Tropical Storm

Chapter Seventeen

KERRY BECAME FUZZILY aware of pale sunlight, warm against her closed eyelids, and a sense of quiet peace that radiated mostly from the shoulder against which she was snuggled. She took in a breath and recognized the scent of the wool blanket, and a pleasant, spicy smell her brain amiably identified as Dar Roberts’ perfume.

Her body was relaxed, and one arm was wrapped around a gently moving surface that was warm and soft, and she was aware of a feeling of contentedness that eased through her as she nestled a little closer, soaking in the wonderful sensation. Another breath, then her sleepy mind put together Dar, and scent, and the shoulder she was cuddling, and almost spat her heart out of her ears in her haste to get blood to her brain. Oh goddamnitalltohellIcan’tbelieveIdid... She held her breath and cracked open an eyelid, seeing smooth, tanned skin at very close range. Oh my god. It was very quiet in the room, and she very carefully rotated her eyeball up and peeked at Dar’s face.

Fast asleep. Phew. Kerry cautiously unwound herself from her unexpected embrace and eased away, feeling a vague but definite sense of regret. She lifted her head a little to check the clock, relieved that it was only seven thirty.

She curled an arm around her pillow, and once again, safely on her side of the bed, she took the opportunity to study her sleeping boss. Damn, I got lucky.

What if she’d woken up? Jesus, Kerry. Remember you work for her, okay? This is supposed to be business.

But her body ached to go back to her snuggling, craving Dar’s touch with an intensity that made it hard to breathe. It had felt so good. She sighed and rolled over. C’mon, get moving. Go do something productive like get breakfast ordered, and check the mail. Stupid crush.

She got up, and trudged out of the room, going to the phone in her own room and calling room service. Then she remembered she was supposed to call Colleen back, and checked her watch. I should catch her. She dialed the phone and waited. “Col?”

“Ker? Oh damn, I fell asleep last night again. Did you call?”

“It was too late. I had a bad time with the folks, and then we watched the news…and I fell asleep too,” Kerry told her. “But some of those people lived. I saw that.”

“About fifty percent of them, yeah.” Colleen yawned. “You coming home today?”

“I think so, yes. We have a meeting at ten, and they said they would Tropical Storm 203

announce who won the bid. After that, there’s no reason for us to hang around here.”

“How is it? Boring?” the redhead asked.

Kerry indulged in a sweet memory of waking, then sighed. “No, it’s not boring. We had these meetings and a sort of fight between our account team and the IBM account team, that was kind of wild. Then we had to, um, evaluate some stuff last night, so…”

“Honey, that sounds as boring as my Aunt Mary’s penances. Did you even get to pick up that Pluto thing you wanted?”

Kerry smiled wryly. “Well, to be totally honest with you…yes, because I spent most of the day in Epcot yesterday.”

There was dead silence. “Ooo, you little stinker. All business meetings, huh?” Colleen laughed. “You sneak away, or did the dragon lady not need you?”

“Um, no, she was there too,” Kerry told her. “The meetings let out early yesterday and weren’t going to start up again until today, so there wasn’t much we could do but a little sightseeing.”

“Ew. You got stuck walking around Epcot Center with the robot woman from hell?” Colleen made a sympathetic noise. “You poor thing.”

“I survived.” Kerry debated whether or not to protest her characterization of Dar, then figured she had plenty of time to do that when she got home. “Anyway, everything’s okay, I got my Pluto, and we’ll be back tonight.”

“Your folks really bad?” Colleen asked, knowing the answer.

Kerry was quiet for a moment, then she exhaled. “Yeah.”

“Sweet Jesus, Ker. Sorry you had to be there all by yourself. I was thinking of you.”

“It was all right. Dar kind of figured out what was going on, and patted me on the head, and all that.” Kerry assured her. “Listen, I gotta go and get ready for this meeting. Talk to you tonight?”

“Right. See you then, girlie.”

Colleen hung up and Kerry did likewise, but she sat there for a long moment on her unused bed, deep in thought.

IT WAS THAT stupid dream again. Dar shook herself out of it, waking to find the sun streaming into the room, and herself alone in the bed. The feeling of loss and disappointment was almost palpable, and she rolled over, curling up and hugging her pillow to her until she got a handle on it, and the feeling faded back.

It had been so damn real this time. Some little cabin somewhere—must have been up north, because a cool breeze was coming in—and she had been just curled up in the early dawn, her arms wrapped around another sleeping form. She remembered a feeling of lazy happiness and a faint tingle of expectation, as though for some reason she’d been waiting for the day to begin.

She closed her eyes and let herself feel the ache for a moment, which ended when a soft, concerned voice stirred the silence.

204 Melissa Good

“Dar?” The carpet muffled Kerry’s bare footsteps as she came over and perched on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on the older woman’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

The ache eased, and Dar nodded, opening her eyes and giving the blonde woman a wry grin. “A little too much to drink last night.”

“Ah.” Kerry smiled back and waggled her other hand. “I have a bit of a headache myself. I figured some breakfast would help. I ordered it up, and I’m downloading stuff. “

“Good.” Dar rubbed her face with one hand and yawned. “What time is…

Ah, okay. We’ve got a little while. In that case, I need to take a nice long shower.” She rolled over onto her back and stretched, arching her back to work a kink out. “I’m not used to these damn mattresses.” She gave Kerry a wry look. “I miss my waterbed.”

Kerry’s fingers itched to set to work on those muscles, dimly visible through the cotton of Dar’s T-shirt, but she counted to ten and controlled herself. “Are those really comfortable?” She stood up, moving away from her boss’s warm body and walking over to stand near the window, gazing out.

“Oh yeah.” Dar sat up and started to get out of bed. She glanced at her shirt, then stopped in mid-motion and sat back down, staring at her own shoulder in puzzlement. Reaching up with a curious hand, she removed several golden strands caught in the nap of the fabric. She stared at them, rolling the soft hair in her fingertips, then glanced over at Kerry, who was still peering out the window with great interest. “You sleep okay?” she asked curiously.

