Without an audience, Andrea's gaze roamed wherever it wished and for however long it wished to do so. She crossed her legs and settled into the chair. Miranda traced a fingertip down the computer screen, her absorption providing Andrea an uncontested view. The low lighting in the den softened the sharp jut of Miranda's jaw and cheekbone, warming the paleness of her skin. Andrea loved how the graceful arch of her eyebrows so eloquently expressed her thoughts.

"It's interesting to note that every weekday since the middle of February Reznick and Amber have been in the Closet at eight am. No one else is even close to matching that regularity at all."

Andrea rose from the chair and joined Miranda behind the desk. She lightly placed her palm on Miranda's back as she bent low to confirm which spreadsheet was on the screen.

"Within minutes of each other, too. I think the longest time they spent together in the Closet was a little under five minutes and Reznick never scanned anything in or out."

Miranda propped her chin in her hand. "What about the weekends?"

Andrea took control of the mouse and moved the cursor while using the button to open up a different tab on the worksheet.

"Reznick no, and Amber about what you'd expect. Aside from some spikes that corelate to Runway or fashion events, activity is nominal on Saturdays and Sundays." Andrea pulled up another spreadsheet invading Miranda's space. "Reznick only visited the Closet once in January but nothing for December and November of last year. He didn't cover his..." Sidetracked by the fragrant skin so close to her, Andrea nuzzled behind Miranda's ear. "God, you smell good."

"Let's get through this than we can do that." Miranda whispered, tilting her head toward her.

Andrea didn't hesitate to kiss her. Achingly soft, Miranda's tongue delved deeper into her mouth, seducing Andrea to offer more. When she dug her nails into Miranda's shoulder, a positively indecent moan spilled forth from Miranda's throat.

"We need to stop." Andrea panted, drawing away. "I really don't want to."

Miranda smirked, lazy appraisal in her gaze as she licked her bottom lip, then returned her attention to the computer screen.

After a moment, she said, "Send Emily..."

"I already sent her an email about Gretchen's failure to return things. I told her I did an inventory check."

Miranda said, "I do love your efficiency."

"Is it a turn-on? Because if it is, give me five minutes and I'll efficient your ass to an orgasm."

Scowling, Miranda retorted, "It's not my ass that orgasms."

"Let me try." she said without missing a beat.

Chuckling and taking off her glasses, Miranda pulled her down for a quick kiss and murmured against Andrea's lips, "If anyone could..."

Andrea pecked her one last time then withdrew to stand beside the desk.

"You can keep the data stick. I've got a copy on another flash drive."

"Security got back to me and there wasn't a breach so let's consider ourselves fortunate, hm? It was a longshot, I admit." Miranda touched the hinge of her glasses to the side of her chin as she paused, staring across the room then smoothly put them on. "I doubt either of them has a talent for hacking. Besides which, access to the Elias-Clarke mainframe Runway has the highest security system in place outside of the government. It's more likely IT would find something amiss before either one of us."

"I wasn't worried either but I feel much better knowing we can cross it off the list." Andrea frowned. "Reznick has the same security level as mine. He could have easily logged in and allowed someone else to drop some spyware or virus or a data sweep into Runway's mainframe."

"I could request IT to check for downloads and email attachments from external sources, either from the web or USB ports and remote access." Miranda sighed as she took off her glasses and delicately soothed the bridge of her nose. "In all honesty, something like that would have to go through the proper channels. I'll shelf it for now."

Content to simply admire the editor and woman behind the mask, Andrea remained still.

Miranda placed the end of the earpiece against her bottom lip. Regardless of the reason for such a habit, it always transfixed Andrea. What Miranda did with a pair of glasses, the economy of motion and understated eroticism between an inanimate object and her skin, was outright seduction.

"You're staring." Miranda tenderly reproached then turned her deep blue gaze on Andrea.

