Dar chuckled softly. “Yeah, yeah. Relax, I know what you meant.” She paused. “ What else were you thinking of?”
“Um.” Kerry rubbed her face as though trying to rub away the flush.
“Paladins, actually. The other day I was reading a story that had them, and it, um…” She glanced at Dar, who looked puzzled. “Oh, right. You probably don’t read that kind of book. Sure, well, Paladins are knights, but they’re
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especially good kinds of knights. They stood up for people not for reward, but just because it was the right thing to do. That was what they were—people who just did things because they were right, not because it was good for them personally to do it.”
Dar leaned forward. “Kerry, I am not any kind of good guy, trust me, okay? I eat people for lunch. I fire people at the drop of a hat. I restructure companies to maximize profit for our company. Everyone hates my guts. So, try to remember that, huh? Or you’re in for a shock when we go into those meetings.”
“Not everyone,” Kerry replied quietly.
“Hmm?” Dar looked at her questioningly.
“Not everyone hates you.” The blonde lifted her chin. “I don’t.”
A silence fell between them as Dar stared at her. “You haven’t known me that…long,” she finally answered. “I don’t want you seeing me as something I’m not, Kerry. I’m very serious about that.”
They looked at each other for a lengthening moment, until Kerry shrugged faintly. “All right. I’ll try not to.”
“Okay, just so long as we’ve got that straight,” Dar replied with a nod.
“Right,” Kerry agreed. “As long as you don’t get mad when I say what I do see.”
Dar sighed. “I’m not any kind of a half-assed good guy.”
Kerry’s eyes held a very grave twinkle in them. “Dar, the one thing for sure is that you’re not a half-assed anything,” she said. “And you’ll never convince me otherwise, okay?”
“If you say so.” Dar rolled her eyes and went back to her steak.
“I do.” Kerry ate the last of her prime rib, took a sip of her punch and wiped her lips. “Boy, that was good.”
Dar popped her last potato into her mouth and nodded, leaning back as the attentive busboy scooted over to take away their plates. “Beats Pluto Pups, huh?”
“Oh yeah.” Kerry took a breath to protest as the busboy returned bearing two plates full of strawberry shortcake. “Oh lord.” She gave a chuckling Dar her most exasperated look. “I give up. I’m just going to reconcile myself to looking like Miss Piggy, and have done with it.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll walk it off. This place is really spread out,” Dar reassured her. “Space Mountain first?”
Kerry started on her dessert. “Sounds good to me. Did someone really ever get their head cut off on that?”
Dar snorted softly. “It’s an urban legend, but it’s a good one. You always hear it from someone who has ridden before the victim and saw the head arrive several cars before the rest of the poor bastard.”
“Ugh, I’ll try not to think about that.” Kerry made a face. “And tighten my seat belt.”
“Oh, well, you don’t…” Dar stopped, considering. “Well, now that I think about it…” A thoughtful smile crossed her face. “You’ll be pretty safe.”
Kerry glanced up at her curiously, wondering what she meant.
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EVERYONE WAS WATCHING the parade. That meant there was only a short line, and Kerry grinned as she joined it, putting her hands on the railing that kept the snaking path of humanity in check. Space Mountain was a tall, conical structure in the middle of Tomorrowland. It had a white roof and spire, and conspicuously posted, ominous warnings against riding the roller coaster for pregnant women, children, short people, people with heart conditions, and Mormons…
No, wait
, Kerry reread the notice. “Oh…new mothers. Right. Like anyone would take a newborn child on this.”
“Don’t laugh,” Dar’s voice came from a point just behind her. “I saw someone try to take a guinea pig on here once, for a bet.”
Kerry turned right around. “You did not,” she accused, with a laugh.
“Get out of here, Dar.”
“Yes, I did,” her boss insisted. “They had it in a backpack, and they were in front of me. It stuck its little pink nose out and was wiggling it.”
“What did you do?” Kerry asked curiously as they moved forward.
“Made sure I wasn’t behind them when it puked,” Dar replied dryly. “Go on, down that way.” The path divided and they headed down a ramp to a neon-lit boarding area. She studied the cars as they were filled, and realized each car was split into two seating areas. A rider could go solo in a big one and just sort of brace herself or ride double and let the person behind her hang on to her.
Ooo, dilemma.
