proposition."
"That's what I felt," she agreed.
"I had hoped to get on friendlier terms with him before making my proposal, but that's out," he sighed, then sent her a thin smile. "Thanks for the warning."
The waitress came to take their orders, but her arrival didn't affect their conversation. They had already finished their discussion. It was a quiet meal with her father lost in his own thoughts
There wasn't any sign of Jett around the hotel that morning. They didn't see him until lunchtime when they were seated at a table in the restaurant. Glenna saw him enter the room and managed a whispered, "Dad," to draw her father's attention to the tall black-haired man approaching their table.
"Good afternoon." Jett's greeting encompassed both of them, a greeting that they echoed. Without any further preliminaries, he rested a hand on the back of Glenna's chair and leaned the other one on the table to face her at right angles. That caressing and intense look was in his eyes that made her feel she was someone special as he directed all of his attention to her. "Would you like to play a game of tennis this afternoon? I have a court reserved for two o'clock."
His closeness had a heady effect on her. She glanced at her father to escape the spell Jett was casting over her. Her father mistook the glance, believing that she was seeking his permission.
"Go ahead and enjoy yourself. I'll find something to keep me amused," he insisted.
"Two o'clock then." Jett repeated the time in confirmation of her decision.
"I'll be there." Glenna nodded.
As Jett straightened to leave her father spoke up. "There is a business matter I would like to discuss with you when you have time."
Jett eyed her father with a knowing half-smile. "I would be available at four-thirty, if that suits you."
"It's fine." There was a wealth of confidence in Orin Reynolds's expression, every bit equal to Jett's. "My suite or yours."
"Yours."
Glenna remembered, "I don't have a tennis racket."
"I'll get one for you," Jett promised and moved away with a waving flick of his hand. He walked over to join two men that Glenna recognized as having attended the dinner the previous night, obviously two of his guests.
"Well, all my cards will be spread on the table by five this afternoon," her father stated with a resigned sigh.
"What do you think he will do?" Glenna picked up her glass of ice water and sipped at it to cool the heat coursing through her veins, ail the while keeping track of Jett's movements over the rim of her glass.
"That is one man I wouldn't begin to second-guess," her father declared and crumpled the linen cloth protecting his lap, depositing it on the tabletop. "If you are ready to leave, I am."
Glenna's answer was to push her chair back and stand up. After they had left the restaurant they returned to their suite of rooms so Glenna could change into her tennis clothes. She could hear her father prowling around in his adjoining room, alternately sitting and pacing. His tension become contagious. Everything they had rested on the outcome of his meeting with Jett this afternoon.
Wearing a white headband to keep the hair out of her eyes, she arrived at the tennis courts. Jett was waiting for her. He gestured to a trio of rackets. "Take your pick."
She tried each of them before choosing the second one. Her nerves felt as taut as the racket strings, a combination of apprehension for their financial situation and the increasing havoc Jett was raising with her senses.
When they had taken the court Glenna agreed with his suggestion to loosen up with a few practice volleys. Usually she was an above-average player, but she was lacking concentration. In consequence she started out playing badly.
Halfway through the first set Glenna hadn't scored once. What was more damning to her pride was the knowledge that Jett was not trying to score. When she managed to get her serve in, he returned it and kept a slow volley going, never trying for a crosscourt or
"That's what I felt," she agreed.
"I had hoped to get on friendlier terms with him before making my proposal, but that's out," he sighed, then sent her a thin smile. "Thanks for the warning."
The waitress came to take their orders, but her arrival didn't affect their conversation. They had already finished their discussion. It was a quiet meal with her father lost in his own thoughts
There wasn't any sign of Jett around the hotel that morning. They didn't see him until lunchtime when they were seated at a table in the restaurant. Glenna saw him enter the room and managed a whispered, "Dad," to draw her father's attention to the tall black-haired man approaching their table.
"Good afternoon." Jett's greeting encompassed both of them, a greeting that they echoed. Without any further preliminaries, he rested a hand on the back of Glenna's chair and leaned the other one on the table to face her at right angles. That caressing and intense look was in his eyes that made her feel she was someone special as he directed all of his attention to her. "Would you like to play a game of tennis this afternoon? I have a court reserved for two o'clock."
His closeness had a heady effect on her. She glanced at her father to escape the spell Jett was casting over her. Her father mistook the glance, believing that she was seeking his permission.
"Go ahead and enjoy yourself. I'll find something to keep me amused," he insisted.
"Two o'clock then." Jett repeated the time in confirmation of her decision.
"I'll be there." Glenna nodded.
As Jett straightened to leave her father spoke up. "There is a business matter I would like to discuss with you when you have time."
Jett eyed her father with a knowing half-smile. "I would be available at four-thirty, if that suits you."
"It's fine." There was a wealth of confidence in Orin Reynolds's expression, every bit equal to Jett's. "My suite or yours."
"Yours."
Glenna remembered, "I don't have a tennis racket."
"I'll get one for you," Jett promised and moved away with a waving flick of his hand. He walked over to join two men that Glenna recognized as having attended the dinner the previous night, obviously two of his guests.
"Well, all my cards will be spread on the table by five this afternoon," her father stated with a resigned sigh.
"What do you think he will do?" Glenna picked up her glass of ice water and sipped at it to cool the heat coursing through her veins, ail the while keeping track of Jett's movements over the rim of her glass.
"That is one man I wouldn't begin to second-guess," her father declared and crumpled the linen cloth protecting his lap, depositing it on the tabletop. "If you are ready to leave, I am."
Glenna's answer was to push her chair back and stand up. After they had left the restaurant they returned to their suite of rooms so Glenna could change into her tennis clothes. She could hear her father prowling around in his adjoining room, alternately sitting and pacing. His tension become contagious. Everything they had rested on the outcome of his meeting with Jett this afternoon.
Wearing a white headband to keep the hair out of her eyes, she arrived at the tennis courts. Jett was waiting for her. He gestured to a trio of rackets. "Take your pick."
She tried each of them before choosing the second one. Her nerves felt as taut as the racket strings, a combination of apprehension for their financial situation and the increasing havoc Jett was raising with her senses.
When they had taken the court Glenna agreed with his suggestion to loosen up with a few practice volleys. Usually she was an above-average player, but she was lacking concentration. In consequence she started out playing badly.
Halfway through the first set Glenna hadn't scored once. What was more damning to her pride was the knowledge that Jett was not trying to score. When she managed to get her serve in, he returned it and kept a slow volley going, never trying for a crosscourt or
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