“Yeah…yeah, I did. Um, I haven’t been up that long, just a few minutes, really. I slept just fine. Um. How about you?” Kerry found the small boats zipping around the lake fascinating,

“Like a baby.” Dar felt a smile edging her lips. She cast her dice on a gamble. “You, um, you always snuggle up like that at night?” then held her breath, waiting for Kerry’s answer. The sudden tightening of the blonde woman’s jaw, and the stiffening of her back was it’s own answer. Dar swore she could see the “oh shit” form on Kerry’s lips, before the younger woman spoke.

“Sorry about that, it’s a stupid habit. I’ve got this big panda thing, and I, um…” Kerry felt herself babbling, and she could feel herself blushing badly.

“Hey.” Dar broke in on the stumbling words. “Relax. Didn’t bother me a bit.” She chuckled, brushing it off to ease Kerry’s obvious embarrassment. “I do it myself. I’ve got two big pillows at home. I’m always wrapping myself around them. Don’t worry about it.”

Kerry didn’t answer for a minute. Then she took in a breath, seen as a shifting of her shoulders, and released it before she turned around. “Well, I’m glad you understand. Um, so you were going to fill me in on this plan of yours? I mean, if Mark came through, which I guess he did, because he called, and…”

“Kerry.” Dar’s voice stopped her nervous speech. “C’mere.” She waited until the smaller woman hesitantly approached, then patted the bed’s surface.

“Sit down.”

“Um…” Kerry settled uneasily on the edge of the mattress and fastened Tropical Storm 205

her gaze on her knees, horribly embarrassed.

“Listen to me, okay? We’re friends, right?” Dar asked gently.

Shy green eyes lifted to hers. “You’re my boss,” Kerry replied softly, as though that explained everything.

“Just forget about that for a minute.” Dar’s brows contracted. “I haven’t known you that long, and you haven’t known me for that long, but I think it’s fair to say we get along pretty well, right?”

“Yes.”

“Okay. Well, that’s good.” Dar fished for words. “Because I really appreciate having someone around I can think of as a friend, and I’m glad we have a chance to get to know each other.”

Kerry relaxed a little. “Me too.”

Dar considered her next statement, knowing she was coming close to crossing a line. “I don’t want you to feel, um…awkward…about the fact that we’re friends, and that you…I mean, that we like each other.” She stared hard at the carpet, then looked back up at Kerry. “Do you understand what I’m saying?”

Kerry considered it. “Yeah.” She finally exhaled. “I do. It’s just strange.”

“Because we work together?” Dar hazarded.

“Because I work for you,” Kerry corrected gently. “I don’t…it just feels very weird.”

“Mmm,” Dar mused. “Does it bother you?” She queried hesitantly. “I…I mean…” she lifted a hand and dropped it, “that we’ve gotten so friendly this fast?”

That finally got a tiny, relieved smile from the younger woman. “No. I just didn’t want you to think I was trying to get something from you or that I was, um…”

“Sucking up to the boss?” Dar inquired lightly. “I never considered it for a moment. You’re not the type. And believe me, I should know.”

A hesitant smile flitted across Kerry’s face. “Your opinion matters to me. I appreciate you saying that,” Kerry murmured. “I’ve just, I’ve never really gotten so friendly with someone this fast before. It’s a little strange for me.”

“Me too.” Dar hitched one knee up and rested her hands on it. “But I guess there’s a first for everything, eh?”

Kerry ran her hand through her hair and chuckled. “I guess.”

Dar’s lips curved. “So you can relax, all right?” She patted Kerry’s knee.

“Besides, you give great hugs. I don’t want to miss out on one just because you’re worried about what I might think of you.”

Kerry breathed a huge sigh of relief. “Wow, that’s good to hear, because I have this habit of touching people I like without thinking. I didn’t know if that was bothering you. I didn’t even realize I was doing it until last night.”

Ah. Clearing the air. “Well…” Dar scratched her jaw. “Funny thing about that. I absolutely, positively hate people touching me, as a rule, and people coming into my personal space gets me livid…as a rule.”

“Uh.” Kerry bit her lip.

Dar shrugged. “Every rule has an exception, they tell me, and I guess you’re it. No, it doesn’t bother me at all, for some reason.” She gave the younger woman a wry look. “That was kind of a surprise.”

206 Melissa Good

“Oh.” The blonde brows knit. “Good surprise or bad surprise?” Kerry felt her composure returning, and she realized things were actually going pretty well. Dar wasn’t upset about…things…at all.

Suddenly serious pale blue eyes captured hers. “A very good surprise, Kerry. It’s been a very long time since I’ve felt so comfortable with someone. I don’t make friends easily.”

Kerry felt herself drowning in that intense regard, and she reached out in pure reflex, curling her fingers around Dar’s as though it were the most natural thing in the world. “I’m glad,” she replied simply, giving the hand a squeeze. They gazed into each other’s eyes, and Kerry felt her heart start to pound a little faster.

A knock on the door broke the tableau, and Dar dropped her eyes, a tiny smile playing around her lips. “That’d be breakfast, I guess.”

“Yep.” Kerry released her hand, and stood, running her fingers through her hair as she padded to the door and peeked through the eyehole. “I hope you’re hungry. I think I over-ordered.”

White teeth flashed in a grin. “Starving.” She got up and checked the time. Eight thirty. “Let’s eat, then get moving. I’ll fill you in on the plan while we eat.”

THE GLASS-WALLED conference room seemed warmer to Kerry as she entered behind Dar’s tall form and closed the door after her. A large LCD

presentation screen had been added to the far wall, and the IBM team looked, if nothing else, smug. She put her laptop and a folder down next to John, then seated herself, giving him a reassuring smile. “Hello.”

“Hi.” He leaned closer. “Did you get the proposal?”

She nodded and tapped her folder, watching Dar saunter to the first seat nearest the front of the room and sit down.

“The IBM group was working all night. They’ve got this whole whiz-bang presentation to do. I’m a little concerned,” the account team leader whispered. “What do we have, other than the paper?”