Kerry glanced up at her companion, who was watching the proceedings with a mildly interested look. “Um.” She didn’t have to pretend the embarrassment. “Can I ask you a favor?”
Blue eyes turned violet in the neon dropped to her face. “Sure.”
Kerry nodded toward the cars. “Would you mind a whole lot if we went double? I love roller coasters, but they spook me a little.” Was that a grin that flicked on and off Dar’s face? It was far too dark to tell, really.
“Sure, no problem,” Dar answered in a normal voice. “You should go to Busch Gardens—now those are roller coasters.”
“Ah.” Kerry moved forward to where they were loading the next set of cars. “Been to one out of state and went on the one where you are clamped on from overhead. Did you know that when you vomit on one of those you can actually hit your own foot when you’re upside down?”
Dar worked out the physics of that. “Wow. No, I didn’t,” she admitted as they were ushered into their car. She settled back against the backrest as Kerry seated herself somewhat gingerly between Dar’s legs. “Did you do that?” she asked, more to distract them both than anything.
“No. My sister did.” Kerry took an irregular breath as the car moved to make room for the next set to be loaded. She slid back a little and felt Dar’s knees press around her, a warm grip that swiftly penetrated the fabric of her jeans. It felt nice. She tipped back her head and watched as the car started to move, and they inched forward onto a track, then turned a corner into the darkness and started up. “Uh…” Kerry realized she wasn’t going to be able to remain upright without some serious holding on.
“Relax, lean back,” Dar’s voice reassured her, patting her shoulder. “I can take it.”
The incline increased, and Kerry had little choice. She loosened her hold
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on the sides of the car and settled back against the taller woman’s chest, feeling Dar take a secure hold around her waist.
“Okay, I got you,” the executive told her cheerfully.
Yeah.
Kerry absorbed the sensation.
You sure do.
She felt her heartbeat pick up, a subtle thunder in her ears as she fought a feeling of mild panic, unsure of where it was coming from. “Wow. Guess I’m a little nervous,” she murmured.
“Relax.” Dar’s voice was inches from her ear. “It’ll be over in a few minutes. I’m not that bad, am I?”
Bad?
Kerry fought to slow her breathing down as the angle got a little steeper and she felt Dar take a snugger hold of her. Like it was a completely normal thing to do. Kerry felt a little ashamed of herself and she forced her body to relax, pushing aside the nervous feeling until she could set aside the circumstances and look around her again
. It’s okay,
her conscience reassured her
. It’s no big deal, nothing unusual, it’s…nice. Like we were old friends.
She smiled and relaxed a little more, watching the fake stars overhead as they inched to the top of the incline. She could feel Dar breathing, a slow, steady motion, and stopped resisting both the tug of gravity and Dar’s grasp, letting her head drop back against the dark-haired woman’s collarbone, a line crossed so easily and almost without her notice.
She closed her eyes and was startled when a flash of her dream from the storm morning came to her. It had felt…yes, a little like this. Just a little.
They reached the top of the incline, and the car shot forward, starting the ride. It was dark and twisty, and there wasn’t really much to see so she just kept her eyes closed and let gravity war with Dar’s powerful grip.
Unsurprisingly, Dar won. She kept hold of Kerry as the car rushed in a tight circle and over a last series of hills, the bottom dropping out a few times until they rattled into the end of the ride, and the dark dissolved into a blast of blue light, and it was over.
It felt a bit too soon, in fact. Kerry exhaled as they shuttled into an ending platform, and Dar released her. “Wow, that was fun.” She got up and hopped out of the car, the taller woman following along behind. “It was so dark, though. Are they all like that?”
Dar shook her head. “Thunder Mountain isn’t. I’ve never been on the other one, but I don’t think it is. That’s more water than anything.” They exited out into a starlit night, where the faint strains of the parade music were still floating in the air.
Kerry smiled at her. “Thanks for keeping me safe.”
“No problem,” Dar replied with a brief grin. “I’d hate to tell you what I’d have to go through in Personnel if I lost you on a business trip. Mariana would have my head if I let you lose yours.”
They both chuckled, then Dar motioned to the right. “This way. We can sneak around back through Frontierland to get to Big Thunder.”
“Oh, is that where that Country Bear Jamboree is?” Kerry suddenly asked. “I’ve seen that on TV so many times.”
Dar gave her an indulgent look. “Okay, I get the hint. C’mon.” She gave her a sideways glance. “I’m surprised you didn’t want to see the Haunted Mansion.”
