For Christina, their time together turned into a h.e.l.lish cycle. Jan would cheat then go through the process of courting her again to prove the parade through her bed meant nothing. To make it harder for Christina to leave the humiliating situation Jan had completely won over her parents, convincing Dell and Hillary she was perfect daughter-in-law material.

It took months of therapy on Christina's part to find the strength to just walk away. Jan Shaffer had been her personal nightmare and Dr. Frankstein rolled into one handsome package. Jan had killed the part of Christina's heart that believed in commitment and love, creating another woman chaser that used s.e.x strictly for her own gain.

Lisa knew the whole story from Christina's perspective, but the art dealer had completely taken the Griffin couple in giving them a different idea of she and Christina's relationship. Maybe it wasn't the a.s.sistant's place but Lisa wasn't going to allow Jan to play her boss again. Christian had Jolly now and the architect was slowly making the gallery owner believe in fairytales again. Therapy had helped her boss get over the hurt Jan had caused her, but hadn't found a way to make Christina forget the way Jan made her body burn.

"Mom, dad? I wasn't expecting you for another week." Christina stood frozen in place having flash backs of what she'd found so attractive about Jan. The two years since their last meeting had been good to the well-dressed fit woman who stood before her. Jan knew just what b.u.t.tons to push, and the smile she was giving Christina was making the smaller woman hot. It was the same smile the tall blonde had used to explain away the multiple women she had slept with when she and Christina were together.

"That's no reason you can't come over here and tell us h.e.l.lo, young lady," said Dell. He picked his daughter up when she moved closer then let her go to greet her mother. The hesitation she showed in giving Jan a welcoming hug was what really confused him. To help them out he pushed Jan forward gently and nodded his head in Christina's direction. "I'm sure she missed you too."

Jan moved forward and took advantage of the situation. She pulled Christina against her and started with a soft kiss to the lips, which she deepened the second the smaller woman didn't pull away. "I missed you so much."

"Let your father and I take you two out to dinner then you can make up for lost time. Jan told us when we ran into her in New York it's been over a month since you've seen each other, you must be frantic, dear," Hillary told Christina in a teasing voice. The Griffins had always been accepting of their daughter's s.e.xual orientation, but Hillary seldom asked questions. She was sure if there was someone special Chris would tell them and the last person she had talked about was Jan. Since Christina had moved out, they had dinner twice a week, but their daughter had always come alone. There was no way for the couple to know Jan's absence from Christina's life had been more than a month, or why she was absent at all.

"No, mother."

"Nonsense, Christina, I was young once, I understand about love and what it needs to be fulfilled. Your father and I may only see you once or twice a week for dinner but it doesn't mean that we don't want you to be happy. Maybe tonight we can prove to you that we won't embarra.s.s you if you start bringing Jan along with you," teased Hillary.

"Chris, could I see you for a moment?" asked Lisa.

"Excuse me, we were just getting some stuff finished up."

Christina walked into her office and closed the door. She had tried her whole life not to disappoint her parents in anything including her relationships. Jan had spent holidays with them as well as vacations, so when her parents came to love her, it had been hard to tell them Jan had left never looking back. And the mult.i.tude of women who had shared her bed after Jan certainly wasn't dinner small talk material. Now her parents had been alone on a plane with the woman for over two hours listening to G.o.d knows what fantasy Jan had painted for them.

"Are you out of your mind? Get out there and tell the clueless couple that woman's a manipulative b.i.t.c.h. You do not need this in your life again," hissed Lisa as quietly as she could.

"Dinner, Lisa, that's all this is, so calm down ok. If she wants to make it more than that I'll set her straight don't worry."

"Chris, you spend two minutes alone with her and you'll be straight all right, or should I say horizontal. Think about the consequences this time. Jan's a player and you're not going to change that about her no matter how hard you try. She's only in it for the conquest can't you see that? If you're not careful you could lose Jolly over something that'll mean nothing to Jan."

