Authors: Melissa Good

Storm Surge - Part 2 (49 page)

BOOK: Storm Surge - Part 2

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"I remember when you got that medal," Kerry said. "You couldn't have stood up any straighter if you'd been a soldier. "

Dar nodded. "I've always been very proud of the fact that our company handled--no, protected so many resources of our country. I felt it was--it was always sort of a way I could be a part of that world even though I decided against it way back when."

"And?" Kerry asked, after a period of silence.

"And now, after what we just went through with the people representing our government I feel ashamed to admit to anyone we have anything to do with them." Dar's voice was gentle, and reflective. "I feel betrayed."

"When I was down by the battery, I gave one of those firemen working there some ice tea," Kerry said. "He said the same thing. He felt betrayed." She curled her fingers around Dar's. "See and I always came at it from the opposite direction, Dar. I always felt betrayed by our government because I lived with it. I saw it from the inside."

"Mm." Dar grunted. "I never thought of you like that."

Kerry chuckled. "I know. I think you see me as a lot more innocent than I really am," she said. "I don't show you my bastard side."

"You never did. Even when I was going to fire you."

"No." Kerry admitted. "You never gave me a chance. I fell in love with you the minute I saw you and the worst I could be was indignant.God, how confusing that was for me. I wanted to be so nasty to you and I think the worst thing I ever said was--"

"That you hoped I was going straight to hell because that was where I belonged." Dar interjected.

Kerry was quiet for a moment. "Yeah. Right before you saved my ass from being robbed, and maybe raped, and probably killed. So much for my ability to judge people, huh?"

"Meh." Dar shrugged, chuckling under her breath.

Kerry exhaled. "What are you going to do, Dar?"

"I don't know. I just don't know. I want to talk to Alastair, find out what he thinks, and tell him what I'm thinking. I know we talked about starting our own company before but--"

"But now maybe we mean it," Kerry finished, in a soft tone. "I could make a change. I like what I do, but sometimes it's like looking at a never-ending train track of problems just coming at you. I don't know how you did it as long as you did."

"You know what our biggest problem is?" Dar pondered the ceiling again. "For one thing, I know they'll put me under a non-compete clause if I resign and for another, if I open a consulting firm the first people who are going to be banging at my door will probably be the government."

"How long for the non-compete?" Kerry asked.

"A year, probably. That's the standard," Dar replied. "But in return for that I get all my accrued vacation time, my pension, stock options--it's a bribe, but it's a pretty good one."

"So can we go traveling around the world for a year?" Kerry asked. "Just seeing stuff?"

Dar cocked her head thoughtfully. "Now, that doesn't sound bad at all," she admitted. "Is that something you'd like to do? You want to just blow everything off for a year?"

"Are you kidding me?" Kerry eased over onto her left side and wrapped herself around Dar's body. "Yes. I would very much like to do that. Maybe after Angie's wedding we can just take off and go everywhere. Anywhere."

"That would work," Dar said, after a brief pause. "Because we'll need to give them a couple months to find our replacements." She smiled."Wow. I can't believe how good it feels to say that."

Kerry gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks."

"For?" Dar nibbled her earlobe.

"Not making me ask you to fire me."

Dar looked at her in surprise.

"I'm halfway kidding," Kerry admitted. "It's just been so nice to be able to do whatever I wanted this week instead of what I felt like I had to do." She traced one of Dar's ribs. "I guess seeing what happened to so many of those people made me realize how precious every minute is."

Dar captured her hand and lifted it, kissing the knuckles. "Yeah. That's pretty much how I feel too. I don't want to waste all my life minutes on broken routers." She went nose to nose with Kerry. "We need to have more fun."

Kerry grinned. "Of course, every time we try to have fun--" she reminded Dar. "We get our asses in trouble."

"That can be fun too." Dar cupped her cheek, and then kissed her on the lips. "You up for a walk on the beach before dinner? I think we're going to have a nice sunset."

They rolled carefully out of the hammock and paused long enough for Kerry to duck inside and get her camera and a couple of bottles of beer. Then they sauntered down the steps and headed off across the sand with Chino racing ahead of them.

"You think I could make shell jewelry Dar?"

"Sure. Why not?"

"But would you wear it?"

"Sure."

"Even if I made you a pair of three inch round sand dollar earrings?"

"No."

"You wouldn't?"

"No."

"How about a shark's tooth necklace?"

"Now you're talking."

Other Melissa Good titles

Tropical Storm

From bestselling author Melissa Good comes a tale of heartache, longing, family strife, lust for love, and redemption.
Tropical Storm
took the lesbian reading world by storm when it was first written...now read this exciting revised "author's cut" edition.

