Sam rubbed her right eyebrow with thumb and forefinger as she searched for words. “Look…at…look…ah…we definitely can’t be doing this when I have to be in class the next day, Brooke.” There’s no way I’m going to be able to concentrate on classes today.

“Do what?” the dark-haired woman smirked as she began to button her shirt starting at the bottom.

“Get up so late,” the blonde said not wanting to say what was really on her mind. Sam stood up and brushed the larger hand away from the silk shirt. “Here…let me do that,” she finished buttoning Brooke’s shirt and straightened out the collar. I can see you like to tease too. God I’m going to have to work hard to keep my wits about me with her around.

“Well, maybe next time we’ll have to sleep next to an alarm clock,” Brooke joked as she tucked in her shirt.

“And the operative word there would be what…sleep or alarm clock?”

Brooke shrugged her shoulders and smiled. “How about both?” She grinned and leaned forward, kissing Sam lightly.

Coming out of the kiss, Sam ran her hand down the front of Brooke’s shirt to smooth out any imaginary wrinkles. “So…does this job come with any other benefits?”

Brooke closed her eyes at the feeling of the small hands. “Job? What job?”

“Your button closer,” Sam replied as she kissed Brooke again. “Cause if it does, I’m applying right now.”

The older woman seemed to consider this for a moment as she opened her eyes. “Hmmm…yeah, actually, it does. The button closer can also apply for the button opener position.”

“Hmmm…double the pay?” The blonde smiled then asked. “I mean, for doing both jobs?”

“Wanna try for triple?”

“And what would that entail?”

Brooke held up her belt buckle and wiggled her eyebrows suggestively at Sam. “I need a buckle closer too.”

With a growing smile, she ran her hands down Brooke’s chest then to her waist and buckled the belt. “Why not go for quadruple pay,” then the blonde leaned in and whispered in the taller woman’s ear. “I can open it too.”

The taller woman took a breath then croaked out, “Maybe later, Darlin’.”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Sam kissed Brooke on her cheek and pushed off from her. “I’ll just get my bag and we can go.”

A dark eyebrow rose as Brooke nodded her head in agreement. “I’ll meet you downstairs.”

Jogging down every other step until she hit the first floor, Brooke headed for the kitchen. “Let’s see. Coffee pot’s turned off.” Reaching for it, she poured the remainder of it into two travel mugs and went over to the door, checking Mario’s food and water for the day. Satisfied that everything was in order, she called Mario into the house.

The frisky pet came running in through his doggie door and up to his mistress, who got down on one knee to greet him. “You have a good day, boy.” She scratched him behind his ear. “I’ll see you tonight.” Grabbing his face, she kissed him on his nose, then stood up to leave when she heard Sam come down the stairs.

“Ready?” Brooke asked, grabbing her briefcase as she rounded the corner by the front door.

“Yep,” was the immediate response from the blonde with a nod of her head as she headed toward the door.

Brooke grabbed her keys off the table by the door then turned to face Sam as Mario came running in to say goodbye to his new friend. “Look, Sam, thanks for coming over last night. I’m glad you were here. I had a great time. Maybe…we should do it a little more often.”

The small woman smiled at the honesty she saw in the depth of the blue eyes before her. “I did too. And I agree that maybe we should.”

Not wanting to be ignored any longer, Mario licked the younger woman’s hand. Looking down at the dog, Sam scratched the top of his head and let her sentiments come to the surface. “Yes, I loved being with you too, Mario. Only next time, how about if you don’t snore.”

Mario huffed a response as Brooke laughed and the two women left to start their day.

They made great time on the way back to campus, mostly due to Brooke’s constant weaving and dodging from one lane to the other. A rash of sputtered words that usually denoted the surrounding driver’s inability to stay out of her way occasionally broke the woman’s intense driving pattern.

“You idiot.” Brooke let her eyes fix on the driver as she passed by. “Learn the rules, buddy.”

Sam watched as Brooke concentrated on not hitting the jerk in the Camaro that cut her off in the HOV lane. “I’m not going to make you late for work or anything, am I?”

The woman looked over at the blonde, her anger at the stupid driver forgotten as she grabbed the smaller hand in hers and kissed the back of it lightly. “Not at all. I’m the boss so I can show up late if I want to.”

“Mmmm…nice job. You’ll have to find me one like that.”