"Of course I am." Andrea blinked away most of the haze. "This is gonna sound stupid. I know it is but...I hear this song in my head sometimes...when we're together." Blushing, she looked away, suddenly feeling foolish. "I had this best friend. Shonda. I used to spend every day after school at her house. This one time I stayed for dinner, her dad came home from work early to surprise her mom."

Miranda rose then placed a hand on Andrea's hip and the other softly on the junction between Andrea's neck and shoulder.

"He put on a Motown record and started dancing and trying to get Shonda's mom to dance with him. Everybody was laughing and it looked so...happy. My parents weren't like that...obviously."

Rubbing Andrea's hipbone with a thumb, Miranda shared, "I grew up hearing Chopin."

Andrea fidgeted then ran a hand through her hair. "It's 'I Hear a Symphony' by the Supremes." Clearing her throat, she forced herself to continue despite the heat in her cheeks. "That's, uh, what I hear. Sometimes. When I'm with you."

In a graceful move, Miranda pulled her close until their bodies snuggly fit.

Andrea felt Miranda's deep inhalation, the slight tremble of her lips brushing Andrea's sensitive ear.

"There are moments..." Miranda paused, her voice like a whispery confession as she tightened her hold on Andrea's waist. "...when I cannot get close enough to you, Andrea."

For a time their lips and tongues touched in languid appreciation. Andrea lightly gripped Miranda's shoulders, enjoying the firmness until moving on, pressing her palms down the length of Miranda's arms as her fingers gently followed. When the moment ended, Andrea held onto the thrum of sated contentment inside of her. Miranda's hands encircled her waist, the pads of her fingers gently kneading the muscles of Andrea's lower back.

"I have missed being close to you, darling." Miranda revealed then lightly prodded the fine hairs along Andrea's jawline with small breaths.

Looking at Miranda through half-mast eyes, she repositioned Miranda's hands from her waist and slid them down her hips and lower still, slightly widening her stance.

"Here's your chance." Andrea whispered.

Miranda's fingers dug into her flesh then gathered the skirt upward, inch by inch. The cool air wafted against the heat of Andrea's bare thighs as Miranda rucked the skirt up around her waist. Unashamed by the heavy scent of her excitement, how it permeated the air and coated her inner thighs, Andrea urged her on by canting her pelvis. With a flick of Miranda's wrists, her hands were under the fabric, nails scoring across Andrea's ass.

Andrea groaned into a kiss, flooded by a wave of need. Pulling back enough to look into Miranda's eyes, she urged, "You owe me down and dirty."

Miranda hissed an obscenity then spun Andrea around and bent her over the desk.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

The swagger as Miranda reentered the study, two glasses in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other, was well earned. It required a certain self-assuredness to bend someone over a table without the persuasion of a kiss or kind word. God help her, Andrea loved being manhandled by the woman. The Mona Lisa smile slightly changing the shape of Miranda's mouth caused Andrea to stop putting her clothes to rights. Not often did Andrea lack confidence but when confronted by a full frontal of Miranda's dominant personality, it tested her mettle.

With a casual grace, Miranda set down the glasses and poured, her gaze never once drifting from Andrea. Oh, the Priestly confidence burned bright.

Miranda handed her the wine glass.

The tremor in Andrea's hand was a bit embarrassing but she shook it off by sassing, "Well done."

Miranda touched their glasses and smirked.

Andrea swallowed the dry wine, doing nothing for a throat that emitted a variety of pleading sounds not so long ago. Staring at the desk, she smiled into her wine glass, tiny tremors still shooting through her body.

"Stay." Miranda murmured, planting her hand on Andrea's hip.

"Do you think that's smart?"

Miranda straightened Andrea's collar. "No. But...stay."

Andrea reached for her purse and pulled out her phone. While typing, she remarked, "We won't get much sleep." Finished sending a message to Demetria, she looked up and a debilitating weakness swept through her body.

Dark blue eyes regarded her with steadfast confidence. "I'm up for the challenge."

