“You spend time together,” the brunette clarified cautiously.

“Sure, been to dinner a few times. We go to the gym together. She’s a nice kid, and I like her a lot,” Dar responded.

The personnel director relaxed a little. “I’m sorry,” she said simply, her hazel eyes finding Dar’s and projecting regret. “Dar, you and I are friends, and I know how isolated you keep yourself. It’s just…” She touched the pictures.

“I got scared for you, okay?” She sighed. “There are people who will take any chance to go after you, and I don’t want to see that happen.”

Dar now relaxed a little and exhaled. “I know.” She shook her head. “You know where those came from?”

Mariana blinked at her. “Disney World, I thought…not sure. Was someone taking pictures of you while you were there?”

“They’re a bit of spiteful malice from Michelle Graver,” Dar responded with a humorless smile. “I wouldn’t sleep with her, so this is her way of replying.”

Mariana jerked back and let out a soft gasp. “You’re joking.”

“No,” Dar answered. “I had to practically throw her out of my car last night,” she said. “She was down for some tourist convention and hooked me into buying her dinner.” Her eyes watched Mari closely. “Figured it came with a roll in the sack, but I wasn’t playing her game. She got pissed.”

“What a little…” Mariana picked up the pictures and looked at them.

“Dar, that’s horrible.”

Dar got up and wandered over to the window, leaning her hands against the glass and peering out. “Yeah, I know.” She snorted softly. “Imagine, I finally develop a conscience, and what do I get for it?” she asked. “I get accused of sleeping with my staff.”

Mariana studied her back, then got up and joined her at the window, putting a hand on her arm. “That wasn’t what I…” She sighed, perplexed at the situation. “Dar, listen, in a strange way, I was halfway hoping it was true.”

Shocked blue eyes turned and gathered her in. “What?”

“I’ve known you for years, and it’s like I hardly know you, Dar. You only let us see tiny bits and pieces of who you are. And I’ve been very worried about you,” the shorter woman said quietly. “They put an enormous amount of pressure on you, and it bothered me a lot to know you really had no one to share that with. Beyond this stupid job, okay?”

Warily, Dar regarded her. “What are you saying?” She crossed her arms and leaned against the glass, the sun slanting in on both of them and bisecting the quiet office.

“Don’t get mad at me.” Mariana put a hand on her arm. “But I’ve seen a big difference in you the last month. And to be completely honest, I was hoping you’d found someone.” She glanced across her office, then met Dar’s eyes again. “Even if that someone was Kerry Stuart.”

Oh, damn it. I don’t want to lie to her. Mariana has been my friend for years, but this… Dar sighed. She didn’t want the personnel executive to have her own 340 Melissa Good crisis of conscience, pitting her liking of Dar against her duty to her job. She thought quickly. “I’d had a lot of things on my mind lately…” She chose her words carefully, “…not the least of which has been my health.”

It threw Mariana right off the scent, now her eyes widened in real concern.

“I told you about the headaches. Well, when they checked for that, they found something irregular in my heartbeat,” Dar told her. “I went in for some tests. And believe me, Mari, I was damned scared.”

“Oh my god.” Mariana moved a step closer. “What happened?”

Dar shook her head. “It came out all right. Somehow, I’m not really sure how myself, but it was a cloud that had been over me for a long time. I was damned relieved to be rid of it.” She glanced at the carpet and nudged a bit of the pile with her foot. “I guess that’s why I’ve been a little more relaxed lately.

That and being told I’d better take it easy or risk real problems with those headaches.”

“Dar, you should have told me. I could have…”

“What, arranged for crises to stop happening?” Dar asked mildly. “Those couple days in Orlando came at the right time. It really irks me that someone could take pictures of something so normal and make it seem like we were…”

Dar shook her head sadly. “Damn.” Also true. At the park, neither of them had even really begun to think about a romantic relationship.

Had they? Dar glanced at the top photo and sighed inwardly. How much was she fooling anyone other than herself?

“Dar, don’t worry about it,” Mariana replied soothingly. “I’ll shred them.”

Dar considered that, then let a faint smile cross her lips. “No, let me have them. I have a better idea.” You think you got me, huh, you little weeble? “Look, Mari, I’m sorry I yelled. You were absolutely right to call me on this. It could be hell for all of us if it got out of hand.”

