Tropical Storm

Chapter Twenty-three

THE SUN CREPT across the carpet, scattering a few dust motes as it splashed its way across the couch and its two occupants. Outside, a car door slammed, and an engine sputtered to life as a weed cutter started up nearby and buzzed into life.

Kerry half jumped up, startled at the strangeness of her position. She blinked her eyes open and frowned, taking a moment before she realized where she was. Still cradled more or less in Dar’s arms, missing most of her clothing. “Oh, Jesus.” They’d fallen asleep on the couch, with the television still on, now displaying a lurid infomercial featuring Chuck Norris with the sound thankfully off. Kerry licked her lips and fuzzily remembered sensual touches, a subtle craving that grew as she lay there quietly just breathing in Dar’s scent. Whoa.

She reached up and touched her forehead where the bump had gone down a lot but was still tender, then slowly unwrapped her fingers where they were still closed around Dar’s. Kerry turned, glancing up at her companion.

The dawn light peeking in the window slanted over her and painted her tanned skin, catching the barest hint of chestnut highlights in the dark hair.

The muscles in her face were relaxed, save for the tiniest movement under the lids of her closed eyes, and Kerry found herself almost holding her breath just watching the tremors and absorbing the wonderful feeling of the arms still clasped around her. It was such a gorgeous feeling. With a sigh, Kerry glanced at the clock, then patted Dar on the arm lightly. “Dar?

Slowly the facial muscles tensed, then the eyelids fluttered, revealing those amazing blue eyes, which blinked, then focused on her. “Oh, um…” Dar shook her head a little to clear it. “Morning.”

Kerry smiled wryly. “Uh, yeah.” She glanced at the window. “Looks like we sorta dropped off there, and I know you’ve got an appointment.”

Dar yawned, then disengaged her arm and rubbed her eyes. “Yeah, I do.”

She let her head fall back again. “Unfortunately.” A pause, then the blue eyes were studying Kerry intently. “How are you feeling?” She reached up and brushed her fingertips over Kerry’s forehead. “Looks better.”

“Feels better.” Kerry sat up, flexing arms and legs stiff from being in one position for hours, and took a deep breath. “Not too bad,” she decided. “Buh.”

She rubbed her face with one hand. “Didn’t expect to end up sleeping on top of you. Sorry about that.”

“Eh.” The taller woman stretched her body out, arching her back a little Tropical Storm 291

and stifling another yawn. “I survived,” she replied, sounding a touch surprised. “Couch is pretty comfortable, really.” She removed the shirt draped over the back of the furniture and pulled it on over her head. “Glad your gardeners don’t trim near the windows.”

Kerry glanced down at herself, mildly shocked at not being shocked at being pretty much naked. She retrieved her own shirt from the floor near the couch and eased it on over her head. “Eyah, they’re not exactly conservative here, but I don’t think my landlord would appreciate ungluing the eyeballs from the glass.” She gazed at Dar, then leaned over and gave her a hug.

Dar hugged her back. “You’re damned nice to wake up to, Kerry.”

Kerry smiled into the fabric over Dar’s shoulder and exhaled, then she patted her boss on the side. “C’mon, let me get us some breakfast, then you can take off. You don’t want to be late.”

Yes, I do. Dar suddenly found herself very much wanting to remain right where she was. But she sighed and released Kerry, waiting for the blonde to stand up before she joined her, working a kink out of her back with a grimace.

“You don’t need to make breakfast. I can just grab some coffee when I get there. They have a little café on the bottom floor.”

“Dar.” Kerry poked her. “You come all the way out here, just to pat me literally and figuratively on the head, and you won’t let me make you toast?

Get real.” She shook her head as she ambled into the kitchen, putting up some coffee and getting a loaf of raisin bread out of her refrigerator. “Dar, do you…yow!” The dark-haired woman had silently come up behind her and was peering over her shoulder. “Jesus. How do you do that?”

“Cinnamon raisin toast?” Dar inquired hopefully, her brows lifting in interest.

“Well, yeah. You didn’t think I was going to give you white bread, did you?” Kerry laughed. “I mean, Dar, let’s be honest here—you’re many things, but white bread isn’t one of them.”