“Shhh.” Kerry nodded to the far door, where Michelle and her retinue were entering. “Dar has something planned.” She eyed the Disney executive, surprised when the woman scanned the room and let her gaze rest on Kerry’s face for a long moment before drifting off . I must be sunburned, she realized ruefully. Oh well. She took a quick look at Dar’s face, realizing the darker-skinned woman didn’t show the pink that she did.

“Well.” Michelle put down a leather-covered folder and drummed her immaculately painted nails on it. “Thank you all for being prompt.” She looked first at Jerry, then at Dar, who had slipped off her jacket and was seated casually, her weight resting on her elbows. She had chosen to wear a sleeveless, low-necked white cotton shirt, and she looked cool and comfortable, in direct contrast to the men, with their tight ties and buttoned collars.

“It’s a pity you were tied up last night, Dar, Jerry and I had some wonderful conversation.” Michelle’s eyes were sharp, and she let a brief, thin smile edge her lips.

Tropical Storm 207

Dar didn’t even twitch. She just returned the smile with a lazy one of her own. “Sorry I missed it. Hope you had as good a time as I did.” Suddenly, she was glad she’d turned down the Disney exec. It was obvious she was enjoying the liberal fawning of the bidding process, and Dar felt a quiet satisfaction that she hadn’t stooped to that. Of course, it also might mean she’d dropped the ball and lost the account. She hated losing. It didn’t happen often, and if she lost this one, knowing she could have sewn it up was going to hurt, in more ways than one.

Kerry shifted a little in her seat and cleared her throat.

Or would it? Dar knew herself to be skirting a chasm she’d never anticipated and she wondered just how much it would take to simply push her over that edge.

“Well, let’s get started.” Michelle had obviously decided she wasn’t going to get a rise out of Dar, so she sat down. “I believe we have presentations from both teams?”

Jerry leaned back and laced his fingers over his stomach. “Ladies first.”

He smiled sweetly at Dar.

She shrugged and gave him an amused look. “Okay, if you insist, you go right ahead.”

Against her will, Michelle bit the inside of her lip and looked down, then cleared her throat. “Jerry, go on so we won’t be here all day.”

His face reddened, but he complied, laying out his materials and launching into his presentation, using the display screen to illustrate how they would realign networks and put servers in place. It was interesting, and Dar reflected that he really did know what he was doing. It took forty-five minutes, though, and she caught Michelle peeking at her watch before he finished. She nodded quietly to herself. A good, solid presentation, worthy of the reputation of his company and probably a very competitive bid. Jerry wanted this; the publicity alone was worth low-balling the price.

Michelle nodded at him as he finished. “Thank you. That was very comprehensive.” She paused, then turned and looked at Dar, raising a ginger-colored eyebrow in question.

Dar remained seated and leaned back, resting her weight on the arms of the chair. “Kerry?” She motioned the younger woman forward with a jerk of her head. That was a surprise. Even her own people expected her to do the presentation; certainly Michelle had.

Kerry took a breath, then stood and picked up her laptop, tucking it under her arm and walking to the front of the room. She efficiently disconnected the display screen and plugged into her external video port, then booted up the laptop and requested a cellular connection to their network. She glanced up as it was connecting. “This was an interesting scenario to develop a solution for,” she commented. “Because in order for an interactive system to work, you have to make it easy to use and complex in its design all at the same time.”

She brought up a network diagram, setting counters and narrowing the focus. “This is your current data communications network.” She started the monitors running “You can see, your current utilization runs into bottlenecks here and here, mostly because of the bandwidth requirements, especially in 208 Melissa Good the video link.”

Dar watched Michelle’s face as the smaller woman leaned forward, peering at the live data with interest.

“So, to open the pipeline, we’d bring in trunk circuits here and here.”

Kerry had another screen open, and she typed several rapid-fire commands, which suddenly made the monitors jump and flutter. “Like that.”

Michelle’s brows creased. “Did you just…do it?”

“Mmm-hmm,” Kerry acknowledged, with a gentle smile. “See how that smoothes the bottlenecks? You get better through-put.” She brought up another screen, this one an actual link into the Disney reservations system.

“We analyzed the application you were running as well. It provides a lot of information, but it’s slow, and it’s very layered, making people go through an intensive drill before they get where they want to go.” She clicked again. “Our web design division suggests this as a replacement. You can see it’s a three-dimensional representation of one of your parks, and to get where you want to go, the touch screen technology is used, like this…” She tapped with her mouse key, and the scene shifted, then shifted again to display the castle in the Magic Kingdom.

“Nice,” Michelle murmured.

“Um, no.” Kerry tapped again, at the graphically drawn doors. “This is nice.” The doors opened, and she was given a menu of options. “To see the menus, you go here.” She showed it. “Then if you want to make a reservation, you go here.” The screen was replaced with an overhead shot of the restaurant, complete with tables. “You can pick your time, and it will show what tables are available.” She clicked, and a small screen popped up. “You type your name in, and there you are.” The table was now labeled Mickey Mouse.

The entire room was focused on Kerry now, and she glanced past them to a pair of warm, sparkling blue eyes, one of which winked at her. “But this is a nice addition,” she went on, accepting the reservation. “It gives you the option to leave a pager number, here, so you can be reminded of your reservation, and so the restaurant staff can get hold of you if there’s a change.” She typed in a number, and clicked Okay, then paused expectantly.

Seconds later, a soft beeping sounded from across the room, and Dar held up her pager, then reset it.

“That’s…incredible.” Michelle sat back. “But what kind of bandwidth problems are we talking about? That program must be huge.”

Kerry met her gaze and smiled. “Want to find out?” she inquired. “We threw this on two of our Alpha servers, and wrote a little stress-testing program.” She clicked, displaying a network analyzer in one corner, then started the program with a different session. “See? It’s not that big, really, since we cache the screens like the seat maps locally, and we cut way down on the video traffic. You only need to talk to a reservationist if you can’t figure something out, or if you want to make special arrangements. There’s parameters you can specify, like a cutoff on party size, so someone won’t put in for a party of thirty or something.”

