Compelled to do something, C.C. closed the distance between them, enveloping her sister in a hug. “Hey, I’m a pest at times, but when my big sister needs me…”

“She holds you upside down and drops you on your head.” The two sisters shared a weak laugh at Brooke’s comment.

“But then I’d have to worry about if she really wanted me or was dreaming about Loran,” the older woman broke down, holding onto C.C. for all that she was worth.

After a few minutes, C.C. finally voiced an opinion. “Maybe you should have killed Loran long ago.”

“I wish I had,” Brooke sighed, then pushed herself away from her sister. “I can’t deny her that one night. It’s what she wants and I’ll do anything, even risk losing her, just to see her happy.”

“Well, Sis,” the brunette shrugged her shoulders in indifference, “give it to her and see what happens. From what I see of Sam and you together, I don’t think that it will make any difference to her. She loves you, Brooke.” C.C. turned to the sink and filled her glass with more water. “Look, I’m her roommate. I hear her mumbling your name at night,” she brought the glass to her lips and drank.

“Mine or Loran’s?” Brooke raised an eyebrow in challenge. “You can’t be sure.”

“You had to use your first name, didn’t you?” C.C. shook her head.

“Yeah, like a dumb ass,” Brooke nodded in agreement.

“Then follow your heart and hopefully she will do the same,” the brunette challenged her sister. “You’d be surprised where your hearts might lead you.”

Brooke thought for a moment, then began to speak, “You know, when she came over here last weekend, I showed her the studio…” she shrugged her shoulders. “Don’t ask me why.” The older woman smiled remembering the evening. “You should’ve seen the look on her face as she traced all the photos of Loran, mesmerized as she ran her finger over them.”

“Come on, say it…I’m a genius.” C.C. smiled as she encouraged her sister to admit that for one time, the baby of the family had a great idea in trying to get these two together. “Maybe you did knock some sense into me,” she teased her sibling. “She didn’t recognize you, did she?”

“No,” Brooke laughed. “Hell, I even got behind the kit with her…” she shook her head. “She asked me so many questions about Loran…”

“Did she stay glued to the pictures or you?”

“I’d have to say the pictures of Loran, until we went into the studio.”

“And…” C.C.’s eyes grew bigger, “the rest of the night?”

“The rest of the night after the studio, it was just us.”

“No mention of Loran?”

Brooke thought back over the evening in question, “Uhh…other than talking about her birthday, I don’t think so.”

The younger woman smiled, “So, who was she kissing then…hmmm?”

“Me,” came Brooke’s shy reply.

“And who did she say ‘I love you’ to…hmmm?”

“Me.”

C.C. crossed her arms over her chest, “Come on, Sis, admit it. She loves you. She’s not a player.” The brunette shook her head. “Loran was probably the furthest thing from her mind.”

“I know.” Brooke raised her eyes to the heavens, “God, I hope so.”

“If you’re that afraid, just tell her and be done with it. She’ll either leave or stay,” C.C. looked at her sister, then spoke from her heart. “But I’m betting on stay.”

“I don’t want to have to worry if she loves me or Loran.” Brooke stared off out the window at the changing colors in the eastern sky. “I don’t want to have to worry about if she’s making love to me or Loran.”

“You’ve…ah…” C.C. studied her sister’s face for a clue, “already…”

“No,” the dark hair cascaded around her shoulders as she shook her head. “We haven’t.”

“Then maybe you should.”

Blue eyes looked stunned, “You mean…”

“You know what they say, Sis,” the younger woman tried to act more worldly. “They always cry out the name of the one in their mind.” She turned away from looking at her sister, then chuckled at what she was thinking. “But I’d get a pet name first, if I were you.”

Brooke rolled her eyes at her sister’s wise crack, “Gee, thanks for that advice.”

The younger woman turned on her best innocent smile, “Sorry, Sis. I was just trying to help.” She nudged her sister with her elbow, “Hey, what do you expect? I’m probably still legally drunk, and you’re asking me for advice?”

The older woman didn’t hear what her sister had said, her mind was too involved, sorting things out. “So, we…we…uhm…you know… first” she winked at C.C., “or should I tell her first?”

“I think I better leave you on your own for this one, Sis.” C.C. took a step or two away from Brooke, then stopped and asked, “Does Sam even have a pet name for you?”

“No.”

“You sure,” she challenged her sister, “Auntie?”

