Tropical Convergence (27 page)

"Listen, I'm outta here, folks," Dar said. "I got in from the show very late last night." She reached over and laid a hand on Kerry's thigh, stroking it lightly. "I've got the action items you all asked for--I'll let you know what my decisions are tomorrow."

She let the conference line go after a round of goodbyes and focused her attention on the blond woman sitting on her desk. "You look toasted."

"Get the jam and butter, Sinbad," Kerry admitted. "I want you, a hot cup of tea, a shower, and our waterbed. Can you make that happen, boss?"

Dar removed her legs from the desktop and sat up, reaching down for her shoes. "You bet your crumbs I can, my little Yankee toast," she said. "How about we order in something light from the beach club and go crash?"

Kerry leaned in and collapsed over Dar, draping her arms over her partner's shoulders. "Lead me."

Dar managed to get to her feet, and turned Kerry's sprawl into a full body hug, careful not to squeeze her sunburned shoulders. "C'mon." She picked up her briefcase and nudged Kerry toward the door. "I'm so fried I was about to agree to whatever they asked me on that damn call."

"They'd probably never have realized it." Kerry hooked her fingers inside the waistband of Dar's skirt as she followed her from the office. It was quiet outside. Maria had left a short time before, and the normal sounds of evening were starting to settle over the building. "Euu...they're shampooing the carpet tonight."

Dar's nose wrinkled as the scent of wet, dirty, mildewy carpet wafted down the hallway. "Definitely time to leave." She punched the button for the elevator. "How'd your afternoon meeting go?"

"Ick." Kerry had her eyes closed, and she was leaning against Dar as they waited for the elevator. "I have some wacky problem going on in Vancouver we can't isolate. Two T1's that are supposed to be redundant, but one of them keeps tanking and the other one just sits there dumb and happy like a frog and refuses to pass traffic unless we bounce it."

"Uh huh," Dar mused, guiding her engaging limpet through the doors, and then punching the bottom floor button. "HSRP set right?'

"Duh."

Dar watched the floors count down. "Metrics checked?'

"Baaap. Try again."

"I'm trying to be helpful here, Kerrison."

"I know, but we've checked all that." Kerry yawned. "Three times. I even had the vendor in to verify the configs."

The elevator reached its destination and opened to release them. "Why are you involved in that anyway?" Dar asked suddenly, as they crossed the lobby. "Since when does a VP Ops troubleshoot the WAN links?"

"Since it's been going on for four months and no one's fixed it yet," Kerry replied. "And because they figured if they brought it to me, I'd scratch my head over it for a while then take it to my boss, the CIO who also should not be troubleshooting WAN links, and that was the best chance they had to resolve the problem."

"Hmph."

"It's a compliment, hon," Kerry assured her.

"How ridiculous is it that we need to have the top two technology officers in the company working on a piddling T1 problem?" Dar groused. "C'mon, Kerry. What the hell do we pay people for?"

"I know, it's ridiculous," Kerry agreed. "You know, let me call the vendor again."

They walked out of the building in silence, crossing into the muggy heat of summer.

Kerry was glad to see the Lexus' looming bulk with its promise of comfortable, though overheated leather seats. She put her briefcase in the back and climbed into the passenger side, easing back gingerly as she closed the door. "Ow."

Dar glanced at her. "Aloe time for you," she remarked.

"Yeah." Kerry turned on her side and rested her head against the seat. Her eyes went to the console between them, however, as Dar's cell phone rang. "Want me to get that?"

"Sure." Dar had her hands full starting the car and getting the air conditioner running before they both melted.

"Hello?" Kerry opened the phone and listened. "Oh, yes. Hello, Mr. Quest." She gave Dar a look and received one in response. "No, she's here. Hang on."

Dar took the phone and hit the speaker, then set it down on the console as she put the Lexus in reverse. "Yes?"

"Hello, is that Dar Roberts?"

"Yes," Dar repeated, slightly louder. "You got me in transit, Peter. What can I do for you?" she asked. "I spent some time with your requirements today, but I'm not done reviewing them."

"Yeah, well, the plan's changed," Quest said. "We have to pull out of New Zealand early, so we're going to do the finishing in the States."

"Ah." Dar felt a pang of disappointment. She'd been looking forward to visiting that part of the world. "And?"

