Cat chuckled.

“So, how?s dinner sound?”

“Hmm?I might be persuaded.” Looking up at Dylan, she grinned. “Is tall, dark and delicious on the menu?”

Dylan rolled her eyes. “As long as it?s a thick steak or a large cup of coffee, no problem.”

Cat affected a pout, which earned her a gentle bump on the nose from her tall partner. “So?”

“I suppose,” Cat replied, releasing a sigh worthy of any martyr. “Gimme a second to change, ok?”

“Sure.”

The pair was just finishing what even Cat had to admit was an absolutely fabulous, and rather romantic, meal when Dylan?s phone rang. With a grunt of disgust, she pulled the slim phone from her jacket pocket, unflipped it, and held it to her ear. Barely a moment later, she closed the phone and sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose between two fingers.

“What?” Cat asked.

“The idiot who calls himself my agent,” Dylan grumbled. “I was supposed to sign some papers for him today and I left them back at my house.” Shaking her head, she shoved the phone back in her jacket. “Damnit. I?d normally blow him off, but he?s meeting with Nike tomorrow, and they?re already whining about the damn contract.”

Cat?s face fell a little, though she tried valiantly to hide her disappointment. “That?s okay,” she said finally, giving her best smile. “We were pretty much done here anyway, right?”

“Yeah.” Dylan?s fierce blue eyes softened. “I?m sorry, Cat. This wasn?t what I had in mind when I suggested going out for dinner.”

“That?s okay.” Cat?s smile became more genuine. “You can always make it up to me later.”

Chuckling, Dylan eased her long frame from the bench seat and stood, straightening the lay of her jacket. “Ready?”

“Let?s go.”

Once inside her car, Dylan looked at her watch, then lightly beat her hand against the steering wheel. “We?re never gonna make it. His damn plane leaves in a couple hours.”

“Well?um?are we close to your house?” Cat paused a moment, then hurried on. “I mean, instead of dropping me off and then going back, we could just go over to your house, pick up the papers, and drop them off, right? I mean, if that?s okay.”

Cat wasn?t sure why she was suddenly feeling so hesitant, but she did know that above all things, Dylan?s privacy was her most prized possession. She hadn?t seen her coach?s house yet, hadn?t even asked about it, and figured Dylan would issue the invitation when she was ready. If she was ever ready.

She bravely raised her eyes, to meet Dylan?s smiling gaze.

“I?m glad someone in this car remembered their brains today. You sure you don?t mind coming along?”

“Are you kidding?” Spreading her arms, Cat lounged back into the incredibly soft leather of the bucket seat. “Lead on, Madame. I?m yours for the evening.”

“Geez,” Cat remarked, stepping out of the car and eyeing the grounds of Dylan?s estate, “this place have its own zip code?”

“Ha, ha,” was Dylan?s droll reply as she walked toward the door and inserted her key. Opening the door, she is almost bowled over by two very large, very feisty dogs, who stopped briefly to greet her, then pelted outside to snarl at the intruder to their domain.

“Halt!” Dylan yelled, freezing both dogs in their tracks before Cat had the chance to either scream or keel over. “You?d better both be sitting by the time I turn around, or I?m going to have a nice pair of matching furs to hang over the fireplace.”

Brunhilde and Siegfried sat immediately. Siegfried look chagrinned. Brunhilde just looked pissed.

Turning, Dylan walked in between her two dogs, laying a hand on each of their huge heads. “This, my dears, is Cat. She is a friend. Understand?”

Brunhilde gave a soft chuff, not entirely convinced. Siegfried promptly rolled over onto his back in an invite for a belly rub.

Cat broke into laughter, completely charmed by the goofball?s antics.

Brunhilde growled.

“Brunhilde!”

Bending at the waist, Dylan stared into Brunhilde?s intelligent eyes. The dog?s eyes shifted away, then back again.

“Jealousy doesn?t become you. Deal with it.”

Brunhilde growled again, softly.

