"Donna, come sit on my lap," Toby said.

The object of his attention, who was comfortably perched on
her boss' lap despite the cramped quarters of the back seat of
the taxicab, batted her eyelashes at the disgruntled communications
director. "Why Toby," she said flirtatiously, "this is so sudden."
Josh snorted in amusement.

"I mean it, Donna," Toby said gruffly, ignoring the verbal volley.

"Who says she has to sit on your lap?" Josh whined. "What's wrong
with her staying right where she is?"

An excellent question, Donna thought, particularly since Josh had
been tracing deliberate circles up and down her spine ever since
they'd all piled into the crowded cab. She wasn't exactly itching to
abandon that for Toby, who, she realized, wrinkling her nose, smelled
strongly of cigars.

"Because, Josh, there's a reporter in the car and you have made enough
of a spectacle of yourself for one night," Toby said. "Inauguration
night, no less."

"I consider all of this off the record, Toby," Danny said. He was squeezed
in between Josh and Donna on one side and Charlie on the other, but he
didn't seem to mind, observing it all in his usual unflappable style.

"Hear that, Toby?" Josh said aggressively. "We're not on the record."

"Do you really want to get into a discussion about who is and who isn't
on the record right now?" Toby barked.

That brought them up short, and a chagrined silence descended on
the cab. Finally, Danny ventured to speak. "You know, if it would
make you feel better, Donna could sit on my lap," he said with a false
air of self-sacrifice.

Josh shot him a dirty look. "You're a real prince, Concannon, but I'm
not clear on how that would be an improvement."

"Donna can sit on my lap," Charlie volunteered. "I am immune to the
physical charms of any woman other than Zoey."

"Gee, thanks a lot, Charlie," Donna grumbled.

He had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry."

Will craned his neck back at them from his seat next to the driver.
"Why doesn't Donna just sit up front?"

"So that you can sit on my lap, Will?" Toby asked in clipped tones.

"Err, right," Will said hastily. "Forget I said anything."

"Donna," Toby said, making her name an order.

Donna bit her lip and looked at Josh, who shrugged and gave her a
"what can you do?" look. With an annoyed sigh she inelegantly
clambered over Danny and Charlie and settled herself on Toby's lap.
Josh watched them -- watched her -- intently, and she wondered not
for the first time just what was going on between them tonight. She
had a feeling that Josh didn't know the answer to that, either. So she
sat primly on Toby's lap, breathing through her mouth to avoid the
smell of cigars, and did her best to ignore the fact that Josh continued
to stare at her for the entire cab ride back to the ball.

*****

Once Donna and her male harem arrived at the event hall, the men
re-checked their coats and one by one dissipated into the teeming
crowd of revelers. Donna thought about looking for Margaret or
Carol to fess up about the quote, hating that she'd had to lie to her
friends, but before she could go anywhere Josh took her by the hand
and started pulling her toward the dance floor. "Dance with me," he
yelled over the music.

"Okay," she said, confused and delighted all at once. She allowed
him to lead her out on to the dance floor and take her into his arms
for a slow, bluesy number. The childlike grin on his face was an all
too rare pleasure to see. "You're in quite the mood tonight," she
observed.

"It's a good night, Donna," he said giddily, brown eyes sparkling at
her beneath the ballroom's cascade of lights. "We won the election,
we are currently at a ball, we will be attending seven more of them
before the night is over, we look damn good," and here he waggled
his eyebrows rakishly, "...and I told CJ there was no way you would
ever give that quote to a reporter."

It took Donna a second to process the non sequitor. "You did?" she
asked, touched and surprised that he would defend her that way.

"Yes, I did. And it turns out I was right," he said smugly.

"Yeah, but..." She could feel herself blushing and cursed her
treacherous fair complexion. "But before you knew you were
right, you thought you were wrong."

"But I wasn't," he said quietly, barely audible over the orchestra.
His hand was warm and solid on her hip.

"No, you weren't." Their gazes held until Donna became uncomfortable
again. This was not how she had expected the evening to unfold; it was
making her dizzy. "I guess it's a good thing you're always right then,"
she said lightly, trying to break the mood.

He smiled widely, flashing dimples. "Yes indeed," he boomed. "I am
the king of the world tonight. I have wine, I have women, I have song.
Pity the man who even tries to come between me and my well-deserved
revelry. In the immortal words of Wang Chung, Donna, 'Everybody
have fun tonight.'"

"Okay, okay, settle down there, wild thing," she said teasingly.

"Wild thing?" His eyebrows shot up into his forehead, then he pulled
her closer, his mouth curving into a playful grin. "I like that. Say that
again."

"Josh --" she started, rolling her eyes.

"Say it," he said entreatingly, his face inches from hers.

Her mouth went dry, and she licked her lips. "Wild thing," she rasped.

His eyes looked very dark suddenly. "Yeah, I like that," he said. Then,
in a less serious tone: "In fact, that is how I would like to be addressed
tonight, Donna. Let everyone far and wide refer to me for the next 24
hours only as 'wild thing,' for so I am, and so I shall be."

She snorted. She should have known it would be foolish to encourage
him. "You want me to call you wild thing."

"Yes."

"Because you make everything groovy?"

He smirked. "Don't I?" His lips were extremely close to hers now, his eyes
pinned her with an intense stare, and if she didn't know any better she'd
think he was about to kiss her. She didn't think she'd have the will
to stop him, either. She felt his warm breath on her skin, and her
eyelids fluttered.