"Port of Miami made me an offer. I'm taking four unused passenger piers for two months down there. I figured that would work for you, at least, if not the other two companies bidding."

"Peh." Kerry snorted softly. "We could practically swim there from our house."

"Matter of fact, that's right around the corner from our offices," Dar replied. "Won't those other guys think you're giving us an advantage?"

Quest laughed. "I'm sure they will. But you can handle the heat, or so I've heard." He cleared his throat. "We also moved the timetable up. The two ships'll be at the port in two weeks. Be ready, or don't bother."

He hung up, leaving a distinct echo in the car.

For a few minutes, they drove on in silence. Dar flipped the phone closed and curled her fingers around it, tapping the leather cover with her thumb while Kerry chewed the inside of her lip thoughtfully. Then they both started talking at the same time.

"There's something..."

"Something's not ri..."

"Ahem." Dar coughed slightly as they stopped and fell silent again.

"Hm," Kerry agreed, pursing her lips. "Did you do any background research on these guys?" she asked. "Want me to run our standard client query?"

Dar felt slightly embarrassed. "Yeah." She slowed down to make the turn into the ferry terminal. "I didn't get around to that. I um..." She paused, then scowled as she pulled into a lane. "Shit."

Kerry circled Dar's wrist with her fingers and rubbed the back of her hand.

"Guess my brain was fried, after all," Dar said. "I didn't even think of doing that, Ker."

"Neither did I, until right now. Don't sweat it," Kerry told her. "I'll kick it off from the house while we're waiting for dinner." She saw the muscles in Dar's jaw line relax a little. "Bummer about the trip though."

"Mm." Dar gazed through the windshield. "But it does give us an advantage." Her head turned, and she looked at Kerry. "And I'm going to take every inch of it."

Kerry patted her hand, and smiled. "Our turf," she agreed.

"Our turf," Dar repeated softly, her eyes narrowing. "Yeah."

THERE WAS SUCH a thing, Kerry discovered, as being too tired to even want to eat. She was curled up on the leather couch in the living room, Chino in a ball at her feet. She faded in and out as Dar rambled around the condo.

She wanted to just let go and zonk out. She could already feel that sense of disassociation she often got just before she fell asleep. The only thing that was keeping her from giving into it was the fact that she was listening to Dar talk to herself as they waited for their soup and half sandwiches to be delivered. "Dar," she finally uttered a protest. "Let it go."

The light scuff of bare feet against the marble answered her, coming closer along with the sense of Dar's presence until a warm knee bumped up against her elbow. Instead of opening her eyes, Kerry reached out and wrapped her arm around Dar's leg, tucking her hand back under her arm and issuing a small, contented grunt.

Dar didn't speak. Instead, she claimed the edge of the couch and sat down next to Kerry, pressing against her body and draping an arm over her.

Ah. Delightful. Kerry wrapped her body around her partner's and sighed. One eye cracked open as Dar started rubbing her back with the tips of her fingers. "See? Now isn't this much better than you bitching at yourself?" She nibbled at Dar's thigh.

Dar made a noncommittal sound. "I wasn't really bitching," she protested. "I was just going over the balls I let drop in the last few weeks."

Kerry started biting the inside of her partner's leg, drawing a squawk of protest from her. "Bitch tomorrow," she said. "It's chill time." Her bites became kisses as Dar leaned over and enfolded her in a hug. She moved into a more comfortable position, emitting a happy gurgle as Dar laid her head down on her shoulder.

"If I fall asleep like this, I'm toast," Dar said, with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Ker. I get overtired and my brain goes into spin cycle."

"Yeah, I know."

"Maybe we should have gone for some Frosted Flakes for dinner."

"Maybe," Kerry admitted. "But we didn't, and sure as Sunday drivers, the second we nod off they'll be knocking at the door."

"Mmph"

Kerry peered idly at the large screen television across the room. "Oh look," she said, "an iguana." Her brow creased. "What's it doing with its tongue?"

Dar shifted her chin and licked Kerry's ear, making her sneeze in surprise. "Nothing I couldn't do if I really worked at it."

"Oo."

With another gentle sigh, Dar put her head back down and half closed her eyes, seemingly forgetting her previous self-admonishment. Kerry reached up and fit her hand inside her partner's, pulling it close to her heart, taking the moment of quiet contemplation where she found it.

