Tropical Convergence (2 page)

Another long sigh. "You could can those raises."

"No."

"Dar."

"No," Dar repeated firmly. "Take it out of my check if you want to. Those people deserve it."

Her boss grunted. "Hell of a time for you to be turning into Robin Hood."

The inner door to Dar's office cracked open, and a shaggy blond head poked inside. Dar's face responded with a wide grin, and she twirled a dart in silence, pointing at the phone and mock aiming at it. "Me, Robin Hood? Get out of here. I value my people as much as you value yours."

Kerry snapped her fingers in silence, and then pointed at Dar, biting her lip.

"Ahem." Alastair cleared his throat. "Walked into that one didn't I?" he admitted. "All right, but please, Dar, try to drum up something good at the convention, will ya? I need something other than bad news for the board meeting next month."

"Do what I can."

"I know I can count on you Dar," Alastair concluded. "Good luck."

The line clicked off. Dar rolled her eyes, as she waited none too patiently for Kerry to cross the carpet and arrive at her side. "Hey there."

"Hi." Kerry sat on the edge of Dar's desk, dangling her feet and allowing her moderate heels to slip off. "He sounds worried."

"He is," her partner agreed.

"You don't sound worried."

Dar flipped another dart at her board, a newly christened present from Kerry. "Wanna know the truth?' She searched Kerry's face intently. "I don't know how much I really care."

Kerry reached over and ran her fingers through Dar's thick, dark hair, moving the slightly shaggy bangs out of her pale blue eyes. "Yeah, I know," she murmured. Dar's tanned skin was a shade darker than her own, and there were several sun-lightened streaks in the locks her hand stirred.

Dar's lashes fluttered and she fiddled with a dart. "Ah, I still do care." She half shrugged. "I just can't take the whole thing so damn seriously anymore."

"It's okay," her partner said. "I have to admit I'm more excited about going back to Disney World with you than I am about the convention, so don't feel bad."

Dar peeked up at her. "Really?"

Kerry grinned wholeheartedly. "Yeah. I keep trying to figure out how we can run the display scenarios from our PDA's." She scratched Dar behind the ears with her fingertips. "How'd you like to go up a little early to check out the convention center?"

Dar slid open the flat drawer at the front of her desk and withdrew a folder, dexterously opening it with her thumb and displaying the contents.

"Mmm...I think those are plane tickets." Kerry cooed in delight.

"I think you're right," Dar agreed. "C'mon." She got up, curling her arm around Kerry's waist and drawing her up as well. "Let's go get some bags packed, Yankee."

Kerry amiably returned the hug, resting her head against Dar's shoulder and reflecting on her lover's surprise at finding their bags already packed. "Hey, Dar?"

"That's me."

"If we get a memory upgrade for my Palm, I really think I can run the data apps."

"While we go down the water slides?"

"Yeah."

Dar walked her toward the door, considering the question. "You'll need a waterproof case for it," she finally concluded. "I think the dive shop has them in blue."

Kerry only chuckled, as they walked through the door, and headed for the elevator.

AHH. KERRY CLOSED her eyes, and exhaled, enjoying the slight chill of the condo's air conditioning against her recently showered skin as she lounged on the couch. She could still faintly smell the spices of their stir-fry dinner in the air, and feel the ache of their joint sparring session in her upper arms.

Life was good. Even though she wasn't entirely sure she was going to really catch on to kickboxing, she found she loved every minute of the classes they were taking for it. It was a new skill for Dar as well, and the learning process felt exciting and fun.

Besides, Dar looked so cute in boxing gloves.

"Hey, Ker?"

Kerry opened one eye, and rotated it around toward Dar's bedroom. "Yeah?" She wiggled into a more comfortable position flat on her back on the couch, and waited.

"Think a T-shirt'll be okay on the plane?"

T-shirt. Kerry considered the question with due seriousness. "Tank top," she disagreed. "Like that nice pale blue one you had on the other day."

The faint scuff of bare footsteps intruded into the living room, accompanied by their maker. "What?" Dar queried, putting her hands on her hips. "The damn planes are air conditioned, Kerry."

"I know," she agreed readily. "But I really love you in that tank top, and if you get too cold, I can always warm you up." She studied the tall, lithe figure in its worn jeans and bra. "Or you could go like that."

