"Wow," Jamie said softly as they exited the building. "Good thing she’s not selling cars. She’d go broke in a week!"

"Yeah, that was a bit of brutal honesty," Ryan agreed. She turned to her partner and said, "I want to chat about this some more, but if I don’t get some nourishment, I’m afraid I’m gonna cause a scene!"

Jamie’s gentle laugh was accompanied by a playful swat on the seat. "Let’s walk down Telegraph and stop at the first place that gets your attention, Tiger."

They settled on the first place they hit that didn’t have a long line. When the server arrived, Ryan abandoned all pretense of propriety and said, "I’ve gotta have something in my stomach quickly. Bring us whatever appetizer is fastest."

"Let me tell you the specials for the day," the young man replied, ignoring Ryan’s clear request.

"You must not have understood me," she said firmly. "Please go into the kitchen and grab the quickest thing in there. We can chat when you return."

Jamie stared as her as the irritated server sniffed but proceeded to follow her lover’s orders. "I’ve never seen you act so…" she struggled for a term that wasn’t too offensive, but found that she couldn’t think of one.

"I wasn’t kidding," Ryan said softly. As Jamie looked at her carefully, she noticed that under her lover’s tanned face a tinge of gray had replaced the pink hue of good health that she normally exhibited.

"Honey, what’s wrong?" Jamie asked, immediately worried that Ryan might be ill.

"I didn’t get enough to eat today," she muttered, a little angry with herself for failing to take care of her nutritional needs. "After we were done at the spa I was afraid to eat much, since I knew I’d be working my butt off this afternoon. I actually feel kinda sick."

The server returned to unceremoniously drop a platter of antipasto onto the table, with Ryan digging into it so quickly that she nearly made sparks fly. He watched her, a bit in awe, as he described the specials to Jamie. When he finished speaking, Ryan looked up at him with one of her most charming smiles and said, "I apologize for being so abrupt earlier. But I was about to pass out, and I guarantee you wouldn’t want me falling on you."

"That’s okay," he said, completely placated. "You were obviously serious," he added as he watched her continue to plow through the platter as he spoke. "Did you want an entrée too?"

"At least!" she cried, laughing through a mouthful of marinated red peppers.

"Sweetheart," Jamie chided after the server left, "you’ve got to make sure you get a decent meal, especially when you’re working out like this!"

"I know, I know," she agreed. "I didn’t take very good care of myself today. It’s hard to find high-quality snacks that can fuel me when I get into a bind like that."

"Do you have a space at the gym where you can keep things?"

"Yeah, there’s a small locker in the office for each of us."

"Let’s fill it with some things for situations like this. No matter what you do this fall, you’re gonna be stressing your body, and you need to keep your weight up."

"I know. That’s a good idea, Babe."

Their entrees were delivered quickly, and conversation came to a standstill while Ryan polished off her linguini with clam sauce. "Can’t hold a candle to yours," she said dismissively as she eyed Jamie’s veal piccata.

"Go on," she said as she pushed the plate across the table. "I should know better than to ever expect to finish an entrée."

Ryan gave her a guilty look, but nonetheless downed the remainder of the veal dish in moments. While she ate she commented, "Do you think I should consider the basketball team?"

Jamie knew the question was coming and she had already prepared her answer. "If it was me, I would have no interest in being in that hornet’s nest," she said dismissively. "But I don’t think most of the things Lynette said would really bother you. So it all comes down to enjoyment. Do you enjoy playing basketball enough to ignore the bullshit?"

"I think so," Ryan said rather thoughtfully. "I know you don’t think this way, but the fact that it sounds like it’ll be difficult makes it more appealing to me."

Jamie smiled at her and nodded her head. "I might have been wrong about Lynette ," she mused. "A good car salesperson tailors their pitch to their audience. I think she knew that the truth would appeal to you."

"Could be," Ryan agreed with a self-effacing chuckle. "I just hope I’m not buying a lemon with this team."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Later that night, Ryan was just getting down to some serious neck nibbling when Jamie’s cell phone rang, causing the little phone to dance on the dresser. "Umm…mind if I get that?" Jamie was lying prone on the bed, Ryan’s powerful body hovering over her, most of her weight resting on her braced arms.

"Go ahead." Ryan smiled sweetly, not moving a muscle.