She stopped talking and gazed out at them. “Any questions?” Kerry glanced around the room, then let her eyes settle on Michelle. “We Tropical Storm 209

downloaded the PDF maps from your website, and cross-referenced them to the location database that’s up there, then ran it all through a three-D modeler attached to a back-end datafile that stores all the information.” She paused for Michelle’s nod of understanding. “Beyond that, it was mostly customizing it to your business style, which Dar and I had an opportunity to evaluate the past two days.”

Dar’s brow lifted unobtrusively. That…was impressive and unprompted.

Kerry had somehow clued in to the fact that Michelle was miffed that she’d spent the night wandering the park instead of at dinner with her, and had turned a purely personal motive into a compelling business one. Nice. Very nice. She caught the younger woman’s eyes and smiled appreciatively, noting the faint blush that colored Kerry’s cheeks.

“No, I…” Michelle turned to Dar, with a little incredulous shake of her head. “Can I speak to you in private for a moment?”

Gotcha. “Sure,” Dar replied amiably, as she stood up and motioned for Michelle to precede her. They slipped out the door in the rear, into a small antechamber with soft ferns and a smoked glass skylight.

The redhead turned to face her. “I didn’t expect that.”

Dar smiled. “I told you I make things happen. Diagrams and grids are fine, but I thought you wanted to see an end result, not promises.”

A slow nod, and then the woman’s eyes lazily caressed her. “So, did you have fun last night?”

“More than you did, I bet.” Dar chuckled. “I’ve had dinner with Jerry.”

Michelle tried without much success to wipe a smile off her face. “He doesn’t have much good to say about you, I’ll tell you that.” She gazed up at the taller woman. “I spent most of the night hearing about how you’d screw me over.”

“Not my style,” she disagreed. “We screw up sometimes, just like everyone else does, but we don’t go out looking for victims.” Now she let her own eyes wander, letting a little of her admittedly seductive side surface. “But I don’t think you’re the victim type anyway.”

Michelle blinked, then she stepped back a little, and folded her arms. “I’ll take that as a compliment. That was a nice presentation. Your little protégée knows her stuff.” A cynical look entered her eyes. “Here I thought she was just a bit of fluff you brought with you.”

“Kerry’s not a bit of anything,” Dar replied, more sharply than she’d intended.

The smaller woman’s lips tensed, then she chuckled softly. “Ah, so you do have the rare soft spot. Well, no offense meant, Dar. I like the fact that you stand up for your people.” She sighed. “That’s so rare at our level. I’ve seen countless situations where a subordinate is mostly used for putting blame on, but I don’t think you’re that type.”

“No,” Dar replied honestly.

“And I don’t think you’re the kind of person who lies for no reason. So, were you really casing the joint last night?” Michelle gazed at her, a half smile on her face.

“I was keeping a promise,” Dar answered quietly. “And no, it wasn’t business-related.”

210 Melissa Good The shorter woman leaned back against a sideboard and crossed her arms. “Interesting, and that was more important to you than locking up this bid?” she asked. “If that’s the case, I’m not sure we can do business, Ms.

Roberts.”

Dar stepped forward, straightening to her full height and pinning Michelle with pale blue eyes. “If that’s how you base your business decisions, then I won’t regret losing the contract,” she said softly. “Are we done?”

Without a word, Michelle gestured back towards the door, and they reentered the meeting room, where Kerry had disconnected her laptop and resumed her seat next to John.

“Excuse me for a moment.” Michelle picked up both proposals and left the room. This time the hounds stayed behind, glancing at everyone with suspicious eyes.

Dar sat down next to Kerry, putting her elbows on the arms of her chair and steepling her fingers before her face. She could feel the eyes of the entire room on her, and it was a struggle to keep her face calm and relaxed. I think I blew this one, she admitted quietly to herself. If I was going to play her game, I should have played it all the way, not backed off. Damn, I think I need more than a stupid vacation. I need to get my head back on straight and remember what the hell my job is. A certain grimness settled over her. Not spend time running around a stupid park, playing games.

The door opened again, and Michelle re-entered, a thoughtful look on her face. She looked at the two proposals still grasped in her hand for a moment, then inhaled and tossed one at Jerry. “Thanks for your time.” She tossed the other at Dar. “I’ll be in touch.” Then she simply left, taking her hounds with her. Mickey Mouse smiled at them from the clock on the wall, his fingers pointing out the time, the solid ticking echoing in the shocked stillness of the room for what seemed like an endless instant. Then Dar collected herself and stood up, picking up the contract and handing it to John. “Here you go.” She let her hand fall on Kerry’s shoulder. “C’mon, we’ve got a plane to catch.”

Kerry got up and followed her quickly out of the room, across the hallway, and into the waiting elevator, which slid closed behind them, blocking the view of the glassed-in conference room.

Dar leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms, giving Kerry a cheerfully triumphant grin. In silence, the blonde woman pumped her fist down and mouthed. “Yes!” Dar poked out the tip of her tongue in response, then wiped her face of its glee as the doors opened to let them out on the ground floor. They didn’t relax until they were in the rental car, pulling out of the lot, and heading towards the airport.

“That was amazing,” Kerry gushed. “Dar, I thought for sure after those nasty comments…I never thought she’d pick us.”

The executive slowly shook her head. “Me either, to be honest. I thought I really blew this one.” She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number from memory. “Beatrice? He in?”

“You did?” Kerry looked confused. “Wow, I thought you handled it great,” she objected. “You were by far the coolest and most prepared person in there. You didn’t even react when she tossed that packet at you, it’s like you Tropical Storm 211

expected it all along.”

“Hah!” Dar snorted, putting her fingers over the microphone on the cell.

“Good acting job.” She grinned in almost giddy relief, then took a breath.

“Alastair?” A pause. “Done deal.” She held the phone away from her ear as various whooping and squawking noises issued from it, chuckling as she waited for the racket to die down. “Yeah, about fifteen minutes ago … No, I’m on my way to the airport, John has the details.”

“Dar, you are a goddess.” Alastair’s voice crackled through the connection. “I’m sending you something for this, and you better the hell not turn it down, or I’m coming down there personally and making sure you don’t, got me?”