Her boss smiled charmingly at her. “I’ll take that as a compliment.” Her eyes twinkled. “I love raisin toast, especially with cream cheese and jelly.”

Kerry eyed her. “With chocolate sprinkles?” she hazarded.

Dar’s eyes brightened. “Got any?”

“Good grief.” Still sleepy, Kerry put the toast up in her four-slice toaster then sidled over, tucking herself against Dar’s left side and wrapping an arm around her waist. “But, you know…” she acknowledged with a stifled yawn,

“I have more in common with you than I do with my sister. Weird.” She considered the differences. “She hates computers; she hates reading; she hates shockingly graphic but curiously satisfying violent movies…”

Dar threaded her fingers into Kerry’s disheveled pale hair and tilted her face up, bending her head down and kissing her gently.

Kerry exhaled softly as they parted. “She’d hate to see that.” Her voice was tinged with wistful sorrow.

“Does she know?” Dar asked seriously. “Do your parents?”

A single shake of Kerry’s head. “No, they have no idea. They don’t even suspect.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “How did yours react?”

Dar hesitated as the scent of toasting cinnamon filled the kitchen, along with that of fresh coffee. “My father knew before I told him. He…” She 292 Melissa Good laughed softly. “I thought he was going to lose it if I told him. I couldn’t tell him for the longest time because I thought he…I thought he would be disappointed.”

The toast popped up, and Kerry reluctantly let go of her companion and removed it, spreading some butter on each piece and pouring Dar a cup of coffee. “He wasn’t?” she finally asked, hesitantly.

Dar took a bite, and chewed. “No, it was almost…what he told me was…” She cleared her throat. “Let me see if I can imitate him. ‘Lookee here, Dardar, just because the generals yap about that don’t ask don’t tell crap, don’t mean there ain’t lots of boys that don’t like to share a foxhole, if you know what I mean?’ ”

Kerry took a sip of her coffee and muffled a chuckle. “Oh, I always wondered about that. I saw a special about aircraft carriers once, where they have all those tiny bunks all on top of each other.”

“Eyah. Well, we had a long talk about it, then we went over to Sawgrass Mills and spent the afternoon comparing our tastes in women.” Dar shook her head ruefully. “That was really strange.” She studied Kerry’s bowed head seriously. “Kerry?”

“Hmm?” The blonde woman glanced up. “You’re so lucky. I can’t imagine sitting down and…Jesus, he’d kill me.” She gave her head a little shake, then glanced at the window. “Um, it’s getting late, I guess we’d better get going. I know I have to…” Dar had set her coffee down and put a hand on either side of Kerry’s face, gazing down at her. “What?”

“If you need to talk, you can,” the dark-haired woman said quietly. “I’ll listen.”

Kerry felt her breath become short, and she sucked in air nervously, hunting through Dar’s expression and searching the blue eyes intently. “I don’t…I don’t know what you mean, Dar.”

A quiet hurt filled the blue eyes. “All right.” Dar dropped her hands.

“Anyway, the offer’s out there.” She picked up her cup and took a swallow, half turning away. “Guess I’d better get going.” A feather touch on her arm made her glance over her shoulder to see pained and confused green eyes peering at her.

“We don’t have time right now,” Kerry got out, as though the words were dragged from her. “But…I’ll take you up on that offer later.”

Dar put an arm around her neck and pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head. “That’s a deal.” She felt the blonde woman snuggle closer, almost huddling against her. Who hurt Kerry? It was obvious to Dar that someone had, and a dark, bubbling anger erupted in her at the thought. “Lemme go get poked and prodded. Meet you back at the office, okay? On the way back, I’m going to stop by my place to change.”

Kerry plucked at the cutoff sweatshirt and faded jeans. “I think you look just fine.” She broke out of her funk and gave Dar a smile. “Guess the office would be scandalized, huh?”

“Oh yeah.” Dar snorted. “I’d never hear the end of that.” She caught Kerry’s lips again, and this time took her time, feeling the smaller woman collapse against her. She let her hands run down Kerry’s back, touching and rubbing gently, until she felt the blonde woman’s ribs expand sharply as her Tropical Storm 293

breathing roughened, and her touch started sliding across Dar’s belly, searching for a path to her skin. They both broke off, breathing hard, hands still exploring, until Kerry let her forehead rest against Dar’s collarbone.