Her lover sauntered over and took a seat on the edge of the couch, draping her arm over Kerry's hips and gazing affectionately at her. "Does that mean you'll wear your new suit on the plane then?" she asked, with a grin.

"The gray one?" Kerry hazarded. "Dar, it's sorta see through."

Dar grinned.

"Hm." Kerry slid her hand up the inside of Dar's thigh. "Nah, let's save it for the wave pool," she conceded. "I am so looking forward to this trip." Her face creased into an easy grin. "I have such cool memories of the last one."

The blue eyes twinkled brightly. "Me too," Dar said. "I wish we didn't have the stupid convention to deal with, but I guess it's as good an excuse as any to spend a week up there." She leaned a little against Kerry. "You all packed? Dad picked Chino up while you were in the shower."

"Yep, I'm all set. One medium-sized case full of fun clothes, and a garment bag for the monkey suits. You all ready? I'll go start up the buggy."

"Just have to put my shirt on." Dar leaned forward, smiling as Kerry's arms slipped around her neck and they kissed. After a few moments of increasing intensity, she braced herself and slid around, stretching out half beside, half over Kerry's body.

It was a good size couch, and they had a lot of practice fitting on it together. Dar kept up the kiss as she slowly eased her hand under the fabric of Kerry's cotton shirt, tracing a path up the center of her belly and ending up curling her fingers around the curve of Kerry's right breast.

Even after a year and a half, her body's reaction to Dar's gentle touch still grabbed Kerry right in the guts, making it hard to think straight. Kerry returned the attention, easier for her since there was nothing between her partner and herself except the thin silk of Dar's bra.

She loved the way Dar's body fit her hands. "We're gonna miss the plane," Kerry whispered, circling Dar's navel with her index finger.

"We can drive." Dar bit her earlobe gently. "My folks and I used to all the time."

Kerry lost herself in the rich scent of Dar's skin. She paused, and then poked her partner in the ribs very gently. "Know what?"

Dar went nose to nose with her, licking her lips with an attentive tongue. "What?"

"Let's drive." Kerry undid the top button on Dar's jeans. "It'll be fun." She let the rest of her thoughts drift away, burned off by the heat of passion igniting in her guts. "You... me..."

"Corn dogs on the turnpike. Yeah." Dar laughed softly. "I'm all for it."

Kerry laughed with her, and savored the touch of Dar's bare skin. She loved how Dar felt, loved the silky texture of her skin, and the light twitches of her reactions as Kerry's hands explored her.

She loved the low hum of approval when it tickled her ear, and the pressure as Dar slid her thigh between Kerry's and tugged off her shorts.

And you know, sometimes life just rocked.

TWO HOURS LATER, they were sitting side by side in Dar's Lexus, tooling down the Florida turnpike as the last of the sun disappeared behind the pines bordering the road. Kerry had the passenger seat pushed all the way back, and her bare feet propped up against the dashboard while Dar leaned back in a relaxed attitude with one hand on the wheel.

"Y'know, I think this really is a good idea," Kerry commented. After they'd been companionably silent for a few minutes, she chose a new CD to listen to. "We need a car up there anyway, and with all the time getting to the airport in Miami, and from the airport up there, it's probably a wash."

"Uh huh." Dar reached behind her, and removed a bottle of YooHoo from the cooler in the back seat. "And we've got better in-flight refreshments."

Kerry slid the CD into the drive and leaned back, circling one knee with her arms. She watched the passing scenery, and decided most of the state of Florida had a lot in common with parts of the state of Michigan in terms of flat terrain and boring horticulture. "Is it like this all the way up?"

Dar glanced around in the twilight. "Pretty much," she admitted. "We used to leave at 4:00 a.m. to get up here. Dad always said there wasn't nothing to look at, no sense in wasting sunlight on it," she recalled, shifting the car into the left lane to pass a dawdling truck. "You go on road trips much?"

Kerry laid her head back against the seat. "Not with my family, no," she replied, in a quiet tone. "But when we went to camp in the summer, yeah. All of us in the bus. That was kinda fun." A brief flash of civilization whipped by, a lone white house facing the road with an old, half-rusted bus in front of it. "It wasn't really a wild and crazy camp--it was from my school. But Angie and I counted the days till we went there and we were always sorry to leave."

Dar moved to the right again, and settled back. "Where was it?"

