Tropical Storm - DK1 (94 page)

Dar reached over and extended her hand, smiling when Kerry took it, and curled her fingers around the taller woman’s. “Well, in my opinion, you look fantastic, and I’m the one who gets to see you naked the most, so…”

Kerry burst into an embarrassed giggle. “Dar!”

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Melissa Good

“Hey, it’s true,” her partner protested with a smile, then she turned her attention to the water. “Can I interest you in a little walk in the moonlight?”

A squeeze on her fingers. “Absolutely.”

Dar stood and collected their bowls. “C’mon, I hear a hot fudge sundae calling me down at the market.”

Kerry latched on to the back of Dar’s shirt, following her inside. “Where you go, I go,” she assured the taller woman lightly.

They both stopped and looked at each other, twin shivers going down two spines. “Well,” Dar finally said softly. “I think I like that idea.”

Kerry nibbled her lip, wondering where the words had come from.

“Mmm, yeah, me too.” She smiled. “Guess we’d better put on some shorts though. Meet you back down here.” She trotted up the stairs, leaving a quietly reflective Dar behind.

“WHAT ABOUT THIS one?” Kerry picked up the nearest jacket and held it up. “It’s…colorful.”

Dar glanced up, then chuckled. “Oh yeah, no doubt about it. I’d be able to find you at 100 fathoms in that.”

The Dacor buoyancy compensator had bright pink and green pockets and was dazzlingly bright. Kerry slipped it over her shoulders and faced her friend. “Well?”

The taller woman sauntered over and adjusted the device, buckling it across Kerry’s chest and stepping back to judge the effect. “Nice.”

Kerry grinned and bounced a little, then unbuckled the catches and shrugged out of the vest. “Okay, and you said a new weight belt, right?” She mentally added up the cost and nodded a little. Her bills were paid for the month, and her raise allowed for little luxuries like this. She picked up a dark pink web belt, liberally studded with small pink weights. “How’s this?”

Dar studied it, then hefted the weight. “Yeah, that’d be okay,” she judged. “Here.” She added a pair of snug-fitting neoprene booties. “Oh.” She went to a rack holding wetsuits and pulled off one with short sleeves and mid-thigh length legs. “This, too.”

Kerry fingered the thin neoprene. “Ah, to protect against jellyfish?”

Dar stepped closer. “No, I just think you’d look really good in it,” she muttered softly, her eyes twinkling.

“Tch. Dar.” Kerry’s face wrinkled up into a mildly embarrassed smile.

“Let me pass on this right now. It’s a little over my budget.”

Blue eyes flicked over the supplies, then to her face. “I could, um…”

A hand touched her arm. “No.” Kerry’s voice dropped a little, and she glanced around. “I appreciate the thought, Dar, but I’m responsible for myself, okay?”

The dark-haired woman drew breath, then let it trickle out her lips. “All right, I was just…”

Kerry smiled at her. “I know, and I let you get away with it with my fish and those plane tickets, but it’s important to me to stand on my own two feet.”

Dar looked almost comically crestfallen. “Um…” She looked around.

“Look, the truth is, between my salary and the bonuses Alastair keeps dumping on me, I’ve got this huge lump of funds stuck in a couple of accounts at the credit union, and I’ve…” She paused and exhaled. “I haven’t had anyone in my life in a while that I really wanted to spend it on.” She shrugged a little. “I didn’t mean to insult you or anything.”

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Kerry was at a loss for words. “Uh.” She frantically searched for some kind of response, and realized she was just out of luck. So she merely looked up into Dar’s eyes and tried to express what her heart was feeling silently.

Her companion produced a little smile, and glanced around the store.

“We about done here?”

For a sophisticated, intelligent, aggressive woman, Dar certainly could present an excellent imitation of a spanked puppy sometimes, Kerry noted mournfully. Maybe it was the way she stuck her hands in the pockets of her shorts. “Dar?”

Those pretty blue eyes focused on her. “Yes?”

Kerry gathered up her vest, belt, and booties, then handed her taller companion the wetsuit and lifted her eyebrows. “Since you think it’ll enhance the visuals.” A flash of white as Dar smiled and took possession of the suit.
A
compromise
, Kerry reasoned as she made her way towards the cash register.

“Hey.” She stopped, as her eye caught a bathing suit in crimson with deep gold slashes in it.

Dar peered over her shoulder. “Not your size,” she commented regretfully.

Green eyes studied her speculatively. “No, but I bet it’s yours.” Her nose crinkled up in a mischievous grin. “Fair’s fair.” One dark eyebrow lifted slowly as Dar gave her a look, then plucked the suit off the rack without another word and headed up to the counter. “Heh,” Kerry chortled softly as she followed.

“GOOD THING I brought the truck,” Dar commented, putting the last bag in the back of the Lexus and giving her companion a slightly amazed, slightly alarmed look. “You actually use all that stuff?”

Kerry put a hand on her back. “Believe it or not, yes. When you actually cook real food with real ingredients, it’s not just pulling something out of a box and nuking it.”

Dar closed the back hatch and put her hands on her hips. “Sure is easier that way,” she commented teasingly.

“Yes, it is,” Kerry agreed. “But it’s a lot less healthy for you because of all the junk they put in there to keep the food from crystallizing when they freeze it. I think that stuff turns your ears blue or something.”

“Oh.” Dar considered this. “I guess that makes sense.” She walked around and got into the car, waiting for Kerry to do the same. “You up for some
café con leche
?”

Speaking of unhealthy.
Kerry gave her companion a wry look but didn’t resist. “Sure,” she agreed readily, acknowledging to herself that she’d become somewhat addicted to the sweet coffee and the tiny pastries that would go with them. Her stomach growled, already anticipating the cheese and guava ones she particularly liked.

Dar navigated the beachfront streets with skill, pulling into the back parking lot of a small Cuban cafeteria and parking. Kerry took a deep breath of the morning air contentedly, tasting the strong hint of salt on it. “Nice morning,” she complimented the weather, being in the lower seventies, and
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much less humid than it had been recently. The sun was warm but not overbearing, and the breeze fluttered the thin fabric of her T-shirt against her body.

She felt… It was like having been in school, and now she was out on summer break, Kerry decided, but with the knowledge that there was no fall term to go back to. In a way, it was like when she graduated college and started out on her first real job. Everything changed. Now it was changing again, as she took slow, tentative steps towards a whole new life, allowing the reality of a partnership with Dar to sink in. It felt so strange, but in a weird way, familiar.

She was hurting over her parents, and she knew that. She knew it would be a long time before she could think about them and not feel the grief of not being accepted. But on the flip side, it felt so, so good to not have to measure up to their standards anymore. Now she was free to set her own standards.

The sea breeze blew cleanly across her, and a gull circled overhead as Kerry smiled up at the fluffy white clouds floating lazily overhead.
What’s that
about breaking eggs to make omelets?
Her eyes slipped sideways, to the tall form pacing beside her.
What kind of omelet are you, hmm? My favorite kind, I think.

Dar felt a quiet contentment drop over her, and she was surprised at how easily her lone and sometimes prickly nature accepted Kerry’s close and constant presence. She’d been skeptical of her own ability to adjust to that, but her subconscious had apparently been fooling her all along into thinking she was happier alone.

It wasn’t true, and she knew it now. She’d just had to find the right person. She wondered briefly if Kerry felt the same way. She hoped so. She really, really did. Dar found herself very much looking forward to building a lasting relationship with her blonde companion.

She reached out and opened the door to the cafeteria, releasing the heady scents of the thick Cuban coffee and pastries into the salty air. They entered, and she ordered for them in a workmanlike, slightly accented Spanish that caused Kerry to give her an amazed look.

“What? I had no idea you spoke Spanish,” she sputtered.

Dar shrugged. “Enough to get by, sure.” She sat down on a vacant stool and motioned her companion to do the same, and they waited for their order.

The cafeteria was mostly full of other patrons, most enjoying various types of coffee and either the pastelitos or full breakfasts. “Oh, hmm.” She turned and got the waitress’s attention and pointed at a nearby plate. The woman nodded and smiled at her.

“What is that?” Kerry peered at her.

“Cuban Egg McMuffin,” Dar replied with a grin. “Eggs, cheese, and bacon on toasted Cuban bread.” She watched Kerry cover her eyes. “You can have half.”

“Jesus.” Kerry moaned. “You are so corrupting me.” She sighed and picked up the warm, flaky pastry the waitress had settled in front of her, taking a bite and enjoying the combination of sweet and tangy. “I spent most of Thanksgiving night wondering why everything was so damn tasteless, then I remembered my mother has them cook everything without salt, butter, or cream.”

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“Yuck.” Dar munched on her sandwich, nudging the other half over to Kerry’s plate. “What purpose do potatoes serve if you can’t use them as a delivery vehicle for all three of those things?” she asked reasonably.

Kerry gave her a look, then nibbled a corner of the sandwich. “Mmm, that certainly is better than an Egg McMuffin,” she admitted.

Dar chuckled. “Relax, look around.” Dar flicked her eyes around the room. “This is standard Cuban fare. You see all the old folks around here? It won’t kill you.” She stood up and gathered her bag of pastelitos. “C’mon, we’d better get that stuff in the refrigerator.” They walked outside and headed around the corner of the small building, into the lot that was bordered by the cafeteria on one side and an apartment complex on the other.

It was a very, very quiet drive back. Kerry finally sat back, once they were safely on the ferry, and rolled her head to one side, regarding Dar’s profile.

“Know something?”

“Hmm?”

She covered Dar’s hand with her own and rested her head against the taller woman’s shoulder. “You’re the most important person in my life.” She kept her eyes on the leather seat, not daring to look up to see Dar’s reaction.

Which was a pity, because she missed a round-eyed look of absolute, quiet wonder bestowed on her by her companion. “You know, I was kind of hoping you felt like that,” Dar murmured.

The soft clank of the waves against the ferry’s rigging drifted in the open window of the Lexus. “Why?” Kerry whispered.

Dar rested her head against the smaller woman’s. “Because I feel the same way.”

“Oh.” Kerry smiled, closing her eyes. “I guess that’s all right, then.”

They stayed like that until the ferry docked, and Kerry steered the car up the ramp and through the winding roads to the parking spot they’d left a few hours and a lifetime ago. She helped Dar carry the groceries and their new diving gear inside, and they put things away in a comfortable silence.

Finally, Kerry dropped into the loveseat and gazed at the ceiling, while Dar puttered around the kitchen. She could hear the microwave beeping and predicted smelling the rich, distinctive scent of chocolate next. Dar didn’t disappoint her, and she smiled as the tall, dark-haired woman padded into the living room, handing her a gently steaming cup of hot chocolate. She took a seat next to her companion and propped her bare feet up on the coffee table.

They looked at each other in quiet regard for a long moment. “Been quite a month,” Dar commented, taking a sip of her chocolate.

“Oh yeah,” Kerry agreed. “It sure has been.” She swallowed a mouthful of the sweet beverage. “I should start keeping a diary, especially if this is what life’s going to be like from now on.”

Dar laughed gently. “Jesus, I hope not. It would end up sounding like some crazy television show.” She laid an arm across the back of the couch and tangled her fingers in Kerry’s hair. “Listen, I know it’s been a rough weekend.” She paused, collecting her thoughts, then went on. “And I know you’re going to need some time to get used to things, But, um…”

Kerry put down her chocolate and edged over, slipping her arms around Dar’s body and leaning against her. “But, um, what?”

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Dar blinked at her, putting down her own cup and returning her embrace. “But, um,” her brows knit, “I really think we work well together.”

Kerry sniffed reflectively. “Well, that’s true. We have different approaches, but we generally get to the same point.” She was fairly sure Dar’s speech had nothing to do with work, but she was willing to go along with the charade. “You’re a logical person, and you usually get right to the heart of the problem and fix it.”

“Uh...right,” Dar agreed hesitantly.

“Usually,” Kerry repeated, tipping her head back and gazing up at her companion.

“Usually, what?” the dark-haired woman hazarded.

“You usually get right to the point,” Kerry stated patiently.

“Oh, right. Yeah, I do,” Dar muttered. “I know I do, in fact, there’s a point around here, and I’m going to get to it as soon as I figure out what the hell it is.”

Kerry buried her face into Dar’s chest and muffled a laugh.

Dar sighed. “You have this knack of making me feel like a lovestruck teenager, did you know that?”

Green eyes peeked up at her. “Is that good or bad?”

“Well, it certainly blows my image all to hell,” Dar replied with a faint laugh. “So I guess my asking you if you want to move in here won’t do much worse.”