Melissa Good - Tropical Storm

Apparently satisfied with the apology, the CEO changed the subject, “Did you get my present?”

Dar glanced around at her desk and spotted a small comail envelope. She pulled it over and opened it, peering inside. “It’s a lovely thought, Alastair, but you know I don’t have time to go on a damn cruise.” She sighed. “I hardly have time to go swimming in my own damn backyard at night.”

“Dar, I’m ordering it,” the CEO objected.

She frowned, fingering the tickets. “Tell you what, I’ll trade it in for a long weekend down in the Keys.” She paused. “For two.” A quirky grin tugged her face. “How about it?”

“For two?” Alastair’s voice oozed with curiosity. “Dar, I didn’t know you were seeing anyone.”

A soft chuckle. “Did I say that, Alastair? I just said I wanted a weekend for two. Maybe I just want some company.”

“Ho ho ho…. Wonder who you’ll take.” Alastair chortled. “All right, you’re on. I’ll tell Beatrice. You just let her know what you want.” A muffled voice could be heard in the background. “Whoops, gotta go, Dar. Talk to you later.”

Dar regarded her desktop and smiled, turning the tickets over in her hands, then glanced up as the inner door opened, and Kerry peeked in.

She didn’t deny the jolt of emotion this time, she just accepted it, watching as Kerry pushed the door open and walked across the carpet, enjoying the blonde woman’s intriguing walk. “Hi.”

Kerry knelt down at her side and balanced with a hand on her knee. “Hi.”

Her voice was slightly husky. “Was that surprise from you?”

No excuses. No explanations. Dar nodded. “Uh huh.”

A delicate blush colored Kerry’s face. “I’ve never gotten anything like that before. It’s amazing.” She exhaled. “Thank you so much.”

Dar gazed at her, reaching out and moving a bit of blonde hair out of her face. “You’ve never gotten flowers, Kerry? I find that very hard to believe.”

A hesitant shake of her head. “No, it…” She paused to collect herself.

“No, I never did.” Aware of their intimate position, her eyes flicked across to the door. “I was kind of concerned. You didn’t think the appointment would take very long. Maria was worried, too.”

“Ah.” Dar gracefully accepted the change of subject. “I had a few things to take care of, and I left the pager and the cell phone in the car. I should have called in.” She cleared her throat. “Hell, I should have put the damn phone on.

I hear we had a screwup.”

Kerry made a face. “Let’s say you were really conspicuous by your absence,” she demurred. “It wasn’t too bad. They knew what do to but they were too chicken to do it without your say-so.”

Dar snorted. “I didn’t even realize my damn phone was off. Alastair was trying to call me.” She pushed the phone across the desk. “I just had other things on my mind.” She leaned back and let her head rest against the leather.

“Everything was fine at the doc’s.”

302 Melissa Good

“Great.” Kerry smiled. “What was on your mind, then?”

“You.”

They looked at each other in silence. Kerry glanced out the window after a long moment, her cheeks coloring. “Ah. Well. Likewise.” She looked shyly back at Dar. “Wish I’d gotten you a rose. All I have to offer is a kiss.” She held up a wrapped item.

She looked up at the blonde woman, one hand idly resting on Kerry’s leg.

Dar smiled. “You had lunch?”

Kerry shook her head. “No, I’ve been too busy listening to everyone complain about that stupid server and ask tactless questions about where you were.”

“C’mon.” Dar stood and offered her hand up. “I hear a cheeseburger calling my name.” She hauled Kerry up and unexpectedly gave her a brief hug. “Let’s go.”

THE GYM WAS a typical one, smelling of chlorine from the pool, oil from the several groups of weightlifting machines, and the overwhelming scent of macho that seemed to settle over everything like a coating of grease.

Dar finished a round of the Nautilus machines, wiping the sweat off her face and ignoring the sidewise stares from fellow employees who seemed to be caught between amazement and disbelief at her presence. Her mind wasn’t really into it, she acknowledged, so she kept it fairly light and easy, letting her thoughts wander as she went through the various motions. It had taken her a few hours, that morning, of wandering down the beach and letting the wavelets wash against her bare feet, before she settled down and tried to figure out what to do.

First and foremost, she had to figure out how Kerry felt about her.

Coming out and professing a love for the blonde woman if she didn’t share it would be embarrassing at best, and irreparably destructive at worst. So how to do that? Dar had decided on a subtle campaign of attentions, of which the rose had been a part, to see if she could get an indication of what was going on behind those green eyes. She knew Kerry liked her, but more than that?

Dar sighed, resting her chin on the crossbar of the pull-down machine she was using. She felt a little nervous and a little uncertain, but twice now, twice, when the blonde woman didn’t think she was looking, she’d caught Kerry watching her with a gentle, emotional look that made her hopes emerge timidly, wondering if this time…

If she were honest with herself, she would admit that it was mostly fear that made her cautious, fear of exposing her most sensitive vulnerabilities to someone she’d known for less than a month. Sad prudence dictated caution, demanded she wait to see if Kerry’s obvious affection for her was something more or merely the superficial involvement of her tentatively emerging sexuality.

But…she’d liked the rose. Even Dar realized that.

The self-defense class was meeting in the large open area just in front of the circuit machines, a group of a dozen or so people—ranging from two young boys to an older woman with a grizzled, pugnacious jaw. The instructor was a large bearded man, self-importantly hitching up his black-belted gi and proclaiming to his audience in tones that were grating on Dar’s nerves.