"Josh," Charlie said from behind them.

The look of disappointment on Josh's face told her all she needed
to know about his intentions. "That's 'wild thing,' Charlie," she said
over her shoulder, and Josh's delighted smile sent a shiver down her
spine.

Charlie shook his head dismissively. "Whatever. Josh, the president
is looking for you."

He blew out a frustrated rush of air. "Okay. I'll be right there." Charlie
nodded and disappeared back into the crowd. Josh regretfully released
Donna from his embrace, but then tugged at her arm. "Let's go."

She hesitated. "Josh, the president asked to see you."

"Yeah?"

"Well, I don't think it's appropriate for me to come along if I wasn't
specifically asked to be there."

He smoothed a stray hair away from her face, unexpected gentleness
in the gesture. "No, it's okay. I know what this is about." He paused.
"Besides, after the shenanigans you pulled the past couple of days, I'm
afraid to let you out of my sight for the rest of the night."

"But the quote --"

"I told Leo everything before I went to get you," he said. "Seriously,
Donna, it's fine." He flashed her a mischievous grin. "He, like everybody
else, thinks you were an idiot, but other than that, it's fine."

"Oh, now I feel much better," she said sourly. But she took his proffered
arm and let him escort her across the crowded dance floor. It occurred to
her that except for the brief amount of time she spent on Toby's lap earlier,
Josh had not stopped touching her in one way or another all night.

If she weren't so flustered that she could hardly think straight, she would
ponder the implications of that a little more closely.

*****

Donna tried her best not to be too disappointed when the president ordered
them back to work after deputizing Will Bailey. It felt unbelievably petty to
pout over missing out on more slow dances with Josh when there was an
ongoing genocide to stop. Still, she couldn't help but wonder how the night
would have proceeded had President Bartlet not decided to send American
forces into Kundu.

And there she went feeling petty again.

It was close to 2 AM before Josh finally announced that she could go
home. She retrieved her heels from underneath her desk and grabbed
her spare key from her top drawer -- next time, she thought grimly, I
make sure I grab my purse before leaving the apartment -- then lingered
in Josh's doorway. "I guess I'll be going," she said hesitantly.

Josh looked up from the memo he was typing and rose from his chair.
"Thanks for working tonight," he said, walking over to her. He'd
removed his tuxedo jacket long ago, where his tie had disappeared to
was anyone's guess, and he looked sexily disheveled despite his scruffy
hair and the fatigue in his eyes.

"Well, I do so love working in formalwear," she said breezily.

He stuck his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry we didn't make it to all
the balls," he said.

She shook her head. "It's not a problem. Thanks to you I got to go
to one more than I thought I would."

"You really did look beautiful tonight," he said, then looked surprised
with himself that he'd said it.

She opened her mouth, unsure of how to respond. She settled for "Thanks,"
but then couldn't resist adding, "You didn't look too shabby yourself, wild
thing."

He laughed and took a step closer to her.

Looking at him, tired and rumpled and happy, she was struck by just
how much he'd done for her that night. "I really am sorry I lied to you,
Josh," she said, a catch in her voice.

He looked down at his shoes, uncharacteristically modest, then back up
at her. "I'm just...I'm glad it worked out, is all."

She smiled. "Me too."

"Did you steal that dress?" he asked suddenly.

Her back stiffened. "I bought this dress," she said defensively. "Inaugural balls only come around once every
four years you know."

"Good," he murmured. "'Cause I'd really like to see you in it again."

And just what, she thought helplessly, was she supposed to say to that?

As it turned out, she didn't have to say anything, because Josh chose
that moment to lean in and kiss her.

It was a soft, tender kiss, a kiss that asked a question she eagerly answered.
His hand came up to touch her face in a feather-light, hesitant caress, and
she leaned in to the touch, her mind spinning. Time stopped as their
lips and tongues gently met again and again. He tasted just like she'd
always thought he would.

"I've been wanting to do that all night," he said when their lips finally
parted.

"I'm glad you did," she said breathlessly.

"I probably shouldn't have," he said.

"Probably not."

He smoothed his hand over her hair with the barest of touches.
"Donna..." Desolation clouded his eyes. "We can't. Not right now.
We just --"

"I know," she said quickly, sparing both of them further explanation.
Knowledge, she reflected, was the worst enemy of hope.

He swallowed hard. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice rough with emotion.

She was embarrassed to realize she was blinking back tears. "You're
not sorry you kissed me, are you?"

"God, no. Donna --" He sighed, a forlorn, bereft sound that clenched
at her heart. "I could never regret kissing you. No man should ever
regret kissing you."

She smiled shyly. "Okay."

"Okay."

They stood there in silence, close but not touching, and the space between
them seemed as vast as a galaxy, a dark expanse glittering with everything
they wanted but couldn't have. "I should probably get going," Donna said
finally.

"Yeah," he whispered.

"I..." She hesitated, not wanting to leave, knowing that once she did this
night would be over, and tomorrow would come all too soon. "I had a
wonderful time tonight, Josh. Thanks for coming to get me."

"Thanks for making your blunder so easy to figure out," he said with a
grin.

She shook her head ruefully, managed a small laugh at herself. "Yeah.
Well...good night."

"Are you going to be okay getting home?" he asked.

She nodded. "The car service is waiting."

"Okay. Sleep well, Donnatella," he said softly.

"You too." They shared one more wistful smile, and then she left
him standing there, alone. She could feel him watching her as she
walked away, but she didn't look back.

End.