When Dean spotted her, he angled toward her, cleaving the water in strong strokes.

She smiled at him as he drew near. "I decided to see if the water felt as good as

it looks...and it does."

"How's your head?"

"Still on my shoulders. From now on, I'll have one drink and stop, no matter how

good it tastes to me."

They continued to swim parallel to the beach, Dean keeping pace with her.Eventually they waded toward the shore together and continued walking until they reached their towels. He quickly dried off and waited for her to gather her things.

"What would you like to do this evening?"

There was a provocative question if she'd ever heard one. "You don't have to

entertain me while we're here, you know."

"True, but we've both got to eat and I'd prefer not to eat alone."

"That makes sense, I guess," she replied. "Do you have someplace in mind?"

"Actually I do. I ate there the last time I was here and the Polynesian food is

well prepared. If you've never tried it, you're in for a treat."

They stepped inside the elevator.

Finally she nodded. "All right. Thank you for suggesting it."

That evening Jodie looked around the softly lit room, the hurricane lamps on eachtable making an oasis of light. "You're right," she said to Dean, "this is a greatplace with a distinct atmosphere."

"I'm glad you're enjoying it. Do you like the food I ordered?"

"It's different but really good. Thanks for bringing me." She sipped her iced tea."How should I behave toward your prospective client tomorrow?"

He studied her for a moment in silence. Finally he said, "No striptease, no hulaand no playing the ukulele."

"Striptease? I've never done anything like that in my-" She stopped. "You're

teasing me again."

"Can't resist. You're so much fun to watch when you react."

"Fine. Just for that, I'll take my ukulele and sing all through lunch."

"You can sing?"

"No.""A threat then.""Very much a threat.""You'll do fine tomorrow. You know our business very well. Speaking of which, once we get back, I'm going to talk to Frank Godfrey about putting you into hisdepartment as soon as possible rather than waiting until you graduate. We're onlytalking about a few months. So treat tomorrow like a training session as I presentwhat we have to offer and answer Furukawa's questions."

"You're going to promote me now?"

"Not this minute, no. But when we get back to the office I'll start the ball

rolling."

"That's wonderful news! Thank you so much."

"Don't thank me. Frank's a good supervisor and he'll work you hard learning how we

go about providing the necessary equipment to keep our clients secure."

Over dessert and coffee Jodie asked, "Why are you promoting me now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, you don't have a secretary lined up to replace me, for one thing."

He groaned. "Don't remind me. But that shouldn't take too long."

"Well, um..."

"Why do you make such a point that I'm difficult to work for?"

"Because you are difficult to work for. Or have you forgotten how many secretaries

walked out on you before I was hired?"

He pulled his earlobe and looked uncomfortable. "I've mellowed since then."

"I'll take your word for it."

"Haven't I?"

"You've mellowed because I learned how you like to work."

"That doesn't sound too hard."

"That's true. It doesn't." She looked around. "Shall we go?"

"Wait a minute. I'm missing something here, Jodie. Tell me."

"You want your office to run smoothly. I know your likes and dislikes enough to

anticipate how and what you want, that's all."

"In other words, you can read my mind."

"Not at all."

"That's good to know considering some of my thoughts while on this trip."