met that woman before and I usually know every person that comes in contact with personal on the executive management level.”

Chloe smiled at Lex’s tone of voice. He was so paranoid. “Do you think she’s some sort of mole, Lex? Don’t worry about this, I’ve got it all under control.” Lex was silent on his end.

“Lex, I want your word that you’re not going to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.” He was silent again. “Don’t make me have to full name you again, I’ll do it.”

Still nothing from Lex. Chloe made a growling sound in the back of her throat. “Lex, stay out of it. I don’t need your help on this one.” Still nothing. “Fine, I’m hanging up on you then.” More silence.

With a huff, Chloe depressed the end button on her phone and tossed it onto her bed. He could be so infuriating when he wanted to be.

Lex stared at the phone as the dial tone sounded from the receiver. He couldn't believe she'd just done that. He'd only been teasing her with his silence. Well, for the most part, since he actually would check Celeste out. And she'd just hung up on him.

His eyes narrowed as he punched in her home number with a vengeance and waited. She picked up on the first ring.

“Don't you ever just hang up on me again,” he growled. “And I will check her out,” he added. “Because I like to be informed of what is going on under my very nose.”

“Under your very nose,” Chloe asked, incredulously. “You didn’t even know who she was until I told you!” She tried to ignore the way her body was reacting to Lex growling at her. Since when did she become one of those ‘Me Tarzan, you Jane,’ women?

“This doesn’t concern you, Lex,” she said. “It’s between me, my dad and this mystery woman. I assure you that it won’t affect your company.” Her body was still not behaving so she had to assert herself. “And I will hang up on you whenever I damn well please when you’re being insufferable. Just like you would to me.”

“Now are we going to keep fighting or what? I need to know so I can go into my office to punch the heavy bag if necessary after we get off with each other.” She paused. “Off the phone with each other,” she clarified.

Lex took a deep breath and willed himself to let go of the topic. He would check this Celeste woman out and find out if his father was up to the gills in something behind his back once again. Seriously, how could Chloe be surprised that he was suspicious when something happened in the office that he didn't know about?

“We're not fighting,” he said with finality.

He also forced himself to ignore Chloe's slip of the tongue. Back to the topic. “And if it doesn't concern me, the last thing I'll do is get in your way.”

“Fine,” Chloe grumbled, upset that something might get in the way of her dad and Celeste getting together. “I hope you do know that if she is a spy and you have to cart her away that you’re wrecking my father’s only shot at true happiness.” She made sure to infuse as much drama in her voice as was possible.

Plus, if the woman was sent there for some ulterior reason, she’d never hear the end of it from her father. She crawled back up her bed and flopped down on it, delighting in the way that the sheets and comforter cradled her body. “Not that this is excusing what you did or means I condone you taking over my apartment, but I must say that I definitely appreciate your choice in the bed furnishing, Lex.” She sighed happily.

Lex nodded then shook his head, willing away the mental images that tried once again to assault his mind. “You're welcome,” he said neutrally.

Interestingly enough, the only image that came to mind anyway, was his own bed at home. A sure sign that Lex was bone tired, if the ache in his shoulders and neck wasn't.

He cast another glance at the clock on the wall. It was almost one in the morning.

“Talking about bed furnishing, I'm afraid I'll have to hang up on you this time around,” he grumbled, rubbing his neck.

Chloe had forgotten that she had called Lex at the office. She really worried about the hours he kept. The man was going to get himself so overtired that he’d make himself sick.

“That’s perfectly fine, Lex,” she said. After another moment she added, “You work too hard and don’t get enough sleep. I wish that you would take better care of yourself.”

“Yes, mom,” he mumbled while he shut off his laptop.

It was sweet that she was concerned about him, but also sometimes quite annoying. She'd been the one to call him in the first place. Not that he'd thought about going home at that point, but that didn't matter.

“Good night, Chloe,” he said a little louder, already getting up from his chair.

She had stuck her tongue out at the phone when he called her ‘mom.’ After placing it back in her mouth she said, “Night, Lex.”

Chloe put the phone back in the cradle and made herself comfortable. She and Lex had been able to work through another problem without resorting to yelling. Would wonders never cease?

[cnl2003]

God I love this fic! Thanks so much for updating, I can't wait to read more!