“Gonna be a long day.” Dar sighed wryly.

“Oh yeah,” Kerry agreed. “Did you have to do that?”

A soft chuckle. “Don’t forget to set up that staff meeting for Friday. If I don’t go over all this fourth quarter stuff with everyone, Mariana’s going to have a cow.” She glanced around, then touched her belt. “Did I…oh, damn.”

Kerry also looked around in some alarm. “What?”

“Forgot my cell phone.” Dar tapped the side of her head. “I’m losing it. I don’t know where my brains been the past few days. Even Maria said something about it.” She gave Kerry one last hug. “Oh well. See you in the office.”

“See you.” Kerry reluctantly let her go and watched her leave in pensive silence. Then she looked down and plucked at her shirt, realizing she had it on inside out. And backwards. “Jesus.” She softly tapped the side of her own head. “That makes two of us.”

DAR WAITED QUIETLY as an efficient and far too cheerful nurse poked her arm with a needle roughly the size of an Olympic javelin.

“Just a moment, dearie. It won’t hurt a bit.”

“You shouldn’t lie to patients,” Dar growled, feeling the lancing pain as the needle found its mark. “It’s not nice.”

“Now, now.” The nurse patted her arm. “We don’t want our patients worrying unless they need to. It’s nothing but a prick.”

“I’ve been saying that about guys for years,” Dar remarked, trying not to look at the vial filling with the rich, red blood coming out of her arm.

“What?” the nurse queried.

Dar rolled her eyes. “Never mind.”

The door pushed open, and Dr. Steve poked his head in. “Hey, sweetpea.”

Dar glared daggers at him, receiving a charming smile in return. The nurse finished, removing the tube, covering the seeping needle hole quickly with a cotton ball and tightly stretching a Band-Aid over it all. “There you go, all done.” She bustled out, leaving Dar with her doctor.

“C’mon, c’mon, stop with the sour look, Dar.” Dr. Steve came in and leaned on the examination table where she was sitting. “I hear you had a moment of terror at the Heart Institute.”

Blue eyes regarded him dourly. “I got over it.”

“Ooo, aren’t we tough.” Dr. Steve laughed and patted her knee. “You can play that corporate killing machine with other people, Dar, but I’ve known you since you weren’t tall enough to lick my knees, so don’t try it with me.”

Dar scowled. “Did she leave any blood in there? She must have taken six quarts.”

He waved her off. “Psh. Two vials, you big baby. How’re you feeling?”

“Better,” his reluctant patient admitted. “Took a few days off, went up to Orlando and just played tourist for a couple days.” She paused. “Haven’t had 294 Melissa Good a headache since the day after I was here last time.”

“Really?” Dr. Steve gave her a skeptical look. “You’re not just saying that are you, tricky girl? I remember you saying that broken arm didn’t hurt much either.”

Dar had to smile at the memory, bittersweet though it was. “I’m not,” she replied. “I’ve really been trying to be good.”

He nodded. “All-rightie, then.” Gentle hands lifted and turned her face to the light as he peered at her intently. “Hmm, interesting.”

“What?” Dar queried, a touch nervously.

“Nothing, I just love looking at those baby blues,” Dr. Steve answered mischievously as his patient rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Dar, you do look more relaxed.” He patted her shoulder. “Glad to hear about the headaches.

We’ll just check your blood, see how you’re doing. I want to look at your white cell count. That was very low last time.”

Something else occurred to her. “While you’re there…I’ve been running into some…I don’t know, I guess I’ve been forgetting things lately,” Dar muttered. “And I’ve been having trouble concentrating. It’s starting to bug me a little.”

“Mmm?” Now her doctor’s face was serious. “All right, I’ll check to see if there’s anything strange in your blood work, but it probably won’t show up there. You having dizzy spells, or problems with your vision?” He put on his stethoscope and listened to her chest. “Ticker sounds all right.”

“No, well, not dizzy, exactly.” Dar struggled to explain. “Just, I’ll be doing something, and I’ll just go blank, like my attention gets distracted,” she said. “I walked out last night and left my cell phone in the condo. Last time I did that… Hell, I don’t remember the last time I did that.”

