“Mmm?”

“Let’s get your clothes taken care of. ’Cause you certainly can’t borrow mine.”

Obligingly, Dar rolled up off the bed and pulled Kerry up with her.

The smaller woman immediately unbuckled her belt, then slid fingers under Dar’s waistband and unbuttoned them.

Dar reciprocated by tugging Kerry’s shirt free and unfastening it, unable to prevent her hands from slipping beneath the fabric and starting a teasing exploration of the familiar body pressed lightly against hers.

The cool air of the room hit her shoulders as Kerry pulled her shirt off and she reluctantly relinquished first one hand, then the other to remove it entirely, managing to do the same for her without totally tangling them both up in fabric.

“Sometimes,” Kerry breathed against her skin, as she nibbled a path up her breastbone and reached around to unhook her bra, “it’s very nice being shorter than you.”

“Oh really?” Dar purred, working on her lover’s jeans, then running light fingers over her back as Kerry kicked her pants free. “Mmm. Red hearts, huh?” she teased gently, pulling at the waistband of Kerry’s underwear.

“Look who’s taking.” Kerry moved down and kissed her navel, then bit at the sedate, white briefs covered with a plethora of Dogberts.

“Nerd.”

Dar slid her arms around Kerry and picked her up, then fell sideways onto the bed, rolled over and settled her lover’s bare body on top of her, welcoming the explosion in her senses as Kerry’s touch claimed her.

Guess I’m wearing wet clothes tomorrow, she remembered thinking, just before a low, breathy growl in her ear made tomorrow, and clothing, and everything else...

Irrelevant.


34 Melissa Good WAKING UP NAKED in bed with Dar Roberts was about the nicest thing Kerry could readily conceive of, she decided, having done just that.

She stretched a little under the soft quilt and snuggled closer, feeling really rested for the first time in two weeks.

They had managed to get Dar’s clothes washed and hung up in the bathroom, but it had been pretty late before that happened, and she wondered if the darn things would even be half dry by now.

The sun peeked in and Kerry peeked back, then put her head down on Dar’s shoulder, using her lover’s body to block out the intrusive rays.

A soft chime made her look up again to see her mail icon blinking.

She made a face at it. Dar had done a very quick review of her initial findings last night and, with a grim look and a shake of her head, immediately sent the files off to Duk’s auditors.

Not good.

Though, watching Dar browse Allison’s data files in the nude certainly had lent a piquant note to the proceedings. Or maybe surreal was the word she was looking for. At any rate, her instincts had been confirmed by her lover’s experience and now that bleeping blinking icon was probably Duks having a multiple coronary over the prelims.

But she didn’t want to check it. She didn’t want to move one inch from where she was, or tear her ear away from the soothing sound of Dar’s heartbeat, slow and steady under her.

Dear Lord, I’ve missed this. She hadn’t really acknowledged just how much until now, after becoming used to it for the several months of their intimate relationship. She wondered if Dar felt the same way.

The laptop chimed again, this time causing Dar to stir, and Kerry looked up to see her lover open one clear blue eye to stare at the PC in irritation. “Probably from our notes.”

“Grumph.” Dar sighed, then rolled over and wrapped Kerry up in her arms. “To hell with them. I want a longer night.”

Mmm. Guess she did feel the same way. Kerry smiled. “Me too.”

The phone rang, and they both groaned, then Kerry reached over and pulled it from the cradle. “Hello?”

“Morning, Kerry.”

“Hey, Mark.” Kerry stifled a yawn. “What’re you doing up this early?”

“The usual. Can I talk to the boss, please?”

Kerry snorted. “Excuse me? You call me at my hotel room in Vermont, when Dar is supposed to be in Houston, and you expect her to be here?”

“Yup.”

She covered the receiver. “How does he do that?”

Dar just held out a hand. “Don’t ask. You’ll be a happier person for it.” She took the phone and cradled it between her ear and shoulder.

“Yeah?”

“Good morning, Boss.”

Dar considered that. “Yeah, it is. Thanks.” She gave Kerry a squeeze Eye of the Storm 35

and smiled.

There was a momentary silence, then Mark cleared his throat. “Ah, right. Anyway. Listen, those circuit diagrams of yours finally came in over the CAD server.”

“Mmm, ’bout time.”

“Yeah, and the Cisco rep is busting my ass to try and convince you to upgrade the regional hubs to 7000’s.”

“Now?”

“Uh huh. He’s one of those granola and sunshine nerds. Gets up at dawn and goes to commune with the squirrels or something.”

“Good for him.” Dar rested her forearm over her eyes. “All right.

Have the print shop mount those diagrams on foam and get them up in my office…and tell Mr. Granola I’ll think about it.”

“Cool.” The sound of a keyboard came through the phone. “Oh yeah.

María’s looking for you.”

“Put me through.” Dar made a face and covered the mouthpiece. “I forgot to tell her I wasn’t going to be in today.” She waited through a moment of the company’s incredibly annoying hold music, then heard María’s voice. “Morning, María.”

“Ay. Dar. Where are you?” The secretary sounded worried.

“Vermont.”

“Ah, good.” María came right back. “This is good. Very good. Is Kerrisita there?”

Dar eyed the disheveled blonde head resting on her stomach. “Yes, in fact, she is.” Kerry looked up in question. “What’s up?”

“Is a policeman here. He has some papers. He says she must sign for them,” María responded.

“Police?” Blue and green eyes met. “A regular policeman?”

“No, no. In the plain clothing.”

Dar muffled the receiver. “You’re being served papers.”