“Yeah? I’ll see what I can do about that,” she winked in Sam’s direction before focusing her attentions to the road in front of her once again.

“Well, don’t wait too long, I’ll be needing to do an internship next semester to fulfill my requirements for graduation. We spend the last semester in the field.” Sam looked out the window at the passing scenery, as they got closer to the campus.

“Oh really?” Brooke asked, her interests now peaked. “So…anything else? I mean…what else is required?”

“Nothing much, really. I just have to do a project for a company in promoting something. That’s what Public Relations is all about, right? We just have to be in on the ground floor, at the start. Not like we’re walking into something already happening. If the promotion works, we pass.”

Brooke took the exit for the college off the interstate. As they came to a stoplight, she looked over at Sam and grinned, “The whole second semester, huh?”

“Yeah, the whole second semester.” Sam looked away from the window and over to Brooke. “Why are you grinning? What’s up with you?”

“Seriously?”

Sam rolled her eyes and turned in her seat so her entire upper torso was facing Brooke. “No, I said that to be polite. Yes, seriously.”

“I’m going to have a job opening in January,” Brooke said matter of factly.

“What do you mean, job opening?” Sam asked as she looked towards Brooke’s shirt. “I’m being replaced already? You’re dissatisfied with my buttoning so soon.”

This time, it was Brooke’s turn to roll her baby blues. “No, silly, not that job.” The woman flashed a smile then continued, “Brownstone just took on this band from Jersey. We signed the contract on Saturday and they should be done recording in December. I’m going to need help with their promotions. Everything involving PR will be done after the recordings.” Brooke looked away from her companion, noticing the light had changed and began to move the car forward.

Pursing her lips together, Sam traced a finger along the rim of her travel mug, deep in thought. “I don’t know, Brooke. You’d have to apply to the college and accept whomever they sent you. I can see where it would be a great project, though. I guess the applicant would have to match your specifications.”

“So, I’ll just make sure that my specifications match you.” Brooke winked at the woman sitting in the passenger seat, “What do you think?”

Sam shook her head. “And just how are you going to do that, specify no blondes over 5 foot 4 inches?”

“Hmmm…” the dark-haired woman mused. “No, better yet, no blondes over 5’4″ and must have green eyes,” she smiled, proud of her ability to narrow the specifications. “Oh, and now, older then twenty-one,” Brooke added as she glanced over to her passenger to see what effect it was having on Sam. “So, who’s your PR professor that I’ll be giving my wish list to?”

The young woman smirked, then took a sip from her coffee before answering, “Humphrey.”

With surprise evident on her face, Brooke quickly turned in Sam’s direction. “Janet Humphrey?”

“Yes,” Sam answered. “Did you have her?”

Brooke’s laughter filled the car as they continued down the street. “No, I never had her, but I have known her since I was four.” A broad smile flashed across the driver’s face.

“Owww!” Brooke couldn’t help but flinch as Sam smacked her in her arm.

“I didn’t mean that way, Smartass,” Sam pointed out.

“If you’d let me explain, I was just about to tell you that we have the same birthday and practically lived in each other’s houses when we were growing up.” Brooke rubbed her right shoulder as she warned, “Hey, watch how hard you smack me. I’m getting brittle as it is.”

“Okay, Methuselah…remind me to have milk handy for you the next time we have dinner together,” Sam grinned as she teased the older woman.

“Uh-huh…Go on and yuck it up.” She leaned over and placed a light kiss against Sam’s cheek when they came to a stoplight. “But you’ll be right here with me in a few years saying the same thing. Then you’ll understand.”

Sam shook her head in the negative as she pointed to the light that was now green. “Nah…I’ll never be as old as you.”

“Sure you will,” the driver nodded her head, “just not at the same time.”

The younger woman sighed as she entwined her fingers with Brooke’s. “But, you are right about one thing. I will be right here with you.”

Brooke smiled pleasantly as she brought their joined hands up to her lips and kissed Sam’s. “We’re almost there.”

“I know,” Sam sighed. “You don’t have to remind me.”

If the truth were to be known, Brooke wasn’t happy about their time together ending either. “Do you have to go by the dorm first?”

Sam looked up to see the building for her first class come into view as Brooke parked the car down the street. “No, I’d better head right to class. I wouldn’t want your sister to think I forgot. Besides, she agreed to bring my notebook with her just in case I was running late.”