“Hmm.” Dr. Steve pressed against her shoulder. “Lie down.”

Dar did, letting her eyes close and feeling the pressure cuff tighten against her bicep. Her mind drifted, thinking of the coming day. Or to be more precise, the coming night, and she found herself thinking of Kerry, and those warm, green eyes, and…

“Dar?”

She opened her eyes, to see the doctor regarding her in puzzled concern.

“Damn, sorry.” She sighed. “See what I mean?”

Dr. Steve leaned against the table, a lock of gray hair dropping down over his forehead. “I don’t understand. Your pressure is fine; your heart sounds fine. Maybe I should schedule you for a CT scan,” he suggested warily.

Dar rubbed her eyes. “Maybe,” she muttered.

“You saying that without arguing means your pretty head’s probably about to pop off.” He shook his head. “Well, let me go run a quick scan on the blood and see if I see anything. Go wait in my office. I think I have the new PC

World in there.”

“Oh, great,” Dar grumbled. “Just what I need—to read all about the new bugs.” She hopped off the table, though, and made her way to Dr. Steve’s comfortable office, slouching in an armchair and picking up the indicated magazine. “Where’s the cartoon? At least I can laugh at that.”

Tropical Storm 295

“HEY! KERRY!”

KERRY turned, her fingers sliding on the strap of her briefcase as she spotted Mark Polenti catching up to her. “Hi. Morning.”

Mark’s eyes fastened on Kerry’s face for an instant, then he looked aside again without comment. “Listen.” He looked around quickly and asked, “You know where the boss is?” His voice was low and urgent.

Kerry paused in momentary indecision. “Um…”

“They’ve been trying to call her all night, and she’s not picking up,” Mark said. “We dropped the ball on the payroll transfer last night and we needed her sign off on a workaround.”

Oh. Damn. “Why didn’t you call me?” Kerry asked. “Maybe her cell’s down.”

Mark sidestepped the question. “I was kinda worried. I called the condo.”

Kerry looked him in the eye. “She’s at a doctor’s appointment,” she said.

“So I guess we should go upstairs and clean up the mess before she gets here, shouldn’t we?”

Two women walked past them, giving them wary looks. Mark waited for them to pass before he answered. “Uh, yeah, sure.” His uncertainty showed on his face. “But you talked to her right? She’s okay?”

Kerry was torn between wanting to believe Mark was just honestly worried about Dar, and the knowledge that loose talk could seriously damage both of them. “I talked to her this morning,” she finally said. “She’s fine.”

Mark cocked his head a little. “So I guess her cell’s okay.”

Bleeping damn. “She called me,” Kerry replied in an even tone. “I really don’t know where she was calling from, but it doesn’t matter. Let’s go take care of business.” She started toward the elevator. “You can ask her about it when she shows up, right?”

“Um. Sure.” Mark caught up to her and they walked together to the elevator. “Sorry they didn’t call you. I guess we’re not really used to having a Dar Junior.”

She was about to hit the button, but Kerry stopped and glanced at him as he looked uneasily back at her. “Flattery will get you nowhere,” she said after a long pause, swiping the control and walking through the sliding doors as they opened. She almost wished they would be joined by some of the anonymous secretarial staff in the lobby, but the elevator closed and they faced each other for the long ride up.

Mark stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall, whistling softly under his breath.

Dar Junior. Kerry studied the inlaid tile on the floor of the elevator . Dar would probably laugh like a nut at that.

“Um.” Mark cleared his throat. “Hey, um…can I ask you something?”

Uh oh. Kerry looked warily up at him. “Am I going to regret saying yes?”

“Maybe. Yeah.”

Kerry sighed. “Can I get some coffee first?”

DAR HAD READ through over half the magazine before she heard 296 Melissa Good steady footsteps on the carpet and looked up as Dr. Steve ambled in, a folder under his arm and a peculiar look on his fact. “Finished?” She glanced at her watch. “I’ve got a million problems waiting for me at the office.”

The stocky, gray-haired man put the folder down and dropped into his seat, folding his hands over his belly and gazing at her. “Well, my friend, your stress indicators are down, that’s for sure.”

Dar let a small smile tug at her lips. “That’s good.”