“Wasn’t just me, Alastair,” Dar objected. “The website team, Mark, the docs people, and especially my assistant Kerry, who gave the proposal, had a big part in it.” She caught a blush out of the corner of her eye, and gave the blonde a playful nudge with her elbow.

“You can take care of them, I’m going to take care of you,” the cheerful voice replied. “Let me go. That’s John on the other line, probably needing his pants dry cleaned. Bye Dar, God bless you.”

Dar folded the phone and tucked it into its belt holder, then exhaled.

She’d gotten lucky, all right. Big time. Michelle had made her decision based on business reasons, though Dar suspected it had been a close thing. She also suspected she hadn’t heard the last from Ms. Graver. But for right now, it was done, and she was headed home. “Hope he doesn’t send me caviar again,” she joked wryly.

“I’m glad it all worked out. It was nice of you to say everyone else was involved,” Kerry commented with a smile.

“You were,” Dar said. “I didn’t do a damn thing other than throw a few smart-ass comments around and pick the right people to do the right thing for me.” She pointed at Kerry without taking her eyes off the road. “You did a sharp as hell demo, my friend. You had them in the palm of your hand.”

Now Kerry did blush, blinking with a mildly bemused look on her face.

“Um, thanks,” she stammered softly. “Glad I did all right. But it was your plan, Dar. When everything works, it’s easy to show it off, you know?”

Dar grinned. “I know. So we all did good,” she confided, as she drove past an elaborate water tower. “Hey, there’s MGM.”

“Ooo.” Kerry peeked at it. “Next time, I wanted to do the Tower of Terror.”

Dar checked her watch, then glanced at the park, then glanced at Kerry’s nose-pressed-against-the-glass posture and considered. “Well…” She turned into the left lane, then waited for traffic to slow. “There’s later flights.”

Kerry glanced over her shoulder, startled. “Dar, you don’t….” She saw the sparkle in those blue eyes and stopped. “Promise me something?”

Dar blinked as she completed her turn into the parking area. “Okay, sure.”

“Promise you’ll come back here, when we’ve got more time?” Kerry asked.

After a short pause, Dar said, “All right.” Green eyes met hers. “I promise we’ll come back here. Now, c’mon, grab your shorts. Let’s change and have a 212 Melissa Good little fun. We earned it.”

IT WAS DARK, the lights of the airfield being the only illumination as they finally took off for the short flight back to Miami. Kerry snuggled down into her leather seat, stifling a yawn as she gingerly eased her shirt away from the back of her neck. “Jesus, even with the sunblock, I still got burned.” She stretched out her body, then relaxed. “Ugh.”

“Awww.” Dar had leaned back, folding her hands over her stomach.

“Did I tire you out?” Blue eyes sparkled mischievously. “Maybe you shouldn’t push yourself so hard.”

Kerry looked at her. “I’m being tweaked, aren’t I?” she asked, biting off a grin. “Yes, you did, as a matter of fact. I’m exhausted, and I just remembered I have to go do that global volunteer thing tomorrow.”

Dar closed her eyes. “I’ll bring you some carrot juice.”

A little silence ensued, during which Kerry peered at her. “Are you going to be there?” she asked curiously. “I didn’t know that. I thought it was just for regular workers.“

Dar shrugged nonchalantly. “It rotates. One of the senior execs has to do it every year. Just so happened this was my year.” A blue eye appeared. “Is that okay?”

“Well, yeah, of course,” Kerry stammered. “In fact, that’s great. A bunch of the Associated people are going to be there. I’d…” She paused awkwardly.

“Like them to see I’m not as bad as they think?” Dar inquired with a wry grin.

Kerry blushed a little and ducked her head. “Something like that, yes.”

“Ah, Kerry, it’s too late for my reputation to be salvaged, I’m afraid.” Dar crossed her arms over her chest. “But I appreciate the thought.”

“Any time,” Kerry murmured, suddenly struck by how much she liked the sound of her name on Dar’s lips. The older woman put a gentle, almost imperceptible roll on the R’s that reminded her of a kitten’s purr, and she found herself wanting to hear it more.

She found herself liking the idea of Dar being at the event tomorrow, too.

Despite her words, she was looking forward to proving to her ex co-workers that the person they referred to as El Chupacabra wasn’t nearly as horrible as they thought she was. Susan, her former lead programmer, especially, since she’d taken the time to call Kerry on more than one occasion, to make sure she was “still alive” and pass on rumors she’d heard about her new boss.

“You be careful, Ker,” Susan had warned. “I heard she fired someone just because she didn’t like what they were wearing one day.”

Hmm. “Hey, Dar?”

“Huh?” The dark-haired woman glanced over, sipping at a glass of chocolate milk she’d wangled out of the stewardess.

“Did you ever fire someone because you didn’t like what they were wearing?” Kerry inquired curiously.

Dar considered the question. “Once, yes,” she admitted, watching Kerry’s eyes widen. “A man named Lawrence Matthews. He was an account rep at Florida Power and Light.”

Tropical Storm 213

“Dar, I can’t believe you’d do that!” she spluttered. “W-what was he wearing that was so awful?”

The blue eyes flinched almost imperceptibly. “He wasn’t wearing anything, Kerry. He got angry and stripped naked at a customer site, and went into the president’s office offering her his private parts.”

Kerry’s jaw dropped. “Oh. Well, Jesus, Dar, that doesn’t count. Of course you fired him!” She snorted. “I would have, too!”

Dar nodded quietly. “All right. Well, to get them out of the way: no, I’ve never slept with Alastair; I’ve never fired anyone for not brushing their teeth; I don’t ask my secretary to solicit escort services for me; and I don’t get drunk every night.”

Blonde brows knit. “I knew all that,” Kerry stated. “How silly.”

“Yeah, but I have punched a corporate VP; I have dissolved entire companies to make the numbers; and I have slept with people to win a bid.”

Dar’s voice was quiet and even. “I’m a bastard, and I know it, Kerry.”

Sea green eyes studied her face for a long time, as the drone of the engines blocked out the noise around them. “I’m sorry. I know you’ve done nasty things, and I know what I thought of you when I first met you, but I can’t look at you now and think of you like that.”

