“More or less,” Dar acknowledged. “Truthfully, Gerald Easton is an old friend of my father’s. He’s known me since I was a kid.” She sighed. “He just really didn’t like Peter’s style, so he called and bitched at Alastair.”

“Hmm.” Kerry exhaled. “Okay, you can say that you had prior experience with that contract, and the client felt more comfortable dealing with you.”

A faint smile curved Dar’s lips. “You’re pretty good at this stuff.”

Green eyes twinkled. “Debating, remember? You have to sometimes say the same thing four different ways in order to get your point across.”

Dar laughed. “I’d love to have seen you up there. Nothing I like better than a good debate.”

Kerry blushed a little and grinned. “The contest I won was the one thing my father came to. It was pretty high profile, and he had such a good time doing the chip off the old block thing in the audience.” She looked a little sad.

“It felt good to win that.”

“You ever think of going into politics yourself?” Dar inquired.

A soft snort. “No way. If I’d wanted to spend my life deceiving people I’d have gone into marketing, thanks.” She gave Dar a wry look. “You’re not going to tell me you think public servants do it for the pleasure of serving their fellow countrymen, are you?”

“No.”

“Whew. I didn’t want to burst that bubble for ya, let me tell you, Dar,”

Kerry informed her. “It’s a disgusting business.”

Dar grunted softly. “Tell you what, why don’t you type up an answer for me, and I’ll go stir your sauce.” She slipped out of the chair and plucked the spoon from Kerry’s hand. “Fair trade?”

Kerry sat down, the chair warm from Dar’s body and glanced up. “Try not to eat it all, okay?” she teased, getting a flash of a smile in return as she Tropical Storm 369

turned her attention to the screen.

Dar padded into the kitchen, lifting the cover off a cast iron pot on the stove and releasing a moist cloud of garlic and spices into the air. “Ooo.” She stirred the sauce gently as she thought about the report that had come back about Kerry’s father. The usual, mostly. Minor kickbacks, some reported bribery, nothing concrete. But there were two anonymous bank accounts she was investigating further, and a very strange series of transactions from what looked like a private credit line in his name only. No sense, she’d decided, in letting Kerry see the report until she was finished and had something concrete.

And then what? Dar exhaled. Despite everything, she suspected Kerry still loved her parents, and her family. Doing something to hurt her father would hurt her as well, and as much as Dar wanted to slam the man for what she considered a disgusting persecution of her friend... Would that really serve a purpose? Maybe the information would come in handy to her, though, in her arguments for staying here. And I want to give Kerry all the ammunition for that I can, right? Of course, there was always the possibility it wouldn’t work. That Kerry would allow herself to be persuaded to leave. That’s what you’re afraid of, isn’t it? Dar’s eyes closed as she absently stirred the sauce. You’ve only known her for a month, Dar, the thought of living without her can’t possibly hurt you that much. But it did.

She felt so comfortable with Kerry. Her usual wariness around people seemed to evaporate around the blonde woman, and she found herself basking in the warmth of a true friendship for the first time in a long while.

She hadn’t suspected she missed having that in her life quite as much as she did, and now something was threatening that. She didn’t respond well to threats. They made her want to do crazy things like beg Kerry not to go home.

Or go home with her. Oh yeah. She laughed uneasily to herself. That would win a popularity contest, you just show up at her parents’ house. Let’s see…um… “Hi, the company is instituting a new program in which supervisors must visit all of their employees at least once over the holiday, and I’m starting with Kerry. Do you mind?”

Yeah. She was so involved in her thoughts she didn’t even hear Kerry calling her name until a warm hand touched her back and she jumped. “Wh— Oh, sorry.” She stepped away from the stove and handed Kerry back her spoon.

“Here. I was just…um…”

“A million miles away,” Kerry supplied, gazing at her curiously. “You all right?”

“Yeah. I was just thinking, that’s all.” Dar chuckled. “You finished in there?” She was a little embarrassed to have been caught daydreaming. “I, um, I’ll go take care of that other stuff.”

Kerry gave her a worried little frown, but nodded. “Okay, yeah, take a look at what I wrote. See if you like it.” She patted Dar’s side. “Do you like garlic bread?” Dar nodded. “Silly question. I guess I’ve got some of those breadsticks in the freezer. I’ll put them up, too.”

The taller woman chuckled. “You like doing this, don’t you?”

