Chris chuckled as she reached for Lynn's hand. "Among other things."

Lynn dialed the couple's telephone number as they drew near their neighborhood.

"h.e.l.lo?" Sam answered on the second ring.

"Hey, I'm about five minutes away," Lynn responded.

"So are you going to tell me what you're coming over for?" Sam asked.

"It's a surprise," Lynn answered, then added, "Oh, and I hope you don't mind, I have someone with me."

"Someone with you?" Sam asked with irritation in her voice. "Take me off that d.a.m.n speakerphone!"

Lynn picked up the receiver and smiled at Chris, who could hear the shrill of the voice on the other end. Chris gestured to Lynn to give her the phone, but Lynn shook her head and kept the receiver to her ear.

Finally, Lynn said, "Sam, we're driving into the complex now. See you in a minute."

Lynn hung up the phone and parked the car. Walking to the door, she turned to Chris. "Boy, did I just get an earful about how I must not have cared for you at all!"

Reaching the door, Chris rang the doorbell and pulled Lynn's arms around her. "Show me how much you care."

Lynn brought her lips down to Chris's just as the door opened. Neither noticed the couple standing in the doorway.

Sam cleared her throat once, then again. Finally the two broke their embrace and smiled at their friends.

"When did this happen?" Beth exclaimed with a smile.

"Well it's about d.a.m.n time!" Sam added as she ushered the two in the door. "And you let me go on and on over the phone about what a jerk you are!"

Lynn laughed. "Like I could get a word in edgewise!"

Beth looked into Chris's eyes. "So tell me, what happened?"

Chris smiled. "You know, you just can't help who you fall in love with."

"So this was a good surprise!" Beth said as the four sat in the living room sipping iced tea.

"Oh, this wasn't the surprise," Lynn said to the couple. Standing, she walked over, grabbed her briefcase, and opened it on the coffee table.

"This is the surprise," she said as she handed a packet to Sam.

"What's this?" Sam asked.

"Hopefully a peace offering," Lynn stated, then continued with the explanation, "I felt really bad about the other night. After some searching, I was able to find financing for your mortgage."

Sam looked at Beth then examined the paperwork. Beth spoke up first. "Lynn, we know that you were upset the other night and we know that deep down in your own way, you were just trying to help us out."

Lynn listened to Beth, and then turned to Sam. "I know that you will feel better this way. It's at the same interest rate and the same term. All you have to do is sign where I've indicated."

"You've looked these over already?" Sam asked.

Lynn nodded and handed Sam a pen. Sam gave the pen to Beth, who signed first, then signed herself and handed the paperwork back.

"Thanks," Sam said, softly meeting Lynn's eyes.

"Friends?" Lynn asked Sam.

Sam smiled and nodded. "Friends."

Lynn put the doc.u.ments back into her briefcase and smiled at Chris. "Now, if you two don't mind, we'd like to head on home."

"Are you sure you don't want to stay and watch a movie or something?" Sam asked.

Chris took Lynn's hand. "No, we have other plans."

Lynn blushed and caught Beth's eyes.

Beth chuckled. "Gee, Lynn, why are you blushing?"

Both couples stood and walked to the door.

"If you guys are free tonight, we're meeting Matt and Paul for dinner at seven. We'd love it if you could join us," Lynn said as she opened the door.

"That sounds like fun," Beth responded, then added with a smile, "Are you sure you guys can pull yourselves away from* you know."

Lynn smiled back. "We'll give it a try. Bye, guys!"

At home, Lynn swung open the door to her house, when the next thing she knew she had been pulled up against Chris's body and against the wall. Chris pulled her lips in for a fiery kiss.

Pulling her lips away, Chris looked into Lynn's eyes. "Take me,"

Lynn looked at Chris somewhat amused. "Interesting words you've chosen, my dear."

"I merely used the words to imply urgency!" Chris said.

Lynn smiled teasingly. "So, right here, right now?"