He nodded. “Mmm. Yes, I was glad to see it. I also ran an analysis for hormones and other anomalies, and I think I might have figured out what your little forgetfulness problem is. Maybe or maybe not.”

Dar sat up and cocked her head. “Yeah?”

He nodded solemnly. “Yes, I’m afraid you have elevated levels of endorphins in your bloodstream, my friend, especially oxytocin.”

Dar was taken aback. “Oh.” She paused, a little alarmed. “What is that?

What causes it?”

Dr. Steve rubbed his nose. “Well, it’s a naturally occurring hormone.

Basically, it’s one of the things responsible for making us feel good. Your body releases it under certain circumstances, and it’s known to produce the symptoms you’re describing.”

Dar considered that. “What circumstances?”

“Mmm, in some cases, exercise. Especially long-distance running,” Dr.

Steve mentioned. “Do you do that?”

She shrugged. “Six, eight miles in a morning.”

“Did you do that this morning?” Dr. Steve asked.

Dar shook her head. “I…no.” She hesitated. “Not this morning.”

“Not that, then.” The doctor steepled his fingers. “You take any opiates?”

“What?” Dar’s brow contracted sharply. “Dr. Steve, you goddamn well know better.”

A hand raised. “Okay, okay, just asking.” A tiny grin chased itself around his lips. “That eliminates two of the three most common causes.”

“What’s the third, eating chocolate?” Dar chuckled.

“Falling in love,” Steve quietly replied. “Oxytocin is the hormone that stimulates the need for touching.”

Dar simply stared at him, her jaw sagging slightly, and her eyes blinking.

“That’s…ah, no, Steve, I don’t…” She ran a hand through her hair. “That’s not…”

“Dar, relax.” The doctor leaned forward. “Breathe, okay? I don’t want you keeling over in my office, it looks bad to the nurses.” He regarded her with fond affection. “My god, you’d think I just said you were pregnant or something. There’s nothing wrong with being in love, my friend.” He smiled.

“It’s good for you.”

“But I’m…” Dar tried to force the words out, but they just weren’t coming. Jesus, this can’t be happening. Her mind flashed back to her own words to Kerry, what seemed like forever ago. It’s like your body knows. “Are you…is that all, Dr. Steve?”

“Sure.” He gazed at her in quiet compassion. “Go take a walk, Dar. Get some air. You’re white as a sheet.”

Nodding absently, she walked out, not really sure where she was going Tropical Storm 297

until she was outside, where she mechanically found her car and opened the door, collapsing into the seat and leaning against the steering wheel. “He’s crazy. He doesn’t know what he’s…I’m not…”

She stared at the instrument panel, thinking about the past few days.

Thinking about how she felt. Thinking about how Kerry made her feel, and how just the impact of those green eyes on hers sent daggers of emotion stabbing through her. About how hugging Kerry made her happier than just about anything else ever had. About how she’d driven out in the middle of the night just to check on a little bump on the head and jeopardized a major account to keep from looking bad in front of her—setting aside the slowly creeping knowledge that for the first time in a long time she’d found something she cared about more than her job and her settled, predictable life.

Slowly, she leaned back, letting her arms fall to her thighs as the inescapable realization hit her. Son of a bitch. I am in love. A faint laugh forced its way out of her chest. Then she gripped the steering wheel and stared out through the tinted windows. Now what do I do?

“OKAY, LOOK, IT’S only a bulletin board,” Kerry said, gazing patiently at the short, upset woman sitting across from her desk. “I know it’s something everyone likes, but the drive array went down, and they have to replace it.”

“But you don’t understand…we had important messages on there,” the woman stated in agitation.

Kerry cocked her head. “It’s a bulletin board. I thought it was for posting things for sale, company notices, that kind of thing.”

“No, no.” The woman looked frustrated. “It’s this…we’ve got all our social stuff on there, and Mary puts out these little poems, they really make everyone’s day. It’s like a community. We’re helpless without it. No one knows what’s going on!”

Kerry folded her hands together. “Helen, what exactly is it you want me to do?”

“Can’t it get fixed faster?”

“It’s a server drive array. They have to custom-order it from Hewlett Packard, and it has to be configured. They’re doing it as fast as they can, believe me,” Kerry explained. “That’s not the only thing affected. Printing and faxing services are down, too.” The server crash had been an unexpected, yet welcome emergency, putting off Mark’s questionable questions until some undefined later time.

