"Hey babe," Lynn said, holding out her hand to the woman.

Chris looked a little confused, but by now she had learned to go with the flow and grabbed Lynn's hand.

"Hi, sweetie!" she responded.

Lynn took Chris's hand and pulled her in close. Putting both arms around her, Lynn smiled. "Honey, I think d.i.c.k would like to say h.e.l.lo."

"Uh, it's Rick*" he said, correcting Lynn.

Chris turned and finally understood what was going on.

"Hi," she said without a trace of excitement, "Hey Chris," he responded with a half-smile.

"Honey, Rick was just saying how well he knew you!" Lynn said with a sarcastic smile.

"Really?" Chris asked as she tried to hide her amus.e.m.e.nt. Then with a serious look in her eyes, she reached out and touched Lynn's cheek. "That was the night we had that big fight, babe."

Then, leaning into Lynn's ear, she whispered, "He couldn't even get it up!"

Lynn chuckled as Chris pulled back with a smile.

"What?" Rick asked, his face turning red. He feared Chris remembered exactly what had happened that night.

"Sorry," Chris apologized to Rick. "I was just reminding her how we made up after that fight."

Chris smiled as Rick and his friend tried to keep their jaws from dropping.

The restaurant beeper sounded, and Chris led Lynn away from the men. As the waitress gathered their menus, Lynn whispered to Chris, "I hope you never wanted to go out with him again. You should've heard what he was saying about you!"

Chris shook her head and smiled. "I'm probably glad that I didn't hear!"

"Well, I was just returning yesterday's favor," Lynn remarked.

Chris laughed. "He's probably thinking that he couldn't get it up because I'm a lesbian!"

All of a sudden, Chris's face went white as she realized the words that had just left her mouth: "I'm a lesbian."

Lynn thought Chris was going to faint. She had watched the color leave her face and felt disappointment as she realized how much the word "lesbian" still bothered her friend. Maybe this relationship really wasn't going to go anywhere. For the first time Lynn felt uncomfortable as the two women sat alone. She was extremely relieved when the two men joined them a short time later.

"Hey, Lynn, do you know that woman over there?" Matt said without looking up from his menu.

Lynn raised her eyes and looked around the restaurant. Catching the eyes of a woman seated at a nearby table, she smiled politely and then lowered her eyes back to her menu.

"Nope. Never seen her before."

"Well, she keeps staring at you," Matt commented.

"Maybe she's staring at you!" Lynn laughed.

"Uh, I don't think so." Paul smiled as he looked in the woman's direction.

Lynn looked up again. They were right.

"She's cute, I guess," Chris mumbled. "But she's not your type."

Lynn turned and smiled at Chris, relieved to finally hear her voice again. "Really? And what exactly is my type?"

Chris shrugged and smiled back. "I don't know. Just not her."

Chris's smile made Lynn feel warm all over. Matt elbowed Paul and tried hard not to smile at the flirting going on.

The waitress stepped up to the table and took their orders. Matt and Chris went to the salad bar. Lynn watched as they left, unable to keep her eyes off of Chris's b.u.t.t. She remembered how her hand felt the firm surface during their dance on Sunday night. The memory made her blush.

"Get your mind out of the gutter, girl!" Paul chuckled.

Lynn looked over at him, her face turning even redder. "I know, I know," she said, shaking her head. She downed the rest of her drink, then looked back at Paul and smiled. "It's just so d.a.m.n hard!"

"Lynn, you just need to give her some time."

"You think?" Lynn asked.

Paul nodded, then looking toward the salad bar, mumbled, "Uh-oh."

Lynn looked over and saw Chris standing at the salad bar speaking with the woman who had been staring from the other table. Lynn watched as the two women separated and Chris continued building her salad.

Meanwhile, Matt approached the table with his plate piled high. Leaning over, he whispered in Lynn's ear, "After what she said to that woman making eyes at you, I think she's coming around."

Lynn turned. "What'd she say?" she asked curiously.

Matt smiled. "She told her aeIf you don't stop making eyes at my girlfriend, I'll make sure that you don't see anything through those eyes for quite some time.'"

"She said that? " Lynn said, softly laughing. Just when you think the market is crashing, you're surprised to see that one lone stock slowly on the rise. She spent the remainder of the dinner enjoying her latest investment.

Chris looked up from her book as Lynn walked in the door and set her keys on the table.

"G.o.d, you look exhausted!" Chris exclaimed.

"I am," Lynn replied, then looking at her watch added, "and I have to be at work in four hours."

