She bustled forward and handed Kerry several pieces of mail. “Dar, I got your tickets, but Dios mío, it is expensive.” She handed the executive an itinerary.

“And remember, you have your follow-up visit to your doctor tomorrow.”

Dar nodded, taking the sheet and examining it. “Great. Thanks, Maria.”

She thought a minute. “It probably won’t take long tomorrow, I’m his first visit. He just wants to repeat the bloodwork he did last time.” She glanced at her watch. “Let me swallow this, and I gotta get going.”

“Me too.” Kerry nodded. “Wish me luck.”

The dark-haired woman rolled her eyes. “Good luck. And remember, she’s probably in a foul mood.” Dar thought a minute. “Especially since she probably missed lunch.” She grinned evilly and bit a piece of chicken in half.

Kerry groaned. “All right. See you all later.” She got off the desk and left the office, leaving Maria shuffling papers and Dar chewing.

The door closed. “Ay, she is such a nice person, Dar.” Maria sighed. “So sweet.”

“Mmm, yeah. It was nice of her to bring me back some lunch. She’s a good kid,” Dar replied offhandedly. “Glad I found her.”

“Si, is good,” Maria agreed. “And how is your headaches?”

Dar took a breath to answer, then stopped. She blinked. “I…I haven’t had one since I went home that day,” she murmured, a little disconcerted. “Now how do you like that?”

“Is good! Maybe seeing Mickey Mouse helped,” Maria suggested.

“Maybe.” Dar took another bite of chicken and smiled in return.

“Or maybe it is Kerrisita being so nice to you, yes?” Maria asked with an impish expression.

Dar paused in mid-chew and looked at her.

“I will go make copies now. Enjoy your lunch, Jefa.” Her admin bustled out, closing the door softly behind her and leaving Dar in wide-eyed silence.


280 Melissa Good KERRY STRAPPED ON the Rollerblades, looking up as a knock came at the door. “C’mon in, Col,” she called out cheerfully, then grinned as the door popped open and Colleen came rolling in, waving her hands for balance.

“Hey, watch it!”

The redhead plopped down on the couch, sticking her wheeled feet out in front of her. “Hey, Ker, what’s up?” Her eyes twinkled mischievously at her friend. “Was that Dar’s Lexus out there last night?”

Was it only last night? Jesus. “Um…yeah,” Kerry knew she was blushing,

“it was. She came over for dinner.”

Colleen chuckled in triumph. “I knew it. We think you two are soooooo cute together.”

Kerry’s head came up so fast it made her dizzy. “What? Who is we?”

The redhead noted that her friend didn’t dispute the statement. “Ray and Susan and me. We hung around talking about you Saturday night.” She grinned unrepentantly at Kerry’s shocked look. “Okay, okay, so she passed the grilling. She’s not a gorgon.”

“C’mon, Colleen, it was just dinner.” Kerry tried a weak laugh. “You’re acting like we’re a couple or something.” After a slight silence, Kerry looked up and saw her friend gazing at her, a knowing look on her face. They stared at each other for a long, tense moment before Kerry sighed and dropped her gaze, looking down at a pair of knotted hands between her knees.

Colleen got up and rolled over, crouching down next to her and putting a hand on her knee. “Kerry, if it makes you happy, it’s all right.”

“It’s not all right.” Kerry looked up. “She’s my boss, Colleen. It’s against company rules, and we could both get in a lot of trouble.” She couldn’t keep the tiny smile from stretching her lips. “We’re trying to keep it a secret. I think we’re doing a miserable job of it, though, if you guys came to that conclusion after just having dinner with us.”

“Well…”

“Before we’d even so much as kissed each other,” Kerry finished, resting her chin on one fist. “Am I wearing a sign or something?”

Colleen sat down on the floor and crossed her legs, careful not to boot her friend in the shins with the Rollerblades. “Listen, hon, let me ’splain something to you about something we call chemistry.” She put a fingertip on Kerry’s knee. “Do you know what I’m talking about?”

Kerry exhaled. “Not really, unless you’re referring to periodic tables or something bizarre like that.”

“Okay. Well, chemistry is when something clicks between two people.

You can see it on the TV screen sometimes, but not always because those are people who are playing characters, you know?”

Kerry’s brow creased. “Not exactly.”

Colleen thought. “Okay, have you ever seen a Richard Burton and Liz Taylor movie?”

“Um, sure, that Roman thing. Yeah, okay.” Kerry nodded. “They’re really good together, I thought. I really believed they were in love with each other.”