“I mean it.”

After a long moment, Brunhilde gave an almost human sigh, and dropped gracefully down to her belly, resting her head on her paws.

“Good girl.” Dylan looked up to see Cat?s concerned gaze. Her expression softened. “Don?t worry. She won?t hurt you.”

“That?s not what I?m worried about,” Cat replied, looking at Brunhilde, and her mistress, in turn.

Dylan?s eyebrow rose.

Cat blushed. “I?um?I don?t want to come between you, that?s all. It?s obvious you mean everything to her.”

“And she means everything to me.” This was said with a truly loving look toward the ?she? in question. A look that was returned with equal emotion. “She?ll be alright.”

Siegfried whined, still waiting for his belly rub.

Cat looked at Dylan, a question in her eyes.

“Go ahead,” Dylan said, laughing. “He won?t shut up until you do.”

Cat approached the dog slowly, squatted down, and began to rub his warm, soft belly, to his extreme delight and appreciative groans.

A moment later, she was almost launched into orbit by the feel of a large, wet, and very cold nose pressing on the inside of her free arm. Brunhilde?s slightly grudging, slightly beseeching gaze caused the laughter to well up again, and Cat gave into it, reaching up and scratching the large dog gently behind the ears.

“Alright, you two. Enough with the hedonism. Inside.”

All thoughts of pleasure forgotten, the two dogs immediately rose to their feet and trotted into the house. Dylan and Cat followed close behind.

“Wow?” was all Cat could say as she entered the grand residence. Huge, airy and open, it was as if someone had stepped into her dreams and brought them to life.

Dylan looked over her shoulder, smiling as she noticed Cat?s rapt wonder. “I?d give you the nickel tour, but we?re running late. Feel free to look around while I scrounge up those damn papers. Be back in a minute.”

As Dylan jogged up the stairs, her faithful companions only a step behind, Cat took immediate advantage of the invitation and walked to the first thing that caught her attention: a wall made entirely of glass, which looked out onto the back of the huge, sprawling grounds.

In the foreground, down a slight hill, sat a sparkling, and quite large, in-ground pool which gave the illusion it was being fed from the artfully created waterfall set into the hill. At the base of the waterfall, Cat could see a good-sized Jacuzzi just waiting for some lucky person to immerse herself within its warm, swirling waters.

Behind the pool, brightly lit against the darkening night, was a large, clay floored basketball court.

“So this is how the other half lives,” she said softly, her breath slightly fogging the glass in front of her. “Niiiice.”

Turning away from the window, Cat looked over the large living room. Dylan?s tastes apparently ran toward modern. Leather and chrome dominated the huge, open structure. Tasteful, colorful, and no doubt frightfully expensive pieces of abstract art decorated the otherwise barren walls.

In one corner sat the mother of all entertainment centers. Cat got pleasant chills just looking at it. Part of her, the electronics geek that was all her father, itched to dig in and play, to see just what all that sleek metal and glass and fabric was capable of.

Her fantasies were interrupted at the sound of Dylan?s quiet return. She turned, quite aware of the goofy look on her face. “Quite a place you?ve got here.”

Dylan shrugged. “It?ll do.” Then she smiled. “Glad you like it.”

“Like it? A girl could fall in love here, you know.”

Dylan?s eyes sparkled. “She could, could she?”

The change in the tenor of their banter finally penetrated Cat?s hazed mind, and she froze for a moment as the words replayed in her head. Then she smiled. “Yes. She could.”

The two stared at one another, separated only by the silence of emotions a hair away from being revealed.

Dylan?s cell-phone shattered the intensity of the moment into a million shining fragments. “What?” she barked the second the phone was up to her ear.

“Testy, testy!” Manny?s voice was its usual annoyance. “You planning on getting those papers to me before Chanukah, sweetheart, or am I going to have to send the nice Nike people to come down and collect them personally?”

“Call me sweetheart again, Manny, and I?ll break you like the slimy little twig you are.”