A quick tickle to the armpit caused Ryan to rethink her reluctance to move, and she rolled into a not-so-little ball to escape her partner’s twitching fingers. Jamie swatted her on the butt as she scampered off the bed to retrieve the phone. Grabbing it on the sixth ring she panted, "Hello."

"Jamie? Uhh…did I catch you at a bad time?"

"No, Daddy," she said, blushing a little at the sensation of speaking to her father while she was naked, and on the verge of making love. She shrugged into her robe, rolling her eyes at Ryan, who was trying to suppress a giggle. "I was just getting ready for bed."

"My, you have been working hard," he laughed. "It’s only 8:30." There was a moment of silence as the thought of what his daughter was doing in bed at 8:30 at night hit him. "Uhh…I…uhh…called to speak to you about a call I received from Tuck today."

"Yes?" Jamie had assumed that her trust officer, Tuck Gray, would mention her request for an income distribution to her father, but she didn’t think it would be so soon. "Is there a problem?"

He hesitated for a moment, his irritation showing when he said, "Other than the fact that you didn’t ask my permission, no."

She blinked slowly, completely unaccustomed to being required to account for her purchases. "Ask for permission?" she said slowly, meeting eyes with Ryan, who looked pained. "Since when do I have to ask for your permission to spend my money?"

"Since you started spending $25,000 on a car," he said, his temper still flaring. "I should think that requesting a $25,000 distribution might warrant a mention, Jamie."

"We talked about this when we played golf, Daddy. If I recall, it was your idea that I buy a car! Why does this bother you?"

His voice was softer now, and she could hear the hurt as he said, "I thought we’d do this together, Jamie."

Oh-oh…he’s jealous! Realizing that her father had a very proprietary interest in helping her make decisions, she mentally kicked herself for failing to realize this and for not consulting him. "I’m sorry, Daddy," she said softly. "I didn’t mean to make you feel left out."

"That’s hardly the issue, Jamie," he huffed, and now she kicked herself for wounding his pride. "I am your trustee, and it’s my duty to make sure your money is handled properly."

"Daddy," she said evenly, "I didn’t buy a Ferrari Testarossa. I bought the small Lexus SUV."

"You can’t buy that car for $25,000," he scoffed.

"You can if it’s used," she countered. "Ryan was uncomfortable spending so much money, so she convinced me to buy a demo."

"A demo?" Jim asked slowly.

"Yeah, you know, a car that the dealer uses for test drives and for the sales people to drive."

"I know what a demo is, Jamie," he sniffed. He really didn’t have a rejoinder to her statement. His daughter had purchased a good quality car that would suit her needs perfectly, and he had to admit that he would have suggested either it or the Mercedes SUV if she had asked him. Buying it used was odd, but also reassured him a little that she wasn’t being frivolous—and that Ryan wasn’t trying to run through her money either. "I…uhh…just want you to ask me next time, Jamie," he said, unwilling to give up his control.

She laughed and reassured him. "We’re not going to be in the market for another car for a very long while, Daddy."

"I don’t just mean about cars, Jamie. I’d like to know beforehand before you request any type of funds transfer."

She counted to ten, hoping the little pause would allow her temper to calm. Regrettably, it didn’t, and she snapped, "I’ve never had to do that before, Daddy. I’d like to know why you’re trying to exert more control over me as I grow older. Shouldn’t it be the reverse?"

"Spending this amount of money makes me doubt your maturity, Jamie," he said, knowing that he was overreacting, but finding himself powerless to control his annoyance.

She took in a deep breath, trying valiantly to stop herself from saying something she would regret. "That’s very disappointing to hear, Daddy. I don’t think I’ve done anything to make you feel that way, but of course, you’re in charge, so I’m forced to abide by your orders." She knew she was being bitchy, but he had really hurt her feelings, and she wanted him to know it.

"That’s not fair, Jamie," he insisted. "I’m not giving you orders. I’m making a reasonable request."

"A request that I have no choice but to follow." She let that sink in and then said, "Ryan’s waiting for me, Daddy. I have to go. Good night." As she switched off the phone, she dropped it onto her desk and flopped down onto the bed next to Ryan. "That went well!"

"Is he mad that you bought a car, or mad that you didn’t ask for permission?" Ryan asked, surmising the gist of the conversation.

"Neither, if my guess is correct. I think he’s hurt that I didn’t take him with me, but he’s embarrassed to admit that."

"Bummer," Ryan muttered solicitously. "Doesn’t sound like it ended well."