"Up in the mountains," her partner replied. "We had these precious little cabins with maid service twice a day, and a valet to do our laundry. You know." Her eyes slid sideways. "Well, no, you don't know, but I look back on it now, and realize how bloody damn pretentious it all was."

"Eh." Dar chuckled a little. "I went to the Y camp one or two summers, but when I got old enough, I went to the summer programs on base."

Kerry's lips twitched. "No valets, huh?"

"No." Dar shook her head. "You had kids who grew up on a military base, who had that mindset to begin with, and who lived in that culture. We did war games, camping, hunting..." A smile appeared. "I had a blast. It was one of the few times I remember just being really..." She paused.

"Happy?" Kerry guessed.

"Content," Dar amended. "Accepted, maybe." She moved to the left again to bypass a Lincoln Town car. "I was so damn sure that was the world I wanted."

"Well." Kerry swiped the bottle of YooHoo and took a swig. "I never felt that way at camp. I was just glad to be out from under my parents' eyes. It was all so damn fake. They had comportment classes, for Pete's sake."

"What?"

"How to walk, talk, and greet people without tripping and dumping your bad white wine on them," Kerry translated. "That and lanyard making. Jesus, do you know how many lanyards I made? Every damn color in the rainbow and let's not talk about the potholders."

Dar snickered. "You and I come from such different planets," she said. "Only thing I made in camp was a belt from old ammo cartridges I collected on the base and rifle webbing someone had thrown away." She glanced at Kerry, watching the corners of her mouth curve up in a smile. "I'd have taken a potholder and used it to wipe my..."

"Dar!"

"Hey, you know what choices you have out in the bush?" Dar said. "Now you know where I got my dislike of camping from."

Kerry burst out laughing. "Oh my god, you have no idea how funny that is. In our camp, one summer, they got the wrong toilet paper delivered. It was that brown craft paper kind of stuff they usually have in really bad rest stops?"

"Ow."

"Yeah." Kerry nodded, still chuckling. "Well, me, the little rebel that I was, stole a case of it, and led the rest of my cabin in TPing the lead counselor's house so badly you couldn't even see the door." She did a little dance in her seat. "Oo...oo...the little bitch turned red as a tomato and didn't talk to us for a week!"

"Troublemaker."

"Angie was so pissed at me." Kerry snickered. "But that woman already hated my guts so..."

"Why?" Dar asked, curiously.

Her partner paused in mid-thought. "I have no idea. She made me really uncomfortable. I figured she was trying to get something from my parents," Kerry said. "She gave me the creeps."

Dar watched the Lexus' powerful headlights carve up the road ahead of them for a long moment, and then she turned her head toward Kerry. "How old were you?"

"High school," Kerry replied. "Why?"

"Hm." Dar tapped her thumb against the steering wheel. "Ever think maybe she was interested in you?"

Kerry's brow creased. "Well, yeah--I mean, I said she was, Dar," she replied, then paused when she watched Dar's eyebrow hike up expressively. Realization hit, and she inhaled in slight surprise. "Oh. You mean...that kind of interested? Like...romantically?"

"Uh huh." Dar returned her attention to the road, flicking her eyes to the passing sign and noting its contents. "Wouldn't surprise me. You were cute in high school," she drawled, with a slight smile. "I've seen pictures."

Kerry remained absolutely silent for a few minutes, sucking absently on the neck of the YooHoo bottle as she watched the shadowed trees flash by. Finally, she snorted a little, half surprised and half disgusted. "Never would have crossed my mind," she admitted. "I think I...Brian and I had just started going out. I wouldn't even call it dating. It wasn't that serious. I probably would have freaked out if she'd..."

"Tried to seduce you?" Dar stretched out her free arm and laid it over Kerry's shoulders. "She'd have been an idiot, given your folks, but..." She scratched Kerry's neck with her fingertips. "You were really an adorable kid."

Kerry blushed slightly. "You know, I really never even thought anything like that. By that time, I'd learned just how far people would go to get in with my father, I just..." She exhaled. "Assumed she was more of the same."

"Well, maybe she was." Dar sensed her partner's discomfort. "I was only presenting another point of view." She tugged on Kerry's earlobe. "Want a pit stop?" She pointed to a sign indicating a rest stop ahead. "It's all commercial now, but I can show you where they used to sell the tackiest Florida souvenirs this side of Key Largo."