Kerry shrugged. “I guess, I mean…I don’t think I’d bother for myself. In fact, I know I wouldn’t. I generally just come home from work and grab some 370 Melissa Good carrots or something, but it’s nice to take trouble for someone who appreciates it.”

Dar regarded her seriously. “I do appreciate it,” she replied quietly.

“Very much so.”

That got her a big smile “I know. I noticed your kitchen doesn’t get used much,” she teased gently. “I have nightmares thinking of you there with your Egg McMuffins and chocolate milk.”

Dar laughed in pure reflex. “Nah, you’ve got me all wrong.” She shook her head solemnly. “It’s Croissanwichs or nothing.”

A poke. “You should take better care of yourself.” Kerry mock scowled.

“That’s going to catch up with you one day.”

“Play hard…die young,” Dar half joked.

“I’d rather you didn’t,” Kerry replied very seriously. “I’d like to have you around for a long time.” An awkward silence fell, as stunned blue eyes looked at her. “I’m sorry,” Kerry finally muttered. “That’s an incredibly presumptuous thing for me to say.” She turned back to the stove and bent over the pot, only to feel hands grip her shoulders gently.

She went still and didn’t resist as Dar turned her around, and she met the pale blue eyes now gentled as they studied her face. “You know, when you came in here, I was wondering what in the hell I was going to do if you did decide to go home,” she murmured softly. “And I was trying to figure out how someone I’ve known for less than a month could become so important to me.”

“Oh,” Kerry replied.

“So, no, it wasn’t presumptuous. It’s nice that you care,” Dar added shyly. “It feels kind of strange, but I think I like it.”

Kerry let out a relieved sigh. “That’s good.” She reached up and interlaced her fingers with Dar’s. “Because I can’t help feeling that way, and I’d hate to be driving you crazy or anything.”

Dar gave in to the insidious craving and hugged her. “Nah.” She released her and stepped back, then smiled. “Let me go finish.” She turned and left the kitchen.

Kerry sucked on the end of her spoon in thought as she turned back to her sauce, and a small, incredulous smile slowly inched its way across her face. Dar went back to the desk and dropped into the chair, propping her chin onto her hand and peering at the screen. She let her eyes scan over the words three times before any of them penetrated. Then she let her eyelids flutter shut and just took a moment to collect herself, feeling a wealth of conflicting emotion battering at her. Half of her was scared shitless. The other half, which was this strange, new, alien-from-outer-space half, wanted to drop to her knees and pledge lifelong devotion to this poor woman she barely knew. “I’m a little old for this hormonal crap, aren’t I?” she muttered to herself wryly. “I haven’t felt like this since I was twelve and had my first crush.”

She rubbed her eyes, then forced herself to concentrate on the screen, this time actually reading it. “Oh, nice job,” she complimented the absent Kerry.

“Yeah, I like it.” The response was very reasonable and politely worded. “Of course she’s gonna know I didn’t write it.” Dar chuckled softly. “But that’s Tropical Storm 371

okay, the mark of a good manager is knowing where to use their resources, right?” She raised her voice. “Nice work.”

“Thanks,” came floating back, and Dar could all but hear the smile in the word as she hit the Send key and sent the reply on its way. Then she settled down and plowed through the next several issues, trying to ignore the intriguing scents wafting in from the kitchen, only stopping for a moment as thunder rolled overhead. “Hmm.”

Kerry entered, also listening. “Sounds nasty.” She leaned on the back of the chair. “You finished? Dinner’s ready.”

“So I smell,” Dar agreed as she straightened. “Yep, I told off six people, canceled three meetings, and sent two scathing replies to people who should have known better.” She sighed. “Not a bad day.”

“Did you really?” Kerry gave her a look.

Dar nodded wryly. “Yes, I did.” She stood up and stretched. “But don’t worry, everyone’s used to it. If I didn’t do that, they’d think something was wrong with me,” she advised the blonde woman. “You want everything out here on the table?”

Kerry hesitated, then grinned. “Well, I’ve got this big platter thing. I thought it might be fun if we just use that and share it. It’s got little legs, we could bring it over to the couch and watch the movie.”

“Hmm.” Dar’s voice dropped to a low, speculative growl. “I think I like that idea.” She smiled abruptly. “I wonder if we can do that Lady and the Tramp thing.”