Dar nodded, resting her head against the wall and gazing up at the huge, full moon. “They hiss, supposedly, kind of like the surf on the beach.” The thought of spending a week with Kerry exploring Alaska suddenly seemed very, very attractive, and she sighed quietly to herself. “Yeah, it is too bad.”
“Mmm,” Kerry mused, “do you like hiking?”
A chuckle. “As long as there’s a comfortable lodge at the end of the trail, sure. I’m not much for rough camping,” Dar replied. “Another reason the military was probably not a good idea.” She paused. “Maybe we could work a long weekend in, go up to Colorado and hike around a little. They’ve got good horseback riding there, too.”
Kerry grinned. “Ooo, I’d like that. I haven’t been riding since forever, I miss it.” She took a sip of her wine and swallowed. “Wow, that’s nice. Hey, have you ever been up to the wine country, in California?”
Dar shook her head. “No, can’t say I have, I hear it’s nice up there, though. Have you?”
“Twice. Maybe that can be another long weekend. You can take a tour of all the vineyards, and it’s really pretty,” Kerry replied enthusiastically. “I’ve always wanted to go back there.”
Dar felt a silly smile crossing her face. She masked it by lifting her glass and drinking a deep swallow. “That sounds fun,” she agreed soberly. “You interested in some diving tomorrow? Weather’s supposed to be nice.”
A nod. “After we go restock your kitchen.” Kerry pointed her fork at her.
“Even my creativity has its limits. I don’t think there’s much I can do with grapes, milk, pizza, and peanuts.” She shook her head. “I don’t understand how you haven’t just keeled over from scurvy or whatever it is people get who live on ice cream.”
Dar chuckled. “I take vitamins,” she admitted. “We should probably get you a BC that actually fits and a weight belt. That one you’ve been using is too heavy. Tell you what, we can go out to the dive shop and stop at the big Publix off Washington. How’s that?”
Kerry finished off her portion of stew and licked her fork. “Sounds good to me,” she agreed readily. “Though, I don’t know, give me a few months, and I think I’ll need that heavier weight belt.” She gave Dar a rueful look as she patted her stomach. “Not that everyone, with the exception of my mother, hasn’t told me how good I look,” she conceded.
Dar studied her. “To hell with what everyone says, how do you feel?” she asked bluntly.
There was a long pause as Kerry gazed out over the ocean. “Great,” she finally answered in a reflective voice. She let her hand fall to her bare thigh, flexing it and watching the muscles move under her skin. “Getting a lot more of these, I think, instead of just more padding,” she admitted. “Feels kinda good, actually.”
Dar reached over and extended her hand, smiling when Kerry took it, and curled her fingers around the taller woman’s. “Well, in my opinion, you look fantastic, and I’m the one who gets to see you naked the most, so…”
Kerry burst into an embarrassed giggle. “Dar!”
454 Melissa Good
“Hey, it’s true,” her partner protested with a smile, then she turned her attention to the water. “Can I interest you in a little walk in the moonlight?”
A squeeze on her fingers. “Absolutely.”
Dar stood and collected their bowls. “C’mon, I hear a hot fudge sundae calling me down at the market.”
Kerry latched on to the back of Dar’s shirt, following her inside. “Where you go, I go,” she assured the taller woman lightly.
They both stopped and looked at each other, twin shivers going down two spines. “Well,” Dar finally said softly. “I think I like that idea.”
Kerry nibbled her lip, wondering where the words had come from.
“Mmm, yeah, me too.” She smiled. “Guess we’d better put on some shorts though. Meet you back down here.” She trotted up the stairs, leaving a quietly reflective Dar behind.
Chapter Thirty-four
“WHAT ABOUT THIS one?” Kerry picked up the nearest jacket and held it up. “It’s…colorful.”
Dar glanced up, then chuckled. “Oh yeah, no doubt about it. I’d be able to find you at 100 fathoms in that.”
The Dacor buoyancy compensator had bright pink and green pockets and was dazzlingly bright. Kerry slipped it over her shoulders and faced her friend. “Well?”
The taller woman sauntered over and adjusted the device, buckling it across Kerry’s chest and stepping back to judge the effect. “Nice.”
Kerry grinned and bounced a little, then unbuckled the catches and shrugged out of the vest. “Okay, and you said a new weight belt, right?” She mentally added up the cost and nodded a little. Her bills were paid for the month, and her raise allowed for little luxuries like this. She picked up a dark pink web belt, liberally studded with small pink weights. “How’s this?”
Dar studied it, then hefted the weight. “Yeah, that’d be okay,” she judged. “Here.” She added a pair of snug-fitting neoprene booties. “Oh.” She went to a rack holding wetsuits and pulled off one with short sleeves and mid-thigh length legs. “This, too.”
Kerry fingered the thin neoprene. “Ah, to protect against jellyfish?”
Dar stepped closer. “No, I just think you’d look really good in it,” she muttered softly, her eyes twinkling.
“Tch. Dar.” Kerry’s face wrinkled up into a mildly embarrassed smile.
“Let me pass on this right now. It’s a little over my budget.”
Blue eyes flicked over the supplies, then to her face. “I could, um…”
A hand touched her arm. “No.” Kerry’s voice dropped a little, and she glanced around. “I appreciate the thought, Dar, but I’m responsible for myself, okay?”
The dark-haired woman drew breath, then let it trickle out her lips. “All right, I was just…”
Kerry smiled at her. “I know, and I let you get away with it with my fish and those plane tickets, but it’s important to me to stand on my own two feet.”
Dar looked almost comically crestfallen. “Um…” She looked around.
“Look, the truth is, between my salary and the bonuses Alastair keeps dumping on me, I’ve got this huge lump of funds stuck in a couple of accounts at the credit union, and I’ve…” She paused and exhaled. “I haven’t had anyone in my life in a while that I really wanted to spend it on.” She shrugged a little. “I didn’t mean to insult you or anything.”
456 Melissa Good Kerry was at a loss for words. “Uh.” She frantically searched for some kind of response, and realized she was just out of luck. So she merely looked up into Dar’s eyes and tried to express what her heart was feeling silently.
Her companion produced a little smile, and glanced around the store.
“We about done here?”
For a sophisticated, intelligent, aggressive woman, Dar certainly could present an excellent imitation of a spanked puppy sometimes, Kerry noted mournfully. Maybe it was the way she stuck her hands in the pockets of her shorts. “Dar?”
Those pretty blue eyes focused on her. “Yes?”
Kerry gathered up her vest, belt, and booties, then handed her taller companion the wetsuit and lifted her eyebrows. “Since you think it’ll enhance the visuals.” A flash of white as Dar smiled and took possession of the suit. A compromise, Kerry reasoned as she made her way towards the cash register.
“Hey.” She stopped, as her eye caught a bathing suit in crimson with deep gold slashes in it.
Dar peered over her shoulder. “Not your size,” she commented regretfully.
Green eyes studied her speculatively. “No, but I bet it’s yours.” Her nose crinkled up in a mischievous grin. “Fair’s fair.” One dark eyebrow lifted slowly as Dar gave her a look, then plucked the suit off the rack without another word and headed up to the counter. “Heh,” Kerry chortled softly as she followed.