Match Play by Merline Lovelace Page B

cops. The resulting publicity had infuriated Dayna and rattled her coach so much that he’d phoned Luke and laid it on the line. He and Dayna had to cool it for a while, let the hype die down, or she could kiss off any hopes of bringing home gold.
    History, it seemed, was repeating itself. Same players, different stakes. Except, this time, Luke vowed, he and Dayna would do the manipulating.
    â€œI think we should give them what they want.”
    â€œCome again?”
    â€œThe media wants a show. We give ’em one.”
    â€œI am not playing kissy face with you in public, Harper.”
    â€œThink about it. You want to deflect attention from your business with Wu Kim Li and her father. I don’t want reporters digging too deeply into my presence in the U.K. So we revise our story. Bend the truth to work for both of us.”
    â€œNo.”
    â€œWe have to feed them something. It might as well be what we want them to have.”
    â€œNo.”
    Exasperated, he folded his arms. “Okay, let’s hear some alternatives.”
    â€œI can think of several. The first involves you ejecting from your cockpit without a parachute.”
    â€œWhat’s number two?”
    â€œYou ejecting through the canopy without a helmet.”
    His lips twitched. “Is there a number three?”
    No, dammit, there wasn’t. Not one that didn’t require death or dismemberment, anyway. Dayna fumed for several moments before admitting as much.
    â€œSo where does that leave us?” Luke asked.
    â€œPlaying kissy face in public,” she conceded, sulking.
    Â 
    They spent the next twenty minutes hammering out a believable blend of fact and fiction:
    Sports Illustrated had run an article last month about Dayna’s work at the outdoor sports clinic. True.
    Luke had read the article and e-mailed her. False.
    She’d entered the Pro-Am Charity Tournament at the last minute, thinking they might hook up while she was in Scotland. Also false.
    They’d bumped into each other unexpectedly on the street outside her hotel. True.
    The meeting had released emotions they’d thought long dead. True again, except the emotions so released were anything but loverlike.
    Now Luke was on leave, taking ten days away from his military so he could watch Dayna compete in the tournament. A quick call to his boss would make that true.
    â€œWith a little luck and a lot of grandstanding,” he said when they finished firming up the details, “that should keep attention focused on us instead of what type aircraft I fly or your side conversations with Wu Kim Li.”
    It was the grandstanding that worried Dayna.
    â€œJust don’t get carried away,” she warned. “We’ll tell them we learned from our past mistakes. Insist we’re taking it slowly this time, not rushing in as fast or as recklessly as we did before.”
    â€œRight.”
    He leaned back in his chair, surveying her from beneath his lashes. His hazel eyes conveyed both speculation and anticipation.
    â€œWhen do you want to kick off the campaign?”
    â€œThis is as good a time as any,” she conceded. “I’m doing an autographing at Cockburren’s Golf and Antiquities Shop. Kim Li will be there, too, so we can count on some press. You might as well accompany me.”
    â€œYou’ll have to display a little more enthusiasm for my company if you want to make this believable.”
    â€œDon’t push your luck, Harper.”
    â€œLuke,” he countered sardonically. “C’mon, Dayna. You can say it.”
    â€œDon’t push me,” she warned again. “Wait here. I need to brief Mike on the new game plan.”
    He used the brief interval to decompress. Sitting across from Dayna, watching her shoulders hunch when she leaned forward to make a point, doing his damndest to keep his glance away from the shadowy V of her sweater, had just about wrung him dry.
    â€œMike thinks