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were accessible from the big presentation room.”
The blue eyes studied her in puzzled concern for a moment. ”Good, good, I’m glad you did that.” Dar glanced behind her then came closer, very gently touching Kerry’s cheek. ”You look really pale. You sure you’re okay?”
Kerry also glanced around, conscious of how public a place they were in. ”Yeah, I’m sure. Something disagreed with me, maybe that meat pastalito I had.” She put a hand over her stomach. ”But I’m fine now.”
Dar stepped back, giving her a relieved nod. ”Oh, yeah, they were kinda greasy this morning,” she commented. ”Well, if that crisis is done, I’ve got another one for us to work on.”
Kerry exhaled. ”Lead on,” she responded. ”What’s up now?” She followed Dar outside and down the hall hearing the faint sounds of the presentation going on in the conference room.
”We took over a manufacturing plant’s IS and we’ve got two mainframes down,” Dar responded.
”And?” Kerry inquired. ”That doesn’t sound too tough.”
”It’s in Hong Kong,” Dar replied dryly, ”which now has a technology restriction and we can’t get parts in to fix them.”
”Oh.” The blonde chewed her lip. ”That sucks.”
”Mm. ”
”Smuggle the chips inside fortune cookies?”
Dar chuckled wryly as they headed down the corridor.
”DAR?” MARIA’S VOICE broke into her concentration, as she poured over circuiting diagrams. Dar glanced up with a start, aware suddenly of the time.
”Yes?” She asked, checking her watch. Shit.
”Mariana just called. The bus is here.” The secretary said. ”She asks are you ready?”
Dar sat back, regarding the pile on her desk with a look of mild disgust. ”No, but that’s not going to stop this thing from happening, is it?” she muttered in response ”I’ve got a six inch stack of paper I need to go over and three reports that are due.”
She sighed and rubbed her temples. ”Tell her I’ll change and be down in the lobby in ten minutes. You might want to call Kerry, and see if she’s headed down.”
”Not quite,” a soft voice answered from the inner door.
Dar glanced up to see Kerry’s head poking into her office ”Never mind on that last, Maria. She’s right here. ”
”Okay. I will wrap things up here, Dar. Try to have a good weekend, okay?” Even Maria sounded doubtful. ”Good luck.”
”Thanks,” Dar sighed. ”You have a good weekend too, Maria.” She glanced at Kerry. ”You ready?”
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Melissa Good
Kerry entered, already changed into jeans and a sweatshirt. ”As I ever will be.” She gave Dar a wry look. ”I finished up everything I could Dar, but there’s still a lot of stuff pending, cleanup from this morning, and what not.”
”I know,” Dar sighed, and stood up, stretching her six foot plus frame out and rolling her neck around to loosen it. ”What a day. All right, let me go get out of this monkey suit and we’ll head down.” She stepped around the desk and held her arms out. ”One for the road?”
Dar got no argument from Kerry. She slid into Dar’s embrace, feeling the cool silk under her fingers that warmed as she closed her arms around Dar’s body. ”Mmm…” She sensed the pressure of lips against her head, and she let herself absorb the sweet feeling, wishing she could just stay like this and not have to get on that damned bus.
After a long moment, they parted reluctantly, and Dar let her fingers brush across Kerry’s cheek. ”I resent having to spend an entire weekend pretending not to be desperately in love with you,” she stated seriously. ”I think I resent that more than having to go in the first place.”
Kerry blushed a little. ”I just hope I don’t slip up and forget you’re just my boss,” she admitted. ”You’d better stay far away from me at night.” She gave Dar a pat. ”Go change. I’ll get my bag.”
Dar sighed, watching her leave before she went over to the small closet in her office and opened it. Inside were her bag and a hanger ready for her suit to fit on. She kicked off her shoes into the closet and flexed her toes against the carpet as she shrugged out of her jacket and set it to one side. “Damn it,” she muttered. “I should have just called Alastair and said forget it. This is nuts.”
She slipped off her skirt and hose and traded them for a pair of worn jeans from her bag, buttoning them and glancing at her reflection in the door’s full length mirror as she unfolded a cotton polo shirt to put on. “Hmph,” she grunted as she shook the shirt out. ”Starting to look like you can kick some ass again, Roberts. Been a while.” She pulled the polo over her head and tucked it into the waistband of the jeans, adding a leather belt and buckling it.
She heard Kerry returning as she brought her bag over to the couch and sat down to put her hiking boots on. A moment later, the door opened and her lover appeared, carrying her own bag and running her fingers through her pale hair. “Hey.”
”Dar, it’s cold out,” Kerry scolded. ”You need a sweater or something. You’re going to catch a chill.” She dug through her boss’s bag, and retrieved a soft, fleece sweatshirt. ”Put this on.”
”Yes, mother,” Dar chuckled, but did as she was told, slipping the fabric over her head and adjusting the waistband. ”Better?”
Kerry reviewed the rich, crimson color against Dar’s tanned skin and dark hair, and smiled. ”Oh, I like that. You look really good in Hurricane Watch
49
red.” She shouldered her bag and exhaled. ”Okay, let’s go.”
They went down the hall to the elevator and got in, riding it down in silence and exchanging one, last look before the door opened.
The rest of the group was there waiting, and Dar and Kerry collected several annoyed looks as they joined them. ”Sorry,” Dar addressed the woman sent to collect them. ”Just tying up loose ends.”
The woman, a perky blonde with an infectious smile, nodded.
”Well, that’s great, glad you could join us. ” She checked her clipboard.
”You would be Roberts and Stuart, right?”
Dar nodded. ”Yep.”
”Excellent. Well, okay. My name’s Skippy, and I’ll be your guide during the seminar.” She checked her list. ”What we’re going to do is get on board the bus and get started. The camp is about three and a half hours north of here. On the way we’ll have you fill out some questionnaires, and pass out a little snack in case anyone gets hungry, okay?”
”A snack?” José objected. ”Hey, come on now, most of us didn’t get lunch.” He glanced around, twitching his jacket closed. ”It’s almost six o'clock.” Several other people nodded with him.
”All right.” Skippy didn’t miss a beat. ”We also have some full dinners on board, so let’s get going, and I’ll explain more about the program when we’re on the way.” She checked them over as they boarded the huge, chartered bus. ”Now, no one has anything nasty, like a computer, or anything like that, right?” she reminded them. ”We’re trying to get your minds into a different space this weekend.”
”I wonder how many people have asked her if she has any peanut butter.” Duks commented in a low murmur, causing Dar to chuckle. ”I cannot believe I am doing this, my friend, or that you are, for that matter.”
Dar shrugged. ”What choice did we have? Hope everyone lives through it,” she replied laconically as she watched Kerry board, then stepped up after her, glad to leave the thick, diesel smell behind. The bus was plush, with two rows of seats going back on either side, spaced far enough apart to provide a decent amount of leg space.