Hot Fun in The Summer Time

Round Robin Part 2

Notes: So, obviously this is important to read only after you've read the fabulous first chapter by fanofgrissom. Also, it is important to note that there are a series of chapters coming from fabulously gifted authors from the site, so there's lots to look forward to – keep reading kidlets, I'm sure this is going to get interesting. ;)

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"So…" CC started, glancing sideways at him. "Where are you taking me to dinner?"

Niles grinned, appraising the sleek bathing suit she wore. "Depends on how good of a job you do on this beast… Don't ask me where someone managed to go 'off-roading' in Manhattan, but they really managed to kick up some dirt."

CC noticed the way his eyes worked their way over her body, and she shifted a little under his gaze, feeling herself shiver. Why she was holding her breath, she couldn't quite explain, but her entire body tingled. "Well, I just hope you haven't spent all your money making the donation to the carwash, because McDonald's isn't going to cut it. Maybe your regular dates think Happy Meals are haute cuisine, but I expect something far more discerning."

"Are you implying that tonight will be a date?" He asked, grinning cockily at her implication.

When she realized what she said, CC tried to come up with a quick comeback, but the words eluded her. She was far too distracted by the way he looked without his shirt on. "I'm saying that the least I can do for a thousand dollar donation to a charity that I don't particularly care for but am required to support, is be a civil guest at the bequest of benefactor."

Niles smirked. "Sure. Good save. Now, let's get washing. This isn't going to wash itself."

Appraising the Range Rover, CC considered the option of bribing Brighton to was the whole thing, with a sizeable donation out of her own pocket. Then again, there was something to be said about spending the whole day in the sun, getting wet with Niles.

Shaking her head, she wondered where that thought came from. "You start rinsing it down, I'll go get some extra supplies. Looks like we'll need more than a few wash cloths and a bit of soap."

"Oh, no, no, no… This is your job – I'm merely here to assist. I'll go get the supplies, you start washing." Tossing her the keys, to the car, he smiled. "I took the liberty of throwing a few cds in on my way over. Put one in, and at least once we get the rinsing done, we can listen to some music."

"You've put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?" CC asked, with a wide grin on her face.

"Oh, some. I do like to be prepared."

Cocking an eyebrow, she couldn't help but tease him – something about the damn bathing suit was alternating between making her feel self-conscious and extremely sexy. And the way he was looking at her was definitely helping her confidence. "What else are you prepared for?"

He shook his head, hoping to bring them back to the task at hand; they hadn't even pulled out the hose and things were already at a fever pitch.

"A gentleman never tells," he said, his voice low and gravelly, turning to locate the necessary supplies.

As Niles walked back to the supply tables, CC couldn't help but watch his muscular legs and broad shoulders. How a man who watched daytime dramas and served meals could look like that she would never understand.

"Snap out of it, CC," she scolded herself, before hoping in the car and flipping through the cds. "Leave it to him," she said with a laugh, before putting in the first one.

Looking over the car again, CC couldn't believe the mess of it. Whoever had it before Niles clearly had a wild sense of adventure, or a complete disregard for their own safety.

Grabbing the hose, she started to give it a quick rinse down – the sooner they got the globs of mud off, the sooner they would escape the afternoon sun, for what she could only hope would be a five star dinner.

CC could hear the strains of the music inside the car, and smirked at the knowledge that he had put this all into play for them. For her, even. Even his taste in music was perfect: a collection of show tunes, and, for what she expected would be fun, 'The Hottest Songs of Summer'.

Discreetly, she began to sing along, checking over her shoulder to make sure nobody would notice her. "Working at the car wash, ooh, oh, oh, at the car wash yeah…"

The urge to dance was overwhelming, but she staved it off, knowing that any sign of enjoyment would completely undermine her current status as reigning Bitch of Broadway.

"Some of the work gets kind of hard. This ain't no place to be if you planned on being a star…" Rinsing down the hood, she smiled at the realization that Niles parked the car at the furthest corner of the lot, clearly away from traffic.

If his intention was to embarrass her, surely he would have chosen somewhere more central, right? Was it too much to hope that for once his intentions might be anything other than malicious?

As the songs changed, she worked over the bumper and laughed at the bumper sticker. "I Brake for Bison." Clearly it was a well-traveled truck.

"What are you laughing at?" Niles asked, appearing around the side of the car.

"The bumper sticker – clearly someone had even worse taste than you do," she teased, pointing to it. "I hate those things; not only are they tacky, but you're stuck with them forever. I should know – a certain idiotic butler stuck one on the back of my BMW, and it took a body shop to get it off."

Looking as innocent as possible, Niles tried not to smile at the memory. "You didn't like it? I thought it was like a public safety advisory. 'Heavily Medicated for your Safety'."

"Ha ha," CC said with a scowl. "What took you so long anyway? I'm used to you being useless at the house, but you offered your help…"

"Oh, yes… Sorry it took so long," Niles said, putting down the supplies he'd acquired. "Bernadette Peters and Brent Barrett are entertaining the crowds with 'Anything You can Do' and Mr. Sheffield is having a coronary because the cast of Cats is currently crawling over cars singing 'Mr. Mistoffelees'. I practically had to push my way through the crowds."

CC laughed. "Sorry I missed it – how's Nanny Fine fairing?"

"Six phone numbers, a marriage proposal, and probably a half-dozen indecent proposals – she's listing them according to prospect and promising that the best potential suitors will receive a phone call in the next two weeks." Niles shrugged. "I'd say all in all, it's a pretty good day. And I brought drinks too – thought you might need something to cool off."

She tried to ignore the glimmer in his eyes. "Isn't that what this is for?" she asked, before shooting a stream of water at him from the hose, a smile plastered on her face.

At first it caught him off guard. Niles didn't expect CC to be a very willing participant in the game, let alone to embrace it and have a good time. He wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Laughing as he ran to get the hose out of her hand, Niles pinned her against the bumper and lowered the hose to her side. "You know, that wasn't very nice," he whispered against her ear.

CC bit back a moan. "I was just trying to cool you down," she supplied, feeling the heat emanating off his body.

"First I have to get all warmed up," he said, his fingers gently fluttering over her hips. "Red or blue Gatorade?"

"What?" she asked breathlessly.

"Red or blue Gatorade?" he asked again, pleased that he was having an effect on her.

"Red," she managed, missing the contact as he eased away and headed back to their drinks.

Walking back toward the front of the car, hose in hand, she looked down over her hip. "You got me dirty," she said with a frown.

"Well, you had to expect a little dirt under your nails, Miss Babcock," Niles said as he opened the bottle of and handed it to her.

"Under my nails, sure – that's why I have an amazing manicurist – which, by the way, you'll be getting the bill for – but on my … Fran's bathing suit?" Now you'll have to wash that too." Accepting the bottle, she grinned. "Really, Niles, you'd think you'd know when enough is enough."

"I never get enough," he said slyly, taking a swig of his drink. "Now, let's get moving. You're trying to get me to do all the dirty work." He reached to take the hose from her, but CC pulled it back from him.

"Oh, no, Mr… I know what kind of revenge you can serve up – there's no way I'll let you anywhere near this hose. You can do far too much damage. I'll keep rinsing, you start getting things lathered up."

Groaning, Niles watched as she put her drink down on the curb and started spraying the car down again, this time with a new swing in her hips. "You gonna stand there and watch me work, or are you going to do something?"

To Be Continued by kateandharvey…