grinned. “All thanks to you.”
“You caught me in a rare moment of gratitude for your hard work. You graduate with your degree in business this spring, don’t you?”
“That’s right. I wouldn’t have been able to take the night classes without your paying for my tuition.”
“I didn’t pay it,” he growled. “The company did. It was strictly a sound business decision. With your knowledge of the company and your quick grasp of things, it would be foolish to hold you back from exercising your full potential.”
He rubbed his forehead as though the headache was hanging on. “Of course, that means I’ll go through hell finding someone to work for me.”
“No, you won’t. I’ll do the screening. If I think someone—male or female—will be able to work with you without running the first time you raise your voice, I’ll set up an appointment for you to meet them.”
“I suppose that might work.” He didn’t look happy at the thought.
His decision to promote her had been quite a sacrifice for him and she knew it. Beneath that tough, gruff exterior was a very fair man.
Of course, he was clueless about women, but what man wasn’t?
“Do you socialize much?” he asked, surprising her again. He’d never shown any interest in her personal life. He was definitely in a strange mood today.
“I date occasionally. Of course, going to school three nights a week and studying takes up most of my spare time.”
“I work you too hard.”
She offered him a cheerful smile. “Comes with the territory.”
“The only reason I planned the trip was to appease Rachel, even if I was a little late in doing so. However, there is a man I’d like to meet in Honolulu. Steve Furukawa owns several businesses in the islands, and I’d like to offer our services to him.” He studied her for a moment. “In case he’s interested, I’d need you to help me make a presentation to him. I think we should both fly out there. We’ll spend a day or two on business and the rest of the time we’ll be on vacation.”
“Me?” She almost strangled on the word. “I can’t do something like that!”
“Why not?”
She stared at him in disbelief. Didn’t he understand? Obviously not.
“I’m in the middle of classes, for one thing. And it just doesn’t look right, our going to Hawaii together.”
“It will be a business trip.”
“You’ve never needed me on one before.”
“Jodie, you’re a very competent secretary and levelheaded. As for school, I doubt missing a week’s worth of classes will cause you to flunk. Will it?”
“Well, no, but—”
“Then I don’t see a problem.” He ruffled through the stack of files on his desk. “Would you check with accounting and see if they have the latest figures on the Malone file? I’d like to see them before lunch if possible.”
Two
“What did you say to him?” Jodie’s sister, Lynette, asked her that evening after dinner.
Jodie had a standing invitation for dinner at Chuck and Lynette’s home every Friday, but she’d never had such earthshaking news to share as she did tonight.
Chuck had called earlier to say he’d be home later than normal and for them not to hold dinner for him. Jodie hadn’t mentioned Dean’s plan when she’d arrived. Instead she’d helped with dinner and then made certain that her nephews, Kent and Kyle—seven and six respectively—got their baths and were ready for bed.
It was only after she’d joined Lynette in the living room while she nursed eight-week-old Emily that Jodie dropped her bombshell.
“I think I muttered something but don’t remember what. I was reeling.”
“You’re going, of course.”
“He practically ordered me to go,” Jodie wailed with a laugh.
“When are you supposed to leave?”
“The tickets are for Sunday morning. Early Sunday morning.”
“So his latest darling finally had enough of your romantically challenged boss, did she? She lasted longer than the others, though.”
“I think what got to him was that she was the one who broke things off. He usually has the privilege of doing that. At least he got a taste of what rejection feels like.”
“I can’t believe she turned down a trip to Hawaii. I would have gone and then broken up with him,” Lynette said with a grin.
“She didn’t know about his plans. He’d kept the trip a surprise.”
Lynette shook her head with disbelief. “Doesn’t the man know anything about women? The anticipation of going is part of the excitement.”
“We’re talking about Dean Logan. Of course he doesn’t know anything about us. For a brilliant businessman, he’s unnervingly obtuse about the opposite sex.”
“Well, who cares, if you get a free vacation out of it?”
“I’ll be missing three classes.”
“So? You’ve aced all your tests, you can easily catch up.”
The door opened between the garage and kitchen, and Lynette peered over her shoulder. Chuck was home.
“Good evening, all,” he said, sauntering into the room. He was a police detective for the city and looked good in his sports jacket and slacks. “How are my three favorite women doing?” He leaned over Lynette and gave her a leisurely kiss that made Jodie’s toes curl to watch.
When he straightened, he brushed his lips across the top of Emily’s head. Emily ignored him. Dinner was more important at the moment.
“Your dinner’s in the fridge. Just put it in the microwave.”
“How are things going for you, Jodie?” he asked casually as he turned to go back into the kitchen.
Before Jodie had a chance to answer, Lynette said, “Her boss has invited her to go with him to Hawaii for a week.”
Chuck stopped in his tracks and spun around. “Are you serious? Logan asked you to go away with him? Wow. Aren’t you the sly one? I had no idea you two were an item.”
“We’re not! Believe me, there is nothing going on in a romantic sense. The girl he’s been seeing broke up with him. He had the tickets. I suggested he should take the vacation anyway, and he decided to meet with a prospective client while he was there. He said he could use my help. So it will be a working vacation.”
Chuck
