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She yanked open the door, ready to give the idiot a piece of her mind, and then stopped, mid-swing of the door, the anger rushing from her chest down to her feet and disappearing from view.

“Tori.” She breathed the name, and wondered who the hell she was, a lovesick teenager? Love? No, definitely not that.

“Hi.” Tori’s energizing-as-the-sun smile dulled at the sight of Miranda. “I’ve come at a bad time, haven’t I? I knew I should have called first. I’m so sorry.”

Miranda heard the hint of fear, and perhaps a little jealousy in Tori’s tone.

“Come here.” Miranda found her voice. Thankfully the teenager had gone back to the past where she belonged.

Tori stepped over the threshold into Miranda’s house, arms open and welcoming.

After the last few days of Tori’s naked body playing on repeat in her mind, Miranda imagined them going in for another hard and heavy session before either of them said a single word. But Miranda wrapped Tori up in her arms, breathing deeply of the faint citrus scent to her hair. Tori’s arms wrapped around her, arms bent and hands pressed against her shoulder blades. It was an unusual embrace, but Miranda sighed and relaxed into it.

Despite not wanting to, Miranda pulled back and looked into Tori’s eyes. “What are you doing here? Is Harley okay?”

“Yeah.” Tori smiled and gave Miranda a chaste kiss on the lips. “Harley is perfectly fine. Siena called and begged to have Harley for the night because she got some unexpected tickets to a kids’ show early tomorrow morning. I didn’t ask too many questions. I’m more than happy to have an unexpected free night before Friday.” That sexual gleam was back, Tori’s cheeks reddening with arousal.

Miranda cleared her throat from a sudden influx of emotions she didn’t know how to name, but knew she was unfamiliar and uncomfortable with them.

“Do you mind me just dropping by?” Tori asked. “I know we’d talked about Friday…but I thought…well, with the way last weekend went…”

“It’s fine.” Miranda led her toward the couch, the place they had already gotten themselves up to so much trouble. In for a penny… “I’m glad you came over. It’s easily the best thing that has happened all week.”

“Uh-oh.” Tori sat, one leg bent with her knee pressed against the back of the couch, and gave a small understanding smile. “Want to talk about it?”

“No, that’s not what you came here for.” Miranda mirrored Tori’s position and tried to conjure the images of their flirting from last weekend, but Tori’s open blue eyes kept her trapped in the here and now.

“I came here to see you,” Tori said as she entwined their fingers along the back of the couch. “Whatever that means.”

Warning bells went off in Miranda’s head. But she tamped them down. There was nothing going on between them but mere sex.

“Are you sure?” Miranda’s mind screamed at her to stop talking and start fucking. Okay, that might have been her body more than her mind, but either way, she had an overwhelming desire to unload. And for the first time, she thought Tori might actually understand. The woman had had a certain ability to see what no one else ever had.

“Of course.” Tori’s smile lit up the room.

Miranda searched for disappointment or annoyance but saw none in that open gaze. “I’m going to have to fire one of my employees.”

“That’s hard.”

“There have been far too many complaints. And originally I thought it had to do with the company we use for the coffins, but after some investigation, it doesn’t look that way.”

Tori shifted a little closer toward Miranda, their legs touching. Her fingers, now freed from Miranda’s, ran over her lower arm in a slow soothing motion. It sent shivers through Miranda’s body, but it wasn’t exactly arousal. She was comforted, safe.

“I can’t imagine anyone thinking it’s an easy job.”

“You’d be surprised.” Miranda scoffed, reliving memories of her parents’ rolled eyes and snide comments about her playing with the dead. They’d called her a freak of nature. Told her she should end up in an asylum instead. Those had been some of the most painful moments with them, but it was all in the past. Decades in the past.

“I’m sorry, Miranda. No one should ever be made to feel less for following a path that’s right for them.”

Tori’s hand slid up higher on her thigh, her fingers playing against her leg. If only she would move her hand a little farther up, that would really get Miranda going. She looked into Tori’s gaze, and a knot of guilt tightened in her stomach.

She had thought the exact same of Tori when they’d first met. “I’m sorry. That’s how I made you feel, isn’t it?”

Tori blinked and looked taken aback at the apology, but also confused.

“I guess so, a little bit. But I’m used to it. People think I’m an airhead because of my job. You tell someone you’re a life coach and they think all you do is sit on your ass and get paid.”

“You aren’t an airhead.” Miranda’s voice dropped as she conveyed the truth of her statement. Tori was anything but, and Miranda wanted to make sure she got her point across. Miranda leaned back into the couch, stretching a little as the nearly always present ache in her back persisted.