Unknown - driven

“Right. Bye Lee.”

“Bye Cat.”

She hung up the phone and then stripped of her robe and climbed into bed. “We?ll see how things go, huh buddy?” She scratched Hamlet behind the ears as he turned and stretched out next to her.

Mac stepped out of his car, resisting the urge to jump right back in again as a huge, snarling beast lunged at him from the shadows of Dylan?s front porch.

“It?s okay, Brunhilde,” he said, trying to keep his voice as steady as possible, and his bladder from letting go all over his trousers. “It?s Mac. Remember me?” The snarling continued. “Oh god, please remember me.”

Coming into the light, Brunhilde slowed, stopped, and sat on her haunches, still growling at the man she knew very well.

“Nice puppy. Niiiiice puppy.” He chanced a step away from the car.

Brunhilde barked.

He stepped back, and sighed.

“Look, girl, I know you?re just doing your job and all, but so am I. If I don?t get these papers signed by Dylan tonight, Johnson?s gonna have my ass.” He sighed again. “And if I do get these papers to Dylan, you?re gonna have my ass.”

Brunhilde whined.

“Great,” he muttered. “It?s one in the morning and I?m talking to a damn dog.” He looked down at the bristling canine. “Ok, look, here?s what I?ll do. If you let me go down so see your Mistress, the next time I come over, I?ll bring you the biggest, juiciest ham bone you?ve ever seen in your life. I won?t even bring one for your brother. You can lord it over him all you want. How?s that sound, huh? Pretty good, right?”

Brunhilde cocked her head, appearing to consider the situation. Then, with a soft, chuffing bark, she stood down and allowed Mac to move away from the car, though she glued herself to his side as he began to walk down the drive.

Knowing his friend well, Mac walked past the front door and around the side of the rambling house. Sure enough, the court at the bottom of the long hill was brightly lit by the floodlights surrounding it, and Mac could hear the rhythmic sound of the basketball hitting the clay.

Siegfried, trashed out after a long day of play, didn?t even bother to get up as Mac strode onto the court. Dylan finished the shot she was making, then turned to greet her visitor. Despite the late hour, she was covered with sweat, her jersey sticking to her in ways that made Mac?the most faithful of husbands?acutely uncomfortable.

“Hey,” Dylan greeted, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

“Hey yourself. What?s up? You?re not usually going this full out, especially this time of the night.”

Dylan shrugged as she bent to retrieve the ball. “Got some things on my mind, I guess.” She looked over at the sheaf of papers in Mac?s hand. “Those for me?”

“Yeah. Johnson?s scored this hot new Benz dealership for advertising bucks. He wants you to show up in two or three commercials with the owner?s pretty boy son, kiss up to your adoring public, and make him megabucks.”

“Ah. The usual.”

Mac chuckled, then grunted as Dylan grabbed the papers and pen, turned him around, bent him over slightly, and used his back to sign on the dotted line. When she handed the papers back, Mac took a good long look at her expression.

“You seem?pretty preoccupied, D. Everything alright?”

“Sure. Everything?s fine.”

Mac laughed softly and lightly punched her shoulder. “I?ve heard cheerier executees, my friend. What?s up?”

Dylan looked at Mac for a long moment. Though it was true that she guarded her privacy more jealously than her faithful dogs guarded her, Mac was a dear and longtime friend. And she thought, just maybe, it would be good to open up.

“I kissed her,” she said softly, as if that explained it all.

“Excuse me?” Mac asked, bringing a hand up to his ear. “Did I hear you say you kissed someone?”

Dylan shot him a look. “Catherine.”

“Deneuve? Isn?t she a little old for you?”

“Hodges, you idiot.”

“Cath?ohhh?.ohhhh?.oh no. Oh no, you did not just say you kissed your star player. I didn?t just hear that. I didn?t hear that at all.” When Dylan didn?t respond, Mac spun on her. “Damnit, D, what were you thinking?!?”

“There wasn?t much thinking going on,” Dylan admitted ruefully.

“Oh, this is bad.” Mac began to pace, his boot heels striking the court hard as he stepped. “Oh, this is worse than bad. Awwww Christ.”

“Calm down, Mac. You?re gonna give yourself a stroke.”

Mac whirled again, eyes wide, temple vein standing out, throbbing. “Stroke? Good! If I?m lucky, I?ll be too out of it to see your career explode all over the front page news!!”

“Mac,” Dylan replied with some heat, “it was a kiss, for god?s sake! It?s not like we?re getting married. Hell, we?re not even sleeping together.”

Mac stopped. “You?re not?”

“No.”

“But?you want to, right?”

“Jesus, Mac!” Dylan exploded. “Give me a little more credit than that! Give Catherine a little more credit!”

“So you don?t want to?”

Dylan threw her hands up in the air and walked off, leaving Mac to stare after her.

After a moment, Mac trotted after her. “Dylan?Dylan wait up. I?m sorry. I acted like an ass. I?m sorry.”

Dylan slowed, but didn?t turn.

Mac sighed. “Listen?it?s just?. Aside from the fact that we?ve got a bigot for a boss, D, fraternization with one of your players goes against everything in your contract, from the morals clause on down. It?s not that she?s a woman. It?s that you?re her boss. Her being a woman is just icing on the cake.”

He studied the tense and silent lines of her back. “Look, I know you already know all this. Hell, you probably know it better than me, but it?s?.damnit, D, it?s my job to tell you.”

“I know,” Dylan said quietly, still facing away from him.

Mac relaxed a little. “And I?m your friend too, D. And I don?t want you in the position of having to defend your actions if Catherine wants to pursue a sexual harassment suit against you.”

Dylan slowly turned. Her eyes were flaring, though outwardly, she appeared composed. “She won?t.”

“But how do you know? I mean, don?t get me wrong, D, I like Cat. She?s a good kid. A helluva player. But?it?s happened before, with good people and good players. I don?t want it to happen to you this time.”

“It won?t.”

“How can you be so sure?”

Dylan sighed. “She initiated it, Mac.”

Mac felt as if the weight of the world had rolled off his shoulders. “She initiated it?”

“That?s what I said.”

“Thank God! Why didn?t you tell me that in the first place?”

“She wasn?t alone in it, Mac. I responded. I enjoyed it. I?.god.” Her shoulders slumped and she stared down at the ground. “It?s something I was thinking about before it even happened.”

“Awww, D.”

“I know. I know. I?m attracted to her, Mac. Nothing I can do about that.”

“You?ve been attracted to women before, D. You don?t always?.”

“Kiss them?”

“Yeah.”

“It just happened. It just?.”

“Will it happen again?”

Dylan shook her head. “I don?t know.”

Mac gentled his tone. “Do you want it to happen again?”

And that was the million dollar question. Part of her, a very large part, did want it. Another part, smaller but just as strident, wanted to run away screaming, for the exact reasons Mac had so succinctly spelled out to her. In the end, she answered the only way she could.

“I don?t know.”

DRIVEN: PART 3

She closed her eyes and finally fell into a fitful sleep. Her mind was wandering all over the spectrum. Part of her was admittedly rather giddy over the kiss, and another part of her was terrified that she had really messed up.