“Well, they were,” Colleen smiled at her, “in real life. And that showed when they were on the screen together, too. When they looked at each other, or just how they acted…you could tell.” She exhaled. “That’s chemistry. And a Tropical Storm 281

lot of times you’ll hear someone say ‘those two had chemistry’ when they’re talking about people on TV, or in the movies, or even just two people they see.” She paused. “You understand?”

“Not exactly,” Kerry admitted. “I mean, yes. I know what you mean about characters. I usually notice when people are supposed to be in love on the screen, and it’s obvious that they can’t stand each other in real life, so, yeah.”

Colleen rubbed her temples. “I was trying to put this gently, but I can see it’s a wasted effort.” She laughed softly. “Kerry, when you look at her, your whole face lights up.” She glanced up at the startled woman. “And when she looks at you, there’s an electricity that I can almost feel.” She searched Kerry’s face for a reaction. “You two have chemistry going, big time, and it doesn’t take a PhD to pick up on it.”

Kerry thought about that. “Oh.” She made a wry face. “I had no idea we…hmm.” She considered. “I didn’t realize we were that obvious.”

“Obviously.” Colleen patted her on the knee. “And it may not be so apparent to people who don’t know you that well, but remember, lassie, we’ve been friends for a few years now.”

“Mmm.” Kerry rested her chin on her fists again. “It makes me feel good to be with her; I guess it shows.”

The redhead laughed softly. “You could say that. But if you guys are trying to keep it quiet, you’d better not hang around each other at work a lot.”

“Well, we don’t,” Kerry mused. “I saw her all of once today.” She exhaled. “We’re both pretty busy. Maybe it was worse that night because we were kinda…um, I mean…we didn’t…” She stopped and gathered her thoughts. “Afterward we went out to Crandon and walked on the beach, and, um, we kinda…I guess we admitted that we were attracted to each other,” she finished awkwardly. “So now it’s not so, um…”

“Freaky,” Colleen supplied understandingly.

“Yeah, exactly. We both understand what’s going on, and it’s not so frustrating, so I’m sure it’s not as readily noticeable.”

Colleen grinned knowingly. “Did you guys kiss out there? On the beach?”

Kerry felt the blush heat her face, but she nodded. “Yeah,” she admitted shyly. “It was…it wasn’t what I was expecting.” She relived the moment. “We were just out there, talking about stuff—the Bermuda Triangle and dinner…and—I don’t know, it was like there was stuff going on underneath it all. I asked her if I could ask a personal question. I have no idea what I was going to ask but she kind of just stood up and kissed me, and said ‘does that answer the question?’ ” She grinned at Colleen’s rapt face. “And it did. It was…very strange, but really nice.”

“That’s really romantic, Ker.” Colleen sighed. “She seems like a really deep person.”

The blonde head nodded. “She is, yeah, she is. There’s all kinds of stuff going on in there. I think that’s what makes her so interesting.” She paused.

“At least to me.”

Colleen nodded a little. “ Did she stay over all night last night?” She asked delicately, or not so delicately.

Kerry remained silent for a moment. “Yes,” she finally admitted softly.


282 Melissa Good A small quiet descended. “You all right with that?” the redhead asked hesitantly. “I know…I mean, we talked about how you felt… Oh, you know what I mean.”

She knew. “I wasn’t…I mean, I didn’t really know what to expect, Col. I was a little nervous, I’ll tell you that, and freaked out, and a dozen other things, but, I…” She stopped to breathe. “It’s okay.”

Colleen’s brow creased in concern. “She’s not pushing you into any of this, is she? Kerry, listen, don’t feel like you’re being pressured to do something you’re not comfortable with.”

Kerry blushed a deep red, and scratched at her jaw. “Um, actually, I was the one who started it,” she muttered sheepishly as she gave Colleen a little shrug. “I’m all right with it, really.”

The redhead patted her arm. “Good for you.” She smiled. “So, when are you guys moving in together?”

Kerry’s jaw dropped. “What?” She burst out laughing. “Jesus Christ, Col, it’s not like that. It’s a physical thing. We’re just…it’s not that serious.” She paused thoughtfully. “Yet.”

“Uh…huh. Okay.” Colleen bit off a smile and gave her a nod. “When are you guys seeing each other again, then?”

“Tomorrow night. After the gym,” Kerry explained. “I told you I signed up for those classes. If I’m going to keep on hanging out with her, Rollerblading isn’t going to cut it.” She cocked her head. “You guys have a program for that gym, too. Why don’t you come along?” she inquired. “I signed up for that beginner self-defense class, it should be fun. I could use some moral support.”