Match Play by Merline Lovelace Page A

His Dayna had held nothing back. She’d been all heart, as passionate when running the river or swinging a club as when she tumbled into bed with him. This Dayna both baffled and intrigued him.
    So did her “special project.” Frowning, Luke mulled over what she’d told him.
    â€œSomething doesn’t compute here.”
    She stiffened. “You think I’m blowing smoke at you?”
    â€œOr not telling me the whole story.”
    Luke’s bottle joined hers on the coffee table. Pinning her with an intent stare, he reasoned out his doubts.
    â€œWu Kim Li is North Korea’s darling. She’s as big there as any rock star or movie idol is in the U.S. Giving her and her father asylum in the States would put a serious dent in North Korea’s ego, not to mention their relations with the United States.”
    â€œRelations between North Korea and the U.S. can hardly get much worse.”
    â€œMy point exactly. With all the saber-rattling going on over Pyongyang’s stated determination to develop nuclear weapons, I can’t see our government wanting to make matters worse by stealing away their sweetheart. There’s got to be more. What aren’t you telling me, Pud?”
    The nickname just slipped out, and the fact that Dayna didn’t jump down his throat feetfirst told Luke he’d struck a nerve.
    Lips pursed, she hesitated for long moments. Weighing her words. Judging his trustworthiness. Luke was about to remind her the United States government trusted him enough to put him at the controls of a super-secret, two-billion-dollar aircraft when she finally unbent.
    â€œKim Li’s father is one of North Korea’s foremost nuclear engineers.”
    â€œWhoa! I didn’t know that.”
    â€œFew people do. His government keeps him and his work under pretty tight wraps.”
    â€œAnd now he wants to defect?”
    â€œThat’s what Mike and I are here to determine.”
    Well, damn! This was right out of James Bond. A top nuclear scientist seeking asylum. His glamorous daughter going over the wall with him. Dayna smack in the middle of it, orchestrating the whole show.
    No wonder she’d been so pissed when Luke had laid that kiss on her and initiated the media clamor over their past affair. She had enough to worry about without having to field questions about an old boyfriend.
    â€œI’m sorry I put you in a box with all this unwelcome publicity,” he said gruffly. “Any thoughts about how best to get out of it?”
    Blowing out a frustrated breath, she raked a hand through her hair. Luke slammed back the memory of all the times he’d feathered his hands through that silky, sun-streaked mane.
    â€œI think the best option is to play it the way I did at the news conference this morning,” she said after a moment. “We have a history. We bumped into each other on the street by mere chance. We got carried away by the moment. We rehashed old times. We went our separate ways. End of story.”
    â€œExcept we both know it won’t end there. Or have you forgotten our Dumpster-diving friend?”
    Her face twisted in disgust. “Not hardly.”
    The incident would have been laughable if it wasn’t so outrageous. The controversy had started when some lame, talking head of a commentator expounded on the subject of sexual abstinence as practiced by ancient Olympians. His commentary spawned a fierce media debate as to whether sex relieved stress or diminished the strength of athletes.
    The questions put to the modern-day Olympians got so personal and embarrassing that many, including Dayna, refused to respond. Her tight-lipped silence only fueled the speculative fire. Determined to find out how often the Golden Girl had sex with her boyfriend, one of the tabloids had hired some sleazoid to dig through Luke’s trash in search of used condoms.
    A neighbor had spotted him climbing into the Dumpster and alerted the