Dar exhaled quietly. “That could be very dangerous for you,” she said in an even tone. “I have a lot of enemies.”

Kerry smiled suddenly, her eyes twinkling. “It could be dangerous for you, too,” she warned, lifting her chin. “Hanging around with me could be deadly to your reputation, you know.” She leaned against the arm between their seats and raised her eyebrows in challenge. Dar leaned on her side of the arm, until their noses were inches apart. Green eyes and blue gazed into each other, so close that Kerry could feel Dar’s breathing stir the hair on the side of her face, and see the tiny muscles on the side of Dar’s face twitch as she held back a smile.

“Is that so?” Dar drawled softly.

“Oh yeah,” Kerry replied, reveling in the strength of what she could feel between them. “I’m going to make you into a nice person,” she growled, squinting her eyes menacingly. “Paladar.”

The grin fought its way to the surface, and Dar laughed, shaking her head from side to side gently. Then she leaned a little further forward, and touched her forehead to Kerry’s, so that the smaller woman almost had to cross her eyes to keep her in focus. “Unrealistic expectations, Kerrison.”

It was so hard not to just… Oh Jesus! Kerry finally dropped her gaze and pulled back before she could embarrass herself. She was blushing, and she knew it. She took a moment to compose herself, then glanced back at the quiet, waiting Dar. Her voice was serious. “Not in my eyes.”

Now Dar’s gaze dropped, and as she looked down, a lock of the dark hair fell, obscuring her face. Kerry had to catch herself before she pushed it back, wanting to feel the soft texture against her skin.

A slow exhalation, and then Dar lifted her head and gave Kerry a rakish, playful grin. “I guess we’ll have to see if you can deliver on that.” She winked, then relaxed back in her seat and gazed out of the window, watching the dark land go by underneath the wings of the plane.

214 Melissa Good Oh god, I’m in trouble. Kerry felt her body trying to deal with the avalanche of emotions running through her. All right, calm down. Take a deep breath, Kerry She’s your boss, and she’s just playing with you, okay? She doesn’t mean any of this. It’s just a little bit of fun for her. She likes flirting, that’s all there is to it. Isn’t it?

Kerry turned her head slightly and watched Dar from the corners of her eyes. She blinked and realized there was a distinct blush across her boss’s face, almost invisible against her tanned skin. The taller woman bit her lower lip, showing a brief flash of white teeth and producing an almost adolescent expression. Then she glanced over and caught Kerry watching, and the look vanished, replaced by a quirky grin and one lifted brow. Oh boy.

THE CONDO WAS very quiet as Dar keyed the lock and entered, flipping on the hallway light. It was cool inside, for which she was grateful, but she was suddenly struck by the emptiness of the place, something that had never occurred to her before. Irritated by the thought, she shook her head in dismissal, then moved through the living room, grabbing the remote, and turning on the television just to get some background noise in the place. In the kitchen, her mail was waiting in a little basket, brought in by the cleaning crew who had been there that morning. Dar retrieved a glass and went to the refrigerator, pulling it open and getting herself some milk. Glancing around, she found herself wishing Kerry had come home with her, already missing the blonde woman’s presence and her ready smile.

“C’mon, Dar. Get a grip.” She grabbed the basket of mail and trudged into the living room, sinking down onto the leather couch with a sigh. “So you had some fun with the kid. All right, now we’re back to normal here, so get that pretty face out of your head and read your damn mail.”

She started to sift through the contents of the basket, then felt something larger and more bulky beneath the various bills and junk mail. Puzzled, she pulled out a small box, addressed to her, with a return address in Kissimmee.

What the hell? She put down the basket, and picked up her keys off the table.

Using the small penknife she had on her key chain, she opened the box. Inside, bubble wrap obscured the contents, until she carefully pulled it loose and exposed what was inside. Her fingers slowly lifted out the crystal dolphins as she stared at them in disbelief. Dazed, she looked back into the box and saw the folded note. Dolphins in one hand, she pulled out the note with the other and opened it. “Happy Boss’s Day! Hope you had a good one. K.”

“Oh, Kerry.” She exhaled softly, turning the hand-blown glass to the light and seeing the explosion of color inside it. “You little idiot, you shouldn’t have done that.”

She hated personal knick-knacks, but she felt her face easing into a smile of delight at the laughing sea mammals as she admired the fine tints of green and blue that trickled through the waves they crested on. She set the piece down on the table and gazed at it, her elbows on her knees, and her chin resting on her hands. If she accepted the gift, it also meant accepting that she was allowing herself closer and closer to that line. It meant she was also allowing Kerry into a place she’d deliberately kept barren for a very long time.

Tropical Storm 215

It was dangerous and probably a mistake.

What line? She knew she’d already crossed it the moment she hired Kerry as her assistant. Any other thought was a lie, and though she readily lied to others, she tried not to lie to herself. After she’d awakened that morning, knowing she’d had Kerry in her arms, and wanting nothing more than to repeat the experience, she knew she’d come to a choice. Stop, or go. Cut off their friendship and pull back from Kerry totally, or let things go forward, knowing what was likely to happen. And stopping… Even the thought hurt, stabbing her deeply in places she had no defense against. I don’t want to stop.

So, we’ll just see what happens from here.

“Well,” she addressed the crystal figurine. “I hope she likes what’s in her box.”

Dar curled up on the couch, her head resting against the soft arm where Kerry had slept the previous week, and watched the changing light from the screen and the moonlight that came in the window sparkle and play in the depths of her gift.

KERRY LOCKED THE doors to the Mustang and shouldered her overnight bag, trudging into her apartment with a not very stifled yawn. She turned on the lights and went over to her fish tank, dropped in a few flakes, and waved to the two kissing gouramies and the tiny guppies that blinked up at her. “Hi, guys.” The gouramie blurped, nibbling at the flakes, and she smiled at them. “I’m back. Did you miss me?”

