“Let me look at it,” Lauren said, during one of their official breaks. Sitting together in the greenroom offstage, Carly took off the shoes that were a part of her costume and allowed her foot to be placed in Lauren’s lap.

“Oh, sweetie, it’s swollen.” Lauren ran her fingertips lightly over the puffy area.

Carly relished the term of endearment. Lauren had never called her anything but Carly before. She liked the sound of it a lot. “Not looking too cute there,” she said of her ankle, playing it totally cool. “I look like a woman in her third trimester—if I was only pregnant on one side.”

Lauren’s mouth fell open and she turned to Carly in amusement as if the most interesting fact had just occurred to her. “You would be so sexy pregnant. I hope that’s not out of line to say.”

Carly liked that comment a lot, too. “Nothing you say to me is ever out of line if it’s what you’re thinking. I do want kids someday. Not today, mind you. But down the road. Once I’m a little more settled.”

“Your kids are going to love you. They’d have the most fun mom on the block. I have a feeling you’d be out riding bikes with them until dark.” Lauren smiled. Her hair, which she generally wore straight, had a slight curl to it. The stylists were tweaking their looks for the show.

Carly reached up and touched one of the dark lazy curls. Lauren had such soft hair. “Can you imagine?”

“I can. Adorable.” Lauren ran her fingertips back and forth across Carly’s ankle and calf. The tickling sensation, and the fact that it was Lauren touching her, had her warm.

“Thank you for being so nice to me.”

Lauren offered her a soft smile. “It’s hard not to be nice to you. Believe me. I’ve tried.”

Carly chuckled. “I remember someone yelling at me in my apartment. Holding their arm out in indignation.”

“I wouldn’t say yelling,” Lauren said, closing one eye. She smelled so amazing.

“Mm-hmm. I would. You’re very effective at yelling without raising your voice. You could teach a class: How to Shame People into Doing What You Want Without Doing Much at All.”

“Oh my God,” Lauren squeezed her knee. “I could be a millionaire and buy the fancy house next to yours.”

Carly laughed. “Then I’d have to buy binoculars. Do you sleep in the nude?”

“Yes.”

She froze. “You do not. You’re just saying that to get me all bothered.” But Carly still hadn’t moved. The sexy image was too much to let go of, so she awaited confirmation that it had, in fact, just been a joke, before real life could resume.

“I’m not kidding,” Lauren said. She tickled the top of Carly’s foot.