Jamie rubbed her eyes with her fists, irritated with herself for losing her temper. "No, it didn’t, but I should have behaved better. I just can’t stand to be dictated to about money!"

I can vouch for that, Ryan agreed privately. "What’re the rules about getting money from your trust?" she asked, not sure that Jamie had ever discussed them.

"I don’t think I know what all of the rules are," she admitted. "I don’t even have a copy of the trust agreement! I wanted to show it to you, so I looked for it before we went to Pebble Beach, but I discovered that I didn’t have one. I called Daddy to ask for a copy, and, as usual, he assured me that I have enough money for a dozen lifetimes—and that I had nothing to worry about." She made a sour face, always irritated when her father treated her like she wasn’t capable of making her own decisions.

"I’m sorry he hurt your feelings, Babe," Ryan soothed, rubbing Jamie’s back gently.

"I’ll get over it," she muttered. "It’s happened before and it’ll happen again. He just needs to feel like he’s in charge," twinkling green eyes blinked up at Ryan, "even though he’s not!"

* * * * * * * * * * * *

On Friday morning, Jamie woke to the pleasant sensation of soft fingers lightly running over her stomach and thighs. Without a word, she reached down and guided the hand so the touch came up a little higher. Ryan’s chuckle rumbled into her ear, "Sorry I wasn’t covering all of the favorite terrain."

"You were covering all of yours," she corrected sleepily, "just not all of mine."

"I’m ready to rock," Ryan’s wide-awake voice purred into her ear.

"I can tell," Jamie drawled as she rubbed her backside into Ryan’s lap. "Do you want to do something about it, Tiger?"

"Yes, but we really should get up. We’ve got to meet the team in a half hour, and I don’t just want a quickie."

"Okay," Jamie agreed as she rolled onto her back and stretched sensually for several minutes. Ryan watched her with a gleam in her eye that just would not quit. Jamie caught the look and teased, "That leer makes me think your baser instincts might win out this morning."

Ryan shook her head and hopped out of bed. "Nope. I’m staying on the straight and narrow. But I want to hit the sack by eight tonight. I’ve got big plans for you, Baby."

"Can we do that at home?" Jamie asked tentatively.

"What? Have sex?" Ryan replied with wide eyes. "Fine time to ask now!"

"No, silly. Can we go to bed that early? Won’t you feel a little funny if everyone’s at home?"

"Nope. If we’re going to live there we have to treat it like it’s ours. If we think that we have to be with the family all the time, it just won’t work. So I think we need to keep our own schedule and let them adapt. They’ve already been very respectful of our closed door. No one has even knocked if the door is closed, and we didn’t even have to say anything about it. I think we should decide if we want to eat with the family and tell them in advance. Kind of like I used to do. I don’t want to feel like I’m in high school again, Baby."

"Let’s talk to your father and see what we can work out."

"Okay, we’ll give it a try."

* * * * * * * * * * *

Late that afternoon, Jamie sat in the kitchen "helping" Martin prepare dinner. Marta had given her more challenging tasks when she was four years old, but she acknowledged that every cook had his own routine, and she didn’t want to press the issue.

"Where’s herself?" Martin asked after a few minutes. "I’ve never seen this much space between the two of you."

Jamie gave him a puzzled look so he explained, "That’s a term used for the man or woman of the house. It’s sort of a joke, but we sometimes refer to Siobhán as "herself", you know, kind of like the queen bee?"

"I get it," she said, acknowledging that Ryan had been the woman of the house for many years. "And you’d be ‘himself’?"

"Well," he laughed, "I should be, but we usually refer to Conor that way. It fits, doesn’t it?"

"Now that you mention it..." she chuckled. "Oh, in answer to your question, Ryan’s on her computer answering her e-mail."

"Thank goodness we don’t have to pay the long-distance charges for that service! It’s bad enough having to call Ireland to talk to her grandparents."

Jamie smiled at his exaggerated complaint, knowing that he’d not complain if there was a charge for e-mail. They worked companionably for a few more minutes before he asked, " How do you think things are going for you staying here on the weekends, Darlin’? I know it was important for you two to have your privacy."

"Funny you should mention that, Martin. We were talking about that this morning," she admitted. "I think it’s going really well, but we wanted to make sure of a few things."

"Like what things, for example?"

Jamie mentally scowled at her partner for leaving her to handle this discussion, but she decided to continue on. "Like if we want to go to our room as soon as we come home at night," she said, blushing a little.

