Tropical Storm - DK1

by Melissa Good

  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 retrie
ved 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?”