Primly Andrea set down her unfinished wine then leaned her ass against the desk, facing Miranda. Not willing to give in so quickly, she switched gears. Planting her palms on the desk behind her, Andrea said, "I suppose I'll find out."

Miranda laughed through her fingers. "Says the woman who just had two very...wet...loud...orgasms."

"Before we continue this upstairs..." Andrea hesitated, thoughts of retribution clouding her head. "I'd like to know what you intend to do about the proof of Reznick and Amber's alliance."

A look of surprise twisted Miranda's features. "You know I don't kiss and tell, Andrea."

"Miranda." Andrea protested, dropping her octave in warning.

Shrewd blue eyes took their time assessing Andrea's face.

"I will discuss it with Michah." Coaxing Andrea into her embrace, Miranda whispered into her neck, "It's not a fatal blow. More like the first salvo." She licked a patch of skin, drawing down the neckline of Andrea's blouse. "Perhaps Reznick has other skeletons in his closet."

Andrea clutched at Miranda's back, hips rolling into Miranda as she bit down on Andrea's shoulder. Before she was back on the desk, begging and out of control, Andrea created distance between them.

Miranda pursed her lips but didn't otherwise react.

"You can get me from zero to spread open in less time than is humanly possible. Jesus."

Stare narrowing, Miranda murmured, "A slight exaggeration."

"I've spoiled you."

Other than placing a hand on her own hip, she didn't move. "That's one theory."

Whenever Miranda wound her up, Andrea gladly lifted her skirts, location and position be damned. At first, she wasn't sure how to feel about it. Pre-Miranda, she had been fine with pleasant orgasms and tunnel vision. The first time Miranda wrecked her, using only words, Andrea told herself it was a one-off but, then, Miranda's mouth and fingers came into play and Andrea understood need. The second Miranda's imagination and creativity joined the party, surrendering actually tipped the scales in her favor.

Turnabout certainly due, Andrea coolly announced, "Tonight, I'm going to ruin you."

Miranda's feral grin, reinforced by an arched brow, cast doubt on Andrea's matter of fact statement.

"You're welcome to try, darling."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

Swaddled in one of Miranda's robes, Andrea quietly went to a guest room on the fourth floor where a stash of last winter's clothing were kept. With any luck, she'd find something to wear to work. The alternative, taking a cab to her apartment at an ungodly hour and being late, held no appeal. She left Miranda in bed, curled around a pillow and grumbling at the lack of warmth Andrea's absent body created. It took a long minute to find something as she evaluated the closet's contents. Every muscle in her body relaxed once she found something in her size and realized they could ride in together. Roy could drop her off around the corner from Elias-Clarke at the coffee shop. Maybe she'd buy a scone for Miranda.

"It's too early, Andrea." Miranda quietly groaned when Andrea closed the bedroom door behind her. "Come back to bed."

"It's almost five." she murmured, hanging the outfit she put together on the back of the en suite door.

Incapable of resisting a sleepy, tousled Miranda for long, Andrea went to the other side of the bed and disrobed.

"Come back to bed...please."

Andrea tunneled under the duvet, extending her hand to caress Miranda's pronounced oblique. "Here I am."

Miranda stretched then turned onto her back. Immediately Andrea's hand splayed across her taut stomach, inching upward between the slopes of breasts.

Eyes closed, Miranda turned toward her, draping an arm across Andrea's waist and nestling into her. She pressed tiny kisses along Andrea's shoulder and arm, then murmuring, "This is nice."

While the world looked upon her as La Priestly, dorsal fin quietly cutting through the complacency, Miranda was so much more to her. She was early-hour mornings of affection and intimate looks from across a crowded room. Whether quietly subsidizing her daughter's childcare, swim and French lessons, or going to battle against Nate and Andrea's mother, Miranda paired actions with her words of love.

Using her arms and legs, Andrea held her close.

"It is." Andrea whispered into Miranda's ear then kissed her jaw.

Sighing with contentment, Miranda rubbed her forehead against Andrea's neck.