"You’re going to have to get over your embarrassment about wanting to be alone, Jamie. I know what it’s like, Darlin’. And once Maeve and I are together, I plan on spending a great deal of time with her alone," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

She shook her head at the delighted look in his eyes and commented, "I swear I don’t know how you’ve managed being without a mate all these years, Martin. You just don’t seem like the kind of fellow that would choose to be alone."

He laughed wryly, acknowledging the truth of her statement. "I do best when I’m well loved," he admitted. "But for the first seven or so years after Fi died, I wouldn’t have noticed if I was surrounded by beautiful women," he said sadly. "It has been difficult for the last few years, I’ll confess. I knew that I wanted Maeve to be mine, but I just couldn’t say anything while she was still a married woman."

"I really admire your restraint," she said with admiration. "It shows how much you respect her."

"Oh, I do," he said fervently. "But I’m ready to move forward now," he admitted. "I’m counting the days until we can be together."

"So you aren’t..." she hinted.

"Oh, no," he said as his own cheeks flushed. "I wouldn’t dream of asking for that before I made a public commitment to her. You don’t treat a woman like Maeve that way, Jamie."

She gave him a beaming smile as she patted his hand. "She’s a very lucky woman, Martin."

"Are you talking about me?" Ryan asked from the doorway.

"That we were," Martin teased. "You’ve a one in a million here, Siobhán."

"You don’t have to tell me, Da. But I think she’s more precious than that. If she were only one in a million there would be two thousand women just like her in China alone! And that can’t be true."

"That’s a perfectly valid point, Sweetheart. Would you like a snack before dinner?"

"Hmm…when have I ever refused?" she asked with a smile.

He whipped up a little treat for her and handed her the plate, which she took into the dining room. Both Jamie and Martin joined her and after a second Martin said, "Jamie tells me that we need to work out some new rules for how we communicate."

Ryan cocked her head at her partner, asking to be filled in on the conversation that preceded this statement.

"I told your father what we talked about this morning," she explained.

"Oh, yeah," she said. "Well, I think everything has gone well so far, but we just want to make sure we don’t offend any of you if we want some time alone."

"I really do understand, Siobhán. What would make your feel comfortable?"

"I guess my main concern is dinnertime. Let’s assume that we all won’t eat dinner together. But if we plan on being home, and we want to be social, we’ll let you know by three, so you can plan the meal. How would that work?"

"That would work for me," he said. "It could be our old system, but reversed."

"I think we just need to feel comfortable that you and the boys don’t mind if we come home and go straight to our room."

"I don’t mind at all, Darlin’. I want you girls to enjoy each other. The first year of your relationship should be a time where you’re together almost constantly. I’d feel uncomfortable if you wanted to spend all your time with us. It would indicate that things weren’t going that well in the bedroom."

"Things are going just fine in the bedroom," Ryan said with a big grin at her blushing partner. "At least they are for me. Jamie?" Blue eyes blinked innocently, waiting patiently for Jamie to collect herself enough to reply.

"Don’t think I don’t know that you do that only to make me blush, Ryan," she said as she walked over to her grinning partner. "But two can play that game." She climbed onto Ryan’s lap and grabbed her face with both hands, planting a searing kiss on her lips and holding on until she could feel the heat begin to suffuse her face.

"Does this happen every afternoon?" Conor asked as he walked into the room. "I’m going to have to start coming home earlier. I didn’t know there was lap dancing during happy hour!"

Ryan burst out laughing, unable to stop even though she hated to encourage her often obnoxious brother. Jamie buried her face in Ryan’s shaking neck and moaned, "Kill me now, and put me out of my misery."

* * * * * * * * * * * *

After dinner they cleaned the kitchen while Martin read the newspaper. The Giants were playing the Dodgers, and the men were getting ready to retire to Martin’s room to watch the game when Ryan held out her hand. "Time for bed, Jamie," she said sweetly.

"Bed?" asked Conor. "Isn’t it a little early?"

Martin shot him a glance and narrowed his eyes fiercely. Ryan just laughed and said, "We’re terribly tired, Conor."

"You don’t look tired," he said rather densely.

"For God’s sake, Conor!" Martin finally interceded. "They’re newlyweds, boy! Have you no discretion?"

"Well, why didn’t you say so?" he asked, truly perplexed.

