Dar nodded, leaning back in her seat in quiet relief. The draining of the adrenaline that had raced through her body left her almost sleepy, and she didn’t feel like moving, not even when the ferry docked and she had to maneuver the Lexus onto its lightly shifting deck. She kept her eyes half-closed and rubbed Kerry’s fingers with her thumb as they rode over to the island. Then she turned and gazed at Kerry’s profile. “You sure a Hummer’s out of the question?”
“Dar.”
“They come in nice colors.”
“Blue, gray, and green.” Kerry regarded her amusedly. “And black.
I’d like something a little lighter.”
“Hmph.” Dar leaned her knee against the steering wheel. “The tank comes in desert camo. That’s light.”
“Dar,” Kerry started laughing, “would you just cut that out? I’m not getting a tank.”
They were both quiet for a few minutes.
“Can you imagine the gas mileage those things get?” Kerry finally spoke up. “It’d cost a fortune.”
“No problem. I’ll give you a raise to cover it,” Dar responded instantly. They looked at each other, then they both burst out laughing in relief. “Think of the impression you’d give, pulling up to a consolidation in that,” Dar got out.
Kerry just kept laughing.
Chapter
Six
THUNDER ROLLED SULLENLY in over the ocean, lightning flashes outlining the whitecaps that scurried up the beach and ruffled the water’s dark surface.
Most of the island was still dark, the condos squatting on the edge of the land silent and brooding, their windows blank and featureless in the predawn hours.
From one outward facing window, however, a faint light poured.
Anyone insane enough to be walking out along the beach in the storm would have seen a profile outlined in it as someone stood inside the dry, safe building watching the surge of the waves.
“Wow.” Kerry leaned against the counter, feeling the cool surface through the thin cotton of her T-shirt. “Glad I’m not out there.” She turned her head as the toaster released four slices of fragrant cinnamon raisin toast. “Ah.” A moment later the toast was resting on plates and she was spreading softened butter over it. They were so used to waking up early that even today, when their usual morning run was out of the question, they both were up and rambling around the condo.
Dar was in her study catching up on mail, and Kerry set the plates of toast and scrambled eggs, along with two glasses of orange juice and coffee, onto a tray before heading in that direction. For a moment she paused in the doorway to watch her lover, hard at work behind her desk, before she continued on and set the tray down on the small table nearby. “Anything catastrophic?”
“Hmm?” Dar looked up, her face outlined in luridly ghostly phosphor light. “I got a compliment on you from Intratech. Whatever you did with BellSouth yesterday got them back up and running.”
“Really?” Kerry looked pleased. She set the plate of toast and eggs down, then handed Dar her orange juice. “Bottoms up.”
Dar took the glass and leaned back, hitching her knee up to rest against the desk’s edge as she sipped at the brightly colored beverage.
“Nasty out there, eh?”
Kerry took a seat on the couch and tucked her legs up under her, leaning on the broad padded arm as she selected a slice of toast and nibbled on it. “Very. I hope it calms down before we have to get out of here.”
98 Melissa Good Dar looked thoughtfully at the window as a lightning strike hit somewhere close, causing a wicked cracking sound. She picked up the phone on her desk and dialed a number, listening for several seconds before it was answered. “Morning, John. This is Dar Roberts. How’s it looking?” She cocked her head as the lightly accented voice answered, then grunted. “That’s what I thought. Thanks.” She hung up and eyed Kerry. “Ferry’s not operating.”
“Oh, gosh. You mean we’re stuck here?” Kerry asked ingenuously.
“I’m devastated.”
Dar smiled. “I can see that. I’m not sure the company would feel the same way, though.” She gazed at her inbox. “I can just imagine what yours looks like if I’ve got three pages.”
“Eek.” Kerry got up and circled the desk to peer at Dar’s screen.
“Well, some of those are from yesterday, Dar. I cleared my box before I left work last night.” She scanned the headers. “Some of them are duplicates of mine, too, I can tell you what h— Dar?” Teeth were nibbling on her hip, and she glanced down to see mischievous blue eyes peeking up at her. “Do you give a poo about the mail?”
“No,” Dar responded cheerfully. “I just wanted you to come over here,” she chuckled. “It’s not like either of us can do anything about the weather, Ker.”
Kerry leaned over and kissed Dar’s head. “That’s true. I’ll call Ops, though. We might have staffing issues if people can’t get to work, and I think I just heard they’ve got power outages in the southwest.” She felt Dar’s arm circle her leg. “Hey, after that, maybe we can go car shopping.”
One of Dar’s arms moved, and her hand curled around her mouse, clicking on a closed window and opening it. “Funny you should say that.” The new window revealed the Lexus website, snazzy and sleek looking with various models of the automaker’s wares appearing and disappearing. “Look what I found.”
“Ooh.” Kerry nudged her. “Move back so I can sit down.”
Obligingly, Dar scooted back in the huge leather chair and gave Kerry room to perch on the edge of it, wrapping herself around her lover’s body and peering over her shoulder as she took possession of the mouse. “It’s pretty cool. You can choose your model, pick a color, tell it what you want inside, and send an order to the nearest dealership.” She paused. “And get it delivered.”
A grin split Kerry’s face as she pointed and clicked. “Now this is my idea of car shopping.” She nodded in approval. “There we are...the little SUV.”
“It’s cute,” Dar commented. “Like you.”
Kerry paused, and glanced over her shoulder so they were nose to nose. “Thank you. I’m glad we’re not mentioning the Hummer this morning.”
Dar’s nose twitched, and then wrinkled up into a grin. “They don’t Red Sky At Morning 99
have as neat a website.”
Kerry bit her playfully, then returned her attention to the screen.
“Let’s see...pick a color first. Hmm.” She scrolled through the possibilities. “Crimson, green, blue, black, white, silver, or gold. What do you think, Dar? The black is kinda snazzy.”
“Not in Florida. I’m not into poached partner,” Dar remarked. “Go light.”
“Okay.” Kerry clicked. “How about white?”
“Not living out here. You’d be washing it every day.”
Kerry eyed her. “Is this why you ended up with that gold color?”
She resumed clicking. “Oh, I like the blue, Dar. I don’t care if it’s dark.
I’ve got a dark car now, and it’s not so bad.” She admired her choice.
“Yeah, I like that.”
“Hmm.” Dar cocked her head.
“Now, what’s next... Ah, interior.” Kerry reviewed her choices.
“Oh, leather, definitely.” She selected it. “I’ve really gotten into this stuff since I’ve met you.”
One of Dar’s eyebrows lifted sharply. “Me? Why?”
“Leather car seats, leather couches, that leather vest, those leather boots you got me,” Kerry murmured. “I have nightmares of being visited by PETA sometimes and having to escape out the back.” She clicked on the added options. “Hmm...what do we have here? Heated seats? No thanks.”
Dar was still snickering over her comments. “I never thought about that. I just like the feel of leather, especially in stuff I’ve gotta sit on.”