”You did?” Dar asked, curiously. ”Like what?”
”Uh.” Kerry scratched her jaw. ”Well, that whole Orlando thing,
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you know,” she replied offhandedly.
”Oh...right...that,” Dar replied, at sea. ”Well, I’m sure you cleared everything up.”
Kerry remained contentedly silent for a moment, drinking in the warm confidence. ”Thanks for trusting me. I was half expecting you to come in at some point just to make sure she was behaving herself.”
Wide, innocent blue eyes gazed up at her, as Dar nibbled her lower lip. ”The idea never crossed my mind,” she told her, sincerely. ”I just came back here, and studied my reports without a care in the world.”
Kerry's eyes dropped to her paper. ”Really?”
”Yep.” Dar smiled.
Kerry gently reached down and turned the paper right way up, then she affectionately patted Dar’s cheek. ”You are so busted.”
Dar glanced down, then back up at her, like a six year old caught in the cookie jar. ”Uh oh.” Then she laughed, leaning back and relaxing in her chair, shrugging her shoulders with a look of endearing helplessness. ”But I stayed right here, doesn’t that count?”
Kerry tried to hold her scolding look, but lost it, and started laughing as well. ”Yes, that counts.” She leaned over and kissed Dar lightly. ”And, thank you.”
Dar sighed, giving her a sheepish glance over dark eyelashes. ”For being a nervous worry wart?” she replied. ”Even though I know better?”
Kerry put a hand on her cheek. ”For caring,” she answered. ”You weren’t worried I couldn’t solve the problem, were you?” She waited for the head shake no. ”You were worried she’d be nasty to me.” Now the head nodded yes. ”Well, she sort of was, but we got things worked out.”Dar scowled. ”Bitch.”
”Dar, she thought you were playing with her,” Kerry told her. ”I’d have been a bitch, too.”
”Mmph.” A grunt of grudging agreement. ”Yeah, all right. I can see her point.” Dar sighed. “I kicked everyone’s ass in the meeting.”
“I heard.” Kerry smiled. “Sometimes you end up in a stall in the ladies room at just the right time to hear people bitching.”
“Ahhhh.” Dar chuckled wryly. “You know what? I decided if Alastair wants a bastard in charge here, I might as well give him a bastard in charge. Wait until I throw a request for a multimillion dollar network upgrade on his desk. He’ll choke on his tie.”
Kerry nodded. “Well, let me go get back to work.” She stood up.
“I’m glad Maria went for lunch. I wasn’t looking forward to being the main course in the café today.”
“People talking?” Dar watched her expression intently.
“Yeah.”
“Bother you?”
Kerry put her hands in her pockets and looked out the window at 298
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the bright, sunny day. “I thought it would,” she admitted. “But you know I realized they all thought it anyway, Dar. We weren’t fooling many people.”
Dar chuckled softly.
“So what the heck.” Kerry shrugged. “I’ll deal with it.” She turned.
“It’s worth it to be able to order lunch for you and walk in together without feeling like a felon. That was really starting to get to me.”
Her partner nodded pensively. “Trade-offs,” she said, briefly. “I have my first board meeting tonight. I sent Alastair my acceptance and he didn’t waste any time.”
“I’ll get a ride home.” Kerry patted her on the shoulder and headed for the hallway door. “See you later.”
“Mm.” Dar slouched back in her chair, watching her partner leave until the door closed behind her, then she pulled over the two packets she’d taken from Mariana and flipped open the first one.
“Stevie.” Her eyes flicked over the contents. “What in the hell am I going to do with you.” She glanced through the stack of employment papers, running a cursory eye over the last sheet before she stopped, and reread it more carefully.
DAR LEANED BACK in her chair and closed her eyes, letting the argument over the speakerphone travel past her. The moon shone in her window, and she half turned to regard it, as she lifted a hand and rubbed the back of her neck.
Board meetings, when your board was international, were a pain in the ass. But Dar hadn’t been able to wiggle out of this one, since Alastair was using the opportunity to introduce her to the rest of the board members.
She sighed. Kerry had gone home hours ago, dropped off by a cooperative Mark, and she wished she could just hang up on the group and go join her lover.
”Don’t worry about it,” Kerry had said.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dar grumbled silently, closing her eyes and wishing she had some aspirin. She tried to put the headache out of her mind, and think about something more pleasant instead. Hot tubs, for instance. Kerry had definitely mentioned hot tubs for tonight, and a spicy chicken stir fry with noodles that was very, very tasty.
