She drew a deep breath, enjoying the scent of fresh-cut grass. Alight breeze cooled the heat from the full midday sun. If she closed her eyesshe could almost convince herself she was out here for pleasure and notbusiness. She chuckled to herself. A round of golf purely for her ownenjoyment—that would be a rare treat.
Owen Tanager, her boss and playing partner for the day, slid outof the passenger seat and pulled out his driver. “Are we doing yoga or playinggolf, Jacqueline?” He strode to the tee box.
Before she could reply, another one of their foursome spoke up.“Show her how it’s done.”
Owen laughed at the jab from one of their competitors for theday. He’d roped two of the local managers into spending the afternoon on thecourse with them. The losers would pay for dinner and drinks later. Owen teedup his ball and took a blistering practice swing. His fitted polo showed offhis strong shoulders and back and highlighted the V-shaped torso he worked hardto maintain. Jacqueline admired his commitment to fitness, especially since hehad fifteen years on her, though, in fairness, he spent more time with his personaltrainer than she ever would. She’d given up wasting money on a gym membershipshe wouldn’t use, and rarely even made time to use the hotel fitness centerswhen she traveled.
With a big swing, Owen sent his ball soaring down the fairway.But the trajectory painted a sweeping fade to the right, and his ball bouncedinto the tree line. None of the other players said a word as Owen stalked backto the cart and shoved his driver back into his bag.
“Pick me up, partner.” Owen patted Jacqueline’s shoulder.
Filled with confidence, she grinned as she teed up the ball.During their first outing together, she’d let him win, on the advice of acolleague, and he’d barely noticed her for the entire round. The next timeshe’d played with him, she hadn’t held anything back, besting him by severalstrokes in the end. She ignored the it-was-nice-knowing-you looks her coworkersgave her and held her head high. He seemed pissed. But the next time she was intown for a charity tournament, he’d promptly claimed her for his team.
She glanced down the fairway once more, then swung her driver.The sound and feel of the ball coming off the face of the driver indicatedshe’d hit the ball as well as she could. It landed in the center of thefairway. Since she played from the men’s tees, one of the other two wouldlikely out-drive her in distance, but often, the rest of her game was tightenough to compensate.
Two hours and ten holes later, Owen and Jacqueline dominatedtheir opponents. As they’d pulled so far ahead that their score wasunreachable, Owen had started teasing the other two. He began talking aboutwhere they’d go for dinner and what expensive dish he might make them pay for.His attitude was a bit arrogant for Jacqueline’s taste. She preferred to enjoyher victory more privately. Though there wasn’t really much on the line in thismatch, she liked to win. She loved the adrenaline rush that grew with eachpassing hole—a feeling rivaled only by really good sex. It’s about time forthat, too, shethought as she stowed her club in her bag and climbed into the cart.
Maybe she could catch Marti in town. Over the years, Jacquelinehad been involved with a number of women, always casual and usually short-term.She remained upfront about what she wanted, careful not to lead them on. Shewouldn’t date a woman in Nashville, convinced, with all of her travel, they’dhave some of the same issues that drove her and Casey apart. So she made mostlysuperficial connections in the cities she frequented. She wasn’t interested inrelocating a woman to Tennessee, and she didn’t do long-distance. Eventually,her terms had brought them to a point of separation either when the other womanwanted more from her or met someone else who could provide a real relationship.
Marti was different. As a flight attendant, she also spent nearlyas much time away as she did at home. She wasn’t looking for a wife, just goodsex and companionship when she was at home in Atlanta. Jacqueline had beeninvolved with her for three years, and they’d actually developed anuncomplicated friendship.
She grabbed her phone from the cup holder of the golf cart andsent a text inviting Marti to a late dinner one night this week. As she steppedout of the cart, she shoved her phone in her pocket, then grabbed her nine ironand approached her ball in the center of the fairway. She was settling in forher next shot when her phone vibrated against her thigh, indicating what shewas certain was an affirmative response from Marti. She swung her club and sentthe ball arcing toward the green. The ball landed, took a short hop, and rolledto within ten feet of the hole.
Owen tapped his palm against her shoulder. “That’s my girl.” Hewinced, as if he’d just realized that he’d made such a condescending remark tohis human-resources manager. “Okay. You know I didn’t mean it like that.”
Jacqueline nodded and shoved her club back into her bag. Thoughhis comment was definitely inappropriate, the calculated apology would leaveher looking like a hysterical female in front of the other guys if shechallenged him. Besides, Jacqueline believed in picking her battles, and thiswasn’t one she wanted to wage. She’d been playing this game for too long toscrew it up now. Owen’s boss had been hinting around about retiring, and Owenwas favored to move into his spot. If Jacqueline wanted to stay in play forOwen’s job, she wouldn’t be raising hell about a sexist comment.
Despite the veneer of polish at the executive levels, theshipping business was built on eighteen-wheelers and forklifts. When she wasn’tmeeting with the suits, Jacqueline spent