“Shit.” Kerry mouthed, tightening her lips. “Only one thing that could be.”

“María, is he a federal policeman?”

“Sí.”

“Ah. Okay. It’s all right. Have Penny notarize your signature on them and take ’em from him.” Dar sighed.

“Is not trouble?” María’s voice lowered. “I could tell him she went to Cuba. He will not be back then.”

Dar chuckled wanly. “No. It’s…more complicated than that, María.

Kerry’s not in trouble, but they need to ask her some questions. She’s got to testify. That kind of thing.”

“Ay. Is for her familia?”

“Yes.”

“I will take them, Dar. You will be gone all day, no?” María now sounded briskly businesslike. “I have canceled your two meetings and Mr. Draefus is pacing in little circles here waiting to talk to you.”

Kerry felt a weight settle on her, as she considered the newest devel-36 Melissa Good opments. Not that she hadn’t been expecting the summons. She had. But she’d hoped the matter would take the usual government forever.

Guess not. She wondered briefly what the investigators would get into, remembering the last few she’d seen on CNN. Fortunately she’d been on her own for the last several years, without her father’s support.

That, at least, they couldn’t dispute.

College. Well, they’d all gone, though she’d taken at least a three quarter scholastic scholarship the whole four years. Michael, though…

Kerry winced. Angie had, at least, been only the Bachelors degree.

Well, she could honestly go in there and say she’d never had any idea her father was involved in the illegal acts—legally she was in the clear, and she actually couldn’t give any evidence against him, as a matter of fact.

Should be a short ordeal.

Might even be a little...satisfying?...to see her father squirm.

“Okay, Dukky. Lemme know what they find. I figure they won’t get anything before I’ve got to get out of here tonight.” Dar sighed. “We’ll keep them in a holding pattern. But tell Mari to push on those security checks.” She paused. “Right.” She pause again and looked down. “I’ll tell her. Thanks. Bye.”

Dar hung up the phone and exhaled. “Ho boy.”

Kerry traced a bare rib. “Had to come sooner or later,” she remarked.

“I can’t tell them much. It won’t take long. Did María say when it was for?”

“Three weeks from now,” Dar replied. “Duks pulled the auditing team off T and T and reassigned them to us. He says it’s gonna take time to figure everything out, though.” She considered. “And, it may be that some of those numbers just cross check strangely. Though I doubt it.” She tapped her nose. “Something stinks.”

Both blonde brows shot up. “I should be insulted.”

“Not here.” Dar slid her hands under Kerry’s arms and pulled her up until they were chin to chin. “Do you have a local lawyer to go up there with you?”

“No. Do I need one? I’m not being investigated, Dar.”

“Tch. Someone as politically savvy as you saying that, Ker? You know how out of hand those things get.”

“Mmm.” She sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Dar rubbed noses with her. “Okay. I guess a shower is in order. And let’s see how we can play your friends at Allison.” She tilted her head. “I could just go in there and kick them around a little.”

Kerry thought about that, then smiled. “Nah. I’ve got a better idea.”

KERRY DUSTED THE sleeve on her silk shirt off and twitched her gray linen jacket straight before she entered the conference room, aware of the tall, silent figure that followed her. She motioned to a chair then proceeded across the room and circled it, giving the other occupants a Eye of the Storm 37

brief smile as she did so. “Good morning.”

Eyes had flicked to the casually dressed woman sprawled in the chair near the door, but now they focused back on her. The attitude was wary, but lacked the nervousness of the day before, and even held a hint of complacence.

“All right. Thank you for getting me those reports. I’ve reviewed them and referred the findings to our main office. Our personnel department is processing the security checks, so things are in a holding pattern until those two items are completed.”

Kerry paused. “However, since the interconnectivity takes a while, we’re going to get started with that. We borrowed one of our local field technicians and asked her to come in to give your IS people a hand in the network migration. I’d like to get that started as soon as possible.” She stared pensively down at her briefcase, trying to ignore the mischievous face Dar was making at her. “I’m sure…um…Bunny here will get you up and rolling in short order.”

Paybacks. Kerry peeked up at her lover, who was giving her one of those “I’m gonna get you later” looks. She returned it with a charming smile. “Right, Bun?”

“Aaabsolutely,” Dar drawled, adding a hint of the South to her voice.

Sam swiveled in his chair, then tapped his teeth with a pencil. “Sue, can you get someone up here to show our guest the server farm? I’m sure she wants to get started.” He looked pleased. “In the meantime, I thought maybe you’d like to sit in on a client briefing, Ms. Stuart. Since you’re here, and all. Perhaps you’d like to see our methods firsthand.”

Kerry let him wait for a few seconds, while she considered the request. “All right. I’d like that.”

They all stood, and Sue brushed herself off, then walked over to Dar.

“Come with me, please?” Her voice was pleasant, but held a note of con-descension.

“Sure.” Dar unfolded her length from the bucket shaped chair and stood, towering over the smaller woman. She was dressed in her jeans and short sleeved shirt, the rolled sleeves exposing her toned arms, and had pulled her dark hair back into a tail at the base of her neck. “Lead on.” Her eyes flicked to Kerry’s face, then followed Sue out, pulling the door shut behind her.

“Funny,” Sam drawled. “I thought you people liked to present a much sharper image.”

Kerry bit the inside of her lip to keep the retort from emerging, then cleared her throat. “Well, it’s Bunny’s day off. She’s doing us a favor.”

The accountant shook his head. “I hope she knows what she’s doing.

We can’t afford down time today.”

“Oh,” Kerry scratched her nose, “don’t worry. She does.”


Chapter