”Dar? What do you think about that?” Alastair’s voice interrupted her daydreaming.
Oh shit.
”What I think about that is...that it’s ten o’clock here in Miami, and we’re going rapidly nowhere. Why not schedule a meeting when everyone has their acts together?” There. Throw a few insults; see if that gets things moving. ”That’s what I think,” Dar added, for good measure.
She took a contented sip of chocolate milk as the soft hiss from the
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phone indicated a shocked worldwide silence.
Another Dar Roberts
legend in the making, I bet.
She rolled her eyes, regarding her bare feet resting on her desk, crossed neatly at the ankles. “Regretting your decision already, Alastair? Next time, you’ll ask first, huh?”
A gentle clearing of the throat. ”Well,” Alastair responded. ”That would be a novel idea.” He sighed. ”Okay, so Monday after a disaster was a bad choice of times. Let’s reschedule for Friday, same time?”
Fine. She’d call in from her cell phone, while floating on the Atlantic. ”Sounds good to me,” she agreed, stifling a grin. ”I’ll have the proposal for the new networking center by then.”
”Good...good...all right then, good night, ladies and gentlemen.”
He paused. ”And Dar.”
It hit her unexpectedly, and she burst out laughing, hearing a rustle of sound as the rest of the group belatedly joined in. ”Good night.” She sighed, hitting the release button, and shaking her head. So much for my first board meeting, but at least it was more productive and less antagonistic than their usual staff gatherings. So maybe that was a good sign.It was very quiet in the office, with only the soft hum of the air conditioning, and the gentle, sporadic clatter of her hard drive to break the silence. With a sigh, she slipped her shoes back on and stood up, pulling her jacket over her arms and shouldering her briefcase.
The elevator ride was quiet also, and she was conscious of her own footsteps as she crossed the long, empty lobby and headed for the door.
The security guard met her and opened it, touching his head in a military type of manner.
”G’night, Ms. Roberts,” he remarked, politely. ”Late night, eh?”
”Night, Pete.” Dar gave him a smile. ”Same old, same old. You know how it is.”
”Yes, ma’am, but we haven’t seen you here at night for a while. I was wondering if you’d changed offices.”
No, just priorities. ”I’ve been here...just not late,” she commented.
”Take care.”
She walked across the parking lot and unlocked the Lexus, dumping her briefcase inside and getting in, exhaling as the cool, soft leather surrounded her. She closed the door and sat for a moment, resting her hands on the wheel, before she started the car up and pulled out of the parking lot.
KERRY WAS CURLED up contentedly on the couch, her head resting on the arm, and Chino tucked up in a ball against her belly. She let her eyes follow the action on the television screen, though she found herself watching the clock almost as much.
Oh well. She snuggled down further into the couch and watched the crocodile man try to trap a crocodile. He was just stringing his net 300
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up when the phone rang. She picked it up immediately. ”Hello?”
”Hey.” Dar’s voice sounded quiet over the dull roar of boat engines. ”I’m on the ferry.”
”So I hear,” Kerry responded. ”How’d the meeting go?”
”Bullshit,” the executive replied. ”It was mostly Alastair just blowing hot air across three continents. I finally called him on it, and he rescheduled for Friday.”
”Ew,” Kerry replied. ”That’s not fair.”
”Nah, we’ll be out on the boat. That’s why god made cell phones,”
Dar chuckled. ”How’d your night go?”
Kerry rolled over, and let her head rest on the sofa arm. ”Well, I got home, and put together a little dinner for us, then I stuck that in the frig and took Chino for a nice long walk.”
”I could live on Frosted Flakes. You didn’t have to do that,” Dar protested gently.
”You cannot live on Frosted Flakes, Dar Roberts, so hush,” Kerry shot back. ”So, then I went over to the gym and worked out for a couple of hours. You know, I like that gym, Dar.”
”Yeah, I haven’t seen much of it lately,” her lover responded ruefully. ”But it’s pretty well stocked. They’ve got a circuit there I really like. The gym by work doesn’t have it.”
”Mm...yeah...then I got home and took a shower, and now I’m just watching Steve Irwin, and waiting for you,” Kerry concluded.
Dar couldn’t help the silly little grin that crossed her face at Kerry’s words. ”Waiting for me?”
