Free Flash by Jayne Ann Krentz Page B

we conduct the rest of this conversation over dinner tonight?”
    She blinked a couple of times, as if he had just suggested that they take the next shuttle to the moon.
    â€œHuh?”
    Not the most flattering of responses, Jasper admitted. But for some reason it gave him hope. Maybe she was as unsure and cautious about what was going on between them as he was. Maybe she wanted to tread warily.
    Then again, maybe she was totally unaware of the silent thunder and invisible lightning that he saw snapping in the air between them.
    At least it was not an outright rejection, he told himself. He sensed that he had better move quickly.
    â€œA business dinner. A restaurant won’t work. We need some space. I’ve got a lot of paperwork you’ll want to see. Reports and printouts. That kind of thing. How about my place on Bainbridge?”
    â€œYour place?”
    He was moving too fast. He could see the deer-caught-in-the-headlights expression in her eyes.
    â€œNo” He tried to appear as if he were mulling over the practical aspects of the situation. “Forget Bainbridge. Your office would probably be best. I’m going to be working a little late this evening.”
    â€œSo am I,” she said very quickly.
    â€œFine.” He nodded once. Another executive decision made and executed. “I’ll pick up some take-out and meet you at your studio.”
    â€œA working dinner?”
    â€œYou said you wanted to be kept in the loop, didn’t you?”
    â€œYes, but—”
    â€œIn the meantime, I would appreciate it if you would keep your concerns about Melwood Gill’s transfer to yourself. I’m sure you understand that it’s absolutely essential that you and I present a united front to the employees of Glow, Inc.”
    She blinked again. “A united front.”
    He got to his feet and made a show of glancing at his watch. “Sorry to rush you out of here, but I can’t put off the meeting with the R&D people.” He smiled. “You know how it is.”
    â€œOh, sure. Right.” Like an automaton, she turned toward the door.
    â€œI’ll be at Light Fantastic at seven,” he said again, very softly. “That will give us plenty of time to go over those reports.”
    She glanced at him over her shoulder. He saw immediately that the disoriented look had vanished from her eyes. In its place was a sardonic gleam.
    â€œI’ll check my calendar when I get back to my office to see if I’m free this evening,” she said coolly. “I’ll give you a call sometime this afternoon and let you know.”
    She sauntered into the outer room and closed the door very quietly but very firmly behind her.
    * * *
    Dinner with Jasper Sloan. Her hand froze on the doorknob for an instant. For some reason she found the basic concept hard to grasp.
    A working dinner.
    Okay, she could handle that. She knew how to do a business dinner with a man. On a good night she could even do a social dinner with a man, although she did not do a great many of those these days.
    She gave herself a small, mental shake.
Snap out of it. We’re talking take-out here, not the end of civilization as we know it
. She made herself let go of the knob.
    Rose looked up as Olivia went past her desk. “Well? How did it go? Is he really going to fire poor Melwood?”
    Automatically, Olivia gave her aunt a reassuring smile. “Of course not.”
    â€œHmm.” Rose narrowed her eyes, not entirely convinced. She slanted a long glance at the closed door of Jasper’s office.
    Olivia had great respect for her aunt’s instincts when it came to this sort of situation. Rose had commanded her desk for nearly a decade. She was fifty-three years old and attractive in the typical Chantry manner, with red-brown hair and smoky-green eyes.
    There was a comfortable, maternal roundness about Rose. Olivia knew it often misled strangers. They tended to overlook her