Melissa Good - Tropical Storm

“Oh.” Kerry had been in the process of persuading her body to move from the comfortable surface. “Hey, give me a chance to find my way out of here.”

“Bed’s big enough for the entire board of directors.” Dar’s voice floated over to her. “You can stay where you are.”

Kerry’s vision adjusted, and she could see the dark square that would lead her into her own room. She was so tired, though, that even the thought of moving made her eyes close, and she didn’t protest as Dar pulled the covers up over them both. Oh well. She caught a hint of warm skin and clean cotton, and sleep took her before she could absorb the tingle the knowledge brought her.

Dar regarded her companion, who was curled onto her side, her breathing already evening out into sleep. She let her arm rest on the bed near her bedmate, and after a few minutes, glanced up at a touch. Fingers were curled around her forearm. Dar looked at her companion closely, saw the steady, even breathing, and realized she was deeply asleep. An unconscious motion, then, Kerry reaching out to her instinctively, desiring the comfort of a touch she’d never presume while awake.

Dar put her head down on her pillow and looked up at the dimly seen Tropical Storm 201

ceiling. She felt off-balance and thought maybe all those mugs had been a few too many after all. What am I thinking, sharing my room, sharing my bed with Kerry? Sure, we’re becoming friends, and yeah, we had fun, and sure, I tossed off a client to go spend time with her, but…

A soft rustle attracted her attention, and she turned her head as Kerry stirred, shifting a little closer and moving her grip, her fingers slipping along Dar’s skin in a wonderfully warm sensation. It felt really nice. Kerry was smiling, just a little, in her sleep, and Dar smiled back, gazing at the smaller woman with quiet affection.

With a faint shrug, she dismissed her misgivings and closed her eyes.

After all, the bed was big enough for a half dozen people, and no one had to know they’d both slept in it. She tugged the covers up a bit further, bringing a puff of air up from under them. Aware of Kerry’s warm scent which imprinted itself into her senses as a compound of clean cotton, sun tan oil and a hint of apricot. Nice.

KERRY BECAME FUZZILY aware of pale sunlight, warm against her closed eyelids, and a sense of quiet peace that radiated mostly from the shoulder against which she was snuggled. She took in a breath and recognized the scent of the wool blanket, and a pleasant, spicy smell her brain amiably identified as Dar Roberts’ perfume.

Her body was relaxed, and one arm was wrapped around a gently moving surface that was warm and soft, and she was aware of a feeling of contentedness that eased through her as she nestled a little closer, soaking in the wonderful sensation. Another breath, then her sleepy mind put together Dar, and scent, and the shoulder she was cuddling, and almost spat her heart out of her ears in her haste to get blood to her brain. Oh goddamnitalltohellIcan’tbelieveIdid... She held her breath and cracked open an eyelid, seeing smooth, tanned skin at very close range. Oh my god. It was very quiet in the room, and she very carefully rotated her eyeball up and peeked at Dar’s face.

Fast asleep. Phew. Kerry cautiously unwound herself from her unexpected embrace and eased away, feeling a vague but definite sense of regret. She lifted her head a little to check the clock, relieved that it was only seven thirty.

She curled an arm around her pillow, and once again, safely on her side of the bed, she took the opportunity to study her sleeping boss. Damn, I got lucky.

What if she’d woken up? Jesus, Kerry. Remember you work for her, okay? This is supposed to be business.

But her body ached to go back to her snuggling, craving Dar’s touch with an intensity that made it hard to breathe. It had felt so good. She sighed and rolled over. C’mon, get moving. Go do something productive like get breakfast ordered, and check the mail. Stupid crush.

She got up, and trudged out of the room, going to the phone in her own room and calling room service. Then she remembered she was supposed to call Colleen back, and checked her watch. I should catch her. She dialed the phone and waited. “Col?”

“Ker? Oh damn, I fell asleep last night again. Did you call?”

“It was too late. I had a bad time with the folks, and then we watched the news…and I fell asleep too,” Kerry told her. “But some of those people lived. I saw that.”

“About fifty percent of them, yeah.” Colleen yawned. “You coming home today?”

“I think so, yes. We have a meeting at ten, and they said they would Tropical Storm 203

announce who won the bid. After that, there’s no reason for us to hang around here.”

“How is it? Boring?” the redhead asked.