Christina put her hand up to shut out anything else her a.s.sistant was going to say. The last thing she needed was a lecture about her will power or lack of it when it came to Jan Shaffer. Lisa was right, she had Jolly, but this was only dinner - nothing more. She was shocked to see Jan again after so much time, but she was ok now. Chris just wanted to show Jan how well her life was without her.

"All set?" Jan asked when the office door opened and the two women walked out. The tall blonde hurried to help Christina on with her suit jacket and kept her hands on her shoulders when it was on. Christina's ex didn't need anyone to tell her Lisa still didn't care too much for her. The hatred almost dripped from Lisa's pores.

"Yeah, Lisa's going to lock up for the night. How about we try Kelsey's down the street?" Christina moved forward a little to get away from Jan's hands. The warning Lisa had issued about Jolly ran through her head, but one look back to the blue eyes that still haunted her dreams erased it just as quickly.

Dell opened the door and led everyone out when they were in agreement. Lisa stood near the entrance in disbelief when Jan reached for Christina's hand and wasn't rebuffed. The phone started ringing the moment she had locked the front door and Lisa thought briefly about letting the machine pick it up.

"Griffin Gallery."

"Hey, Lisa, the boss got you working late?"

"Jolly, you just missed her," said Lisa trying to keep her voice light. Had Jolly seen the white knuckled grip on the phone she'd have known there was something wrong.

"Maybe I called to talk to you," teased Jolly.

"Well anytime you want to talk to me, I'm available. If you want to talk to Chris though, she's having dinner at Kelsey's with her parents. They got home early and surprised her."

"I was wondering why her phone was turned off. You take care, and I'll see you soon," said Jolly before hanging up. Tim shook his head standing next to her at the luggage carousel waiting for their bags to come out. "Don't make fun of me, I just missed her."

"It's actually kind of nice to see you off balance like this over a girl, workaholic. But don't worry, after all the s.h.i.t you gave me after I met Pam, making fun of you will come later. That's what big cousin's are for."

Jolly saw her bag and when she went to pick it up, a solid warm weight landed on her back, and legs wrapped around her waist. "Babe, did you miss me?"

"You know, I'm going to dedicate all my free time this week thinking up an equally annoying nickname for you," said Jolly turning her face to meet Mimi eye to eye.

"I'm fond of G.o.ddess," said Mimi before kissing Jolly h.e.l.lo.

Jolly pulled her around to the front so she could get a hug. "I was thinking more along the lines of shrimpy." She pulled Mimi against her again and kissed the top of her head. Mimi was the only other person she had called all week aside from Christina.

"You can't profess to love me then call me shrimpy."

"Come on then, G.o.ddess, you can give me a ride home."

Mimi carried four leather tubes full of architectural drawings as Jolly hoisted her bag and briefcase for the trip to the Land Cruiser Mimi had been using while she was out of town. "Does she know you came home early because you missed her?"

"I wanted to surprise her, but she's out with her parents who beat me on the surprise factor, so I'll wait till later. Want to have dinner with me?" asked Jolly.

"Sure I'll play second fiddle if you cook."

Jolly shook her head at the playful blonde as she maneuvered them out of the airport lot. "Madeline, you know you're my best girl."

The statement appeased the artist enough to reach over for Jolly's hand for the trip to the penthouse. They sat together on the balcony and ate the omelets Jolly had made and caught up on the week they had been apart. The sofa that faced the mural was their last stop as they drank c.o.ke floats side by side.

"Jolly, are you happy here?"

Jolly put her gla.s.s down and put her arm around Mimi before answering. "I guess every builder dreams of constructing a house somewhere of their own design. To look around and see your ideas in every wall and fixture, but I think a great builder knows when to admire when someone else has done that for them. I didn't build this place, but I brought it back to life and that makes me happy, so the answer is yes."

"I'm glad you are, and I'm glad you like my additions. This place is so you that I really missed you not being here when I came to stock the fridge this week."

Jolly looked down to Mimi's face seeing the expression of sadness before she buried it in Jolly's shoulder. "Are you happy, Mimi?"

