“Wow,” she murmured. “Yeah, that’s pretty. I’d love to go look at it for a while.” Her eyes shifted to Dar’s waiting profile. “A walk sounds great, especially after that dessert.”

“All right, then, let’s go.” Dar put the Lexus into gear and pulled forward through the parking row, turning left out of the lot while the rest of their group went to the right. “I like that place. Food’s pretty good.”

“Once I figured out how to use the can opener, yeah.” Kerry leaned back.

“Key lime pie, what an odd combination of sweet and sour that is.”

Dar chuckled. “Some people say it’s just a reflection of what South Florida is—a lot of sour with a little sweet on top just to fool you.”

Kerry thought about that. “I don’t know. It was kind of refreshing. I think I liked it,” she decided, watching the softly blowing palm fronds go by as Dar drove over the last causeway and pulled into a familiar parking lot. “This is ironic,” she commented as they got out and let the cool sea breeze hit them.

“This is where I went that night.”

Dar leaned on the hood of the car, watching her. “The night we ended up at my office?”

Kerry leaned on the other side. “The night you saved my life,” she replied, quietly serious, “and then changed it.”

Dar wasn’t really sure what to say to that. She straightened up and Tropical Storm 229

walked around to the front of the car, sliding her hands into the pockets of her jeans. “That was quite a night, huh?” she eventually muttered as they walked together through the lot and towards the soft roar of the sea.

“Sure was.”

The boardwalk was relatively quiet and echoed their footsteps as they left the lights of the parking lot behind and approached the softly sighing shoreline. The moon tracked along with them, lighting a rippling pathway across the water, leading up onto the beach. Kerry felt the onshore wind brush back her hair, and she welcomed the full moon’s reflection across the endless length of the water before them. Far out on the horizon, a buoy winked as it bobbed back and forth, and faintly, on the wind, Kerry could hear music coming from the hotels down the shore south of them.

It‘s pretty, she thought as they paused and perched on the railing of the boardwalk, listening to the waves. The moonlight reflected off Dar’s hair, and made her pale eyes colorless, but Kerry had no trouble conjuring up what they looked like as she glanced up into Dar’s quiet face.

She could feel the slow beat of her heart, the rhythm picking up as Dar’s gaze left the horizon and tracked to hers, and the lips curved into a smile.

Dar’s voice broke the stillness in a quiet rumble.

“Nice night.”

“Mmm. It is, yes,” Kerry reveled in the currents she could feel running between them. “Thanks for taking them up on the invite. That worked out better than I thought it would.”

Dar slid off the railing and leaned back against it, so that their heads were almost on a level. “Wasn’t bad.” She grinned. “I got them with the Bermuda Triangle thing.” She studied Kerry’s profile, outlined in the moonlight.

Kerry smiled back. “You sure did. Is that true?”

“Oh yeah,” Dar assured her, turning around and pointing. “You’re standing in it right now, in fact.”

The turn had put her shoulder right up against Kerry’s thigh, and it was too much for Kerry not to let her hand drop to rest against the smooth back, feeling the warmth through the cotton of Dar’s shirt. Dar didn’t move. She just continued to look out over the water, but Kerry could see the muscles in her jaw clench a little, then her throat worked as she swallowed. The blonde woman’s fingers stirred of their own accord, tracing a gentle pattern casually.

The dark head turned very slowly, until those blue eyes were looking right at her. Looking right through her, and she felt it in her guts as her knees started to shake a little. “Dar?”

“Mmm?”

A faint, playful smile was starting, plucking chords in her deeper than anything in her life ever had. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

Kerry knew it was her voice, but she had no idea where the words were coming from, and she felt her heart start to pound. A shifting of muscle, a sliding of shadows and light as Dar straightened up, moving closer until Kerry could feel the warmth of her, then a gentle touch on her face brought her eyes up as the taller woman tilted her chin and studied her intently. Kerry felt soft cotton under her hands as she slid them up against Dar’s body, wanting the contact as Dar ducked her head gracefully and she felt lips brush 230 Melissa Good hers. Light as a feather, then again, as solid contact, lingering and powerful, lasting long enough for her soul to recognize something in her very deep.

Then Dar was pulling back, and she had to focus on those eyes again.

“Does that answer your question?” Dar asked, very softly, her breath warming Kerry’s face.

Breathing had never seemed so difficult before, but Kerry somehow managed to pull enough air into her lungs to speak an audible “Yes.” She opened her mouth to say more, but found a finger against her lips.

“Slow.” Dar breathed. “Easy, I wasn’t really expecting this, and I don’t think you were either.”

Kerry felt like she was drowning. Every inch of her skin was tingling and she leaned against Dar’s touch, almost deaf from the thunder of her own heartbeat. She felt like laughing and crying, all at once, and she knew Dar was right—this was way too powerful. They both needed time to think and react.

But her body was craving something she knew she wasn’t capable of denying it any longer. “C-ca…can I…” she stammered softly, moving closer, her hands moving slowly and timidly against the cotton of Dar’s shirt. The taller woman’s arms closed around her, and as their bodies made contact, a warm, familiar wave flowed over her.

Kerry let herself settle into place, tucking her head down against Dar’s shoulder, and burying her face into the taller woman’s shirt, as she felt Dar’s chin rest on the top of her head. It was an explosion of feeling…a deep, aching familiarity that brought tears to her eyes so quickly she couldn’t stop them.

“Oh god,” She gasped softly, feeling Dar’s breathing catch under her ear . It’s been so long.

Dar had no idea what to do with the barrage of emotion hammering her from every side. She’d had no intention of taking this to where she had, no intention of shattering these particular barriers and crossing that line they’d both been balancing on for the past few days. But once Kerry had touched her, as soon as she’d felt that familiar weight against her back she knew her future had slipped out of her grasp. And now…

It was her dream realized. She could feel it—the same warmth, the same feeling the sunlight had shaken her out of the previous morning. Nothing else mattered. She was lost. Or maybe she was found.