Unfortunately, the workers had complained more about the downed bulletin board than if the mail servers had crashed. “We’re still trying to find out why it went down,” Kerry said. “That was a very strange failure.” She got an immediate guilty look from the woman, who stood hastily.

“Well, I hope they hurry. I have a lot of things on there that I need.” She gave Kerry a distinctly unfriendly glare. “I’m sure Ms. Roberts would have resolved it already.” She walked out, leaving a bemused-looking Kerry, who shook her head in mild disbelief.

“No, she would have told you to get your gardenia-smelling butt out of her office,” she informed the closed door wryly. Then she sighed and glanced 298 Melissa Good at the clock. “Speaking of which, where in the hell is she?”

It was close to noon, and there was no sign of her boss. Kerry had set up a monitor that checked periodically for Dar’s login, and so far, the executive had been conspicuous by her absence. Kerry drummed her fingers on the desk, then picked up the phone and dialed. “Hi, Maria.”

“Hello, Kerrisita.”

“Any word from the boss?” Kerry tried to keep the concern out of her voice and make it only sound vaguely interested. “I have some documents I need to go over with her.”

Maria sighed. “No, honey. You and everyone else in the world is looking for her…and nothing. I tried her cell phone, the pager, nothing. I hope she is all right.”

Kerry felt a deep worry grab her guts. “Yeah, me too. That’s not like her,”

she murmured, as if she were an expert after all of less than a month.

“Si, ay. Wait, I hear her voice coming this way.” Maria sounded relieved.

“Okay, great. Thanks, Maria.” Kerry hung up with a mixed sensation of relief and anticipation. “No running down the hallway, Kerrison. Let her sit down first.” She decided to get herself a cup of tea instead, so she opened her drawer and took out a blackberry teabag, then grabbed her cup and headed for the door.

The kitchen was relatively quiet, and she smiled at the two other women inside as she put some Equal into her cup, then added boiling water from the dispenser over the teabag.

“Hey, Kerry.” One of the women sitting at a small table looked up. “I hear you signed up for the gym. You going tonight?”

The blonde woman nodded. “Yep. I sure did. I’m really looking forward to it. I put my name down for some light aerobics and that self defense class.”

She casually walked over, dipping her teabag in and leaning against the wall.

“Are you going?” The woman’s name, she recalled, was Candy, a uniquely inappropriate tag for the usually snippy administrative assistant.

Candy leaned back with a sigh and nodded. “Yeah.” She patted her thighs and made a face. “I thought I could get away with just some treadmill plodding at home, but I don’t do it enough, and it’s showing. I put on ten pounds in the last two months, and it’s either go to the goddamn gym or spring for new clothes.” She glanced at Kerry. “Self defense, huh? That’s pretty funny, coming from Dar Roberts’ assistant. And what the hell happened to your head?”

Kerry sighed. “Close encounter with a parked truck while I was Rollerblading last night,” she explained. “Yet another reason to pick the gym instead. Fewer obstacles,” she added wryly. “And it’s air conditioned, has a sauna…”

“Oh yeah, and nice looking bodies running around,” Candy added with a smirk. “My boyfriend refuses to go in there. Says his gut makes him embarrassed.” The other woman, someone from Marketing, Kerry remembered, snickered.

“Well, that’s self-defeating,” Kerry protested. “If he’d go in there for a while, he wouldn’t have to worry about it.” She disposed of her bag and took a sip of the sweetened tea. “But I know how he feels. I’ve put on a few pounds Tropical Storm 299

myself since I started working here—all those daily specials downstairs,” she commented casually.

Candy snorted. “Kerry, you’d have to double yourself before anyone would notice, let me tell you. But, um…” She glanced around, then up at the blonde woman. “I hear through the grapevine your boss is joining the gym gang. True?”

Kerry hesitated, then picked her words carefully. “As a matter of fact, I think I heard her saying that the other day. So yeah, I guess she is. Why?”

“Interesting, that’s all. First she participates in Global Day, now this. She trying to change her image or something?” Candy asked slyly.