Chris teased back, "At least I waited until we were out of the car!"

"I think I've created a monster," Lynn said, smirking.

"I'm glad you're having fun with this." Chris grabbed the collar of Lynn's shirt and brought their faces together. "I want you so bad right now I'm about to explode."

"Well, let's see what I can do about that." Lynn kissed Chris hungrily while letting her hands roam down over Chris's neck, her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, her hips. Bringing her hand inward, she brushed Chris's burning fire with her fingertips. Chris moaned with desire. Lynn brought her hands back up and then slowly let them run back down her body, this time following with her hot breath until she got to the waistband of the slacks. She unb.u.t.toned and unzipped the fasteners with one motion and pulled the slacks and her underwear down, leaving her hot breath teasing the coa.r.s.e hair that covered Chris's heat. Down on her knees Lynn brought her tongue to the source of the wetness. Chris stepped out of the tangled clothes and opened her legs wider for her lover. Lynn felt Chris's fingers entangled in her hair, forcing her tongue to push harder and harder until the body next to her released its pent-up frustration.

Lynn stood, pinned Chris against the wall, and pushed her fingers into her. Chris cried out with pleasure as she felt the thrust. She wanted* no, she needed to touch Lynn, too. With one motion, she pulled open the b.u.t.tons on her partner's jeans and slipped her hand inside. The wetness she found made it easy for Chris to enter. The two pressed against the wall, moving together, slowly enjoying each other's presence. Then, the movement quickened and each cried out with the pleasure they felt inside. Slowly, they both sank to the ground and continued the dance.

The three couples sat around an alcohol-free table laughing and teasing about the way Matt's charade had played out.

Sam was particularly amused at the way Marie had caught the two women in the bathroom. It seemed to trigger another memory. "Do you remember the time that you*" Lynn's glare stopped her in mid-sentence.

Chris caught on right away and turned to her new lover. "You can't stop her from telling every story, Lynn!"

"No, but I don't want you to hear about every woman I've been with, just like I don't want to hear about every man that you've been with!" Lynn said as she looked into Chris's eyes. She had to concentrate on her eyes, as every time her eyes wandered down to the rest of her body, she lost all control. Chris, at Lynn's request, had on the short black dress that had driven Lynn crazy many nights before.

Losing concentration for a moment, Lynn let her eyes stray. She found her mind drawn to a fantasy from a couple of weeks ago. Lynn drew her hand under the table and placed it upon Chris's bare knee. Inching her hand up Chris's thigh, she smoothed under the black material. Turning her hand inward, her fingertips reached the silk which covered the area that she had tasted just hours ago.

"Lynn," Sam interrupted Lynn's movement. Lynn looked over at her innocently. Sam continued, "If you would be so kind as to leave both of your hands above the table. Your girlfriend is about ready to have a heart attack."

Lynn looked like her hand had been caught in the cookie jar, which indeed it had. She looked over at Chris, whose face was bright red. Slowly she brought her hand above the table, placed it over Chris's and gave it a squeeze.

"Gee, Beth, how do you live with this old married woman?" Lynn asked, nodding in Sam's direction.

Beth smiled and also squeezed the hand of her lover. "I have no complaints, Lynn."

Sam smiled proudly, knowing that she had won the fight again.

"I don't think there's anyone at the table with complaints," Paul remarked.

"It's true!" Chris said. Then raising her water gla.s.s to toast, she winked at Matt. "Here's to breaking your rule about meeting men in bars!"

Matt smiled and raised his gla.s.s to Lynn. "And here's to breaking your rule about making a pa.s.s at a straight woman!" His toast was also accompanied by a wink.

Following suit, Lynn then offered up her gla.s.s with one last toast, a toast that she knew only Matt would fully understand. "And here's to the patience it takes for the especially risky investments, for they often yield a very satisfying return." Matt laughed and smiled at his best friend. Then they all clinked gla.s.ses in celebration of their futures together.

The End.