She tightened her hold and tipped her head back, regarding the stars.

Letting the moon’s silver light baptize them as the other half of her soul came sliding home. At last.

DAR HAD NO idea how long they stood there. It was a long time, though, long enough for the tears to dry on Kerry’s face, and long enough for their bodies to become used to each other’s touch. Dar felt a sense of quiet peace, and she suspected if she stood here long enough, she’d simply fall asleep in it, standing up and everything.

She thought about what to do next, her hand making idle, gentle circles on Kerry’s back, enjoying the feel of her smooth skin under the fabric. Finally, reluctantly, she exhaled and shifted a little, causing Kerry to open her eyes and look up, with an expression of such perfect trust it was almost Tropical Storm 231

frightening. They looked at each other for a moment, then Dar smiled. “That wasn’t planned.”

The blonde smiled back. “No, it certainly wasn’t.”

“Are you all right?”

Kerry considered the question on several levels. “Yes. Are you?”

Dar had to really think about that. “I…yes, I think so,” she murmured in wonder. “I don’t usually, um…” She found her fingertips tracing the planes of Kerry’s face. “B-but…” She took her hand away and exhaled. “I don’t know what came over me.”

Seeing Dar so at a loss was very cute and impossibly endearing. “I don’t know either, but can we bottle it?” Kerry smiled impishly. She captured Dar’s hand and felt the fingers curl around hers. “You want to sit down a minute?

There’s a bench near here.”

Dar felt a certain weakness in her knees, and realized it was probably a good idea. “Sure. Yeah.” She let herself be led over to the bench in question, and they sat down on it, side by side. “Okay, um…” She laughed a bit, rubbing her face with one hand. “I guess we know we, um…” Words failed her again. “Good god, I have no idea what in the hell is wrong with me.”

Kerry leaned her head against the cotton-covered shoulder. “I’m pretty sure this isn’t covered in the employee handbook.” She patted Dar’s back, and just left her hand there. “Or maybe it is, and I just haven’t gotten to that section yet. That thing is huge,” she rambled on a little, hoping it would get Dar to relax. She paused as a thought occurred to her. The part of the handbook she had read had covered employee relations, and what was allowed between employees and their bosses was spelled out very clearly. Or, more to the point, what wasn’t allowed. “Guess this means I’ve got to start checking ETIPS, huh?”

“Um…” Dar wrestled with her composure. “Well, technically, yeah, I guess. But, um, hold it.” She took a deep breath, then released it. “Let’s just…I finally found a decent assistant. I’m not ready to let you go just yet. Let’s see if we can keep work, and this…separate.”

“Mmm.” Kerry felt her hand start a gentle circling motion against Dar’s back. She had no desire to change jobs. Maybe they could just see how things worked out. Slow, Dar said. Take things slow. “Okay,” she agreed softly. “I kinda like the boss I have.”

A moment of silence, of waves, of winds stirring the palm leaves. “Your boss kinda likes you too,” Dar responded softly. “I didn’t expect it to come out like this.” She hesitated. “I just couldn’t keep it back any more.”

Kerry let out a relieved sigh. “It was getting pretty hard for me, too,” she admitted shyly. “I thought it was the most ridiculous thing in the world. I mean—having a crush on your boss; how cliché can you possibly get, right?”

A wry smile answered her, and Dar’s dark brows lifted. “So it wasn’t the promotion you were after, huh?”

Kerry blushed. “I had no idea what that job was, and I could have cared less,” she admitted honestly. “Just something about… Oh boy. I couldn’t stop thinking about you.”

Dar looked down at the wood of the boardwalk. “Likewise.” She looked back up, and their eyes met. “Thought I was just being, mmm…” She paused 232 Melissa Good and sighed. “Didn’t think you were my type.”

Kerry covered her face with one hand and chuckled almost soundlessly.

Dar exhaled, unable to prevent a giddy smile from shaping her lips. “Okay.

Well, now that we’ve got that straight, we can proceed accordingly.” She considered. “Let’s see, we’ve already been trapped in a hurricane, gone through a carjacking, and slept in the same bed together. I guess we can skip the obligatory ‘meet in the coffee shop’ date, huh?”

Kerry giggled. “Uh, yeah.” She rubbed her nose. “Let me try this one. Can I interest you in dinner and a movie tomorrow night?” She glanced down, then up again. “I’ll cook.”

“As long as it’s not Titanic,” Dar agreed with a smile. “Or anything with subtitles.”

“Ew.” Kerry winced. “I’m more a Starship Troopers kind of person myself,” she confessed, a little guiltily.

“Phew.” Dar mock wiped her brow. “That’s a relief.”

They looked at each other quietly. “It felt really good when you hugged me,” Kerry finally said softly. “I’ve never felt like that before, except maybe in my dreams.”

Dar gazed at her soberly. “Neither have I.” Hesitantly, she circled Kerry’s shoulders with her arm, and felt the smaller woman immediately ease against her. “I like that.” She leaned against the bench’s back and almost stopped breathing as Kerry laid an arm across her stomach and nestled her head against Dar’s shoulder. They watched the waves in peace for a while, until Dar noticed Kerry was struggling to keep her eyes open. “Hey, c’mon. Time to get you home.”

I am home, a tiny voice insisted as Kerry forced herself to sit up straight, very reluctantly leaving Dar’s warmth. “Yeah, falling asleep on the beach sounds nice in stories, but they forget to mention all the sand that gets everywhere,” she joked as she pushed herself to her feet and held a hand out to the still-seated Dar.