Thoughts of the future drifted through her head as she stroked down the contour of Miranda's back, easing them both back to sleep.

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"I have a confession." Andrea said, disliking the tentative lilt in her voice, as she finished securing the messy bun on top of her head.

Miranda eyed her in the mirror's reflection.

"I read the file. On my parents."

Primly spitting out toothpaste, Miranda looked startled. She rinsed, then dabbed her mouth clean. "And?"

"They have separate banking accounts and investment portfolios."

"That's not unheard of, darling. In fact, Stephen and I..."

Andrea scowled.

Miranda turned her back on the mirror and held Andrea's hand. She leaned against the lower counter, nudging aside the squat rolling seat she used when applying make-up.

"My father has an...apartment in Cincinnati." Frowning, she stared at their clasped hands and admired the way their fingers intertwined. "He's had it since I went away to college."

"Is his work..."

"No." Andrea raised her chin. "I seriously doubt my mother doesn't know. I mean, he's probably living there, right?" Shoulders slumping, she tightened her fingers around Miranda's and took a step closer. "I don't want to know about...it's not my business."

Miranda stood and closed the gap between them. She enveloped Andrea in a hug. The familiar scent of her perfume and lotion lingering on her skin affected Andrea in the same way light twinkled through the leaves on a lazy summer afternoon.

"Perhaps a conversation with him..."

"No." Andrea negated with a short movement of her head.

Tenderly Miranda moved her hands in circles across Andrea's lower back.

Lulled by the safety of Miranda's embrace, she swayed. "I love the way you smell."

"Thank you." Miranda pulled back and gauged the mood, the trace of a smile on her unpainted lips. "You don't have to do anything about the dossier."

A thought popped into her head, making Andrea grin which, in turn, caused Miranda to return it, if only just a little.

"Thank you, but, no, you are not allowed to do anything about it." Although her tone was stern, the expression of gratitude was just as clear. "What you won't do to read that dossier."

Miranda pursed her lips as she smoothed down the hair behind her ear.

"I won't use anything in there against them." Andrea stated and looked Miranda in the eyes.

"Well, then, I suppose it's time for me to make a confession."

While it wasn't the admission per se that shot a reedy tickle up her spine, Andrea steeled herself anyway. Experience alone had taught her what a wild card Miranda tended to be when Andrea least expected it.

She ran her fingertips along the ridge of Miranda's shoulder, enjoying the cool silky material of her blouse. "Should I guess?"

Maybe Miranda heard the hint of provocation in her low voice or saw the faint change of intention in Andrea's eyes. Regardless of how it came to be, Miranda's interest sharpened.

"We don't have time."

"There is always time." Andrea countered but then relented, drawing back with a nonchalant shrug. "So, your confession?"

Blue eyes focused on Andrea's mouth then lazily drifted upward. "I rented a BMW for you under a shell corporation I use for the purpose of discretion."

"Wait, what? I mean..."

"It's not illegal, Andrea." Miranda rolled her eyes. "And I don't use it for anything nefarious. Really, I don't..."

"Maybe you're an international jewel thief that will take me to Monte Carlo on her private jet." Andrea husked, sliding her hands up Miranda's ribcage as she softly kissed along Miranda's jawline. "That's a good fantasy, right?"

"Yes, well..." Miranda faintly replied. "You can be distracting, Andrea."

Directly whispering in her ear, Andrea promised, "I am a very good distraction."

"You're incorrigible and I'm starting to think you may suffer from a touch of nymphomania."

"Pot calling the kettle black." Andrea kissed her hard on the corner of her mouth then gave Miranda some breathing room. "Why did you rent me a car?"

Attaching the last hoop earring, Miranda replied, "Page Six doesn't usually loiter on my front steps. Besides, I do have a garage. No one will see you come or go unless you hang out the damn window or draw attention to yourself." She stepped into a pair of brown leather Manolo Blahnik slingbacks. "I've also acquired a parking spot on a lower level of Elias-Clarke."