"Jaysus!" Martin cried, completely exasperated at his son’s thick-headedness. "The girls don’t want to have to make a general announcement when they want to have sex, boy!"

Jamie’s eyes were firmly closed and she shook her head slowly. "I may never have it again at this rate," she muttered.

"Oh, yes you will," Ryan said with a gleeful laugh as she picked her up and tossed her over her shoulder. "We’re going to have sex, boys, amuse yourselves!" she declared as she carried her lover down the stairs, giggling the whole way.

Kicking the door closed she crossed over to the bed, tossed Jamie onto it, then immediately fell onto her. Ryan began to cover her face and neck with a multitude of kisses. "Two days is far too long," she breathed as she rubbed against her sensually.

"And you’re too dressed," Jamie chided from beneath the barrage of kisses.

Ryan gave her a sexy little grin and stood up to undress. Jamie did the same, and in minutes they were both naked. Ryan trotted over to lock the door. "In case they’re tempted to respond to your screams," she said with a gleam in her eyes.

As Jamie ran into the bathroom she called out, "I’m getting ready for bed now. I have a feeling I won’t be ambulatory later." Ryan followed suit, taking a quick shower just to make sure she was ready for anything.

Emerging from the bath, she leapt onto the bed and wrestled Jamie down until she was pinned. Then she braced her powerful body slightly on her hands and knees so that her weight was not too much for her smaller partner to bear. Her head dipped and she began kissing her again, but much more sensually this time. The kissing went on and on, getting deeper and deeper, until they were both breathless. Ryan was flushed with desire as she lifted her head slightly and shivered from head to toe. Her eyes were slightly unfocused, and she was obviously struggling to control her breathing.

"Mmmm, you’re wound up like a top," Jamie breathed as she ran her hands up and down Ryan’s shaking back.

She dropped her head again and whispered right into her ear, with the warm breath tickling her sensitive skin. "I’ve been dreaming about this all day. I thought about you when I was running, when I took my shower, when I was working out, and especially when we were upstairs tonight. It took every bit of self-control I had to spend a few minutes to be sociable. I knew I was only moments from holding you like this, and it just made me wet," she said as she enunciated each syllable carefully.

Jamie loved nothing more than to have her lover put words to her desire. She rubbed her belly against Ryan’s in a slow, sensual dance, silently urging her on.

"If no one had been home we’d be in the front hallway right now," she breathed. "You wouldn’t have gotten two steps into the house before I’d have had you on the floor. I need you just like I’ve been dreaming about all day--naked, and wet and ready. Are you ready for me, Baby?"

"Mmmm hmmmm," she moaned. "I’m ready, Baby. I’m so ready," she murmured as her hips continued to undulate under her lover. She slowly tilted her pelvis as she spread her legs so that her hot center rubbed against Ryan’s dark curls. "Feel how hot I am for you. Feel me, Ryan," she moaned as she began to slowly thrust against her.

Ryan slid her hand between their wet bodies. She slipped her fingers between Jamie’s lips and gasped in delight at the wetness. Her lover’s head began to roll from side to side as she lightly stroked her. Her hips continued to thrust as her legs spread even farther apart. "Come inside me, Baby. Let me feel you."

Ryan squeezed her legs together tightly to ease some of the tension building up inside her vulva. She took a deep breath and slipped two fingers smoothly inside her lover, hissing out a sigh of pleasure as she felt herself be enveloped by the warmth. Jamie gasped and backed up a tiny bit as she struggled to accept the fullness. As soon as she acclimated to the penetration, she began to move against Ryan’s hand. She grabbed Ryan by both shoulders and squeezed her hard as she continued to thrust.

In a burst of strength that surprised them both, she jerked her hips and flipped her larger lover onto her back. Then she raised herself slightly so that she was sitting on her heels, straddling Ryan. Jamie grasped her lover’s arm and moved it until she could control her hand. Slowly, but forcefully, she began to thrust Ryan’s hand into herself. Her breathing quickened and became a rough rasp as she gasped with each strong push. Soon she had both hands wrapped around Ryan’s forearm, driving in hard. When she felt that she was getting all the force that she could manage from Ryan’s hand, she began to thrust her hips forward with the same intensity. She grunted and gasped with each rough thrust until her mouth opened as her head fell back. "OH GOD, RYAN!" she panted. "Fuck me, Fuck Me, FUCK ME!" she screamed as her body flew into spasm. She fell onto Ryan’s chest with a "whump," her muscles unable to support her body for another second. Ryan’s arm was still trapped between them, her hand still embedded deeply inside Jamie.

