A/N: Sorry for the delay. I've been busy and am still dealing with writer's block. It sucks people! Anyway, this is another short and sweet chapter with plenty of dialogue. As always, THANK YOU for your reviews and follows/favorites! They fuel my creativity.

I'm doing the walk of shame, Megan thought as she stepped out of the elevator and hurried down the hall. It's been a while. She took a minute to smooth out the wrinkles in her dress and run her fingers through her mussed hair. Damn it! I should have set an alarm.

Bolting out of Kate's apartment shortly after waking up and realizing she'd overslept had left Megan with little time to get cleaned up. A quick shower and a change of outfit would have removed the prominent scents of sex, lavender, and the citrusy sweet fragrance of Kate's perfume from her body. But a light misting of her own perfume appeared to have masked the combination of odors. And with a bit of added makeup, at least now she looked somewhat put together. However, those who knew her well—like her daughter and mother—would probably disagree. It'll have to do, she thought.

Although Megan was prepared to answer Lacey's questions concerning her absence and late arrival, she had a growing suspicion the girl already knew. She was smart and had shown how perceptive she truly was by pointing out her mother's smile and determining Kate was the reason behind it. The only flaw in her observation had been her interpretation of their relationship. From what Megan gathered, Lacey had assumed they were just good friends—she had no reason to believe otherwise—and, in a sense, they still were. Aside from sharing a mutual attraction for one another and passionately acting upon it by jumping into bed, nothing had changed. For the time being, at least. It was still too soon to tell.

Taking a deep breath, Megan let herself in and, after finding the living room and kitchen empty, made her way to Lacey's room. She knocked twice before entering. "Hey—" Lacey, clearly unaware of her presence, was sitting on the bed, her back turned to the door, listening to music and working on her latest project. To avoid scaring her, Megan approached slowly and tapped her on the shoulder. "Lace."

Startled, Lacey dropped her color palette and turned around, wide-eyed and breathless. "Mom!" She took off her headphones and threw a rag over the canvas. "When did you get home?"

"A few minutes ago." Megan took a seat on the edge of the bed, curiously eyeing the now concealed painting. "What about you?"

"Around five."

"You should have called or at least texted me."

Lacey rolled her eyes, sighed. "I'm thirteen, Mom, almost fourteen. It's not the first time I've been home alone. Besides, it's your day off."

"My day off from work, young lady. Not from being your mother."

"I know." Lacey turned to gather her brushes and mumbled, "But you could've called too, you know."

Megan crossed her arms over her chest. "Excuse me?"

And I'm in trouble! "N-nothing. I said I was sorry." She avoided her mother's incendiary glare and decided a change in subject would be the best course of action if she ever wanted to set foot outside of her room. "So tell me about your day. Did you end up having lunch with Kate?"

Megan softened her expression. "Yeah, I did. It-it was great."

Lacey nodded, again, studying the enigmatic smile pulling at the corners of her mouth. Mentioning Kate seemed to have brought it forth once again, just as it had that morning in the car and, as she thought back, a few other times since the two women started going out after work. Lacey couldn't help wondering if it was mere coincidence or if there was more to that smile than met the eye. Even her closest of friends—Morgan, Betsy, and Sarah—never had that effect on her. For a moment she debated whether she should voice her thoughts and suspicions or keep them to herself a while longer. The signs were all there though. "Where'd you guys go?"

"Nowhere. She just invited me over to her place and we had... a nice lunch. Kate's a very good..." Megan paused, noticing the distinctive look of curiosity in the girl's eyes as they watched her intently. "What?"

Lacey shook her head. "Nothing. I can tell you really like her though."

"Well, I wouldn't have spent all day with her if I didn't. But it's not that I didn't like her before, Lace. We're colleagues and things at work are bound to—"

"No," Lacey interrupted. "I mean, I can tell you like her. Like, you know, have a crush on her or something."