Andrea pivoted on her heel and crowded Miranda's personal space. "Oh, you deserve whatever your evil brain conjures up."

Miranda's eyebrow quirked. "I'm rather ashamed I didn't think of it earlier. It's convenient. That's all."

"For now." Leering, Andrea reiterated, "That's all, for now."

XxXxXxXxXxXx

"Cassidy, time to get up." Andrea announced, knocking on the door.

She looked up as Caroline, already dressed, exited her bedroom.

"Hey, Ro." Andrea said then pointed to the closed door in front of her. "You mom said to make sure Cassidy's awake. Should I just...go in? Would that be okay?"

"Did you make mom mad?" Caroline asked tilting her head as she demurely held a miniature Kate Spade purse.

"No, why? I mean, uh, I don't think I made her..."

"You're gonna have to drag her out of bed." Caroline said with a certain pre-teen disregard Andrea hoped Fen didn't develop. "She's a nightmare."

Nodding, she fended off an outright smile, took a breath then opened the little girl's door.

Utter chaos greeted her. Heaps of clothes covered the floor like crawfish chimney stacks erupting across an unfortunate soul's lawn. A ragged line of stuffed toys semi-encircled Cassidy who curled around a pillow almost in the middle of the bed. Andrea carefully sat on the edge of the mattress.

"Cassidy, it's time to wake up." she said, employing the same voice she used on a recalcitrant Fen.

Of course it didn't work. Tickling the underside of the girl's foot yielded a jerky kick. There was no point in stripping the bed of linens. Andrea gently shook a tiny shoulder but all Cassidy did was swat at her and groan.

Andrea deeply inhaled, clenching her jaws as she bored impatient holes into the little girl's skull with her eyes. At the count of ten, she exhaled to release the tension.

"Sweetie." she whispered, lightly palming Cassidy's calf.

The decision to lie down facing her was as much for Miranda's stubborn daughter as it was for Andrea's uncertainty of how to handle it. She combed her fingers through the coppery tendrils framing Cassidy's face.

"Come on, Sid. It's time to start your day." she whispered.

Cassidy scrunched up her face then yawned. Slowly blue eyes focused on Andrea.

"I'm sleepy." Cassidy whined, frowning and blinking.

She sounded like her mother which endeared her even more to Andrea.

"Still have to go to school, kiddo." Andrea kissed the tip of Cassidy's nose then sat up, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. "Well, I'm going downstairs. Your mom really doesn't like it when I'm late to work...hey, can you keep a secret?"

Cassidy propped herself up on an elbow, pushing back her tangled hair. Although she nodded, she didn't seem particularly interested.

"I love working with your mom. I don't wanna miss a second of it if I don't have to."

Yawning, Cassidy sat up all the way. "So, I can go back to sleep?"

Andrea shrugged and checked the time. "You've got about two minutes before your mother realizes I couldn't get your butt out of bed. Have at it."

"Oh." Cassidy stumbled out of bed and reached for the school uniform on the chair.

She watched Miranda's daughter duck into the bathroom then reappear a few minutes later, hair perfectly combed and pulled back in a ponytail. The kid had the routine down, Andrea gave her that, impressed how quickly she shucked her night clothes then donned her uniform.

"Cassidy..." Miranda said as she burst through the door then suddenly stopped. "Well, breakfast is ready. You have ten minutes until Roy collects you."

"Yeah?" the imprudent girl said, slipping into her shoes. "Did you sign our permission slips?"

Miranda urged her daughter to come along, cupping the back of her head as she walked through the door.

"Yes. And don't run down the stairs."

Andrea half-hid a smile behind her fingers as she met Miranda in the doorway.

"She's notorious for squeezing every second of sleep from early mornings." Miranda curled a strand of brunette hair around her finger, coaxing Andrea nearer. "I'm not surprised you managed."

"You should be." Andrea huffed, palming Miranda's hip. "I was on the brink of bribery."