Dar held up her cell phone and shrugged. Kerry picked up the receiver. “Hello?”
“Ker?” Angela’s voice was low. “I know it’s early.”
The pressure of the situation came down on her again. “It’s okay, I was up.”
“We missed you last night,” Angie said. “Thought you were right behind us, then you disappeared.”
Kerry’s brow creased in displeasure. “I didn’t disappear; I was being chased by those damn news people. I just barely got out ahead of them and got across the parking lot.” She waited for Angie to comment, but there was only silence. “Then I got a migraine, and it was all I could do to get back to the hotel.”
A sigh echoed through the receiver. “You okay?”
“Now,” Kerry said, “yes. But it was a very miserable night. I wouldn’t have been much use.”
Angie cleared her throat. “It was pretty rough here, too.
Mom’s in pieces.”
“I know,” Kerry replied softly. “And given what Uncle Harold was saying, maybe it’s better I wasn’t there.”
The ensuing silence was definitely awkward. “He didn’t mean that,” Angie said. “Everyone’s just so stressed; you say stuff.”
A lie. “Sure.”
“You’ll come back with us tonight, right?”
Kerry gazed across the room at the compassionate blue eyes watching her. “I don’t know. That’s probably not a good idea.”
“C’mon, Kerry. We’re your family, and this… Of course it’s a good idea. Why not?” Angie sounded distressed.
Kerry took a breath. “Dar’s here. She flew in last night.”
“Oh.” Angie let out a heartfelt sigh. “Well, it can’t make things any worse, I guess. I’m glad she’s there for you, at any rate.”
That brought a faint smile to Kerry’s face. “Me, too. Listen, I’ll meet you guys at the hospital, then we’ll see from there, okay?” She knew Angie wasn’t happy with that. “Angie, you know how the rest of the family feels about me. Let’s not make things harder than they already are.”
“All right,” Angie replied very quietly. “See you soon.”
Angie disconnected and Kerry replaced the receiver in the cradle, then stood up. “I won’t be long. Don’t go anywhere.”
“I won’t.” Dar waited for Kerry to duck into the bathroom before she rummaged in her bag and pulled out her bottle of painkillers. No sense in advertising stupidity, she reasoned as she removed the cap and shook out a large pill, then recapped the bot-Thicker Than Water 63
tle and tucked it back inside her bag. She washed the tablet down with a swallow of orange juice, then sat down and began to review her mail.
Today isn’t going to be fun, she mused, but we’ll get through it.
With quiet determination, she put the thought out of her mind and concentrated on her work.
Jesus. Dar’s brow creased. What the hell’s going on back there?
She scrolled down the long list, then remembered she had not only her own mail, but Kerry’s being forwarded to her as well.
She scanned the headers, then sorted them by priority and started clicking.
“Everyone’s getting short answers today,” she muttered, pecking out a reply as she kept her injured arm still by resting its elbow on her thigh. “Don’t like it? Too bad.” She typed, “No.”
Click. Type. “No.” Click. Type. “Ok.” Click. Type. “Bite me.”
Backspacing to that note, Dar sighed. Given her current position, Alastair had asked her to at least try to be a little more dignified in her responses. She studied the request, a whine from José about getting the sales staff new laptops. “Why? Did they run out of sand on their Etch A Sketches?”
“What’s that, hon?” Kerry poked her head out of the bathroom. “Were you talking to me?”
Dar peeked over her screen. “No, I was making fun of José.
He wants new toys for the sales department.”
Kerry scrubbed her teeth while she thought. “Figureth ouf there’r Fither Prith, eh?”
Dar snickered. “Yeah.” She did the mental math. “He’s got them in his budget…Should I be nice?”
“Eh.”
Dar forwarded the mail to Mark. “Ok,” she typed in, and clicked send. “You got lucky, José. Those pancakes mellowed me out.”
Kerry disappeared into the bathroom, then emerged, wiping her mouth with a small towel. “Dar?”
“Mm?” Dar looked up.
“You’re typing one handed.” Kerry walked over to Dar.
“Does your arm hurt?”
Uh oh. “Yeah.” Dar shrugged. “Slept wrong, I guess.”
Kerry cocked her head, then leaned on the desk and caught Dar’s eye. “No, you didn’t. You picked my ass up last night.”
Dar grinned rakishly. “And the rest of you, too.” She chuckled, leaning back in her chair. “Yeah, I had to brush the dust off my butch card; what can I tell you?” She made light of the charge, not wanting Kerry to feel guilty about it. “Relax, I’m fine.”
Kerry stepped closer and circled Dar’s neck with her arms, 64 Melissa Good pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll make it up to you, Dar,” she murmured. “When we get home, I’m going to pamper you, and make sure you don’t do anything until that shoulder heals.”
Dar found herself in a very advantageous position. She gently nibbled Kerry’s skin through her shirt. “Anything?”
Kerry cleared her throat. “Well…” She kissed Dar’s head again, then released her and turned back towards the shower. A thought halted her. “You know, if that shoulder’s really stiff, it might be a lot easier if I scrubbed you.”
“Oh, reaallly.” Dar was glad to see a touch of spirit coming back into Kerry’s demeanor. “Are you propositioning me?”
Kerry smiled and held out a hand. Dar rose and went to her.
She took the hand and wrapped an arm around Kerry as they entered the steamy bathroom. Kerry helped Dar pull her shirt off over her head, then stood as Dar peeled her out of hers.
She still felt shaky. The breakfast and the night’s sleep had helped, and Dar’s presence had helped even more, but she wanted a good dose of the comfort only her lover could provide to buffer her against the day. This was as good a way as any to get it, and still be doing something productive at the same time.
They stepped into the shower, and Kerry took the tube of soap she’d packed and squeezed out a handful. The steam put little wisps between her and her target, so she moved closer and studied the body before her. Dar’s chest moved as she took a breath, then moved again as Kerry spread her fingers and slipped them over the tanned skin, leaving lather in their wake.
She loved how Dar felt. She had such smooth, soft skin, and it was stretched over an incredible supple and strong form that moved under her touch in a flow of muscle. There were a few tiny scars across her ribcage, and Kerry carefully cleaned all of them, aware of Dar’s feather light touch on her side.
She cleaned Dar’s breasts, her lips twitching a little as the touches tickling her own ribs became more insistent, then her hands moved down Dar’s muscular belly and past the indentation of her navel.
The pressure of the water was starting to feel good against her sensitized skin. Kerry deliberately let the memories of the previous day dissolve as she rubbed her skin against Dar’s as they slid together. She lifted her head and Dar’s lips found hers, then started a slow, teasing journey down her neck.
“Oo,” she whispered into Dar’s ear, just before she started suckling the lobe. “I like that.”