Sensing dangerous waters, Kerry merely shrugged. “She said it was her turn to do Global. And as for this, who knows? I sure don’t. She said she wanted to use some climbing thing or other that they have. Maybe that’s it.”

“Maybe,” Candy purred. “Guess we’ll find out tonight, eh? C’mon, Drucie, break time’s over, let’s go feed the press.” She glanced at Kerry. “See ya.” They got up and sauntered out.

“See ya,” Kerry mouthed after her, making a face. She sighed and sipped her tea, then slipped back out of the kitchen and down the hall, opening the door to her office and stepping inside. She was several paces into the room before she realized there was something sitting on her desk. She stopped, one hand raised with the cup in it and the other at her side, and just looked.

Squarely in the center of her desk rested a small, crystal vase containing one single crimson rose. Kerry let out a tiny gasp and moved closer, putting the cup down and circling the furniture, sitting down in her chair and resting both arms on either side of the vase.

The flower was beautiful, large and full with thick petals that gave off a wonderful scent, and the vase was slim, and faceted, and glittered in the light coming in the window. “Oh my god, that’s gorgeous.” Kerry breathed, touching the flower with a lightly shaking finger. “Did you do this, Dar?” she whispered.

The unexpected romantic gesture touched her deeply, and she sighed, resting her chin on her fists and letting a smile appear as she absorbed the delicate scent. Flowers had never been a particular focus of hers, but who in their right mind could resist a beautiful rose half the size of your head? In a crystal vase? Kerry reached out and touched one of the petals, feeling it soft as silk against her skin.

Finally she sat up and gently put the vase at the front of her desk, centered neatly, before she stood and ran her hands through her hair. “I think I need to go say thank you,” she told her computer screen, just before ducking out the back door and down the utility hallway.

“SO WHAT, EXACTLY, is the problem?” Dar leaned her chin on her fist and regarded Mark with a tolerant eye. “I thought you ordered a new RAID

array.”

“I did.” Mark sighed, rubbing his eyes. “But HP said they can’t get a duplicate unit. If we want to replace it, we’ve got to go bigger.”

“Okay. So do it.”

300 Melissa Good Brown eyes blinked at her. “What?”

“What part of that didn’t you understand?” Dar shot back. “I’m up to my ears in whining secretaries who can’t get to their love poems, Mark. Get the goddamn array in here before I start taking pot-shots at them with a pellet gun.”

“Dar, we’re talking big bucks, here,” Mark protested. “It’s not a critical server.”

“Maria tells me Kerry spent at least half the morning listening to people tell her just how critical the damn thing is, and I’m not going to waste her valuable time in dealing with it!” Dar roared. “Get the damn thing in here. I don’t care what it costs!”

“Jesus!” Mark jumped out of his chair and backed off. “All right, all right.

But when that bill comes in, don’t say I didn’t tell you so.”

“Just do it,” Dar ordered. “And by the way, how in the hell did the damn thing crash anyway?”

Mark paused in the doorway and pursed his lips, glancing around.

“Um…they ran a… Well, it’s a streaming multimedia clip that got out of hand.” He cleared his throat. “It chewed up all the resources, then corrupted the allocation table. When the server went to shut down, it blew the drive controller card.”

Dar sat there, her hands resting on her desk. “You’re not telling me something one of these technogorps did crashed an array.”

He nodded. “Um…it was a streaming clip of Leonardo DiCaprio dancing nude.” Then he was gone, leaving Dar to stare at the door in disbelief.

The phone rang. Dar punched the button. “Yeah?”

“Afternoon, Dar!” Alastair’s cheerful voice filled the room. “Where the hell have you been?”

Dar eyed the phone. “In Miami. Why?”

“Lady, I’ve been calling you since last night,” her boss said. “Had half the company after my shorts for the payroll. Didn’tcha know?”

Dar blinked. “What?”

“Jesus Christ, Dar!” The voice took on a hint of frustration. “What in hell’s going on down there?”

Dar had to admit she was dumbfounded.

“Tell you what, good thing you picked that new little assistant of yours,”

Alastair added. “ She took care of it, but good lord, lady! You had us in a hell of a twist.”

Dar pulled out her cell phone and stared at it, looking at the blank display with an almost comical expression. “Sorry, Alastair,” she managed to cough out. “My cell’s on the blink.” She pressed the power button and watched the device light up. “Just got it back.”