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“Ooo.” Kerry made a face. “I forgot about that. Is it around here?”
Dar just laughed as she changed direction again. “C’mon.”
THEY WERE ON about the last monorail out and happy to settle in a regular seat as the sleek train pulled out of the park and headed back toward the hotel. Dar leaned against the window and peered out, half shaking her head about how she’d spent the night.
Good grief. It better not get back to anyone, or I’ll never hear the end of it.
She watched the lights of the boats below go by and exhaled, watching her breath condense on the glass.
Wasn’t so bad though...and it wasn’t like we really had
anything else planned for the evening.
I’d already gone over most of the reports before
we left Miami, and the other option was just finding some entertainment in the hotel.
This, s
he decided,
was just as good, and all the walking certainly was healthy.
Somehow they’d managed to hit all the major areas in under two hours and had walked down Main Street as the park was closing, watching Mickey Mouse balloons float aimlessly up from the hands of sleeping children.
She glanced to her left, hiding a grin at the bags tucked under her companion’s arms. From one peeked a stuffed buffalo, its crossed eyes and tiny pink tongue comically protruding. From the other emerged a happy-looking Pluto nestling comfortably against Kerry’s shoulder, his floppy ears showing black against her blonde hair. Dar found herself unexpectedly charmed by the sight. “It’s a dog’s life, huh?” she addressed the stuffed animal. “Aren’t you a lucky puppy.”
“What?” Kerry turned and looked at her. “Did you say something?”
“Nope.” Dar sat back and folded her hands together. “Nothing at all.”
Kerry had, to her bemusement, fallen in love with Buff, the animated, wall-mounted buffalo in the Country Bear Jamboree, and wouldn’t be satisfied until she’d scoured the Frontierland Trading Post and found one to take home with her. She’d tried to convince Dar to get a coonskin cap, but the executive had taken one look at the fuzzy tail hanging over her ear and plopped it up onto the top of a rack, out of Kerry’s reach.
She’d stuck with just her candy, though a filigreed, hand-blown glass dolphin on a cresting wave in the glassmaker’s shop had tempted her. She’d finally decided the figurine would probably only get broken and so she decided not to buy it. She’d momentarily lost Kerry, only to have her turn up a few minutes later with Pluto, and a satisfied look on her face. The Emporium, shop of last resort for frantic souvenir hunters, was always the last place to close, and they wandered through there on their way out. Dar succumbed to the overwhelming marketing pressure by purchasing a crisp black polo shirt with a silver Mickey embroidered on the breast.
“Oh, that’s festive,” Kerry had teased.
Dar chuckled wryly. “Calculated plan of attack. I’ll wear it at the meeting tomorrow, under my jacket.” Her eyes twinkled wickedly. “Good psychology.
This Disney crowd’s an odd lot. They’re businessmen, but there’s still a strong element in there of the old, family-centered franchise. They’re very loyal to the brand name, and they like to see some enthusiasm for their product.”
“Hmm, interesting.” Kerry considered that as they’d walked out. “What
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do they consider their product to be?”
Dar had looked at her. “If you had asked Walt Disney, dreams.”
NOW, SHE SETTLED back in her seat and stretched out her legs, resting them on the bench facing them. They were almost alone in the car, and the train had several stops to make before it went the entire circuit and ended back up at the Floridian. They passed through the Contemporary, a huge block canyon of a place, and the Hawaiian-style Polynesian, before they slowed to a stop at the stately white Grand Floridian. “This is our stop.” Dar stood and stretched, then ducked out the door and entered the lobby.
People were still milling around, mostly near the bars, and the elevators were fairly crowded as they made their way up to their rooms. Dar slipped her door open and ambled over to the dresser, depositing her bag of goodies before she turned and noticed the message light blinking on the phone. “What the hell is that?” She pulled her cell phone from her belt and checked it. “No, I thought this was on. Who in the hell would leave me a message here?”
She shook her head as she sat down and started pulling at her sneakers with one hand while lifting the receiver with the other and dialing the operator for the message. “Yes, this is Dar Roberts, I have a message?” She wrote down the name and number on a scratch pad left by the phone and thanked the operator, then hung up. “Well, John…” She picked up the receiver and dialed again, listening as it rang. It was picked up on the fourth ring. “Hello, John, you said to call when I got the message, so…”