Cat?s eyes widened, not realizing that this passed for normal banter between the two.

“Ooooo, someone?s got a touch of the PMS, nu?”

“Cut it, Manny. I?m headed out the door now. I?ll be there in ten.”

“Ta, sweetheart.”

Growling, Dylan snapped the phone closed and shoved it back in its place.

“Everything okay?” Cat asked cautiously.

Blowing out a frustrated breath, Dylan forced herself to calm. She smiled. “Never better. Let?s get outta here before my head explodes. Brains are a bitch to get out of leather.”

“Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to ESPN?s annual coverage of the Children?s Cancer Initiative Pro-Am Three on Three tourney. I?m Bob Haskell, here with my partner Jan Wainright in sunny California to cover what promises to be an interesting and fast-paced weekend of athletic competition”

“You?re right about that, Bob. Especially after yesterday?s surprise announcement which shocked the sporting world and caused tickets, already going briskly, to completely sell out in just a little over twenty minutes.”

“And that surprise, Jan ,is of course the announcement that Dylan Lambert, the Goddess of Women?s Professional Basketball, will be competing in this year?s tournament.”

“It certainly surprised me, Bob.”

“I?m sure it did, Jan. Now, let?s get to the particulars. Basketball isn?t the only sport being played during this four day event.”

“You?re right, Bob. Some of the teams that are competing in the basketball arena are also going to be competing on an entirely different court. Made of sand.”

“Yes, two on two beach volleyball will be on the schedule for the first two days of this weekend athletic gala, and we have several interesting matchups to be seen here today.”

In the tunnel into the small, but packed, stadium, Dylan was sitting calmly on a stool, adjusting her new knee brace before dropping her lose nylon windbreaker type pants over it. Crossing her arms over her knee, she watched with amusement as Cat either paced back and forth as if trying to wear a hole through the cement floor, or jumped in place like a demented kangaroo, swinging her arms in large, looping circles.

“You?ll have had bigger crowds at your high school games,” Dylan commented softly as Cat stopped jumping and began pacing again.

“Tell that to my stomach,” Cat retorted, reaching the wall and turning to pace again. “It?s got butterflies the size of chickens in there and they?re complaining about the accommodations.”

Laughing softly, Dylan stood. Approaching Cat, she gathered her in for a close, warm hug. “It?ll be alright. You?ll see.”

Cat burrowed in close, enjoying the scent of Dylan, which was now enhanced by sweet-smelling coconut oil. “Mmm.”

Chuckling, Dylan pressed a kiss to the crown of Cat?s head, then released her, smiling down at the younger woman, eyes soft and clear.

Their quiet moment was interrupted by the sounds of their opponents approaching. One was immediately recognizable as Lany Simmons, a tall, rather stocky pro golfer who was known for out hitting the men from their own tees. Her partner was a shorter, spry Olympic miler, Mary Talb. Dylan and Cat nodded to the women, who nodded back in turn and exited the tunnel into the sunshine beyond.

“Shall we?” Dylan asked.

“Let?s get this over with,” Cat grumbled.

The PA speaker came to life, announcing their names. Both women slipped sunglasses over their eyes and stepped into the warm, sunny day.

The crowd was immense, and growing. There wasn?t an inch left in the stands. Fans stood along the sides and back, cheering wildly as they entered the court. Dylan?s name was chanted with such ecstatic force that Cat feared for a moment that a riot was about to erupt.

She looked around in awe, eyes wide, and realized, for the first time, just a little of what it was like to be Dylan Lambert.

“Dear God,” she whispered, holding a hand to the pulse hammering in her throat. She found herself fighting down a sudden, almost overwhelming and totally unexpected attack of claustrophobia as the crowd seemed to grow and swell before her wide, staring eyes. Voices and faces merged into one writhing and almost malevolent entity, swelling toward her as if intent on ripping out her very heart and displaying it on a trophy stand on their collective mantle.