A brisk knock came at the door. Dar snorted in soft laughter, before she hauled herself to her feet and headed to answer it. Kerry remained where she was, wiggling her toes a little against Chino's fur as she watched Dar admit the beach club's waiter with his tray, giving him a brief grin as he passed her to set it down on the dining room table.

"Gruff." Chino's head popped up as she belatedly sensed an intruder.

"Shh," Kerry admonished her. "It's just Carlos. Be nice, or you won't get a cookie."

The Labrador curled up and put her muzzle down on Kerry's ankle, keeping a brown eagle eye on Carlos as he neatly arranged their dinner on the table.

Dar signed the check and hustled the waiter out, turning and leaning against the door as she regarded Kerry's still curled up form. "Want me to bring it over?"

"Hm." Kerry drummed her fingers on the leather, then she pushed herself upright with a sigh. "If it were anything but soup, I'd say yes." She pulled the first chair on the right side of the table out and sat, waiting for Dar to join her before she started sorting out the food. "So, what do you think that whole change of schedule thing means, Dar? It sure seemed abrupt to me."

Dar looked up from buttering a roll. "Can we talk about fishing?"

Kerry blinked in mild surprise, hesitating in the act of pouring herself a glass of juice. "Um...okay."

Dar shrugged a little. "You told me to drop it, remember?"

That's right, she had. Kerry finished pouring her drink and fell silent, opening up her container of soup and poking at its contents with her spoon. Her eyes burned and she lifted a hand to rub them, ending up resting her head on her hand as she made a half--hearted attempt at eating.

For a few minutes, it was so quiet the sound of the air conditioning cycling off and on was almost startling. Kerry could almost feel it as a physical thing between them and she wondered when it would start to become uncomfortable.

Her eyes burned again, and she rubbed them, setting down her spoon and finding little to interest her in the relatively inoffensive soup as her stomach rebelled at consuming it. "Well, crap." She broke the silence with a small sigh. "This is going nowhere."

The sudden feel of Dar's fingers running through her hair was indescribable. Kerry looked up from her plate to find bloodshot blue eyes looking back at her with gentle weariness.

"To hell with the food," Dar said, getting up and shoving the plate back. She held a hand out to Kerry invitingly. "Let's go to bed."

Kerry abandoned her noodle soup and stood up, taking Dar's hand and following her to the bedroom without any further thought. The room's soothing blue tones made her feel better almost at once, and she stood facing Dar as they set about undressing each other with the beginnings of a smile on her face.

Dar saw it. She unbuckled Kerry's belt with one hand, and laid the palm of the other one on Kerry's cheek, rubbing her cheekbone with the edge of her thumb. Kerry's eyelashes flickered, then she tilted her head up and returned Dar's gaze with one of her own.

It was amazing, that look. Dar wondered if Kerry really knew how much of her feelings showed in it. "Sorry I'm being a cranky curmudgeon," she apologized. "I'm expecting that time of the month tomorrow."

The gentle upturn of Kerry's lips became a genuine smile. "Thought you said you never had PMS."

"You said I never have PMS," Dar corrected. "I said I do, but no one ever notices the difference."

Kerry finished unbuttoning Dar's jeans, sliding them over her hips and letting them fall to the floor. She took a step forward out of the shirt Dar had finished unfastening and put her arms around Dar's waist. "You can be cranky, honey," she muttered. "If you don't mind me being completely wasted and way oversensitive to it."

Dar tossed Kerry's shorts into the corner and turned, easing them both down into the waterbed. She rolled over with Kerry still in her arms so they ended up in the middle, the warm surface enclosing them comfortably as she tugged the blanket up over them.

"Mm." Kerry had her eyes closed. "This feels great."

"Yeah, it does. Damn, I'm glad tomorrow's Saturday."

"Me, too."

They lay there together for a while, this time comfortable in the quiet surrounding them. Kerry began to surrender to the lethargy rolling over her, leaving her with barely enough energy to rhythmically trace the centerline of Dar's belly in time with the slow breathing under her touch.

A soft clank caused her to crack one eye open again. "Dar?"

"Mmhmn?"

"Did you hear that?"

"All I can hear is sheep."

Kerry's other eye opened. "Sheep?"