She chuckled and put the cover back on the tank, then set her bag down on the couch and walked over to the small table in the kitchen, where Colleen had tossed her mail. She leafed through it, pulling out the bills and putting them in a small green basket to one side, then sorting through the rest in order of relevance. She lifted up the ubiquitous AOL diskette in its colorful envelope and sighed. “Friends don’t let friends do AOL.” She tossed the envelope toward the trashcan, then went to her answering machine, pushing a button to retrieve the messages.

“Hello, dear, it’s your mother. We’ve started making arrangements for you to come home, everyone is very excited. I think we’ll put you in the west cottage until you and Brian decide for yourselves where you want to settle. He’s thrilled you’re moving back. By the way, honey. I have several engagements coming up I want you to attend with us, so we’ll need to do some shopping when you get home. Those dresses from a few years ago aren’t appropriate now, so you’ll need something new. Oh yes, and your father says it’s perfectly all right for you to get a little job with them up here in the Troy office. He knows several of the managers there, and he’s sure you won’t have a problem getting something nice, something that doesn’t require you to do all this dangerous traveling. Let’s see, what else was there? Oh, well, we’re expecting you for Thanksgiving. The tickets are already on the way, so plan to fly out Wednesday night, and we made arrangements for you to return on Monday. I know 216 Melissa Good you can tell your boss about that and she won’t mind. I have to go, dear, please call me when you get home, since you know how I worry.”

Kerry listened with an expressionless face, then hit the Delete key with a savage stab.

The remaining four messages were: one from Colleen, two from Susan, and a fourth from Ray, wanting her to go out tonight to the Grove. A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts, though, and she turned. “C’mon in.”

The door fairly exploded open, and Colleen came bounding in, dressed in her skating gear and covered with a thin sheen of sweat. “You’re back!”

Kerry held out her arms and looked down at herself. “Looks like it, yep,”

she agreed. “What’s up?”

“Wait, I’ve got a box for you,” Colleen said. “I’ll be right back.”

She bounded out, reminding Kerry vaguely of Tigger. She was left in quiet for a moment, then the redhead stumbled back in, tugging a large cardboard box behind her.

“This came today. I happened to be here when the Oops man showed up.

I signed for it. It’s from Orlando.”

“Slow down, Col.” Kerry laughed as she moved forward to help her friend with the large package. “What on earth is this? I didn’t order…” She fell silent and opened the top of the box, pulling back the flap and exposing something plush and golden. “…anything,” she finished, reaching in and pulling out a huge, smiling stuffed Winnie the Pooh, his arms spread, just waiting for a hug. “Oh.”

Colleen watched her with a puzzled look. “You didn’t order this? It’s cute as hell, Ker…and I know you love Pooh. You’ve got all those damn figurines, and that honey cookie jar in the kitchen.”

Kerry pulled the stuffed bear closer and sniffed, then put it up against her face and breathed in. A slow, delighted smile crossed her face. “Um. No, I didn’t order it. I…” She glanced in the box and saw a little card with a mouse on the front. She picked it up and opened it. “Thanks for a job well done.” It was unsigned, but it didn’t have to be. “It’s from Dar,” she told Colleen, handing her the card. “I did a presentation today and it helped us win the bid.” Colleen’s jaw dropped, and she held the card as though it were a small thermonuclear device. “Holy shit!” she squeaked, looking at Kerry in disbelief. “This is from Popsicle Woman?”

Kerry gently smoothed Pooh’s eyebrows down and smiled back into his smiling face. “Yep.” She picked up the bear and hugged it gently, reveling in the lingering scent of Dar’s perfume that clung to its soft fur.

Colleen watched her for a minute, then put a hand on her friend’s arm, her freckled face suddenly serious. “Kerry?”

“Hmm?” The sea green eyes glanced up in question. “Oh, sorry.” Kerry released the bear, then set him down on the couch. “I love Pooh…and it’s so soft. Did you feel the fur?”

“What’s going on with you?” her friend asked softly.

“With me? Nothing, why?” Kerry asked, but she averted her eyes. “That Tropical Storm 217

was nice of Dar. I’ll have to remember to thank her.” She felt Colleen take her arm and allowed herself to be seated on the couch, next to the bear. “It was an interesting couple of days. We got to see a few of the parks, and I got to see my first bidding war.”

“Uh huh.” Colleen still studied her. “You two spend a lot of time together?”

Kerry knew where this was going, and she sighed inwardly. “Just about every minute, yes.” She finally looked back up at Colleen. “And I had a really good time. We actually got kind of friendly.”

A faint smile edged Colleen’s lips. “Kind of?” She put a hand on Kerry’s arm and rubbed it. “I’m thinking it’s a little more than that, kiddo.”

Kerry felt a deep blush rising and she paused, trying to find words to refute what Colleen was suggesting. She knew there were none, not really, not unless she wanted to lie to her friend. So she shrugged a little at her. “We both had a good time, Colleen. We found out we like…spending time together.

That’s all there is, really. I mean…Jesus, she’s my boss, remember?” She felt a little defensive. “It was just, I don’t know, things kind of clicked between us.

She’s really a lot of fun when she lets all those prickles down, and…and, damn it, I like her.”

“Shhh. Okay, okay.” Colleen patted her arm. “I believe you, Ker. Take it easy. If anything, it shows just how perceptive you have to have been. I wouldn’t have guessed she had a nice bone in her body.”

“Well, she does.” Kerry’s brow puckered. “You have to dig for it, and she doesn’t give it up easily, but it’s there.” She glanced up. “Hey, you’re going to be at the Global Day tomorrow, right?”

Colleen nodded. “Yeppers. About two dozen of us’ll be there. Why?”

Kerry nodded. “Dar’s going to be there from our group. I’ll introduce you. You’ll see, Colleen, she’s not that bad, honest.” Unconsciously, she reached out with one hand and stroked the bear.

Colleen gave her a look. “All right, I’ll take your word for it.” She shifted her gaze to the huge stuffed animal. “I can’t argue with this.” She could sense Kerry was still uncomfortable discussing her new friend, though, so she changed the subject. “Did your folks calm down any?”

