brought to my office. Riley smiled at the memory of Sam at her door with the

over loaded tray. Then her body flushed as she remembered the feel of Sam

pressing her against the desk and her hand between her legs stroking her. She

felt herself get wet and begin to throb. Enough of that! She told herself forcing

the thoughts away.

She headed for the phone.

"Hello."

"Hi Sam, how's it going?"

"Who is this? Do I know you?" Sam asked teasingly.

Riley could hear the smile in her voice. "Well I sure hope so, you seemed to

know me pretty well when you had your hand down my pants." Riley slapped her

hand over her mouth. She didn't know what made her say these things to Sam.

She'd never made sexual comments like that to anyone before. Her base side

just seemed to take over every time she was around the woman.

There was a moment of shocked silence then Sam roared with laughter. "Hi

Riley... I missed you too." Her libido flared to life as she remembered the feel of

Riley under her hand. Sam had been careful not to make any overtly sexual

comments worried she might scare Riley off. Guess that's not gonna be a

problem, she snickered.

Riley was mortified, her face turned bright red.

"God Sam I'm sorry I just don't know what comes over me when I'm around you.

My mouth just runs away from me." She apologized.

Sam just laughed harder. "Don't worry about it Riley. I like it." Sam laughingly

told her. "So you finally got a break huh? Have you gotten any rest?"

"Yeah. Denny came back last night. His son is doing well. I got home about 2am

and just got up. I haven't had a week like this in a long time and hope I don't

again any time soon."

"Glad to hear you got some rest at least. When do you have to go back?"

"Not 'til Noon on Monday thank goodness." Riley said sighing in relief. "I was wondering could I interest you in lunch? I'm starving and the cupboards are bare

here."

"That sounds great." Sam enthused. "Any place special you'd like to go?"

"Want to come up here and then we'll decide?"

Sam immediately flashed to an image of Riley's condo. She didn't want to go

back there if she could help it. "Umm, how about we met somewhere in the

middle?"

Riley caught Sam's hesitation thinking maybe she didn't want to meet after all.

"It's okay Sam maybe some other time."

Sam cursed herself. She just didn't want to go to Riley's condo. Good going,

now the woman thinks you don't want to see her. She berated herself. You're

such an ass McKenna. Suck it up and go to her place.

"No Riley I really do want to go out with you. I just thought if you're really hungry

it might be faster to meet somewhere." Sam tried to explain. "I'll be there in

about 30 minutes... okay?"

Riley feeling reassured and reminded of how hungry she was by her protesting

stomach quickly made a decision.

"No Sam you're right it would be quicker to meet somewhere and I am starving.

Where do you want to meet?"

Sam thought quickly. "Do you like BBQ? I know a great place in Normal

Heights."

Riley's stomach rumbled at the though of good BBQ. "OH that sounds great.

Where do I meet you?"

"The place is called Phil's; it's on Washington just off Goldfinch. Do you know

where that is?"

"Yeah I know that area. I'll meet you there." Riley said starting to hang up.

"Wait Riley I need to call ahead or we'll never get anything to eat. The place is

packed on the weekends. You trust me? I can order for both of us."

"Sure Sam go ahead and order for both of us. I'll meet you there." Riley said.

She quickly hung up and grabbed her keys. The day was looking up already.

She never noticed the blinking light on her answering machine.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley drove slowly past the restaurant looking for a parking space. She spotted a

pay lot and pulled in. She got the vehicle parked and was just reaching for her

purse when someone knocked on the passenger window. Riley jumped in

surprise then smiled when she saw Sam motioning her to unlock the door. She

hit the unlock button and Sam climbed into the truck.

"Hi there."

"Hi there yourself." Riley responded.

Sam leaned over the console and Riley leaned to meet her half way. They came

together in a soft gentle unhurried kiss. When the kiss ended they simply stared

at each other for several moments. Finally, Riley broke the silence.

"I missed you this week."

Sam smiled. "I missed you too."

Riley's stomach chose that moment to remind her of its presence. The sound

was loud in the quiet SUV.

Sam chuckled. "Let's get you something to eat before you fall over. When was

the last time you ate?"

Hum... let me think. I'm pretty sure I might've had some lunch yesterday."

"Riley! You need to take better care of yourself. You need to eat more regularly."

Sam complained.

"It's usually not this bad. I've just been really swamped and I've never quite

figured out how to eat and operate on someone at the same time." She

laughingly told Sam.

"Well come on then you need to eat before that damn thing goes off again." Sam

said pointing at Riley's pager on her belt. Sam's eyes slid down Riley's body to

the space between her legs before coming back up to meet her eyes. "That

thing has the absolute worse timing."

Riley gulped and her face flushed, she remembered well the last time her pager

had interrupted them.

Sam's eye's glowed with renewed arousal. She reached out to touch Riley.

Riley leaned back avoiding Sam's touch. "Sam... we should go into the

restaurant... please. If you touch me I won't be responsible for what happens."