"I'm sorry, you probably didn't sleep very well last night," Chris teased.

Lynn softly smiled. Chris knew that she had left her frustrated the previous night.

"I'm going to take a quick shower," she said as she headed to the bathroom.

While Lynn was in the shower, Chris made a decision. When Lynn was towel-drying her hair, Chris leaned against the doorway.

"You need some decent sleep. Come sleep in your bed tonight," Chris suggested.

Lynn shook her head. "No, if you sleep on the couch, I'll wake you when I get up."

"I'm not going to sleep on the couch," Chris answered.

Lynn met Chris's eyes in the mirror. She was too exhausted to do anything tonight. Please don't let this be the night.

Chris blushed, realizing what Lynn had thought. "We're both adults. We can sleep in the same bed, right?"

Lynn nodded and lowered her eyes. She could lie in the same bed with Chris, but she didn't know if she would get any sleep.

Lynn wandered into the bedroom and turned down the bed as Chris shut off the lights in the living room. She climbed between the soft sheets, which smelled of Chris's perfume. Trying to calm her feelings of arousal, she rested on her side and shut her eyes. She had almost drifted off to sleep by the time Chris slid into bed.

Chris walked into the bedroom and shut the door. Turning, she saw the outline of the body in the moonlight streaming through the window. As she approached the bed, she saw the slow rise and fall of Lynn's chest as she drifted off to sleep. She felt the heat growing in her body as she slid into bed next to Lynn and noticed the tank top stretched tight, Lynn's nipples protruding against the material. Chris crawled into bed and spooned her backside into the silent body.

Lynn felt Chris's body mold into hers. She gently placed her arm around Chris's stomach and held back a moan as she felt the smooth skin under her hand. Try as she might, she could not resist the temptation to caress the softness under her fingertips. Chris responded by intertwining her legs with Lynn's. Hesitandy, Lynn moved her hand over Chris's hip, sliding across the flannel of Chris's shorts and down onto the firmness of the woman's thigh. The sensation made her own thighs tingle. Receiving no negative reaction, Lynn brought her hand back up, this time slightly lingering on Chris's b.u.t.tock before smoothing back over the bare skin on her stomach. Lynn smiled as she ran her fingertips gently over Chris's belly b.u.t.ton. Feeling the heat between them, Lynn led her palm down the same path again, over the hip onto her thigh, then backup again. This time, feeling a little more daring, Lynn slid her fingers just slightly under the bottom of Chris's shirt, almost as if by accident. Running her fingertips lightly over the indentation of the belly b.u.t.ton then up again, this time Lynn circled farther under the shirt material. Her journey was stopped by Chris's arm, which had taken a somewhat protective stance, but Lynn was not discouraged. She reveled in the softness as she made her way down the familiar path of Chris's body several more times. Deciding to make one last attempt, she brought her fingertips under Chris's shirt, this time finding no barrier. Chris had repositioned her arm to give way to Lynn's further exploration. Lynn took her time, feeling the heat of excitement in further discovery, first letting her fingers smooth over the softness of the skin just beneath the awaiting mounds. On her next trip upward, Lynn let her fingertips glide over the area just below Chris's nipple.

Lynn's body ached as she longed for the next step of this adventure. She slowly made her way down the length of Chris's body, then back up again; from the softness of her thigh she moved her hands over the tightness of her b.u.t.tock. She savored the sensation of her fingers ducking under the material to the focus of her desire. Gently, she caressed the soft mounds with her fingertips and let her thumb just slightly graze Chris's now taut nipple. Stifling a moan, Lynn heard a slight gasp from Chris, who was now so close to her that she could feel even the slightest movement. As she smoothed her way back to Chris's stomach, she felt fingers intertwine with hers. Chris moved Lynn's hand under her chin and pulled Lynn's arms tighdy around her. Lynn knew there would be no farther exploration tonight.

To Lynn's surprise, she was completely content. This was the intimacy that she had longed for. She wanted to tell Chris, tell her that she loved her, wanted her, needed her.

"Chris*" Lynn began through the stillness. But her confession would not be heard tonight. Chris stopped her before she could utter another word.

"Sshli*" Chris whispered without turning her head. "I thought you were tired. Go to sleep."

Maybe Chris was right. It was probably not the right time to discuss this. Lynn snuggled her face into the sweetly scented hair and immediately began to drift into sleep.

