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thigh, curiosity almost driving her insane as she wondered what was going on down the hall. Damn it, Kerry. You've got sense enough to yell for help if you need it, right?
Right. Yeah, sure.
Pace, pace, pace.
What if Michelle was making a play for her? Dar stopped in her tracks, and pressed her fingertips against the glass of the window, her breathing suddenly tight. What if Kerry... She shut the thought down savagely. Don't be stupid, Dar. Don’t start that crap. Don't even insult her by thinking it. She loves you. Dar let her head rest briefly against the sun warmed glass. Just go over there and sit down before you drive yourself crazy.
But she didn’t move. Instead, she just watched the waves for a few minutes, letting the calm blue of the sea soothe her.
Until her hearing picked up a soft, rhythmic footfall in the back corridor. About damn time, she cursed, bounding across the room and getting into her chair moments before the gentle knock came. She took a deep breath, and leaned her chin on her fist, picking up a report at random and studying it. ”C’mon in.”
The door opened, and Kerry entered. ”Hey.”
Dar forced herself to wait a few seconds before she looked up, drinking in the sight of her lover with quiet relief. ”Hey, yourself.”
Kerry appeared calm, and unflustered, definitely a good sign.
Kerry crossed to her desk, and took her favorite perch on the corner, laying a hand flat on the wooden surface and leaning on it. ”I ordered you lunch. Maria’s doing a Chinese run.”
”Mm, wondered where she went,” Dar mused, putting her report down and giving Kerry a smile. ”Thanks.”
Kerry smiled back. ”Anytime. Listen, Michelle Graver was here.”
Dar nodded. ”I know, Maria told me,” she replied casually. ”But she said you were handling her so I figured it was under control.”
”Oh.” Kerry felt a quick jolt of surprised pride. ”Well, yeah, it was,” she confirmed. ”I mean, she had a problem, but I figured it out, and we got it fixed, so everything’s great.” She gave a satisfied sigh. ”I was worrying about dealing with her a little, but things turned out okay, and it all, um...it’s fine now.”
Dar smiled back. ”Good job.” She patted Kerry’s knee. ”I knew you could handle her.”
Kerry nodded a little, folding her arms across her chest. ”Yeah, it was...it felt good,” she confessed. ”And I think we sort of came to an understanding. Maybe she won’t be so nasty now.”
A dark brow lifted. ”Really?”
”Yeah. I talked things out with her, straightened out a few misconceptions she had,” Kerry replied.
”You did?” Dar asked, curiously. ”Like what?”
”Uh.” Kerry scratched her jaw. ”Well, that whole Orlando thing, Hurricane Watch
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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.