The dark-haired woman hid her face in her hands, “Oh, God. I don’t think that counts. I just can’t imagine making love to her and hearing her screaming out ‘Auntie’.”

“Good,” C.C. held back the laughter that wanted to be let out. “Because that would be a little kinky coming out at the height of passion.”

“Yeah…really,” Brooke rolled her eyes at the thought. The two women shared a chuckle while new thoughts began to creep into the older woman’s mind. “God,” she shook her head trying to rid the image in her mind. “I got a call earlier tonight. I have to go up to Jersey the week after next.”

“Yeah? What’s in Jersey?”

“That band Brownstone just signed. They’re having trouble with their producer, so I need to go light a fire under his ass.”

“You doing it over the weekend?” C.C. smiled coyly. “Take Sam with you, maybe someone else will get a fire lit under their…”

“Nope, I’ll be there for at least a week.” Brooke sighed. “I wish I could take her with me.”

“Ask her anyway, she’s a smart kid,” the brunette wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. “Maybe smarter than you think.”

“What? About going with me?” One dark eyebrow rose in contemplation. “What about school?”

C.C. shook her head briskly, “You know, you can’t learn everything in school.” The young woman elbowed her sister in the ribs and winked.

Brooke’s eyes became as big as saucers, her voice crackled in disbelief. “You’re telling me to ask her to sleep with me?”

“Sleep?” C.C.’s brows arched as she tweaked her older sister. “I thought she was doing that already.”

Brooke rolled her eyes in disgust. “You know what I mean, C.C. I just want to make sure that I know what you mean.”

Finally giving up, the younger sister blurted out, “Hey, I’m the drunk. I don’t even know what I mean.”

Now, totally confused, Brooke raked her hands through her long dark tresses as she turned around obviously muttering to herself. Without warning, she pivoted back toward her youngest sister, bridging the gap between them in seconds as Brooke’s large hands grasped each of C.C.’s cheeks, centering the woman and staring directly into her eyes. “What are you telling me to ask her?” Blue eyes flashed with every word.

Visually shaken by the side of her sister that was seldom seen, the young woman’s mouth was left gaping as the words came filtering across the air.

“Ask me what?” The sound of a stifled yawn followed the question as Sam stood in the doorway, rubbing her eyes with the back of one hand.

Terror seized Brooke’s being, but suddenly her frenzied frustration wilted and the calm demeanor of a levelheaded C.E.O. returned. Tapping her sister’s cheeks lightly, she smiled and turned toward the figure in the doorway. “Hi, Baby. What are you doing up?”

Sniffing and clearing her throat, Sam walked over toward the two women. “Couldn’t sleep, my pillow moved,” she stifled another yawn then leaned into Brooke, “We going to bed or what?”

“Sure Baby,” one long arm encompassed the small blonde and held her tightly against the taller woman. “We can go to bed.”

The brunette watched the pair for a second before taunting her sister, “Yeah, you better go to bed, Brooke. You never know when you need that energy,” C.C. smirked, then stuck out her tongue letting the tip wiggle in the breeze.

The older woman rolled her eyes at the juvenile behavior of her now twenty-one year old sister and calmly stated, “Goodnight, C.C.”

The sibling went to the sink where she finished her glass of water then turned on the faucet and filled it up again. Turning back toward her sister, C.C. raised her glass toast style and tilted her head in Brooke’s direction, “I’ll just take this to my room. Don’t let me bother you.” The young woman began to smile broadly and walked out of the room, throwing a verbal wish out as she entered the hall, “G’night.”

The two women stood there, enjoying the warmth of the other for a moment before Brooke kissed the top of Sam’s head and asked, “Ready for bed, Sweetheart?” The slight nod of a very tired head and a gentle sigh was all that the taller woman needed. They started to walk out of the kitchen as Brooke kept her arm around Sam’s shoulders. “Come on, Darlin’, let’s get you tucked in.”

“Sounds good to me, Lover.” Sam stifled another yawn. “I hear that soft mattress calling my name already.”

“Lover…huh?” The corners of Brooke’s mouth edged upward at the meaning that the word implied as they started up the spiral staircase to the second floor.

Sam took a few more steps then turned and looked at the woman following her, “You said that’s your middle name…right?”

The tall woman looked Sam in the eye, then continued up the steps in her direction. “No, Sweetheart,” Brooke reached out and gently placed a accusatory finger on the blonde’s nose, “You said that was my middle name.”