“Uh uh.” The personnel director held up a hand. “Not me, my friend. Just gossip. But now that you confirmed it, is everything okay?” She leaned forward. “Dar, I’m asking as a friend, not because I need to know for the company.”
Dar glowered at her, then sighed. “Everything is perfectly fine, as a matter of fact. Dr. Steve thought he saw something in my EKG during my last physical, but it turned out to be nothing.” She paused, seeing the honest concern in her friend’s eyes. “But the stress is getting to me a little, I guess.
That’s what the headaches were all about.”
“Ah.” Mariana nodded.
“So, I took the opportunity to just relax a little while I was up there, and over the weekend, and I decided to try and not let this stuff get to me too much,” Dar said. “Last thing I want is to have to start taking drugs at my age.
This damn job’s not worth it.”
Duks grunted. “That is the truth,” he agreed. “It is good you feel that way, Dar. I, too, have been concerned about you.”
Had they? Dar suddenly wondered if she’d been crabbier than usual, or what. She didn’t think she had, but in retrospect, who knew? “Been a tough year.” She half shrugged.
“It has,” Mari murmured. “Well, look, maybe after Kerry settles in, you can take some time off. She seems pretty sharp. I’ve heard good things about 256 Melissa Good her from a lot of people,” she complimented the absent woman. “Did she really steal that bid from those guys?”
Dar found herself smiling. “She’s damn good,” she agreed. “They didn’t know what hit them, stupid bastards. She nailed it.”
“Good to hear.” Mariana smiled at her. “She’s a sweet person, and you know something? She’s in your corner, Dar. Talks about you like you were the greatest thing since sliced white bread.” She sat back and gazed at the taller woman, noting the blush visible even under Dar’s tan. “You look good. You got some sun there, eh?”
Dar gave her a slight smile and nodded. “Are we done analyzing me now?” She stood up and dusted herself off. “Gotta go.”
Duks and Mariana watched her leave, then eyed each other. “You know, Dukky, if I didn’t know better, I’d say our good friend there found something other than Pluto and Goofy up in Orlando.”
Lou Dreyfus let a faintly sardonic smile twist his lips. “You could be right, Mari.” He slapped the table. “Well, let’s get going.”
KERRY FINALLY GOT back to her office after a very interesting meeting with the marketing people. It was obvious they didn’t like Dar. It was obvious that they wanted to be Kerry’s friend. It was obvious that they wanted her to give them dirt on her boss. Her phone rang and she picked it up. “Yes?”
“Oh, Ms. Stuart, glad I caught you in,” Eleanor Anastasia’s voice oozed through the receiver. “We were hoping you’d be able to attend a conference call tomorrow. It’s with the regional marketing people, and they just have some general questions regarding some of the new operations policies.”
“Um… Sure.” Kerry pulled out her PDA, and flipped it open. “When?”
“One o’clock, but we’re gathering for lunch downstairs beforehand, if you’d like to join us.”
I’d rather handle electric eels barehanded. “I’m sorry, I can make the meeting, but I have things I have to do just before that.” Like make sure my boss has lunch, for instance. She’d gotten a peculiar pleasure out of selecting items for Dar, and an even bigger kick from the smile she’d gotten when she delivered the tray.
“Well, that’s too bad, because we’re all dying to just let our hair down with you, but perhaps next time.” Eleanor sighed. “Tomorrow at one, then.”
“I’ll be there.” Kerry hung up the phone and made a face at it, then she turned her chair around and gazed out over the water. She felt a lot more relaxed than she had this morning, now that the “issue” was out of the way with Dar. “Mmm. I don’t know if I’m going to last until Wednesday, though,”
she commented to the window. Last night’s surfing on the internet had turned up lots of…interesting…things. Most had made her blush. She’d been honestly surprised at the range, though—from women’s health sites to pages and pages of amateur fiction.
That had certainly been a revelation. She’d had no idea there was so much creativity out there. She’d ended up reading some of it until way too late, but it had certainly given her ideas. Maybe that’s why she wanted to make sure Dar was sure before… Well, one thing at a time. She heard a gentle knock on her inside door, and she felt a flutter deep inside her. “C’mon in.”
Tropical Storm 257
The door opened, and Dar slipped inside, her jacket off and her shirtsleeves rolled up. “Hey, there.” She sauntered over and collapsed into Kerry’s visitor chair, letting her hands drop onto the arm and crossing her legs at the ankles. “How’d it go?”
Kerry inched her chair forward and propped her chin up on both hands.
“Dar, do you know what a limpet is?”
“Sure.” The executive nodded. “It’s a mollusk that attaches itself to a flat surface and lives off of it.” She paused. “Why?”
“I’m a flat surface.” Kerry gave her a wry look. “They want to suck me dry of information, chiefly about you.” She sighed. “They paint you in shades of black, black, dark brown, and black.”
“How’d I rate the dark brown?” Dar smiled sardonically.
Kerry gazed at her disheveled boss. “Hey, listen, are you still open for that dinner and a movie?” she inquired. “Tonight, I mean?” She felt her throat go dry, and she swallowed, waiting for Dar to answer.
A soft, low chuckle reassured her. “I was just coming over here to see if you were interested in doing something,” Dar admitted. “I, um…” She shook her head and crossed her arms. “Sure, you wanna see Soldier?”
“Ooo.” Kerry’s brows rose. “Yeah, I like Kurt Russell. I really liked Escape from New York.”
Dar laughed. “Ssssnake,” she hissed, causing Kerry to giggle. “Yeah, me too.”
“Great. If you want to, we can stop by my place. I’ll put something together, then we can go to the movie from there.” Kerry went through her food inventory, and decided that no matter what she had, it was better than Frosted Flakes and chocolate milk. “Okay?”
Pale blue eyes peeked back at her from under long, dark lashes. “Sounds good to me.” Dar hauled herself out of the chair and patted Kerry’s desk.
“Pack it up. I’ve had about enough of this place today.” She walked through the door that led to the back corridor and let it close behind her.
Kerry waited, then she twirled herself around in her chair, accepting the half excited and half nervous churning in her guts as the price she’d have to pay for her bold invitation. “Well,” she straightened the stack in her inbox,
“maybe we’ll end up talking about movies all night.” Sure. She licked her lips as she thought about what it felt like to have Dar kiss her. “Or, maybe not.”
She shut down her PC and stood, glad the day was over. Glad the night was starting. Just… Kerry exhaled, glad.
Chapter Twenty-one
KERRY LET THE door close behind her, her mind already buzzing with prospective dinner possibilities. Dar had followed along after her, saying she had to make a quick stop. Kerry suspected her boss was just being polite, and giving her a chance to get her act together. But that was okay, she needed it, and it was okay that she had a minute to settle her thoughts. Except they weren’t getting very settled. They bounced back and forth between blue eyes and that lazy smile Dar had given her before they left the office, and she knew her hormones were busy dancing the mamba in her bloodstream which was making it very, very hard to think straight.