Kerry was seated near one end of the semi-circle, her elbows resting on her crossed legs, her head cocked in intent attention. Dar could see the faint 304 Melissa Good tension at her brow as she listened, and she suspected the blonde woman was finding some problem with whatever it was she was being told.

“Well, well. What have we got here?”

Dar almost jumped at the loud, pseudo-friendly voice. She turned her head and gazed at José.

“Nice headband,” she commented dryly, noting the South Park characters on it. “Funny, but I always think of Cartman when I see you.”

José stared at her, then touched his head. “Mierda. My kids got me this. I don’t watch that crap.”

That struck Dar as funny, and she lifted a hand, rubbing her jaw to disguise a grin. “They’ve got good taste,” she replied, eyeing his outfit. They must be adopted, her mind continued . José was dressed in tight purple bike shorts and a lurid, orange T-shirt that clashed so badly it made Dar’s eyes hurt to look at it.

“I’ll tell them that. So what are you doing here?” José asked pointedly.

“Don’t tell me they don’t got a gym on that fantasy island of yours.”

Dar lifted a hand and indicated the machine. “I’m doing what everyone else is doing here, José. It’s closer to the office, it’s got a much better range of facilities, and it’s got a climbing wall.” She shrugged him off. “Why the hell do you care?”

“I don’t. It’s just strange as hell to see you out here. I’ve been coming to this place for a year now, and all of a sudden, you decide you like it?” he said,

“You’ve been acting loco this past week. You taking drugs?”

“Only antacids.” Dar gave him a brief smile. “José, get out of my face.

We’re not in the office, and I don’t have to be polite to your ugly puss.” She stood, making the most of the fact that she topped him by at least two inches.

“Let me give you a hint…try running something other than your mouth. It might help.” She stalked off, leaving him spluttering by the pull-down machine, and escaped into the free weight area where she knew he wouldn’t follow.

This was the area for the serious dudes. Dar let her eyes flick to the earnest, sweating faces, eyes intent on the mirror, watching themselves as they pumped and flexed. Some paused and gave her a disdainful look, then went back to their loving self-absorption.

Feeling a mischievous streak rising, she claimed one of the press benches, and settled a bar on it, checking the locking collars carefully. Then she laid down and placed her hands precisely, focusing on the weight and preparing her body for the strain. One deep breath. A second. She wrapped her fingers around the rough metal of the bar and set her feet down squarely, pressing down to make sure her back was properly supported. Then she took a final breath and shoved upward, taking the bar off its supports and extending her arms, letting the muscles get used to the shock of effort.

Slowly the bar lowered, to brush her chest, then went back up, her shoulders flexing as she concentrated. At the periphery of her attention, she was aware of a little silence around her and she grinned before she repeated the action ten times, then set the bar down in place. A pleasant ache filled her upper body, and she relaxed, peeking at her neighbors.

Lots of wide, round, furtive eyes found other things to look at and the Tropical Storm 305

pumping rapidly resumed. Dar grinned impishly at the ceiling, then rubbed her hands together and went for another set. It was more weight than she usually used, that was for sure, but she wasn’t above showing off now and again when the mood struck her. The legacy of years and years of sports and martial arts had left her with a sturdily functional body, and it felt good to show that off a little sometimes.

Besides, Dar peeked again, Kerry is watching. Blue eyes twinkled at the tiles above.

AFTER AN HOUR of lecture from the instructor on movements and the preparation of the body, they were on break. Kerry had absorbed the lesson and didn’t feel like she needed it repeated six times, but she was willing to hold her tongue, since this was, after all, the first lesson. She leaned against a pile of mats, sipping on a cup of water as she let her eyes roam around, finding Dar with little difficulty.

Dar had staked out a spot in the weight section and was doing chest presses. Kerry found herself glued to the sight, wondering how in the world she could consider sweating sexy. She turned her head as Colleen joined her, the redhead immediately finding what she was looking at.

“Mmm, mmm, mmm.” Colleen clucked softly. “Aren’t we just the butch.”

“Col.” Kerry rolled her eyes.

“C’mon, Ker. In a minute, she’ll be giving the Small Soldiers over there pointers. You see tha… Ooo, look, he dropped his dumbbell on his foot.”

Kerry laughed. “Oh, that’s not funny.” She watched the overly muscular man hop around, then overbalance and go crashing to the floor. She half expected him to bounce, he had such a rubbery, bulging figure.

Hearing the commotion, Dar had hitched herself up on her elbows and was just sitting there, watching in amusement.

“We’re going to…pump. You. Up,” Colleen whispered. “God, have you ever seen anything so self-absorbed?”

“Hmm?” Kerry tore her eyes from Dar’s relaxed body, which was intriguing her with its gentle ripple of muscle just barely visible under the skin, so different than her burly neighbors. “Sorry, what did you say?”

The redhead rolled her eyes. “Talk about absorbed…”

“Sorry.” Kerry blushed. “Um, looks like he’s ready to start again.” She tugged Colleen back over to where the instructor was gathering them, and forced her attention to the man.

It isn’t hard, she decided. He’d started them with simple, repetitive motions, which at first felt awkward, but after a few repetitions, seemed to come more naturally to her. She found her balance and worked through the movements, more successfully than the rounder Colleen and a good deal more so than one of the two boys.

He’s growing fast, she realized, and is completely uncoordinated because of it.

He tried, but he just couldn’t get the motions, his arms and oversized feet getting into his way and frustrating him. Kerry moved over and made gentle suggestions, receiving a pathetically grateful look in response.