Kerry was grateful for the shift in focus, even though it was a depressing one. “God, no. They’re making plans for me to come home. I’ve got to try and think of a way to get them to back off, before I end up in ruffles attending some rubber-chicken banquet in Michigan.”

“Mmm. So, what else did you get?” Colleen resolutely pushed her worries out of her mind. “I see bags.”

The blonde woman smiled. “Oh god, wait. I brought you back some of the best chocolate. Here.” She dug out her large-handled bag and began showing off her purchases. “Try this fudge.”

“Mmm.” Colleen nibbled appreciatively as she peered at the brochures her friend had brought back. She held up the picture of the Grand Floridian.

“Is this where you stayed?” “Wow. Must be niiiicce.”

“Oh yeah.” Kerry grinned. “They had the best banana-stuffed French toast for breakfast…and a really nice view.”

“French toast, huh?” The redhead chuckled. “So you guys didn’t do the 218 Melissa Good bread and water thing, that’s good. Did you share a room?” Artfully put, she thought, with an inward smirk.

“Nope and nope,” Kerry replied cheerfully. “I ate like a pig, I’m ashamed to admit, and I enjoyed every minute of it. We managed to get to Epcot during the International Food Festival. It was great.” She patted her stomach. “But with all the damn walking and everything, I don’t think I did too much damage—it was worth it, though. I had a really great time, even with worrying about the bid and all.”

Colleen studied her as she dug into her packages. Smiling and interested, her sun-tinted skin evident in the lamplight, Kerry looked like she’d just come back from a vacation, not a business meeting. The redhead smiled to herself.

“Well, you look great. Got some sun, huh?”

Kerry nodded distractedly. “We spent six or seven hours at Blizzard Beach. I got sunburned like crazy, even though I wore screen, but it was great.

Those slides are fantastic.” She pulled out a bag. “I got you a T-shirt.”

“Ho-ho,” Colleen laughed, holding it up. “I like it. He looks good in a tartan.” It was a bold Mickey, dressed in green Scottish garb and carrying bagpipes. “Blizzard Beach huh? So, how’s your boss look in a bathing suit then, eh?”

“Gorgeous,” Kerry answered without thinking. “She’s got a body to die f—” She stopped awkwardly, realizing what she was saying, and gave Colleen a gently accusing look. “Col…”

Her friend smiled and patted her cheek. “Never you worry, lassie, it’s clear as a bell to me you’re head over heels. And if you’re happy, I’m happy for you, okay?”

“I am not…” Kerry burst into a protest, “…any such thing.” Her voice trailed off, and she sighed. “Oh my god, is it that obvious?” Her shoulders slumped.

“Hey, hey.” Colleen laughed and put an arm around her. “I think it was the fact that your face lights up every time you say her name that clued me in, but don’t worry, kiddo. If it’s any consolation to ya, I think you’ve got great taste. I can’t say I like her methods, but she’s one hot-looking lady.”

Kerry folded her arms across her chest. It felt good to stop dissembling.

“I feel like such an idiot, Col. I thought I was too old for crushes. It’s embarrassing,” she admitted ruefully. “But, yeah. She smiles and my damn blood pressure skyrockets…and I start stuttering like some kind of star struck teenager.” She shook her head with a sigh. “I’ll get over it, but it’s driving me a little crazy.”

“Mmm-hmm.” Colleen patted her knee. “How does she feel about it?”

Kerry stared at her. “Who, Dar? Oh, Jesus, Colleen, she doesn’t know anything about it. I mean, she’s my boss, for Christ’s sake. She likes me, sure, and she thinks I’m a good employee, but that’s it.”

Colleen plucked at the bear’s arm and raised an eyebrow. “You sure about that?”

“Of course I’m sure,” Kerry insisted. “We just get along well, that’s all.”

The redhead leaned over and sniffed at the bear’s fur. “That her perfume?” A half teasing, half sultry note had entered her voice.

“Uh…” Kerry exhaled. “Yeah.”

Tropical Storm 219

“Nice,” Colleen complimented it. “Okay, well, I’m really looking forward to meeting her tomorrow then.” Her eyes twinkled.

Kerry grabbed her arm and a fierce note enter her voice. “You’re not going to say anything to her. Colleen, I’m warning you…”

A hand lifted. “Not a word, I swear it,” the redhead promised solemnly.

“Well, let me let you get some sleep. We’ve got a long day tomorrow.” She rose and ruffled Kerry’s hair. “Sweet dreams, my friend.”

Yeah. Kerry watched her leave, then she leaned against Pooh, letting out a long sigh. She considered a moment, then picked up the cordless phone lying on the table and dialed a number which was now ingrained in her memory.

An unusual five rings sounded before it was picked up. “Um. Hi. Listen, I know it’s late, but I…”

“Hey, no, I’m glad you called. I fell asleep on the damn couch.” Dar’s voice sounded a little blurry. “What’s up?”

“Um. Thanks for Pooh,” Kerry said softly. “You didn’t have to do that.”

A chuckle sounded, sending gentle shivers down her spine.

“I don’t recall signing the card,” Dar replied in playful tone. “But you’re welcome. I thought you deserved a little memento of the successful bid.”

She paused, and Kerry could hear her clear her throat a little.

“And…um, that was an insane thing to do, but thank you for the dolphins. I love…them.”

Kerry blushed a deep, brick red. At a loss for words, she stammered softly. “Y-you’re welcome.” She could almost feel the smile on Dar’s face, as it faintly changed the tone of her voice when she spoke.

“It was the best Boss’s Day ever, you can be sure of that,” Dar assured her. “Hey, you there?”

“Uh, yes. Sorry. I’m really glad it was.” Kerry managed to get her tongue untied. “Well, you must be tired. Um. See you tomorrow?”

“Uh huh,” Dar agreed. “See you tomorrow. ’Night, Kerry.”

“ ’Night,” Kerry said softly as the line went dead. She could feel a deep welling of emotion going through her, and she put down the phone and hugged the bear to her, burying her face into its fur with helpless fierceness.

After a long moment, she stood, changed into her nightshirt, then turned out the lights and went to bed, bringing the happy-looking Pooh right along with her.