Jamie’s tender flesh pulsed and throbbed around Ryan’s fingers as she sucked in gulps of air, trying to satisfy her burning lungs. Finally she blew out a very deep breath and rolled onto her side, sliding off easily because of their sweat-soaked bodies. She grimaced and twitched as she slowly pulled Ryan’s fingers from her still spasming body, and then lay motionless, completely spent, for several minutes.

Meanwhile, Ryan was rather frantically trying to return some feeling to her numb hand. She shook it repeatedly as she rubbed her forearm with her other hand. The pins and needles sensation began and she grimaced as she waited for the blood to return. Finally, it began to feel somewhat normal and she rolled onto her side to wrap her recovering arm around her lover’s waist. "I thought you didn’t like that word," Ryan’s deep voice rumbled.

"What word?" Jamie asked weakly.

"Fuck," Ryan said, almost conversationally.

"Fuck what?" she asked, totally confused.

"I believe the term was ‘Fuck me! Fuck Me! FUCK ME!" Ryan said as she imitated her tone, but not her volume.

Jamie looked at her with wide-open eyes. "I said that?" she squeaked.

Ryan slowly nodded with a wide grin firmly in place.

"Just like that?"

Another nod. "Only louder," she added with an even wider grin.

"Oh my god!" she moaned. "Your family heard me!"

"No, they didn’t, Baby. You know how loud the boys are, and we can’t hear them. I’m sure they’re watching baseball, and we could never be heard over that. Don’t worry, they didn’t hear a thing."

"Jeez," she said as she expelled a deep breath. "I don’t know what you did to me, but I’ll be amazed if I can walk tomorrow."

"Ice is the best thing for an injury. I think we have some Popsicles upstairs..." she said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh sure, that’d be..." Jamie started to scoff, but paused a second and added with a sultry grin, "interesting."

"Be right back," Ryan said excitedly as she tried to hop off the bed.

"Hold on, Tiger," she said as she grabbed her arm. "We need rubber sheets before we do that on the bed."

"Hmmm, rubber sheets, huh?"

Slapping her firmly on the butt, Jamie smiled and said, "You think everything is hot, don’t you?"

"In the right context, everything is," she insisted with a grin.

"You are such a hot little love machine," she said, wrapping her arms around her waist.

Ryan spent the next hour showing her just how hot she was. For a change, Ryan was actually able to have two orgasms, although that was mostly because the first one came less than a minute after Jamie first touched her. As she closed her eyes to sleep, Ryan spent a moment reflecting on the new nickname Jamie had bestowed on her, simultaneously hoping that "Quickdraw" did not stick. She did, after all, still have a reputation to uphold.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Early the next morning Ryan climbed the stairs, dressed in her running clothes. As she entered the kitchen, she met Conor on his way out the back door. Jamie was not in sight, so he leaned over conspiratorially and asked, "Are you sure you’re a girl?"

"Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure," she said suspiciously. "Why?"

"Well, what Jamie was begging for last night didn’t seem like something you could do if you were a girl," he said innocently.

Ryan advanced on him, backing him up against the door with a darkly menacing look in her eyes. "If you tell her that you can hear us..." she threatened.

"Hey, it’s not my fault," he said defensively. "You know you can hear through the open ductwork."

"I know that, Conor," she spat. "But Jamie doesn’t know it. It’s hard enough for her to be comfortable having sex with you lunks in the house. If she knew you could hear us, she’d never let me touch her again. I’ve spent years doing it in cars and bars and on sofas, with parents and ex-girlfriends barging in on me. I’m not going back to that. Ever!" she barked as she punched her finger into his chest.

"It’s only in Da’s room that you can hear anything," he reminded her. "It was pretty funny. As soon as you started howling, Da got up and went into the living room. About two minutes later Brendan said he had to go home. They were dropping like flies."

"What about you?" she glared.

"Hey, I’m just trying to get some pointers. I’ve never had a woman beg me like that," he said with admiration.

"You’ll never be with another woman if you let Jamie hear one word of this," she said in her most ominous tone. "And later today you and I are going to seal that ductwork. I don’t care if we freeze to death this winter. Your little peep show is over!" she hissed as she stormed out of the house.

Damn! he thought to himself. Now I’ll never learn how she gets her to squeal like that.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *