"What was, the TP? I'll get you a double case of Charmin at Costco when we get back, okay? You can keep some in your desk drawer."

"That lady liking my tattoo," Kerry said. "But I'll remember that offer. I don't know what the heck the facilities people were thinking last month, but the stuff they changed to reminds me of grocery bags."

They walked outside, accepting the shock of going from icy chill to muggy heat as something natural. "What's your poison?" Dar asked. "I had Italian last night, but I'll do it again if you want."

Kerry licked her lips. "Mm...let's walk down a little bit and see what we find. I don't know if I'm in the mood for that."

The streets were busy around them in a way Miami never was. Their hometown had no central downtown area and was in no sense a walking city. It was far more a huge urban and suburban sprawl, extending up and down the coast for three counties made up of clusters of shopping surrounded by clusters of residential areas.

This was a nice change, really, Kerry thought. It reminded her a little of the trips she'd occasionally made to Chicago with her debating team, when they'd get away for the afternoon and roam the downtown near their hotel, finding anything that didn't smack to hell of home.

Like Garrett's popcorn. Kerry licked her lips in memory, even after all these years. Or the pieces of thick pizza they'd shared on the sidewalk, looking up at the huge, towering buildings. It had been very different than her few trips to Manhattan with her family, that's for sure.

Ah well.

Dar took her hand again as they strolled along, passing brightly lit store fronts and places that became suddenly familiar to them from television. "Hey, look." Kerry pointed. "That's where you always see people standing with signs looking like goofballs on the Today show."

"Uh huh," Dar agreed. "Isn't that where that huge Christmas tree goes?"

"And the ice skating rink, yeah," her companion said. "Can you ice skate?"

Dar pondered the question briefly. "Yes," she finally admitted. "Chinese?" She directed Kerry's attention to a storefront one level up. "I could go for something spicy."

"Sounds pretty darn good to me." Kerry led the way over to the restaurant. They had just gotten seated when first hers, then Dar's pager went off. "Oh, pooh."

Dar removed her device from her purse and keyed it. "Ops center. Never good news."

Kerry sighed and lifted her cell phone, speed dialing and holding the device to her ear as she listened to Dar order for them both. "Hi, it's Kerry Stuart," she said as the line was answered. "What's up?"

"Oh, hi ma'am," the voice answered. "This is Jason. Sorry to bother you, but Mark said I should page out. We had a big forced entry attempt here a little while ago."

Dar's eyebrow cocked up as she caught the tinny sounding words from the phone Kerry was holding a little ways away from her ear.

"Successful?" Kerry asked.

"Ma'am." Jason managed to sound politely scandalized. "If it had been, you'd be talking to Mark right now, not me, that's for sure. No offense."

Dar snorted softly.

"Does Mark have a culprit?" Kerry asked. "Any ideas, or..."

"He's got some stuff he's tracking down. He wanted me to tell you to tell the boss someone was trying to call her bluff."

Dar's eyes narrowed and the planes of her face shifted into a dour expression.

"The boss knows," Kerry said. "If he finds anything, tell him to call us."

"Will do, ma'am."

Kerry folded her phone up and tapped it on the table. "I don't much like the sounds of that."

Dar eased back in her seat, giving the waiter a nod as he delivered two chilled glasses of plum wine. She picked one up and sipped from it before she answered. "It was excessively stupid of me to make that damn claim."

"Oh, well, that's not what I meant..."

"Kerry, it was," Dar interrupted her. "Regardless of whether it was true or not, pissing into an open fire hydrant is just plain idiotic. Mark's going to be cleaning up after that for months." She glared at her wine. "Bah."

Kerry patted her partner on the leg. "It got us good press, sweetie. If Mark can keep them at bay, we can get even better press out of it. I have faith in him, and in your infrastructure."

"Hmph." Dar looked mollified, however. "Maybe if he's got a lead on who they are, I can go back on them and nail 'em," she suggested. "That'd be fun."

"There you go." Kerry smiled at the waiter, who appeared with two bowls of steaming hot and sour soup. "Mm...that smells great."

Dar had removed her PDA from her purse and was scribbling on it. Kerry watched her as she picked up a spoon and sipped her soup. "Mark?"

"Yeah."

"You know what would be cool?"

"What?" Dar glanced at her.

"If we had software that could not only detect stuff like this, but proactively go out and find the jerks trying it and turn the tables on them," Kerry said. "Couldn't you write something like that, Dar?"

Dar tapped her stylus idly on the edge of her PDA. "I don't do coding anymore," she demurred. "I haven't even looked at some of the newer languages..."

"Sure you do," Kerry disagreed. "You write little things all the time. My dancing gopher, that program that keeps track of our expenses, that database thing Maria uses...those are all yours."

A half shrug. "That's just little stuff, like you said." But Dar's voice lacked real conviction.

"Wouldn't it be cool?" Kerry repeated. "That would be such a killer app, if you could have it go out and snag these losers. Find a way through all those backdoor portals and all that masking stuff."

Dar's eyes went briefly unfocused. "Hm." She made a noise deep in her throat, low and thoughtful. "That would be cool," she admitted. "Might fit in with some of the heuristic stuff I was looking at...maybe I could take a look at what the structure might need..."

Ahh. Kerry smiled inwardly. Caught that mind, I think. "It would be awesome."

Dar scribbled several notes, then keyed something, and scribbled several more. Then she hit send and closed the device, folding her hands over it. "So." She turned her attention fully to Kerry. "What were we talking about...toilet paper, right?"

"Toilet paper, and tattoos." Kerry lifted her wine glass, and touched it to Dar's. "And pretty little girls named Yum-Yum."

Dar returned the toast, and they both took a sip. "You know..." Dar looked around. "New York's not so bad after all."

"Hear hear," Kerry agreed, with a smile. "I'm glad I had a chance to play here with you."

The blue eyes lit as a returning smile appeared. "Me, too," she replied. "Ker, I really appreciate you coming up here. I...um..." Dar's gaze dropped briefly, then lifted again. "I really do."

Kerry put her glass down and reached over to cover Dar's hand with her own. "Any time, sweetie. It made me so happy to do it. I about did somersaults in the airplane aisle," she reassured her partner. "I loved being here."

Dar lifted her glass again, and they touched rims, then impishly, she leaned much closer and twined her arm through Kerry's. They drank from each other's glass, and took advantage of the restaurant's trendy dimness to share a kiss that lasted one heartbeat short of a scandal.

Ah well, Kerry reflected, as they parted and picked up their spoons.

If anywhere on earth could handle that, it was New York. It was big enough to handle just about anything.


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 writ-ten...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?