Kerry indulged in a sweet memory of waking, then sighed. “No, it’s not boring. We had these meetings and a sort of fight between our account team and the IBM account team, that was kind of wild. Then we had to, um, evaluate some stuff last night, so…”

“Honey, that sounds as boring as my Aunt Mary’s penances. Did you even get to pick up that Pluto thing you wanted?”

Kerry smiled wryly. “Well, to be totally honest with you…yes, because I spent most of the day in Epcot yesterday.”

There was dead silence. “Ooo, you little stinker. All business meetings, huh?” Colleen laughed. “You sneak away, or did the dragon lady not need you?”

“Um, no, she was there too,” Kerry told her. “The meetings let out early yesterday and weren’t going to start up again until today, so there wasn’t much we could do but a little sightseeing.”

“Ew. You got stuck walking around Epcot Center with the robot woman from hell?” Colleen made a sympathetic noise. “You poor thing.”

“I survived.” Kerry debated whether or not to protest her characterization of Dar, then figured she had plenty of time to do that when she got home. “Anyway, everything’s okay, I got my Pluto, and we’ll be back tonight.”

“Your folks really bad?” Colleen asked, knowing the answer.

Kerry was quiet for a moment, then she exhaled. “Yeah.”

“Sweet Jesus, Ker. Sorry you had to be there all by yourself. I was thinking of you.”

“It was all right. Dar kind of figured out what was going on, and patted me on the head, and all that.” Kerry assured her. “Listen, I gotta go and get ready for this meeting. Talk to you tonight?”

“Right. See you then, girlie.”

Colleen hung up and Kerry did likewise, but she sat there for a long moment on her unused bed, deep in thought.

IT WAS THAT stupid dream again. Dar shook herself out of it, waking to find the sun streaming into the room, and herself alone in the bed. The feeling of loss and disappointment was almost palpable, and she rolled over, curling up and hugging her pillow to her until she got a handle on it, and the feeling faded back.

It had been so damn real this time. Some little cabin somewhere—must have been up north, because a cool breeze was coming in—and she had been just curled up in the early dawn, her arms wrapped around another sleeping form. She remembered a feeling of lazy happiness and a faint tingle of expectation, as though for some reason she’d been waiting for the day to begin.

She closed her eyes and let herself feel the ache for a moment, which ended when a soft, concerned voice stirred the silence.

204 Melissa Good

“Dar?” The carpet muffled Kerry’s bare footsteps as she came over and perched on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on the older woman’s shoulder. “Are you okay?”

The ache eased, and Dar nodded, opening her eyes and giving the blonde woman a wry grin. “A little too much to drink last night.”

“Ah.” Kerry smiled back and waggled her other hand. “I have a bit of a headache myself. I figured some breakfast would help. I ordered it up, and I’m downloading stuff. “

“Good.” Dar rubbed her face with one hand and yawned. “What time is…

Ah, okay. We’ve got a little while. In that case, I need to take a nice long shower.” She rolled over onto her back and stretched, arching her back to work a kink out. “I’m not used to these damn mattresses.” She gave Kerry a wry look. “I miss my waterbed.”

Kerry’s fingers itched to set to work on those muscles, dimly visible through the cotton of Dar’s T-shirt, but she counted to ten and controlled herself. “Are those really comfortable?” She stood up, moving away from her boss’s warm body and walking over to stand near the window, gazing out.

“Oh yeah.” Dar sat up and started to get out of bed. She glanced at her shirt, then stopped in mid-motion and sat back down, staring at her own shoulder in puzzlement. Reaching up with a curious hand, she removed several golden strands caught in the nap of the fabric. She stared at them, rolling the soft hair in her fingertips, then glanced over at Kerry, who was still peering out the window with great interest. “You sleep okay?” she asked curiously.

“Yeah…yeah, I did. Um, I haven’t been up that long, just a few minutes, really. I slept just fine. Um. How about you?” Kerry found the small boats zipping around the lake fascinating,

“Like a baby.” Dar felt a smile edging her lips. She cast her dice on a gamble. “You, um, you always snuggle up like that at night?” then held her breath, waiting for Kerry’s answer. The sudden tightening of the blonde woman’s jaw, and the stiffening of her back was it’s own answer. Dar swore she could see the “oh shit” form on Kerry’s lips, before the younger woman spoke.