”Yep,” Kerry confirmed. ”Chino and I are right here, watching the door.”
A soft laugh. ”Well, I’m pulling into the parking space right now, so guess I’ll see you in a minute.” She hung up and got out of the car, closing and locking it and heading for the condo entrance. At the door she paused, reflecting.
How many times had she come home, just like this, to a quiet
emptiness? How many years had it been? The idea that someone was in
there…god.
Thoughtfully, she keyed in the lock and opened the door, stepping inside as a scrambling puppy and a smiling blonde greeted her. ”Hey guys.” Dar dropped her briefcase and knelt, playing with Chino for a moment before she stood and faced Kerry.
”Hey, here, let me take your jacket. You look wiped.” Kerry reached for it, only to have her hands caught and held, as Dar stepped closer to her. ”Wh—”
Dar released her hands, and let her arms rest on Kerry’s shoulders, gently interlacing her fingers behind the smaller woman’s neck. She gazed into the puzzled green eyes, and wished she had the words to fit the emotion she could feel balling up inside her. She tried, but nothing would come out, so she merely drew Kerry’s head forward and gently
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kissed it. ”Thank you.”
”Dar?” Kerry asked softly, pulling back a little and giving her a worried look. ”Are you okay?”
There was really no way she could explain. ”Yeah.” She managed a smile. ”Just been a long day, that’s all. ”Awkwardly, she dropped her hands, then backed off a step. ”I’m going to go change. I think I need some coffee.” She rubbed the back of her neck wearily. ”Haven’t had a headache like this in a while.”
Kerry cocked her head to one side. ”Mm...let me help.” She gently drew Dar into her bedroom, and peeled off her jacket, draping it neatly over the back of the chair near the dresser.
”I am capable of taking my own clothes off,” Dar protested mildly, finding herself intrigued by the absorbed look of concentration on her lover’s face.
”Well, sure, I know, but it’s a lot more fun for me if I do it,” Kerry replied, working the buckle loose on the thin, ornate belt then reaching around to unbutton Dar’s skirt. ”Because if you do it it’s just like...well, you know, changing. But if I do it...” She slid the zipper down, and removed the skirt, leaving Dar in her silk blouse.
”If you do it...” Dar repeated softly, tracing the line of her jaw. ”It becomes a lot more interesting.”
”Right,” Kerry agreed, slowly unbuttoning the shirt and letting it fall open, releasing a scent that was mostly Dar, and a touch of perfume.
She slid her hands under the fabric and let her fingers slide up the smooth, powerful back, clucking softly at the tension she felt there.
”C’mon, lie down.” She gently peeled the shirt back, and Dar let it fall down her arms to the floor, feeling the slight chill as the conditioned air brushed her skin.
It felt like a dream, really, but Dar couldn’t find it in her to protest.
She allowed herself to be led over to the waterbed and gently pushed down onto it, feeling the surface give under her weight. She rolled over and spread her arms out a little, feeling the cool air suddenly warm on her back as Kerry settled over her, straddling her hips.
Fingers slipped under the hooks of her bra and released it, then smoothly rubbed the area. Kerry’s hands were warm, and strong, and Dar felt the stiffness relax almost immediately as her companion started to work, kneading her shoulders and wringing tiny murmurs of appreciation from her. ”Ungh.”
”God, you really are tense,” Kerry commented softly, sliding her hands up Dar’s back to her neck and shoulders, which eased grudgingly under her touch. ”We’ve got to get you a recliner for your office or something.” She felt Dar chuckle, the vibration felt through her fingertips as they eased around Dar’s ribs.
”Hey.” Dar chuckled again.
”Whoops, sorry, forgot you were ticklish there,” Kerry teased, hitting the spot again on purpose, just to hear the laugh. She reached 302
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over and got a small bottle of oil from the night stand and uncapped it, putting a little on her fingertips and rubbing them together before she started back to work. ”How does that feel?”
The oil left warm traces across her skin, and Dar let out a long, satisfied breath. ”You’re the best.”
Kerry regarded the smooth, tanned back with a distinct feeling of pleasure. ”I am?” she queried. ”The best what?”
”Everything,” Dar mumbled. ”The best assistant, the best cook, you give the best massages...”
Kerry chuckled delightedly. ”That’s really cool. I’ve never been the best at something before, except debating,” she amended. ”But that doesn’t really count. All it means is I can win arguments.”