that afternoon. The only suitable one was an antique-white sleeveless dress with large gold buttons down the front. It wasn’t exactly what one would wear to an elegant dinner party, but it was passable.
She raced to the door and held it up for Jordan. “Will this do?”
The poor man looked exasperated. “How do I know?”
Leaving the door open, Jill ran back to her closet. “The only other dress I have is Aunt Milly’s wedding gown,” she muttered.
“You packed a wedding dress?” His gray eyes lit up with amusement. It seemed an effort not to laugh out loud. “You apparently have high hopes for this vacation.”
“I didn’t bring it with me,” she informed him primly, sorry she’d even mentioned it. “A friend had it delivered.”
“You’re getting married?”
“No. I— Oh, I don’t have time to explain.”
Jordan eyed her as if he had plenty of questions, but wasn’t sure he wanted to ask them.
“Wear the one you showed me, then,” he said testily. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
“All right, I will.” By now Jill regretted agreeing to attend the dinner party. “I’ll be ready in five minutes.” She closed the door again, but not before she got a glimpse of the surprised look on Jordan’s face. It wasn’t until she’d slipped out of her sundress that she realized he probably wasn’t accustomed to women who left him waiting in the hallway while they changed clothes.
Although she knew Jordan was impatient, Jill took an extra few minutes to freshen her makeup and run a brush through her shoulder-length brown hair. Using a gold clip, she pinned it up in a simple chignon. Despite herself, she couldn’t help feeling excited about this small adventure. There was no telling whom she might meet tonight.
Drawing in a deep breath to calm herself, she smoothed the skirt of her dress, then walked slowly to the door. Jordan was waiting for her, his back against the opposite wall. He straightened when she appeared.
“Do I look okay?”
His gaze narrowed assessingly. His scrutiny made Jill uncomfortable, and she held herself stiffly. At last he nodded.
“You look fine,” was all he said.
Jill heaved a sigh of relief, returned to her room to retrieve her purse and then joined Jordan.
The dinner party, as he’d explained earlier, was in a private room in one of the hotel’s restaurants. Jordan led the way to the elevator, his pace urgent.
“You’d better tell me what you want me to do,” she said.
“Do?” he repeated with a frown. “Just do whatever you women do to let one another know a certain man is off-limits, and make sure Suzi understands.” He hesitated. “Only do it without fawning all over me.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” Jill said, gazing up at him in mock adoration and fluttering her lashes.
Jordan’s frown deepened. “None of that, either.”
“Of what?”
“That thing with the eyes.” He motioned with his hand, looking annoyed.
“Should I know something about who’s attending the party?”
“Not really,” he said impatiently.
“What about you?” He shot her a puzzled look, and Jill elaborated. “If I’m your date, it makes sense I’d know who you are—something beyond your name, I mean—and what you do.”
“I suppose it does.” He buried his hands in his pockets. “I’m the CEO for a large development company based in Seattle. Simply put, we develop projects, gather together the financing, arrange for the construction, and then once the project’s completed, we sell.”
“That sounds interesting.” If you thrived on tension and pressure, that is.
“It can be,” was his only response. He looked her over once more, but his glance revealed neither approval nor reproach.
“I didn’t like you when we first met.” Jill wasn’t sure why she felt obliged to tell him this. In fact, she still didn’t like him, although she had to admit he was a very attractive man indeed. “When I sat next to you during the flight, I thought you were very unfriendly,” she continued.
“I take it your opinion of me hasn’t changed?” He cocked one brow with the question, as if to suggest her answer wouldn’t trouble him one way or the other.
Jill ignored him. “You don’t like women very much, do you?”
“They have their uses.”
He said it in such a belittling, negative way that Jill felt a flash of hot color invade her cheeks. She turned to look at him, feeling almost sorry for a man who had everything yet seemed so empty inside. “What’s made you so cynical?”
He glanced at her again, a bit scornfully. “Life.”
Jill didn’t know what to make of that response, but luckily the elevator arrived just then.
“Is there anything else I should know before we get there?” she asked once they were inside. Her role, Jill understood, was to protect him from an associate’s daughter. She had no idea how she was supposed to manage that, but she’d think of something when the time came.
“Nothing important.” He paused, frowning. “I’m afraid the two of us might arouse some curiosity, though.”
“Why’s that?”
“I don’t generally associate with … innocents.”
“Innocents?” He made her sound like one of the preschool crowd. No one she’d ever known could insult her with less effort. “I am over twenty-one, in case you didn’t realize it.”
He laughed outright at that, and Jill stiffened, regretting—probably not for the last time—that she’d actually agreed to this.
“I think you’re wonderful, too,” she said sarcastically.
“So you told me before.”
The elevator arrived at the top floor of the hotel, where the restaurant was located. Jordan spoke briefly to the maître d’, who led them to the dinner party.
Jill glanced around the simple, elegant room, and her heart did a tiny somersault. All the guests were executive types, the men in dark suits, the women in sophisticated dresses that could all have been bought at the little boutique downstairs. Everyone had an aura of prosperity and power.
Jill’s breath came in shallow gasps. She was miles out of her league. These people had money, real money, whereas she’d spent months just saving for this vacation. Her money was invested in panty hose and frozen dinners, not property and office towers and massive stock portfolios.
Jordan