The blonde head nodded against her shoulder and Mimi took a deep breath before lifting her head and looking at Jolly. "I'm just glad you're home, and that you have a girl to come home to now. And I'm sure she's dying to see you so take me home and get your a.s.s over there."

Jolly walked Mimi to her door after driving her home, and hugged her one more time before leaving sensing there was still something wrong. "Dinner on Monday?"

"Have I ever turned you down on a Monday?" asked Mimi.

"I know, silly question. Lock up and I'll call you in the morning."

Jolly drove three blocks down from Mimi's to the small apartment complex Christina was staying in until her house was done. The little sports car was parked in the lot so Jolly got out and checked the mailboxes for the right one. She had never been but remembered Christina mentioning she and Mimi were almost neighbors.

The knock was loud enough for Christina to hear, but soft enough not to wake the neighbors. Noticing the proximity of the front doors, Jolly could see Christina had been right about how small the apartments were.

A look of shock was not what Jolly was going for but that's what was registering when Christina opened the door wearing a robe. Jolly wanted to put her hands in her pockets and turn back toward her car the silence lasted so long, but she tried a different approach. She stepped forward and kissed Christina on the lips.

The gallery owner watched Jolly move forward like it was happening in slow motion and her feet were stuck in quick sand. When Jolly's lips reached their destination Christina's blood ran cold as the kiss died as quickly as it began. What up to then had been a pleasurable experience felt like a train wreck.

"I can explain." The line sounded as lame to her as it did to Jolly. The taste Jolly had come away with was unmistakable.

"You paid your way through college as a contortionist with the circus?" Jolly's glib question was not a good sign as she scrubbed her lips with the back of her hand. "Or is it you have a naked blonde in your bed?" Christina's shocked expression got worse with the question making Jolly laugh. "No, I'm not a mind reader, she's waiting for you in the hall, and couldn't find a robe I guess."

"Jolly, please." Christina reached for Jolly's arm.

Jolly stared at her hand until it dropped back to Christina's side. "Honey, you don't owe me any explanations, and don't worry about me making a scene, that's not my style. It was a great couple of dates, and I'm building your house. And don't worry about a leaky roof or something because of this, that's not my style either."

Christina stood in the hall and watched Jolly walk away as Lisa's warning about consequences rang in her head. She had allowed Jan to play her again and in the morning she'd be gone after having her itch scratched. The only problem was that Jolly would be gone with her.

"Mimi, it's Christina Griffin."

Mimi stepped back from her canvas with a paint splattered portable in her hand and looked at it as if she had heard wrong. Chris was the last person she figured she'd be hearing from that weekend. "What can I do for you?"

"Do you know how I can get in touch with Jolly?"

"Problems? I can't imagine she would fly home a day early because she wanted to pick a fight with you."

"We had a misunderstanding and I just want to talk to her about it before it gets any worse. I care about her, Mimi, you have to believe me."

Mimi looked at the phone again starting to get a bad feeling about the call. "I'm not interrogating you, Chris, calm down. Jolly can be a hothead but she's a real sweetheart once she cools down, just give her the s.p.a.ce to do that. If she doesn't want to be found though, not even I can do it so you'll have to wait."

"If you talk to her, can you ask her to call me?"

"Sure."

Mimi changed into a clean shirt and shorts before grabbing her keys and heading out to her car. There were only four pieces of real estate Jolly owned, and Mimi was standing in one of them. If Jolly wasn't in the building the penthouse was in, or the office, it left only one place left to look. The small shotgun house wasn't too far from Mimi's place, and it had been built by Jolly's grandfather. She had bought it when her grandparents died for the workshop in the back.

The sound of a saw could be heard from the driveway when Mimi walked up. She pulled at her short blonde hair until it stuck straight up as the rapid sound of Jolly's hammer came next. Mimi hated when Jolly got upset but loved the great furniture she ended up with.

"You promised you'd call me this morning." Mimi spoke loudly enough to be heard over the hammering. Whatever had happened it wasn't good since Jolly still had on the clothes from the night before.

"I started on a new supply box for you and time got away from me," said Jolly around the nails in her mouth.

