Flash

the situation as calmly and matter-of-factly as Jasper had.
    There was steel at the core of Jasper Sloan. She had felt it in his kiss.
    There had been another part of him that had been equally rigid last night, too. She felt a pleasant heat rise in her cheeks at the memory. It had taken her a long time to get to sleep, and it had not been thoughts of a blackmailer that had kept her awake.
    Maybe she should try to get out more. She had been so busy lately she had forgotten what a normal social life looked like.
    She rubbed her hands briskly up and down her arms, gave herself a mental shake, and turned to her computer. She stabbed the on-off switch. She had more important things to do than view mental reruns of the sexy look in Jasper's eyes when she had gently pushed him out into the corridor.
    Bolivar stuck his head around the corner of her office door.
    "Cindy at the
Private Island
office is on the phone." He made a face. "Says she doesn't want our people on board the boat until two in the afternoon.''
    Olivia glanced up from a preliminary schedule for the Camelot Blue event displayed on her computer screen. "That's impossible. We need every hour we can get before sailing time. Cindy knows that."
    "You want to tell her?"
    Olivia picked up the receiver. "Cindy? What's the problem here? I told you weeks ago that I need to get my crew on board first thing tomorrow morning. It's going to take all day to get the
Private Island
ready for the Silver Galaxy Foods Night event."
    "Sorry about this, Olivia." On the other end of the line Cindy Meadows sounded frazzled even though it was not yet eight-thirty. "My boss scheduled a last-minute dinner cruise for tonight. The boat won't return to the dock until two A.M. I can't get it cleaned up until tomorrow morning."
    "You have to find a way to get your cleaning people out of there by eight A.M."
    "How about noon?"
    "How about eight, just like your boss agreed in the contract we signed," Olivia said grimly.
    Cindy sighed. "Bill's right here. Why don't you talk to him?"
    "Fine." Olivia drummed her fingers on the desk until the manager of Private Island Cruises, Bill Cranshaw, came on the line.
    "Hi, Olivia. Got a problem?"
    "No, you do, Bill. We've got a contract that says Light Fantastic can have access to the boat for decorating and preparation purposes by eight o'clock on the sailing date. I need every minute I can get."
    "I don't see why you can't wait until noon."
    "I can't stand it when you whine, Bill."
    "Give me a break I can't cancel the dinner cruise."
    "Don't cancel it. Pay your cleaning people a little overtime and have them come in late tonight after you finish the cruise."
    "Have you got any idea what that will cost?"
    "Whatever it is, it won't cost nearly as much as you'll lose if Silver Galaxy Foods takes Silver Galaxy Foods Night to another charter boat operator," Olivia said sweetly.
    Bill groaned. "Okay, you win. Your people can come on board at eight."
    "Great. See you first thing in the morning." Olivia hung up the phone and looked for the final version of the Silver Galaxy Foods Night schedule. She knew she had left it on one of the stacks on her desk. Her organizational scheme was a simple one. Hot items were always placed on top.
    When she could not locate the schedule atop any of the towers of papers, she turned to the pile of documents arrayed on the floor behind her desk.
    It was not there, either.
    She got up, went around the desk, and opened the door. "Zara?"
    Zara looked up from her drafting table. "Yes, dear?"
    "Have you got a copy of the Silver Galaxy Foods Night schedule? I can't find mine."
    "I saw it on your desk yesterday afternoon."
    "I know, but it's gone now. Someone must have borrowed it."
    Bolivar emerged from the entrance of Merlin's Cave. Blue vapor drifted out in his wake. "There's a copy on my desk."
    "Thanks."
    Olivia crossed the studio to Bolivar's realm and retrieved the schedule.
    She walked back into her office, absently closing the door behind herself. The papers on her desk rustled softly as the small draft caught them. A fax containing a price quote from a catering company wafted off the top of a pile and floated gently to the floor.
    Olivia bent down to pick up the wayward fax. When she reached for it, she saw the corner of another sheet of paper lying on the floor beneath the computer station. The words
Silver Galaxy
were clearly visible.
    There was also a small page that had been ripped off a telephone message pad. A note in