Caught off guard, Megan's eyes widened and a deep blush colored her freckled cheeks. So much for being prepared, she thought. "'Crush' is... a bit of a strong word." The truth was, Megan wasn't entirely sure what she felt for the gorgeous blonde. "But, yes, there's definitely something between us. I'm not sure what that 'something' is yet, but I'm—we're—willing to explore it." A statement made all the more relevant by their afternoon in bed. "What do you think?"

Lacey shrugged, smiled. "Honestly, I think it's kind of weird." She watched as immediate confusion, combined with disappointment, swept across her mother's face. Lacey couldn't help but laugh. Megan had obviously misinterpreted her response as one of disapproval. "Oh, not because you and Kate are together—I think that's pretty awesome—but because less than a year ago she was dating dad and you guys weren't getting along. At all!"

Megan lowered her head and laughed uncomfortably. She hadn't given much thought to those awkward few months that had threatened to destroy their working relationship. It was still unclear to her why she'd struggled to accept Kate's romantic involvement wit Todd. Any residual feelings for that man—if they had ever existed in the first place—had long disappeared. They'd been divorced for, at that point, five years so jealousy had not played a role, neither had Kate. The woman had just been caught in the crossfire. The issue was solely with Todd, their failed union, and years of endless in and out of court battles; her own abundant failures, insecurities. She was troubled—still was—and that misplaced anger, resentment had been directed toward the people around her. Most noticeably, toward the one person who, from the beginning, had done nothing more than try to be a friend.

And a damn good one as well.

Megan sighed, reached out and smoothed Lacey's hair back—she'd gotten white paint on a few loose strands. That photograph of a young Kate came to mind. An involuntary smile split her face. "I won't lie. It's taken some work." Lacey scoffed. For someone so young and inexperienced, the girl possessed an uncanny ability to make her analyze aspects of her life. On most occasions, whether she wanted to or not. But it was actually quite therapeutic. "Okay, A LOT of work, mostly on my part, but we've come a long way since then. Sort of."

"Are you a couple now?" Lacey asked.

"Uh..." Megan was still processing everything that had transpired in the last twenty four hours. They'd shared a kiss last night, had sex for the first time that afternoon, enjoyed a hell of a meal, had sex again, and slept together for a couple of hours. Did the series of events automatically make them a couple? Hardly. But if they decided to continue what had started with a simple, albeit mind numbing, kiss, the conversation would eventually come up. Until then, Megan deemed discussing the topic unnecessary and premature. "No, but we'll see."

Lacey remained pensive for a few minutes, letting the newly acquired information sink in. Then her lips gradually curled into a wide grin. "Okay, but remember, you guys have my support either way. You more than anyone deserves to be happy, and if Kate does that for you, then I'm all for it."

Megan slid closer to her daughter, wrapped her arms around her smaller frame, and planted a noisy kiss on her forehead. "Love you!

"Mom!" Lacey exclaimed, feigning protest and attempting to free herself. But her mother's grip only tightened. Eventually, she gave up the struggle and descended into a fit of laughter. "Love you too."

"So what's this?" Megan asked moments later. She gestured toward the canvas.

"It's just something I've been working on for the last three hours," she said. "I kind of got the idea after you dropped me off at the stables this morning."

"May I see?" Megan had gotten a glimpse of it when she came into the room but had only been able to make out a feminine silhouette.

"I'm trying out a bunch of new techniques I learned in art class this week and kind of wanted to complete it before I showed it to anyone. But since you sort of inspired it, I guess..." Lacey trailed off as she grabbed the canvas, carefully removed the rag, and handed it to her mother.

Megan stared at the painting for a second, her jaw dropping slightly in awe. "You made this in just three hours?" Lacey nodded. "It's stunning!"

By employing a combination of representational and impressionistic styles of art, the girl had painted a young woman—based on her slippers, a ballerina—wearing a fitted tattered red dress, dancing dangerously close to the edge of a cliff. One false step could have easily sent her plummeting to her death yet her expression, partially obscured by her long, flowing strawberry blonde locks, remained serene, lost in thought. The subtle smile, reminiscent of the famed Mona Lisa smile, grazing her delicate ruby lips and a distorted background of high rise buildings added that extra bit of mystery to a painting already teeming with so many beautiful contradictions. It was unlike anything she had ever done.