It wasn't that easy for Chris. She had been still, in another woman's arms for hours. Her body felt a mixture of contentment and excitement; her mind battled the same. Now she understood the feeling of intimacy Lynn had described to her almost a week ago, a feeling that until now, she had never known. But she was lying with a woman, and this is what was troubling her. She had never thought that love between two women was wrong. But she had never, in her wildest imagination, thought that she would be one of the two women. Her mind experienced terror at the very concept. She could not be a lesbian* She finally drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Fourteen.

Lynn jerked awake and slapped furiously at the b.u.t.ton on the alarm clock to stop the shrill buzzing sound. She tried to focus her eyes. Could it really be five o'clock already? She sensed the body behind her shift and felt the arm flung around her waist pull her body closer. Oh, how she wished that she didn't have to go to work. Unfortunately, one of the waitresses was out due to a death in her family. Lynn had no choice.

She slowly slipped from the bed and turned the alarm clock off. Sighing, she tucked the covers around the sleeping woman and backed away. Quietly, she pulled clothes from the drawers and tiptoed to the door. Before leaving the room, she turned to gaze once more upon the warm body now snuggling with Lynn's abandoned pillow. Tonight she would tell Chris the truth, she decided. Lynn softly shut the door and dressed as she made her way down the hall. Running a brush through her hair, she took one last look in the mirror, and headed out to work.

Chris felt Lynn climb out of bed and clutched at the warm pillow beside her. For a moment she wanted desperately to beg Lynn to stay, but then fell back into a deep sleep. She dreamt of the softness of Lynn's hands on her skin and awoke to find her own hands caressing her body just as Lynn had done the night before.

Several hours later, after a refreshing shower and a couple of cups of coffee, Chris called her answering machine and listened to her messages. There was an urgent call from Debbie, her friend at the college administration office.

Chris dialed the number. "Yes, is Debbie available?" She was quickly transferred to Debbie's desk.

"h.e.l.lo, this is Debbie."

"Hi Debbie, this is Chris. What's up?"

"Hey, I just wanted to know how you got the biggest investment firm in Los Angeles to pay for your next semester's tuition!"

"Excuse me?"

"We just received your next semester's tuition in full on a check made payable from Peabody, Smith, Hadley, and Gregory. You did know about it, didn't you?"

Chris was stunned. "No, there must be some mistake."

"No mistake. It came with a letter stating exactly what the check represented, and for whom."

"My entire semester's tuition?"

"Yeah."

"I didn't, don't know anything about it." Chris was extremely confused. "It came with a letter? On letterhead?"

"Yeah, you want a copy?"

"I would. Can I come down now and get it?"

"No problem."

"I'll be right there." Chris hung up the phone in a daze. An investment firm? She grabbed her keys and sped down to the college office.

"Yes, I'm here to see Debbie," Chris said to the person at the counter. She waited only a few moments before Debbie appeared.

"Hi, Chris," Debbie said as she ushered her into the hallway,and handed her a piece of paper. "Here's a copy of the letter. How strange that you didn't know anything about it. You don't have any kind of trust fund or anything, huh?"

Chris took the letter from Debbie. "No, no trust fond."

Chris read the letter to herself, "This represents payment in foil for the fall semester for Chris Newman." What was going on? She reviewed the letterhead, "Peabody, Smith, Hadley, and Gregory, Investment a.n.a.lysts." Wait a minute, "Gregory?" She scanned the left side of the letterhead, which contained the names of the Partners and the a.s.sociates. She couldn't believe what she saw: "Lynn A. Gregory, Partner."

Debbie must have read the shock in Chris's eyes. "What? Did you figure it out?"

Chris nodded and raised her eyes from the paper. "I've been kind of hanging out with Lynn Gregory. But I had no idea that she was a partner."

"Wait a minute," Debbie interrupted. "You've been aehanging out' with Lynn Gregory?"

"Yeah," Chris answered. "Why?"

Debbie looked at her for a moment before responding. "You do know that she's a lesbian, right? I mean, what are you doing hanging out with a d.y.k.e?"

"How do you know so much about Lynn Gregory?" Chris asked suspiciously.

"I tried to get an internship with that firm last year. I wanted to find out everything that I could about the company. The three men partners are married with children and Ms. Gregory is openly gay," Debbie explained, then asked again, "You know that she's gay, right?"

"Of course I know that," Chris answered with irritation. "Why are you acting like it's such a big deal?"

Debbie brushed at her skirt and tried to sound nonchalant when asking her next question. "So* are you fooling around with her?"