Mariana patted her arm. “I could have approached it a little differently. I guess I was just so shocked. Well, not shocked, just…” She walked over, picked up the pictures, and leafed through them, then glanced at Dar, who was gazing out of the window. Her eyes dropped back to the picture on top, seeing the relaxed and happy look on the tall executive’s face as she hugged the blonde Kerry to her. “Anyway, to change the subject, I’m looking forward to dinner tonight. You did remember, right?”

Dar turned and nodded. “I did. And Kerry tells me she accepted your invitation also. It should be a good time.” She pushed off the glass and crossed to her friend, holding a hand out. “Gimme, I’m gonna have the damned things published on the internal web server. Ops monthly newsletter’s about due.”

“What?” Mariana blinked.

“I’ll make sure to e-mail Michelle a copy of the page.” Dar smiled acidly.

“Tch, Dar.” The Personnel VP bit back a grin. “I’ll send her a thank you note, how about that? On letterhead.”

Dar chuckled. “Hey, that’d be a nice touch.” She lifted a hand. “I’ve got a pile of emergencies on my desk. I’ll see you tonight, Mari.”

“Mmm, see you tonight, my friend.” She waved as Dar left, then sat, playing with a pencil in silence for a few minutes. When a soft knock came at Tropical Storm 341

the door, she called out, “Entrez-vous,” and was unsurprised when Duks slipped in. He padded over and perched on a corner of her desk.

“Well?” He raised a brow at her in inquiry.

“Well, I almost got my head handed to me, and I got some very plausible skating of the issue, but you know what, Dukky?”

“What?” He folded his arms across his chest.

They both burst into song. “There’s something there that wasn’t there before!”

The door swung open, and José put his head in. “Was that singing?”

Two solemn faces looked back at him. “What?” Duks asked, his brows rising.

“Singing?” Mariana studied him. “José, use your health benefits and get the ears checked, will you?” She shook her head disapprovingly. “Did you need something?”

The stocky Sales VP gave them an evil look. “My goddamn new regional sales manager, in fact. You going to make me wait until next year?” he complained. “Or do you have to be Dar Roberts to get anything done around here?”

“NO, PETER.” DAR rested one elbow on her desk and closed her eyes.

“I’m not going to release that. They’ll just have to wait.” She held the phone away from her ear as a yell of outrage came out of it. “One more like that and I’m hanging up,” she snapped into the phone. “I don’t have time for this crap.”

“You’re sabotaging me, goddamn it,” he answered in frustration.

“Don’t be stupid,” Dar replied. “Why would I do that? You do a great job of it all by yourself.”

“Bitch.” The phone disconnected and Dar exhaled, grinning wryly.

“Asshole,” she muttered, going back to her screen and plowing through yet another mail. The back door opened, and she glanced up to see Kerry enter, a brown bag in her hands. “Hey.”

The blonde woman came over, putting the bag down and leaning against the edge of the desk. “Hi.” She tugged the edge of her burgundy skirt up and folded her hands.

“What’s that?” Dar nudged the bag with her pen.

“Lunch,” Kerry replied readily. “I had to run out to the bank during mine, and I figured you’d still be buried in here, so…”

Dar poked at the bag again. “It’s not anything with alfalfa sprouts or anything, is it?” She glanced slyly at the smaller woman.

“Oh, yeah, right.” Kerry laughed. “As if. No, it’s a cheesesteak sandwich and spicy fries.” She peered at the screen. “Good grief, I thought I had a lot of mail. What’s all that?”

Dar was investigating her lunch and pulled out a fry, munching on it contentedly. “I’ve been letting things slide for a few days. It all caught up with me today, I guess. Oh yeah.” She pulled the manila folder from her inbox and handed it over. “Look what Mariana got today, from our friend Michelle.”

Kerry pulled the pictures out and sucked in a breath in surprise. “Holy 342 Melissa Good Christ!” she blurted in surprise. “Where in the… Oh.” She realized they must have been spotted by hidden cameras. “What a pig.”

Dar looked, chewing another fry. “No, that’s Donald Duck.” She pointed at the picture.

Kerry just looked at her. “Who got these?” she asked quietly.

“Mariana.” Dar replied. “I, um, got called on the carpet for them, more or less.”

“Hmmm. Well, it’s not like they’re anything big, or are they? I mean, Jesus, Dar…” Her voice trailed off. “Are we in trouble?”

We. Dar curled herself around the word, and remembered what Mari had said. “I don’t know,” she murmured. “She thinks there’s something going on.