"Thanks."

"How did I inspire it though?"

Lacey shrugged one shoulder. "You've always been a risk taker," she stated. "That's what I admire about you. But lately you've been taking chances that a lot of people would turn away from simply because they were too afraid to try. Aiden was one of those chances. It didn't work so you moved on. Now you're with... Kate." She pointed at the smile on the young woman's face and teasingly elbowed Megan. "I've been seeing that on your face for weeks, mom."

The redhead rolled her eyes but understanding also dawned on her features. "Ah, so the cliff represents risk; her dancing is joy; the distorted background is chaos; and the tattered red dress is..."

"I just thought it looked cool," she said giggling. "Do you like it?"

"Are you kidding?! I love it!"

Lacey took the canvas from Megan, held it at arm's length in front of them, and gave it a thorough appraisal before setting it down on the bed. She rubbed her eyes. "I'm almost done with it but my eyes are tired."

"Time for a break then," Megan said. She stood and held her hand out. "Come on. I could go for a glass of Rosé."

"Can I have a sip?"

"Ask that again and you'll be without electronic devices until you turn—"

"I was kidding! I'll have juice then." She paused and sniffed the air around them. "Do you smell lavender?"

She padded barefoot out of the bathroom and looked down at her vibrating phone on her dresser. With a toothbrush in hand and a mouth full of foamy toothpaste, she answered, "Coul you old on a inute?"

"Kate?" Megan asked from the other end of the line. "What are you—" She heard the distinctive sound of running water in the background.

"Sorry about that," Kate said when she returned a minute later. "I was..."

"Brushing that charming smile of yours," she finished. "Yeah, I could hear your gurgling all the way over here."

Kate rolled her eyes and was glad the redhead wasn't able to see her blushing cheeks. It had been happening a lot lately. "Oh funny." She put the phone down, turned the speaker on, and continued moving around the room, getting ready for bed. "How'd it go with Lacey, by the way? I've never seen you bolt out of a room faster than you did today."

"Great actually. She was busy painting when I got here." Megan paused. "She approves of you."

Kate froze. "You told her?"

"Didn't have to. She guessed." Megan laughed quietly. "Apparently my face betrayed me. I light up when I talk about you."

"Doesn't everyone?" she joked. "So she's okay with it, huh?"

"I think the correct term would be thrilled."

"I'm glad." Kate grabbed her phone and climbed into bed. Without the redhead lying down beside her, holding her, keeping her warm, the night seemed unusually chilly. "How are you doing?" she asked, lowering her voice to a more sensual tone.

"Tired," the redhead answered. It was well after midnight and had not expected the blonde to answer her call, but after everything that had happened between them, she felt the need to call and say goodnight, hear her voice again. Kate yawned on the other end. "So are you."

"It was a hell of a day and I haven't been sleeping well, anyway." Almost immediately, she regretted saying the latter.

"Oh, that's right. Those mysterious erotic dreams have been keeping the good doctor awake. Hmm, I wonder who the star of your nocturnal fantasies is?"

"Megan," Kate warned.

"Me?" she asked, mocking seriousness.

"What?! No!" But her defensive reply may as well have been a confession. Nothing got past the redhead. She knew her too damn well. "Alright, fine. Yes. It was you. Can I go to sleep now?" On cue, Megan's throaty, sexy laughter came through the speaker. "What?"

"Oh, no. You're not getting off that easily—no pun intended. You're going to tell me what happened in those dreams. Now, Dr. Murphy."

Kate huffed, sank into the comforter, and closed her eyes, recalling some of the more vivid details of the numerous dreams. The warmth between her legs spread and, once again, wished Megan was there for an extensive reenactment. "Well, I was taking a shower..."

To Be Continued...