Riley pleaded. She knew if Sam touched her it would be all over. It wouldn't

matter that they were sitting in her SUV in a public parking lot.

Sam shook her head trying to clear away the sexual haze she'd fallen into. She

reminded herself that they were in a very public place. She didn't know what

came over her whenever she was with Riley.

"I'm sorry, you're right. Let's go." She apologized.

Riley reached out and gently squeezed Sam's forearm. "You've got nothing to

apologize for. I just don't want to get arrested for public sex; with a police officer

no less." She teased.

Sam laughed wrapping her arm around Riley's shoulders in a quick hug.

Riley could smell the BBQ as soon as they got out of the truck. Her stomach

growled again loudly. Sam chuckled. Riley's eyes widened as they reached the

restaurant. There was a huge line streaming out the door. Sam saw her look.

"Don't worry, I called ahead. See the other door? That's for people who phoned

in orders."

Riley saw the second door Sam was pointing to and breathed a sigh of relief.

The BBQ smell was making her mouth water.

Sam led the way inside and up to the counter. Riley looked around while Sam

got their food. The restaurant consisted of several small rooms with wooden

tables and chairs. In a frame on the wall was the edition of San Diego Magazine,

which listed them as the best restaurant in San Diego. There was also a framed

tee shirt advertising, "Eat at Phil's". The first room also sported a brick fireplace.

Sam noticed Riley's interest in the room and decor. "It used to be a private home

before being converted to a restaurant." She explained when she approached

with a full tray in her hands. "Come on let's find a seat."

Sam led the way toward the back of the restaurant. As they turned the corner

Riley's attention was on Sam's flexing gluts instead of where she was going. She

ran into someone sitting on a chair as she came around the corner. She had just

a second to see the hat and long beard before the old man slumped into her

arms. Riley panicked as she started to lower the limp body to the ground.

"Sam." She yelped. "Help!"

Sam turned to find Riley lowering the old man to the floor, her face showing her

panic. Sam couldn't help it she burst out laughing. She quickly set the tray down

before she dropped it. Riley looked at Sam in shock, and then glanced down at

the old man. That's when she realized it was a mannequin. Her face flamed red.

The look on Riley's face was priceless.

"I don't think even you can help him." Sam teased. Her laughter rang through the

room. Riley stood and placed the old man back on his chair. She crossed her

arms over her chest and glared at Sam. Riley glanced around seeing several

people chuckling at her encounter with the old man. Sam quickly made her way

back over to Riley. She put her arm around her shoulders and squeezed

consolingly.

"Don't feel bad, he startled me the first time I came here too." Sam assured her.

She led her past the old man and to a table in the next room. "Let's eat. I

ordered us BBQ Broham sandwiches, you're going to love it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lunch had been relaxing and fun despite her run-in with the mannequin. Riley

hadn't realized how much she'd missed having someone to do things with. When

she'd been with Keith, there had always been an underlying tension. She

realized in retrospect that though they had dated for a month she'd never really

relaxed with him. Being with Sam was comfortable; she was free to be herself.

Sam offered her an easy affection she'd never known with anyone else. With the

men she'd dated if she responded to any affection they offered they immediately

tried to escalate it into sex. Though she knew Sam wanted her as much as she

wanted Sam she never felt pressured. It was a liberating feeling.

Riley was disappointed their day had ended so soon. Sam was expecting Kim

and Jess. Sam had invited her to come with them to dinner. She had made an

excuse of still being tired. Truth was she wasn't quite ready to face Jess after the

way she'd treated Sam in the hospital. Even though she'd apologized repeatedly,

she knew she had hurt Sam and that her sister might not look too kindly on her

at the moment. Once we've been together for a while, then I'll see them again.

That way they'll know for sure I'd never hurt Sam again. She yawned as she

drove into her condo complex. She was still pretty beat and looked forward to

some much needed sleep. She couldn't wipe the wide smile off her face brought

on by her time with Sam.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Riley opened the door to her condo and immediately frowned. She didn't

remember leaving the living room light on. Stepping into the living room she

stopped dead in her tracks.

"Where have you been?" A gruff male voice demanded.

"Uncle Rielly, what are you doing here?"

"I left you a message on Monday that I would be here today. Where have you

been? I've been waiting over an hour."

"I'm sorry I didn't get your message. I've been at the hospital all week." Riley

said meekly staring at the floor.

Riley cursed herself for her meek response. She could feel herself falling back

into the role of the meek and mild child. Never cause any problems, don't rock

the boat. She looked up meeting her uncle's eyes.

"Is Aunt Margaret here?" Riley asked looking around for her aunt.

"You still haven't answered my question. I know you weren't at the hospital. I

called. Where were you?" He demanded again.

Riley was surprised at the amount of emotion in her uncle's voice. His voice

rarely gave any indication to his emotional state. He must be truly upset about

something. Riley couldn't help wondering what it was.

Before Riley could respond her Aunt Margaret came down the stairs. What the