She slicked her hands over her hair before ruffling it with her fingers. She had a

way of moving that was quite sensuous. Why had he never noticed?

Dean realized that he wasn't the only male taking notice of her. As he watched,one of the men walked over and spoke to her. Dean turned away. It was none of hisbusiness what she did or who she met. So why was he bothered by seeing another mancome on to her? There was absolutely no reason for him to feel so possessive abouthis secretary. She was free to enjoy her vacation in whatever manner she wanted.

He looked back down at them. The male said something to her and she laughed andturned away.

She laughed.

She didn't laugh around him.

With fresh resolve, he turned back to the papers on the counter and scanned them.He looked at his watch. He felt restless and unsettled, and it was too early tocall his prospective client. He wondered how things were going at the office. Hissecond in command could handle anything that came up. He knew the business as wellas Dean did.

Dean paced to the window and looked at the sea, the mountains and finally thebeach. She was alone now, but that didn't seem to bother the men who noticed her.He hoped they got their eyeful.

Dean turned away. He could go down there, maybe do a little swimming...except hehadn't packed a suit. Well, he could walk along the beach, but then the sand wouldfill his shoes.

The clothes he'd chosen to bring weren't suitable here. Of course, he'd beworking, so it probably wouldn't matter. But if he wasn't working, what then? Heshook his head in frustration. What did people do on vacation? After a moment hepicked up the phone and called the office.

The sun was high overhead by the time Jodie gathered up her towels and beach bagto go search for something to eat. She'd go shower and change clothes and wanderdown the beach. There was bound to be a place other than the restaurant that wasnearby.

She'd had great fun this morning and had met several people who, like her, werethere enjoying the warm weather and beautiful scenery with no regrets about missingwinter on the mainland.

She'd met a couple on their honeymoon, another celebrating their thirtieth weddinganniversary and a young couple with two little girls playing in the shallows.

Two or three guys had stopped and introduced themselves. One of them said he wason the beach each morning and would probably see her again. Another told her thattoday was his last day there and he intended to enjoy the water to the very lastminute.

When she let herself into the condo, Jodie knew Dean wasn't there. She wasn'tcertain how he managed to do it, but his charged energy filled whatever spacesurrounded him. When he wasn't there, the place was peaceful.

She looked around and saw a pile of newspapers beside a chair and the remains ofbreakfast on the kitchen counter. He'd ordered for both of them, she discovered,lifting a lid. She ate a brioche and then grabbed a banana. Delicious. That shouldtide her over while she showered and dressed.

Peering into the mirror after her shower, Jodie touched her nose. Yes, she'd

definitely gotten some sun. She was going to have to be very careful not to burn.

She rubbed more sunscreen into her skin before she went into her bedroom to dress.

Jodie had splurged on her new clothes, telling herself that a vacation in Hawaii

deserved tropical wear. She chose a pair of sandals, walking shorts and asleeveless blouse that matched her blue eyes.

She left the condo and waited for the elevator. When the doors opened, Dean stoodthere. He was the first to speak.

"Going down?" he intoned politely.

She laughed. "Yes, please," she said, stepping into the elevator.

"I came up to see if you were here and wanted to get something to eat."

"You read my mind. I thought I'd walk along the beach and get something from oneof the little restaurants I saw earlier."

He put his hands in his pockets. "I take it you enjoyed your morning?"

"Very much. How was yours?"

"I talked to Furukawa this morning. He said he could see me day after tomorrow, soI guess I'll be hanging around here for the next couple of days." He glanced at herand then away. "I think I'm going to need some pointers on how to take a vacation.I hope you're up for the job."

Jodie smiled at him. "Oh, I'm sure you'll get the hang of it soon."

The doors opened and they stepped into the lobby.

"I've called the office twice in hopes of learning about some crisis that only I

could handle," he said with a slight smile. "Unfortunately everything is runningsmoothly."

He sounded so disgruntled that Jodie laughed. "It's not that bad, I'm sure."

"I asked around to find out what people usually do here besides visit the beach."He reached into his shirt pocket. "I found there are all sorts of things to see, ifyou'd be interested."

They walked out toward the water and walked along the edge.

He offered her the brochures and she eagerly took them. She looked over the

various places of interest.

"There's so much to do and see."

By mutual agreement they turned toward a small cafe that caught their attention.Once seated, they glanced over the menu. Jodie ordered a large salad and Dean had asandwich.

She continued to look through the brochures. "I'm amazed. We could spend a monthand probably not see everything." She pointed to one of the brochures. "We canattend a luau," she said hopefully. "Or have you already been to one?"

"'Fraid not. I wasn't here long enough to do any sightseeing. I'm game forwhatever appeals to you."

"Mmm," she said thoughtfully, thumbing through the brochures. "We could explorethe other islands, charter a helicopter to look around at everything, check out the mountains or turn into slugs and lie on the beach all week."

He couldn't seem to take his eyes off her. She glowed with enthusiasm, somethinghe'd rarely felt. "Sounds like a plan." He glanced at his watch and reached for hiscell phone. "I'll make reservations for the luau and then I thought I might rent acar so I can do some shopping."

Her brows lifted. "You want to go to a mall? Dean, you have hidden depths!"

"I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't really pack the right clothes." He glanceddown toward his feet. "I'm going to need to go native and get some sandals, maybe acouple pair of shorts, as well. And no self-respecting tourist could leave theislands without owning an authentic Hawaiian shirt."

She laughed. "Good for you. Step number one-dress for the occasion. Do you want meto go with you?"

He froze. Of course he wanted her with him. He realized that he'd presumed she'dgo.

He cleared his throat. "Unless there's something else you'd like to do."

"I love to shop. Stick with me, kid, and I'll show you a pro at work."

He touched her hand. "Thank you."

She grinned at him. "You may not feel so grateful after I drag you through a fewstores."

"I'll take my chances."

As a general rule, Dean disliked shopping, but then he'd never before gone on aspree with Jodie Cameron. They wandered through one of the malls and listened whilegroups of the locals played ukuleles and serenaded the shoppers.

"I used to play one of those when I was a kid," she confided as they stood andlistened.

"Were you any good?"

"Well, I won't go so far as to say that, but I learned three or four basic chordsthat worked for most songs. What I lacked in talent I made up for in enthusiasm."She looked up at him and laughed, wrinkling her nose.

She was adorable.

"You'll have to play for me sometime," he said.

"Oooh, nooo, I don't think so. I haven't touched one in years. I don't know whathappened to the one I had."

"Then we'll add that to our shopping list. One ukulele for you to serenade me witheach evening. There are all kinds of working vacations. Who knows? You may launch anew career."

"You have no idea what you're asking," she replied ominously before she ruined theeffect with a chuckle.

Dean followed Jodie in and out of various stores, in awe of her shopping talents.She knew immediately whether something would work for him and wasted no timelooking at the rest.

She finally sent him back to a dressing room to try on several of the items she'dchosen. While she waited, Jodie wandered over to the gift-shop section of thestore. She cheerfully bought gifts for everyone in the family as well as several ofher friends.

She'd just paid for them when she saw Dean come out wearing a pair of shorts thatfit him like a glove and a shortsleeved shirt with a tropical print.

"Wow. You look gorgeous," she said without thinking. When he turned an interestingshade of red, she realized what she'd said. "Oh! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

"Oh, no. Don't apologize. You've just made my day. I don't believe anyone has everapplied that word to me."

"Turn around," she said, still feeling a little awkward.

She checked the fit of the shirt across his shoulders and tried to ignore the waythe shorts curved over his muscular butt. "You'll do," she said in a croak. Jodiecleared her throat. "What about the others? Did you like them?"