The large piece Jolly was working on could fit most of the paint at Home Depot Mimi guessed, but it was beautiful. "A little big huh, Babe?"

"This is a dresser for your bedroom, the paint supply box is over there," Jolly pointed to a smaller piece sitting on one of the worktables so the glue could dry.

"What's wrong?"

"What makes you think anything's wrong? Maybe I had a burning desire to do something nice for you," said Jolly. The tall woman stepped away from the piece she was working on to see if she had missed anything.

Mimi pulled on her hair again and thought about finding a nice piece of wood to beat Jolly with. "Babe, you're in here sweating when you should be at home sweating for a whole different slew of reasons."

"I'm not into group s.e.x, but thanks for asking," said Jolly picking up the next piece of wood she needed.

The blonde hair got pulled tighter and Mimi let out a groan of frustration. "What are you talking about? Christina just called me and she sounded upset."

"Funny, she should have sounded relaxed after all the s.e.x from last night."

"You slept with her then left her hanging? Jolly, that's not very nice."

"No, I went to see her and she was having s.e.x with someone else. I didn't really stick around to catch her name and shaking hands was out of the question." Jolly didn't sound too upset and Mimi watched her go back to taking measurements.

"You sure that's what they were doing?"

"It's the only activity I could think of off the top of my head that I know people do naked, which the mystery blonde was, and Christina's kiss left no doubt."

Mimi shuddered with both disgust and anger over what Jolly had come home to find. "Gross."

"You said it, shrimpy."

"She failed to mention that during her call to tell me how much she cared about you. Why aren't you mad?" Mimi asked picking up the small hammer Jolly had been using and played with it to give herself something to do with her hands. She had been begging for a dresser to match the bed Jolly had made when she had moved out on her own, but was sad that this is what it took to get it done.

"I didn't have a hold on her, and she didn't make any promises." Jolly shrugged her shoulders and went back to hammering.

"But she kinda did, make promises I mean. You wouldn't have given her a key to the elevator so quick if you didn't feel anything."

"I'm trying to forget that part, Mimi. Just because I have bouts of idiocy doesn't mean I like to be reminded of them." Jolly looked up and snapped her fingers. "Want to change a lock with me?"

"Do I get a key?" asked Mimi.

"Now who's asking silly questions?" Jolly opened her arms and held Mimi tight. The disheveled look of the small blonde made the irritation she was feeling melt away.

They spent the morning piecing together the oak wood Jolly had cut until the main part of the dresser was finished. If she wasn't too tired, Jolly planned to start on the drawers later that afternoon. She was too fatigued to start on the tongue and groove method that would hold the drawers together right then. It was an old technique her grandfather had taught her that was hard to do, but the finished product lasted longer under wear.

A stop at the hardware store got them a new locking mechanism for the elevator, and a stop at the deli scored them sandwiches so Jolly wouldn't have to cook. Mimi tore pieces of Jolly's sandwich off and fed her as they rode the elevator so Jolly could switch out the locks. Whenever anyone got on with them, Jolly let Mimi do all the talking, laughing at how easy she got them to open up and how much information you could get out of someone in less than two minutes.

"Jolly," said Mimi softly as they reached the first floor again. Christina was standing in the lobby staring at them waiting for Jolly to notice her.

Jolly put the last screw into the plate that held the lock in place and put the screwdriver back in her tool belt. "What?" Mimi pointed to the lobby and Jolly just stared at the upset looking blonde standing there.

"Can I talk to you, Jolly?" Christina took a step forward and stopped. A part of her wanted to be angry with Mimi for lying to her that morning, but kept quiet knowing she didn't have a right to feel anger toward anyone.

Jolly grabbed Mimi by the arm before the hothead could beat Christina for what she had done. "Down, girl," Jolly told Mimi. "What can I do for you, Christina?" Jolly didn't step out of the elevator and had pressed Mimi up against her front to keep a hold of her.

"I just want to talk to you."

"And I'm listening. I told you last night, I don't make scenes over women," said Jolly.

"Can I explain?" Christina saw Jolly tightened her hold on Mimi over her question.