“Was it?” her boss queried. “Well, that’s a damned thing.”

“Yeah.” Dar watched the message waiting light start up and flash frantically. “Glad Kerry was here and took care of it.”

Alastair grunted. “Seems like a nice enough kid,” he allowed. “Glad to find out it was just a phone screw-up, Dar. You had me a little worried there,”

he said. “Not answering the line all that time.”

Jesus. “Yeah, well, sorry about that, Alastair,” Dar said with a sigh. “I was Tropical Storm 301

at an appointment this morning, just got to the office. I’ll have to get a backup phone or something, I guess.” She folded the cell up and put it on her desk, shaken inside and out from the lapse.

Apparently satisfied with the apology, the CEO changed the subject, “Did you get my present?”

Dar glanced around at her desk and spotted a small comail envelope. She pulled it over and opened it, peering inside. “It’s a lovely thought, Alastair, but you know I don’t have time to go on a damn cruise.” She sighed. “I hardly have time to go swimming in my own damn backyard at night.”

“Dar, I’m ordering it,” the CEO objected.

She frowned, fingering the tickets. “Tell you what, I’ll trade it in for a long weekend down in the Keys.” She paused. “For two.” A quirky grin tugged her face. “How about it?”

“For two?” Alastair’s voice oozed with curiosity. “Dar, I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”

A soft chuckle. “Did I say that, Alastair? I just said I wanted a weekend for two. Maybe I just want some company.”

“Ho ho ho…. Wonder who you’ll take.” Alastair chortled. “All right, you’re on. I’ll tell Beatrice. You just let her know what you want.” A muffled voice could be heard in the background. “Whoops, gotta go, Dar. Talk to you later.”

Dar regarded her desktop and smiled, turning the tickets over in her hands, then glanced up as the inner door opened, and Kerry peeked in.

She didn’t deny the jolt of emotion this time, she just accepted it, watching as Kerry pushed the door open and walked across the carpet, enjoying the blonde woman’s intriguing walk. “Hi.”

Kerry knelt down at her side and balanced with a hand on her knee. “Hi.”

Her voice was slightly husky. “Was that surprise from you?”

No excuses. No explanations. Dar nodded. “Uh huh.”

A delicate blush colored Kerry’s face. “I’ve never gotten anything like that before. It’s amazing.” She exhaled. “Thank you so much.”

Dar gazed at her, reaching out and moving a bit of blonde hair out of her face. “You’ve never gotten flowers, Kerry? I find that very hard to believe.”

A hesitant shake of her head. “No, it…” She paused to collect herself.

“No, I never did.” Aware of their intimate position, her eyes flicked across to the door. “I was kind of concerned. You didn’t think the appointment would take very long. Maria was worried, too.”

“Ah.” Dar gracefully accepted the change of subject. “I had a few things to take care of, and I left the pager and the cell phone in the car. I should have called in.” She cleared her throat. “Hell, I should have put the damn phone on.

I hear we had a screwup.”

Kerry made a face. “Let’s say you were really conspicuous by your absence,” she demurred. “It wasn’t too bad. They knew what do to but they were too chicken to do it without your say-so.”

Dar snorted. “I didn’t even realize my damn phone was off. Alastair was trying to call me.” She pushed the phone across the desk. “I just had other things on my mind.” She leaned back and let her head rest against the leather.

“Everything was fine at the doc’s.”

302 Melissa Good

“Great.” Kerry smiled. “What was on your mind, then?”

“You.”

They looked at each other in silence. Kerry glanced out the window after a long moment, her cheeks coloring. “Ah. Well. Likewise.” She looked shyly back at Dar. “Wish I’d gotten you a rose. All I have to offer is a kiss.” She held up a wrapped item.

She looked up at the blonde woman, one hand idly resting on Kerry’s leg.

Dar smiled. “You had lunch?”

Kerry shook her head. “No, I’ve been too busy listening to everyone complain about that stupid server and ask tactless questions about where you were.”

“C’mon.” Dar stood and offered her hand up. “I hear a cheeseburger calling my name.” She hauled Kerry up and unexpectedly gave her a brief hug. “Let’s go.”