time went on both women relaxed. Riley had apologized several more times for
the way she'd treated her. Sam had finally assured her she was willing to let the
past go and start again. They caught up with the past two weeks. Riley
questioned her extensively on her recovery and therapy. She couldn't help
noticing and mentioned that Sam appeared to have lost weight and looked tired.
Not wanting Riley to feel any guiltier than she already did Sam passed it off as
nothing. She could tell Riley didn't believe her but was glad when she let it drop.
They stopped next to Sam's car suddenly awkward with each other again.
Neither knew what to say nor where to go from here. After several moments of
simply staring at each other Sam couldn't help laughing to herself. This is
ridiculous. I've dreamed about this woman for weeks. All I wanted was a chance
to see if anything would come of what seems so strong between us. Now I've
got it and we're standing here staring at each other like dummies. She shook her
head before reaching out for Riley's hand.
"How about dinner tonight?"
Riley immediately looked stricken and Sam stiffened and attempted to pull her
hand away. She's going to do it to you again! Her mind screamed.
Riley tightened her grip on Sam's hand not allowing her to pull away. "I'm sorry
Sam I can't."
Here it comes, Sam's little voice supplied.
"I'm on in-house call tonight. How about tomorrow night?"
Sam was so caught up listening to her little voice tell her what a fool she was
she missed the rest of what Riley said.
"Okay fine, no problem." She pulled away and opened the car door.
Riley grabbed her arm pulling her back around to face her. Sam's face had gone
blank when she'd said she was sorry.
"Wait, okay fine what? Dinner tomorrow?"
"HUH??"
"I'm on in-house call tonight. How about dinner tomorrow?" Riley repeated.
Sam looked confused. "You are? You want to go to dinner tomorrow?" Her smile
reappeared.
Riley sighed in relief. "Yes Sam I'd love to go to dinner with you tomorrow."
Sam didn't know what had just happened. One minute she was sure Riley was
turning her down and the next she had a dinner date with her. She couldn't help
the grin that broke out on her face.
Sam thought quickly. "How about that Italian place? I forget the name... on Third
in Hillcrest." Sam suggested.
"I've never been there but I like Italian." Riley said.
"They have great food. I'll pick you up, say about 6pm."
"It's a date!" Riley said smiling brilliantly at Sam. She gave Sam directions to her condo in Del Mar and the code to the security gate.
The two women stood grinning at each other neither one wanting to say
goodbye. Riley's pager shrilled ending the standoff.
Riley pulled it off her belt and checked the display. "I have to go. It's the ER."
Before she could stop herself, she quickly stepped forward and put her hand on
the back of Sam's neck pulling her down. Sam didn't resist she remembered well
the sweet taste of Riley's lips. Their lips met in a brief kiss. It was just as Riley
remembered and her arousal soared. She went back for a second taste. Sam
pulled her into a tight embrace as the kiss deepened. She licked Sam's lips
begging entrance that Sam eagerly granted. Just as her tongue slipped into
Sam's mouth and began to explore her pager shrilled again.
She pulled away with a groan her heart pounding. "I have to go. I'll see you
tomorrow at 6." She hurried across the parking lot. It wasn't until she was almost
to the ER that she realized she'd been locked in a passionate kiss with Sam in
the middle of the parking lot where anyone could've seem them. I guess that's
one way to come out, she laughed to herself. She wondered if anyone had seen
them then decided she didn't give a damn she felt too wonderful to care.
Sam stood leaning against her car watching Riley rush across the parking lot.
She glanced up and noticed an older man dressed in a lab coat glaring at her.
She wondered what his problem was then it dawned on her. He'd seen her
kissing Riley. She resisted the urge to flip him off. She felt too damn good to
care about some homophobe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Sam stood nervously outside the security gate leading to Riley's condo complex.
She'd parked in the visitor lot and was now looking for Riley's condo number.
She pulled the slip of paper out of her pocket that Riley had written the security
code on. As she punched in the number another couple came up behind her.
"Hi." She greeted.
They just looked at her their eyes lingering on her cane before carefully skirting
her and walking away. Sam shrugged her shoulders and looked around. The
complex was beautiful with incredible landscaping, not a leaf out of place. She
finally spotted Riley's condo. She checked her appearance one last time before
ringing the bell. Her black jeans fit well but not tight, as her incision was still
tender, the blue polo shirt was just the right shade to bring out the color of her
eyes and her engineer boots shined. She glanced down at the mixed flower
bouquet in her hand wondering if Riley even liked flowers. Knowing she was just
stalling she squared her shoulders, took a deep breath and rang the bell.
It seemed like forever before the door opened but in truth, it was less than a
minute. Riley greeted her with a bright smile. Sam allowed her eyes to skim the
length of Riley. She was wearing stone faded jeans with an emerald green long
sleeve shirt open in the front showing a white tank top underneath. It was the
first time that Sam had seen her in anything but scrubs. God she'd
beautiful. When she finally made it up to Riley's eyes their gaze locked and they
simply stared at each other for several moments neither one quite able to
speak.
"Hi." Sam finally greeted then kicked herself mentally. Hi that was the best you could do after standing there ogling her. She suddenly remembered the flowers.
She held the flowers out to Riley. So far, Riley hadn't said a word.
Riley was busy trying to force her mouth to work. Her brain was too busy
drooling over Sam to form a coherent sentence. She had only seen her in a
hospital gown or sweats. Being that gorgeous should be illegal! was Riley's first
thought. She finally noticed the flowers Sam was holding out and blushed. She
reached out to take them and their fingers brushed. She jerked back slightly
when an electric tingle ran up her arm.
"Come on in Sam, it's good to see you." Riley said kick starting her brain back in gear.
Riley led Sam into the living room. "Make yourself at home. I'll be right back. I
want to put these in some water."
Sam looked around the living room. It appeared like something out of a
magazine. The stark white leather couch and pale rose side chair sat on thick
beige carpeting. The end table and coffee table were glass with metal bases.
The coffee table was bare and the end table held only a lamp. The walls were
white and several impressionist paintings adorned the walls. A small mahogany
entertainment center that was closed up sat off to the side. It looked like a model