“But it’s perfectly all right for me to sabotage mine? That makes a lot of sense.”

“Okay,” he said after a tense moment. He paused, shaking his head. “That idea’s obviously not going to work. I guess we’ll have to come up with something better.”

“Okay, then.” Janine gestured toward him. “It’s your turn.”

He glared at her, seeming to dislike her even more. In all honesty, Janine wasn’t too pleased with the way she was behaving, either. She’d been sarcastic and needlessly rude, but then, Zach had driven her to it. He could be the most unpleasant man.

Still, Janine was about to say something conciliatory when the sound of the front door opening distracted her. Her gaze flew to Zach and he nodded, reassuring her that he’d handle the situation.

They’d returned to their chairs and were seated by the time Gramps appeared in the library doorway.

“Zach, I’m sorry for the delay. I’m glad to see Janine entertained you.” Her grandfather smiled brightly as if to tell her he approved and hoped she’d taken advantage of this hour alone with Zach.

“We did manage to have a stimulating conversation,” Zach said, his eyes briefly meeting Janine’s.

“Good. Good.”

Zach stood and reached for his briefcase. “There were some figures you wanted to go over with me?”

“Yes.” Looking satisfied with himself, Gramps led the way out of the room. Zach followed him, with a glance back at Janine that said he’d get in touch with her later.

Later turned out to be almost a week. She was puttering around outside, trimming back the rosebushes and deciding where to plant the geraniums this year, when Mrs. McCormick came to tell her she was wanted on the phone.

“Hello,” Janine said cheerfully.

“We need to talk,” Zach said without preamble.

“Why?” she demanded. If he was going to keep her hanging for six anxious days, then she wasn’t going to give the impression that she was thrilled to hear from him.

“Your grandfather laid his cards on the table this afternoon. I thought you might be interested in hearing what he’s offering me to take you off his hands.”

CHAPTER THREE

“All right,” Janine said, bracing herself. “What’s he offering you? Huge bonuses?”

“No,” Zach said quickly.

“Cash? I want to know exactly how much.”

“He didn’t offer me money.”

Janine frowned. “What then?”

“I think we should meet and talk about it.”

If her grandfather had openly approached Zach with the arranged-marriage idea, Janine knew darn well that Gramps would’ve made it worth Zach’s while. Despite his claims to the contrary, it wouldn’t have surprised Janine to discover that the newly appointed chairman of the board of Hartman-Thomas Business Supply had taken the bait.

“You want us to meet?” she repeated in a faltering voice.

“There’s a restaurant on University Way—Italian 642. Have you heard of it?”

“No, but I’ll find it.”

“Meet me there at seven.” Zach paused, then added, “And listen, it might not be a good idea to tell your grandfather that we’re getting together. He might misunderstand.”