Catch of the Year Read Online Free Page B

voiced. She simply couldn’t take the chance he’d be a whistle blower.
    Jade had been employed on the strict understanding she’d present a professional face to the world at all times. This was because the agency’s number one client was extremely conservative. These investment brokers, she’d been told, were so blue chip they were almost black. The agency could not survive without this account. It had been made clear to her that if she showed the slightest whiff of frivolity, she’d be let go. Up until now, this hadn’t been a problem. Very soon after she’d gone into business studies, she’d realized being Serendipity presented a handicap. So she’d gone with her second name, adopted a more staid persona, and that had worked well for her. Professionally, anyhow. Socially? Not so much. She knew that trying so hard meant sometimes she appeared overly abrupt.
    â€œLet me think.” Taking her time about answering his question as to what he’d strike her as, she let her gaze wander over every inch of him.
    Oh boy, was she in trouble. She’d long suspected there were more-than-respectable muscles hiding under Paul’s crisp shirts. Now she knew she’d been right. Truth to tell, she rather thought it a sin to cover up that hunky bod. He should be playing at lifeguard, or fitness instructor. She’d definitely hire him as a personal trainer. A few one-on-one sessions would do just fine … .
    Her photographic memory of his personnel file she’d perused more often than was strictly necessary, supplied the answer to his question. She couldn’t resist the temptation to impress.
    â€œHmmm. The type who’d take up running … definitely. Maybe also, basketball?”
    His chin lifted briefly in surprise. “Been gazing into a crystal ball lately?”
    She shrugged. “I leave that to my mom. Except she gazes at the mist on the lake.”
    â€œAnd you?” he asked, half-turning toward her. “Do you like — er — fishing?”
    No need for him to know she was a hotshot fisherwoman.
    â€œMe? I like to ride,” she said, referring to the Harley.
    He cleared his throat, and she caught a flare of awareness in his eyes. “So, you make this trip often?”
    â€œOnce a year.”
    This was pretty much the truth. Once a summer over the August holiday, she did the ferry thing. Other, shorter, summer weekends she flew up with Fred, who lived just across the lake and had his own float plane. Getting away from it all was the thing that kept her sane and able to stay on top of things in the fast-paced, killer world of corporate competition.
    Sometimes, she needed to be Serendipity.
    They continued on around the harbor. The tourist stores offered the usual mix — gift shops selling fancy paper napkins and scented candles, holiday clothing with local motifs decorating the fronts of tee shirts and sweaters. Paul seemed to enjoy examining the goods at an upscale place that sold interesting, handcrafted jewelry and glassware. He halted in front of the windows of an art gallery and gazed at the window display.
    â€œYou know, looking at these paintings and sculptures makes me think I could do just as well if not better.”
    â€œYou paint and sculpt?”
    â€œI did, in the days when I was at art school.”
    Jade almost added, “And now you concentrate on ad images,” but caught herself in time.
    â€œIn fact, just recently, a fabulously wealthy woman I met in those days called and offered me a commission.”
    â€œYou said yes?”
    â€œI said no.”
    â€œWhy?”
    Paul shrugged. “It would have meant changing my entire life. Plus, I’ve gotten used to having a monthly pay check.”
    That she could relate to.
    Time to steer away from the subject of careers.
    She checked her watch, almost wishing she could slow its relentless onward tick. She’d already noticed Paul wore only his