Dar Roberts, corporate raider for a multi-national tech company is cold, practical, and merciless. She does her job with a razor-sharp accuracy. Friends are a luxury she cannot allow herself, and love is something she knows she'll never attain.

Kerry Stuart left Michigan for Florida in an attempt to get away from her domineering politician father and the constraints of the overly conservative life her family forced upon her. After college she worked her way into supervision at a small tech company, only to have it taken over by Dar Roberts' organization. Her association with Dar begins in disbelief, hatred, and disappointment, but when Dar unexpectedly hires Kerry as her work assistant, the dynamics of their relationship change. Over time, a bond begins to form.

But can Dar overcome years of habit and conditioning to open herself up to the uncertainty of love? And will Kerry escape from the clutches of her powerful father in order to live a better life?

ISBN 978-1-932300-60-4

Hurricane Watch

In this sequel to "Tropical Storm," Dar and Kerry are back and making their relationship permanent. But an ambitious new colleague threatens to divide them --- and out them. He wants Dar's head and her job, and he's willing to use Kerry to do it. Can their home life survive the office power play?

Dar and Kerry are redefining themselves and their priorities to build a life and a family together. But with the scheming colleagues and old flames trying to drive them apart and bring them down, the two women must overcome fear, prejudice, and their own pasts to protect the company and each other. Does their relationship have enough trust to survive the storm?

Enter the lives of two captivating characters and their world that Melissa Good's thousands of fans already know and love. Your heart will be touched by the poignant realism of the story. Your senses and emotions will be electrified by the intensity of their problems. You will care about these characters before you get very far into the story.

ISBN 978-1-935053-00

Eye of the Storm

Eye of the Storm
picks up the story of Dar Roberts and Kerry Stuart a few months after Hurricane Watch ends. At first it looks like they are settling into their lives together but, as readers of this series have learned, life is never simple around Dar and Kerry. Surrounded by endless corporate intrigue, Dar experiences personal discoveries that force her to deal with issues that she had buried long ago and Kerry finally faces the consequences of her own actions. As always, they help each other through these personal challenges that, in the end, strengthen them as individuals and as a couple.

ISBN 978-1-932300-13-0

Red Sky At Morning

A connection others don't understand... A love that won't be denied... Danger they can sense but cannot see...

Dar Roberts was always ruthless and single-minded...until she met Kerry Stuart.

Kerry was oppressed by her family's wealth and politics. But Dar saved her from that.

Now new dangers confront them from all sides. While traveling to Chicago, Kerry's plane is struck by lightning. Dar, in New York for a stockholders' meeting, senses Kerry is in trouble. They simultaneously experience feelings that are new, sensations that both are reluctant to admit when they are finally back together. Back in Miami, a cover-up of the worst kind, problems with the military, and unexpected betrayals will cause more danger. Can Kerry help as Dar has to examine her life and loyalties and call into question all she's believed in since childhood? Will their relationship deepen through it all? Or will it be destroyed?

ISBN 978-1-932300-80-2

Thicker Than Water

This fifth entry in the continuing saga of Dar Roberts and Kerry Stuart starts off with Kerry involved in mentoring a church group of girls. Kerry is forced to acknowledge her own feelings toward and experiences with her own parents as she and Dar assist a teenager from the group who gets jailed because her parents tossed her out onto the streets when they found out she is gay. While trying to help the teenagers adjust to real world situations, Kerry gets a call concerning her father's health. Kerry flies to her family's side as her father dies, putting the family in crisis. Caught up in an international problem, Dar abandons the issue to go to Michigan, determined to support Kerry in the face of grief and hatred. Dar and Kerry face down Kerry's extended family with a little help from their own, and return home, where they decide to leave work and the world behind for a while for some time to themselves.

ISBN 978-1-932300-24-6

Terrors of the High Seas

After the stress of a long Navy project and Kerry's father's death, Dar and Kerry decide to take their first long vacation together. A cruise in the eastern Caribbean is just the nice, peaceful time they need--until they get involved in a family feud, an old murder, and come face to face with pirates as their vacation turns into a race to find the key to a decades old puzzle.

ISBN 978-1-932300-45-1

Tropical Convergence

There's trouble on the horizon for ILS when a rival challenges them head on, and their best weapons, Dar and Kerry, are distracted by life instead of focusing on the business. Add to that an old flame, and an aggressive entrepreneur throwing down the gauntlet and Dar at least is ready to throw in the towel. Is Kerry ready to follow suit, or will she decide to step out from behind Dar's shadow and step up to the challenges they both face?

ISBN 978-1-935053-18-7

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